The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1836-04-08 00:00:00

NISI PRIUS, WEDNESDAY.

... . ~, .
0-, !CNA I. V. SeCABL.—CRIk., CON.
Mr. Wintursearr appeared for the plaintiff. The defendant
lead no tohnsel. -
The plaintiff in this case was a person in humble circum-
stances, carrying on business as a cloth-dealer in Manchester;
the defendant was in tic same line of business, but carrying; on
an eitensive trade. The plaintiff was married--six years ago,
and had lived with his wife in happiness. U„nfertanately,atie
defendant became acquainted with them, and dtikvthe affections
of the,plaiutiff's wife from her husband. The (tete-Lidera in July
last had. persieeled the plaintiff:ti; wife to aCCill:tiOny him to
Liver Pool, 'where they tookhagatigfiland lived together as man
and wife some thne. ITitlitlatiq 60416 itiquiry was instituted,
and the pla ntiff in a state of geeftlaFitation ii coveted them at
1
the lodgnig . Thedefendimiitfean t,i?rifessed what had occurred,
and the parties separated, it! sOffseauence. The result of this
had beeu most disaetroue 1 pV9Teitunate plaintiff and to the
equally unfortunate wt re,: sitance of his "wife had for-
merly heel). .el therimAtieet,. DINILtke to the plaintiff in his
I
shop and in inanagmOui.e... Kty'lThe:pleintiff was, in eonse-
quenee-of giie,.,.epnegiekitquedtnan, and his household had
been beo4eiiuptiyffeilostEA;wife bed4;&.en forsaken by her se-
ducer. broken
defendant dad not alteinpt to offer any excuse in
palliation of his,epri4a..4, If old be for the jury to award
what.,dokameetheyShrn&ft#A4ig:compensation for such an
ftkitil'irioteak, -.,;t s ..- iEli d
The marriage wah Wiloved. -"' '
' Janiele§e,me6lpeeeeetbtklhe,plaint ill being a dealer in wear-
ing apparel ,a;,,,44,ARE .ter,apd,.that,he had been married six
Yeallalt#fieS,4:;l4vgcle 4PRilY.with his.wife, who assisted hiM to
‘95,
inanages.94l/ 1.3. :,4eferitlant was in the same business,
and the plaintiff an he were on the most intimate routing.
Mary Lord.J.lepm.slet?,itting lodgings in Clayton-street to
the elefenannteantritAr's wife iii July last. M'Cabe then
representedleintself,aeNVilliatn O'Neal, and that he was on bis
road to America.. ' They lived together, and had °Dieted. The
defendant then went to 'Manchester, and returned again in a
few days, and sait},J;kietevife's husband was in town." .The
,plaintiff's wife staid with her till the l'huisday foliowing;_and
she went with her to,Mencbestel, when she saw the defendant,
who confessed what had occin red, and she (witness) blamed
hint very much. She did- not knew what had become of the
plaintiff's wife since.
This was the case for the plaintiff.
The JueGE, in summing up, said there was no doubt of the
criminal connection having occurred. The defendant did not
even attempt to defend his conduct. It would be for them to
say what was a fair compensation fur the dainaee sustained by
I'l'/11r:try wished to know the-defendant's circurnstanees, end
Savage was recalled, who deposed to defendant having £4OO
worth of goil Is in his shop, and he had heard that he had about
1:700 in the beak.
The jury found a verdict for the plaintiff—damages £lOO.
GOLIGIITLY V. ASHTI.N.

Mr. WIGHTMAN appeared for the plaintiff, and Sergeant
ATCHERLEY for the defendant
This was an action brought by the plaintiff, who is a
,widOw
'lady, having some houses at Middleton, for the recovery of two
years' rent of a cottage, at the rate of 2s..(id.„§„Teek, from the
defendant. The plaintiff had never been 'Are to obtain any
rent, and had been obliged to distrain twice; but had obtained
very .little compensation. The defendant laughed at her, and
sail she had been put to some expinse, and she should be put
to 4 little more, and perhaps get nothMg.
Verdict for the plaintiff7rdamages £l3. 4s.
WALMSLEY V. BE lEHLEY AN,D OTHERS.
This w4..an action for the recovery of a sum of £GOO on a
bond exeputed by the defentlimL
Mr. TOMLINSON and Mr. CP.ESSWELL appeared for the plain-
tiff, anil Mr. ALEXANDER for the defence. ,
Theplaintiff in this case is an attorney at Marple. and had
bed etnuyed byßrierlev.and his faMily, who 'had been
continually engaged in broils, and who were possessed of some
prOperty, as their attorney. It was at length agreed that the
costs of all.legal proceedings should be paid out of the estate
of the elder Mr.•Brierley, and a bond for £6OO was given asse-
curity, which bond it was pleaded in defenee, had been obtained
by framl.and running Walmsley challenged the fullest
enquiry into all his costs, and into the mode in which he had
obtained this bond.
The jury found a verdict for the plaintiff. t DR .A 11. af I
COACH ACCWHNT. TV:UO-3

Mr ALaXANDEK aneare lViditTMAN' B,PPOOkhrl theNATHAN r. ALLAN ANiii.4:I4OTHER..' ClAd
plaintiffs, and Mr. CRESSWRLL and Mr. 1-Ittcros frititbst de-
fendants. t. 17
, EHT
This was an action,liiitirilit' by the plaintiff,slidr.F.M4rles
3.lati ram, who is a commission wool tnerthant;at tat /Word,
Yorkshire, against the defendants, Messrs. Allen. and Lacey,
mach proprietors, at: MatichCsfer,lM itijuriessOsttlined-i4:404-1
sequence of having been throWn under the hslifinl.OnArcPraMitf
defendants coaches. It appeared .from tlie!eXibitne
,that,ihnl
plaintiff was on his return from Liverpool tinstim:Plth January/1
-last, where he had been on businessondliadUketillhikPlace on
the outside of the Duke of Leeds coach, at Manchester, for
Bradford. When the coach,'hadopobahliut twfinttles on the
other side of Rochdale the linch_pininkthn,actrishliel f:qq:mie.eA,
came out, .and the coach was! itivrturtandil-iiiibile,lwitomattaa
were called to prove that the coat% at the timc.o3tfliwitg,ikritr.
had one more passenger upon it than was allqrftllY,JlMviico:?:
of the ivitnesses swore that the 'coichtnansiwAt.4llytggllfOtlielli
gallop, and,the other that the horses were not, kititz,fastet than
their usual speed. The plaintiff had been confined in an inu
near tci the place where the coach was thiliwit over from the 30th
of January to the 26th of last month, and in conseptcuce had
been subjected,to serious expenses by the:bills of niedicatmen,
the charwes of the landlord of the inn where he was laid up,
and by having to pay a person to conduct his business in Brad-
ford duringNicahtence.
The damages were laid at £lOOO.
For the defence it was contended that as no improper con-
duct had been proved against the driver, and that as the horses
owlreerret goinghnrootw.n, a
rvat d
t ht he
ra speed
et
,yendwich a
ihwcr
twh(em
lives
causee o the ( h
of the
thep•o„,as
passengers,
be
e rs,
the defendants were'nut lawfully chargeable wi. h any accident i
which might'take ptace, unless it could be proved that there
was some insufficiency in the vehicle, or that the defendants had
not taken the kecatition to see that the coach, before starting,
was in a .roadworthy condition. The jury returned a verdict
for tbe plaintiff. Damages, £l5O.

• CROWN COURT, THURSDAY.
" i ri WILFUL MURDER AT MANCHESTER.
Reny Rowland (46) was charged with the wilful murder of
William Rowland, her husband, at Manchester.
She pleaded, Rot guiliy.'
,Mr. Brandt' appeared for the pro-
secution. The'inisr,der was undefended.
Mr. BRANDrbliefly stated the case, apd called Oiejsttlewing
• T.9faOTU
witnesses.
Jeremiah Crawley examined.-4 an a labourer, at Manches-
ter, and knew the deceased, William 11.64iliftid, several : years..
The
.prisoner lived 'with him as 'his olifer'il'saw theitteceasetlr
on the &today before his death. He'ssitiltltBni:reift4ttly **IV
and in good health. 'Calliniat his hori§elOlith Sittiday
his death. between one and aftettititin,ttfoundi
the prisoner, together with •a-`titan died Wontandrittliint,' The
prisoner was seated upon a chair and did not appear to be quite
sober. ,Upon,looking round I obierved a coffin tokitirth'e bed in
the corner of the room, with the lid fastened down, in which
.tie deceasettaras. lying dead. The prisoner iisketrtne to par-
tdre'hf some Of the ilrinkbut I 'reftised to dOso.• I then said to
the prisoner "
.st hat have you done with your husband? I am
told you-have poisoned hhn." At that moment she made no
reply, but as I was rising to go away, she said " stop, I'll tell
you." I said " No, anything you can tell me shall not prevent
me bringing you before the justices," I immediately left the
house and gave information of what had happened to the
police. •
Ann Heaton examined.—l lived near to the house of the
prisoner in November last. On the morning of the 19th of that
iconth, a little before fouroqlock, she knocked me up. Upon
asking her what she wanted, she replied, " will you get up, my
husband is just dead?" I got up and went with her to her
houge. As they were going along, prisoner said, " Nanny, it
will be very awful for you to see him, for he is sitting in the
arm-chair with Loy cloak round hint." When we gut to the
house I went in first The deceased was in the chair, anti in
the manner, described'hv the prisoner. He was dead. Upon
my asking how long he had been dead, prisoner-replied, about
ten minutes. I immediately afterwards assisted in laying him
' out. He was then not quite cold. Prisoner let inc see a gill
jog. She said. " that was the pot her dear husband had last
drunk out of."' Sue said " he had had a gill of beer and a
pennyworth of rum in it; and that she had just before that time
given him a glass of gin with some garliek in it." Taking the
jug in her hand, prisoner said, look here. he has drank it all."
She said deceased had died about one o'clock ; and upon my
asking why she did not send fora doctor, or call any of the
neighbours up at that time, she said " deceased would not
allow her to get a doctor; and as he was so very ill she did not
like to leave him." The deCea4d Was about 50 wears of age.
Pratchett ltachford examined.-4 live in a cellar, next door
to the dwelling of the deceased. :I have frequeotly heard pri-
soner and deceased ,quarrelling.. They had, lived upon very
bad terms ever since 1 knew them. never heard of the de-
ceased heingisick. Two days before his death I heard his loom
at Mork. Deceased was a weaver by trade.
_1 am quite certain
I beard him _at work a day or two before his death. There are
no rats or other v.,rmin in my cellar. I never heard of any on
the premises of the prisoner.
Alice Tinker examined.-1 live near to the prisoner. About
a week before the death of deceased, prisoner asked me to go
with herlo Mr. Goodinau's, the-surgeon, to buy something to
poison .rats with. She said it .was,'oot for herself, but fur
another woman that she wanted it.. She did not mention the
name of the woman. I accordingly went with her, to Mr.
Goodinatfs, where she asked a boy in the shop to *e
,her a
pennyworth of.soinething to kill rats• with.. The Gqy fiaged his
master out, and he gave, her. some etnitin a:bite 'Mei)
it, was 4lelivered.rtn .prisona .Mr. her
' "'You Usual be very careful haw yen Use 'Ong, ft it poison,"

The stnff looked like fiour. • I do not know whether or riot the
paper had the Word poison written .Or.labelled upon it. •
Thomas GoOdmati.--Is a chemist and druggist in Manches-.
ter. I have known the last witness to have been in the habit of
corning, to .my shop for some time past. I sail a great deal of
arsenic occasionally to kill vermin. Arsenic is white, .almost.
like flour, and' would be taken for such by any ordinary person.:
Invariably, when I sell it, I caution the person who buys it that,
.it. is a dangerous article. The word-" poison" is invariably la-
belled upon every parcel in very legible letters. I cannot re-
collect either the prisoner or the last witness coming to my
shop on the day mentioned:
James. Sawiey.-1 am a constable at Manchester. In conse-
quence of having received information from the witness Jere-
miah Crawley I went to the house of the deeeased, on Sunday,
the 22d of last November. I found from fifteen to twenty per-
sons in the house drinking, or holding what is called an Irish
Wake over the body of the deceased. The prisoner was among
,the number. The-deceased was in the coffin on the bed, and
preparations were just being made to convey bite to the church-
yard. The prisoner, upon my asking her when her husband
'had died, sa d his decease took place at four o'clock in thernorn-
ing of the Thursday previous. She said he had been ill only
about a dav ; that she had not called in any surgeon nor any-of
the neighb'ours. I asked her what his complaint was; she re-
plied, it was something in his bowels. I desired that deceased
might not be interred that afternoon. But upon seeing the
coroner afterwards I gave permission that it should be. I then
took the prisoner into t ustody, but I had considerable difficulty
in doing so, being prev"ented by the persons assembled to attend
the fdneral. On our way to the New Bailey prisoner began to
cry; She said, "0 dear me, I have never given him anything
but a drop of brandy. lam sure I have not. lam as innocent
as a child; suffer or not suffer I cannot help it. I did not do it;
I did not do it."- I had not spoken to her before she said that.
I held out no threat or promise to her whatever. 1 will swear I
did not. She said it quite voluntarily. I sever even spoke to
het respecting the manner in which I suspected her husband
had died. After the conversation 1 have just mentioned, she
added, when we had proceeded a tittle farther, "0 yes, I gave
him threepennyworth of whisky on Tuesday, two days before he
died." The deceased was buried on the same afternoon on
which I took the prisoner. This was done by permission of the
coroner. The deceased was buried in-Mr. iacholefield's burial
ground. The grave was watched front that day till the time the
deceased was disinterred, -to undergo a pastmorlem examination.
The prisoner was discharged from custody on the Monday fol-
lowing, the 23d of November, and was not apprehended again
till the sth of February, although diligent search was made
after her in the interim. When she was again taken she recog-
nised*itness, at the New Bailey prison, as the person who
first took her up, and with whom she had had the conversation
I havejust related.
Johh Booth.—l am a constable at Manchester.. I appre-
headed the prisoner on the sth of February last, in a 'muse at
Chorlton-upon-Medlock. I asked her "if her name was not
Betty Rowland ?" She .replied. "It is." I then said, "you •
are the person I want, and whom I, have been seeking for a
long time back." I said, " I am taking you on a charge of ,
poisoning your husband." She replied, Well, 1 have no
-pleasure of my•lite, I have no pleasure of my time—l am
miserable:" I then said, " you may well not have any pleasure
of your time, if all is true I have- heard about you." that
she made no reply. During this conversation I made use of no
promise nor threat, nor said or did anything to induce the pri-
soner to say what I have just related. I then conveyed her to
prison. On our way there I asked her where she had been to,
and why she had gone away out of the town ? She said,,"the
reason I went away was, that my husband had left me so much
in debt that I thirst not reside in the neighbourhood for fear his
ereditors.should injure me. I could not stay safely." In my
presence, Sawley, the last witness, asked the prisoner if I had
charged her with anything. She answered. " that I had said
she had poisoned her husband;". and she, then replied, " It is
not ti ue—l have not done itit is a false charge:'
James Sawley recalled.—After Booth;the last witness,, had
made a statement of a-bat had traiispired'between him, (Booth)
and the prisoner, I said to the prisoner in his presence, -' Well
Betty, you know what you are charged with. She said;
" Yes, lam guilty—l am guilty—l don't care how soon I die—
I don't care how soon I die." I said " I had heard she had
bought some stuff at Mr. Goodman's" She said " Yes, I did.
1 bought seine arsine there." I asked, her who was with her
at the time ? . She replied " Alice Tinker was with time." I
asked her how much she bought ? She said " A pennyworth."
I said " Well, you are charged with having given it to your
husband." She then began to cry, and said" Yes, I put it in
some gruel, I thought it was sugaL', I asked her why she had
given it to him ? and site said, " I had tasted it before I did so,
and am sure it could do hint no harm." I asked her why she
gave it to him after she had found out her mistake, and after
she had tasted it, upon which she said that it was only sugar,
and could do hiM no harm.

Joseph Sadler ThomaS.,-I am deputy-constable of Manches-
ter. I saw the prisoner the Morning of the 7th of January. I
said to her, crhwe-"yffirsent for me?" She said "yes. I want
to tell you all about it." I made use of no threat nor promise
whatever ro her. am certain I did not. I cautioned her two
or three times that everything she might then say would be
brought against her, in evidence on a future occasion. To this
she replied, "I don't care ; I am very uneasy; I. want to tell
you the whole truth, awl nothing hut the truth, although I die
for it." She then complained of the.treatment of her husband,
from whom, she said; she separated three days after they were
married, when they remained separated for a considerable time
aftefwards. She added, "'respecting his death I'll tell you
everything. Some time ago I asked Alice Tinker to go with
the to Mr. Goodman's to get some arsenic. I told her it was fur
another woman, whose name I did not mention. We then went
to Mr. Goodman's, and bought a pennyworth. Ile told us to be
Care:bl, as it was pOison, and he cautioned me how to use it.
After we left the shop,. I then told Alice Tinker it was not for
our house that we wanted it."
Richard Green.—ls a constable at IVlanehesler. I was pre-
sent when Mr. Oilier, the surgeon, opened the body of the de-
ceased. It was disinterred from the burying ground of Mr.
Scholefield. I ilidnot:see deceased before he was buried, but
his body was shown to the, fist witness,,Jereiniah Crawley, in
the burial.ground, who identified it as that of Wm. Rowland..

•
Henry Oilier.—l am a surgeon at Manchester. Oa the 27th
/lay of November I examined the deceased in Mr. Sebolefield's
burial:ground. I took out the contents of the stomach, and
took them home to my own surgery, where I analysed them. I
*found a quantity of common white arsenic there, more than suf-
ficient to Intve occasioned the death of the deCaasert7 r flUe
no part of the fluid took from the stomach with me to-day. I
reduced the arsenic from the state of salt to the mineral itself.
I have no doubt whatever but the arsenic I found was the cause
of the death of the deceased. He must have suffered very con.,
siderablv for some time previous to his death. He could not
possibly have survived twenty-four hours after he had taken the
poison. Every other part of his body, as far as I examined it
presented a perfectly healthy appearance.
• This closed the case for the prosecution.
The prisoner, upon being asked what she had to Ray in her
defence, replied that she was entirely innocent. She handed-
ovie,a written defence, which was read aloud oy the clerk of
th 4 court, and was afterwards carefully read over to the jury by
the learned judge at the conclusion of his charge. It set forth
that deceased had desired prisoner to purchase some poison to
kill the vermin with with which the house was infested, and,
that in consequence she did so; that, on the night her husband
died, he'awolte her and desired that-she would get up and get
hiM some gruel, which she did; and.•having no candle with her
tpon going to the cupboard to get some sugar to sweeten it with,
she look, the parcel containing the poison for the sugar, which
she emptied into the gruel and gave to the, deceased. She fur-
ther stated that there were several parcels, very much alike, of
,'tea, coffee, sugar, and tobacco, together with the arsenic; on the
same shelf in the cupboard. She accounted fin. her absence
froin Manchester from the 22d of November to the sth of Feb.
by 'stating that she had been obliged to leave the place on ac-
count of being in debt, and that she had been at Macclesfield
all the time till within a few days of her apprehension.
His LottostriP then proceeded to sum up the evidence, which
he did with considerable care and minuteness, commenting
upon it as he went along..
The Jury turned round in their box, and in about half a mi-
nute afterwards returned a verdict of wilful murder against the
prisoner.
The JUDGE 'proceeded to pass sentence of death upon the
prisoner in the following terms.
Betty Rowland, You have been found. guilty of the horrid
crime of murder, byadministering poison to your husband;
no doubt can be entertained for a moment, after the evidence
which has been heard against you, of your having in pursuance
of a scheme you had formed before hand, intended to make an
end of your husband'i life. You have but a fel hours to live.
It is absolutely necessary, in order to strike terror into those
persons who have power over the lives of their consorts; I say
it is absolutely necessary that those persons should see the ex-
' ample which you will shew forth to them, that they will not be
permitted to act as you have-done with impunity. I earnestly
exhort you to employ the short remaining time you have to live
in this world in imploring mercy from your Cieator and:Judge,
as there is no hope, I cannot hold out any hope- that your life
will be spared ; but to Him, into whose presence you are about
to appear, you may still look for that mercy which the law for-
bids me to extend tow,:rds you. It only remains for me to
pronounce the dreadful sentence of the lww, which is, that you
be taken from hence to the place from whence you came, and
front thence on Saturday you be taken to some place of execu-
tion, where you will he*hanged by the neck till your are dead,
and may the Lerd have mercy on your soul.

WILFUL MURDER NEAR -nutty.
Jam Bury. d 6; vas charged with the wilful murder -of Agnes
Ilerdson, at Prestwich, near Bury. The prisoner pleaded not
guilty.
Mr. BRAN DT appeared for the prosecution, and Dr. BROWN
defended the prisoner.
Mr. George Holmes examined.—l am a surgeon at Pilking.
ton, near Ratcliffe. On the 26th of last November I was called
in to attend the deceased, who was lying in the house of woman
named Betty Coates. at Bury: I found her lying in bed in a very
dangerbus'itate. [The witnefis here went On to describe the
nature of the injuries which the deceased had .reCeived, but
which were of so indelicate; and at the same time of so horrible
,
and brutal a description as to render- it quite impossible for us
to report them. It will be perhaps. -sufficient- to. state,- that the
witness, at the conclUSion, saul that the injuries the deceate4-
had received.were such as left no doubt that she had died:in
consequence of them.' In consequence of the clanger in whiek
the deceased was in the surgeon thought it his duty to.acqoaint:
her that she could not live many days longer. The result was,.
that she sent for an overlookerin the manufactory in which she
had worked, and to whom she made such communications' as
caused the prisoner to be apprehended. Part of the evidence:
of the overlooker, who is also constable of Ratcliffe, the place
where the deceased was employed, we subjoin.
Mr. Samuel Eloltue examined.,--I am constable of Ratcliffe,
and an nyerlooker in Mr. Peel's cotton manufactory, where the
deceased was formerly employed as a piecer. She was at her
work for the last time on the 25th November. She was. only
able to work a quarter of a day at that time. She complained
of being ill, and was obliged to go home. On the 13th of 'Dec.
following the deceased sent for me, ancL understanding she was
near her end, and had comet king to communicate to me, I Went.
I did not stay with her at that time, as there were persons in
the house and about her bedside praying with her. The next
day she sent.for me again. I went about half-past
.five in the
evening. She was in bed. • There were two or three personS in
the.room, who, by her desire, left it as soon as I entered. Mary
Berry (the woman in whose house the deceased was) then
showed me something by the desire of the deceased, and then
left us together in the room. ' The deCeased waKthen in a dying
state. She was perfectly composed and 'sensible. As anon as
we were alone, she said,-" William-I have something to declare:
to thee before I can die," - I said,!." -Well, -Agnes, what is it ?"
She said. " William.l can't die. comfortably till I have told
thee." She said she knew she 1111191.4 h,, and telt sure she mould
never could get better; but before she said any thing more, she
'trust have the prisoner, sent for,- as she_ wanted to tergive
him, and she prayed God to forgive him also. The, prisoner
was then sent for, and, addressing hint, the deceased
" Thou sees what thou has brought me to. He. replied s
, _
was not me." Upon which she said, "Dues thou not remember
fetching me out of old Betty Coates's. and dashing the down 0, n
the floor two or three tunes?" The prisoner here slapped her,
and said to the deceased, " If thou says another word,,i'll cut
thy eves out of thy head." The deceased notwithstanding went
on with her woeful relation of what further, injury the prisoner
did to her, which, for the reasons mentioned, we cannot give in
detail. [As the witness gate his account of it, word after word,
evert/ person in court: .as far ac efilbdery ion wentoappeared
ihig,keti at the ,liotritild Itattittive.- Many'pervoul shed-lean".