The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-04-13 00:00:00

SOUTH LANCASHIP,E SPRINC ASSIZEB

CROWN COURT.—FRIDAY.
Friday last, being Good Aida:, the judges attended divine

service at St:George's Church, i; coniecitience of which Mr.
Justice Maule did not take his seat on the bench of the

Crown Court until ten minutes t) one o'clock

EXTRAORDINARY CAE OF BIGAMY.
Elizabeth Daniels stood. indicted for, that she being the

wife of John Daniels, feloniously rid marry one Joseph SMith,
on the Bth of October, 1840, the said Daniels being then
alive ; and John Daniels stood indicted for having coun-
selled, promoted, and incited his wife Elizabeth to commit
the felony. Both the prisoners having pleaded not guilty,
the following jury were sworn to ;ry the case :
John Bolton, Thomas Collins John 11. Collins, Charles

Cusack, Peter Hope, George Keiworthy, Alfred H. Hen-
shaw, William Folds, Edward Woods, John Taylor, Thomas
Starkie, and John Arnold.
The prisoner Elizabeth was defended by Mr
and the prisoner John by Mr. W:LKINS.
Mr. ARMSTRONG stated the case. He said the prisoner
Elizabeth had been indicted for bigamy, and that the indict-
ment further charged that the other prisoner, who was her
real husband, had been an accessory before the fact to its
commission. If the latter allegation were proved, there
could be little doubt that he was the worse prisoner of the
two. The evidence against the female prisoner would be
very short. It would be proved that she had been married
to. Daniels at St. David's Church in September, 1839, and
that she was subsequently married to a person of the name
of Joseph Smith, on the Bth of October, 1840. Though tile
case would be a short one against the female prisoner, it was
necessary that he should enter into the facts in order to show
that the male prisoner had been an accessory. It would ap-
pear that Mr. Smith, the second husband, met with the

MURPHY,

female prisoner at a tea-garden ; that he formed an acquain-
tance with her there; and that he met her in the streets after-
wards, when she represented herself to be a widow. It
would further appear that after some time he proposed mar-
riage to her. At first she declined the proposal, saying that
she was living with her brother-in-law, Mr. Edmund-
son, at Mount-pleasant, and that he wished her to
marry a man of the name of Lee. She had a bro-
ther-in-law of that name, but he was not residing in
Mount- pleasant. Subsequently, Mr. Smith went to Bolton-.
street, the residence of the female prisoner, where he had
interviews with her, and where he also saw the male pri-
soner, whom she represented to be her brother-in-law, Mr.
Edmundson. This having gone on fur some time, she at
length consented to be married to Mr. Smith. They went to
church accordingly for that purpose, but her heart failed her,
as he (the learned counsel) supposed. She wished her mar-
riage to be postponed. -A
short postponement then took
place, but, having gone to church again on the Bth of Octo-
ber, they were married. On the evening of the day on which
the marriage had taken place, the male prisoner, who repre-
sented himself to Mr. Smith as the Mr. Edmundson, came
to the lodgings to which Mr. Smith and the female prisoner
had retired after the ceremony had taken place. On enter-
ing, Mr. Smith addressed him as Mr. Edmundson, where-
upon he said his name was not Edmundson; but it would
appear in evidence that he frequently called at the lodgings
afterwards and represented himself to be Mr. Edmundson.
With reference to his conduct previous to the marriage, evi-
dence would be given tending to show that he had been a
party to what was going on between Mr. Smith and his wife ;
because after she had made.appointments to meet Mr. Smith,
she wrote notes to put him off; and he (the learned counsel)
believed that he should be able to prove that those notes had
been written by the male prisoner. What motive, then,
could the male prisoner have for aiding in the promotion of
the second marriage, particularly as it seemed he had been
on good terms with her, and that he was constantly with her
after the ceremony had taken place ? Why, it must have
been that he might live on the wages of her prostitution, and
by the plunder of the man who had mistakenly supposed
himself to be her husband. He had been living with her in
Bolton-street; but when she went to live with Mr. Smith,
after her marriage with that gentleman, and that he had been
visiting her there, she took lodgings for him elsewhere. She
paid the weekly sum for his lodgings, and when she went to
market on Saturdays she bought more than was wanted for
herself and Mr. Smith, and took part to the lodgings of the
male prisoner. Under these circumstances, it would be for
the jury to say whether. the male prisoner had not been aid-
ing, assisting, and counselling her to commit the felony.
William Edmundson was the first witness called. He was
examined by Dr. BROWN as follows :—I am a tailor and dra-
per, living at 28, Oldhall-street. I have lived there seven
years, and married a sister of the female prisoner. Her
name was Eliza Whittaker. She had another sister besides
the female prisoner. Her father was an innkeeper in Dale-
street. The marriage between the male and female prisoner
took place in September, 1839, in St. David's Church, Liver-
pool, by license. I was present at the marriage. They were
married by the Rev. Mr. Davies. I never visited them after
the marriage, but they continued to visit me for tree or four
months after. I have not seen them together since that
time. I did not know where they were living. I never lived•
at 73, Mount-pleasant.
Cross-examined by Mr. MURPHY.—I had no particular
reason for discontinuing my intimacy with them. The rea-
son I did not visit them was because I have been too much
engaged in the week-days, and on Sundays I had something
else to attend to. I never warned my wife against receiving
their visits. I never heard that they were in the habit of
quarrelling, nor can I say that I heard anything against them.
1 never heard anything about her mode of living since her
first marriage, but I heard before she was married that she
was leading rather an indifferent life. I do not know
that she was leading that indifferent life after the marriage.
The male prisoner was a clerk to Mr. Ripley. He left that
employment, and I heard the wife supported herself and him
after that by taking in sowing. I never heard he was in the
habit of drinking at public-houses. I never saw Mr. Smith
until she was taken into custody. He never had any conver-
sation with me about £BO a-year that she was entitled to, but
le asked me if she was entitled to it after she was taken into

custody.
Joseph Smith, examined by Mr. ARMSTRONG.—I am an
engineer, living at Great Orford-street, Liverpool. I first
3ecame acquainted with the female prisoner in July or Au-
;list, 1840. I first became acquainted with her in St.
Jr.mes's Gardens. At the next interview I had with her,
the described herself as Mrs. Elizabeth Daniels, a widow,
Living with Mr.Wm:Edmundson, a draper, and her brother-
in-law, residing in Mount pleasant. I asked her respecting
her friends. She said she had several residing in and near
Preston, and that she had £B5 a-year left her by her grand-
father, and that some other property hinged on her younger
brother coming of age. I proposed marriage to her after-
wards.' She declined.my proposal, and gave no reason. She
afterwards consented to marry me. When she described
herself as a widow, she said her husband Daniels was a
captain of a merchant-ship,.and that he was drowned on his
passage to' America. I was married to her on the Bth of
December, by the Rev. Mr. Blundell, at St. Aline's Church,
Liverpool. Before the marriage I visited her at Bolton-
street, where I saw the male prisoner sometimes. lam not
aware that he saw me, for I did not speak to him. She re-
presented him to me as her brother-in-law, Mr. Wm. Ed-
mundson. While the courtship was going on, I received
notes from her. The one now handed was the first I re-
ceived. I got it on the 4th. The second one produced was
received on the sth. The third one was received on the 6th,
the fourth on the 7th, the fifth the same day, and the sixth
on the Bth of December (the morning of the marriage). I
saw the male prisoner on the evening of the day I was mar-
ried. He came to my lodgings in Grat Orford-street, where
I had taken my wife. I addressed him as Mr. Edmundson,
and said I was glad to see him. He said his name was not
Edmundson. He asked me in a very confused tone, if I
were married, to which I replied that I had the happiness
then to be a married man, and he left. I then continued to
live with my wife until I discovered about the first marriage.
The male prisoner continued to visit me, and he always ad-
dressed the female prisoner as " Elizabeth," and he was
always represented to me as her brother-in-law, Mr. Ed-
mundson. When the female prisoner came in on the even-
ing of the marriage, I told her that he had denied being Mr.
Edti3undson, and she laughed and said, " Oh ! it is Mr. Ed-
mundson." I always addressed him as Mr. Edmundson.
After that she told me that Mr. Edmundson had detained
her clothes, and I urged him to give them up. He said he
would give up the clothes provided she gave up a deed she
had, which deed related to some property that he had con-
trol over as an executor. She told me that the deed was hid
behind a picture-frame in his house in Mount-pleasant. It
was agreed that he and I should go to Mount-pleasant about
the clothes, and an,hour was fixed for the purpose. When
the time came she would not allow me to go, but she said
she would go herself, and she then went away herself. She
told me she went, and that she had quarrelled with her un-
married sister that lived in Mount-pleasant with Edmund-
son. I first ascertained that she was a married woman on
the Ist of March, and I continued to live with her as her
husband up to that time. She told me she was about to be
married to a Mr. Lee, in Preston, and the male prisoner
told me that he was out of pocket £3OO in preparing for that
marriage.

Cross-examined by Mr. MURPHY.—I was employed as an
engineer by the Irish government about three quarters of a
rear since. I never told the female prisoner that I had dis-
covered certain gold mines. When I met the female prisoner
in St. James' Gardens an elderly female was with her. They
were sitting in a chair, and I sat down beside them. I got
no smile that encouraged me to go on. I felt myself very
weak that day, and in consequence sat down. I then ad-
dressed some children that were playing there. The elderly
lady commenced the conversation. I don't know ,what has
become of that elderly lady. I don't recollect that I ever
said before that an elderly lady was present. Afterwards, I
met the female prisoner in Great Charlotte-street. She ap-
peared to be in peat agitation, and I went up to know what
was the matter. I spoke first. She said she had quarrelled
with her brothertin-law. She then told me her nape was
Mrs. Elizabeth Daniels. There was no coaxing on my part
before she told me that. It is no part of the business of an
engineer to go up to agitated ladies in the street. (A laugh.)
I was about two or three months acquainted with her before
I proposed marriage. I was not at that time in receipt of a
large income from my engineering. I never asked her whe-
ther she was in the receipt of any money, hilt she told me her-
self and her sisters were in the receipt of £B5 a-year. It was
after she told me that I proposed marriage. I don't know
how it was that I never went to Mr. Edmundson's to enquire
whether her statements were true. As she was on the point
of fainting on one occasion, I took her into a public-house
for sympathy. We did not remain in that house until one
o'clock in the morning. I took her into a public-house on a
second occasion, where we remained until about twelve
o'clock at night, she being in a state of agitation ati the time.
I took down the items of £B5 a-year in a memorandum-book.
I never told her I was in the receipt of ten guineas a-day as
an engineer, nor did I say that I had made a great discovery
which I could not tell the present government because they
were whigs, but that I would tell the next government be-
cause they would be tories. (Great laughter.) I never said
that my discoveries would tend to make " Sir Joseph Smith."
We had wine and brandy together at the public-houses. I
never asked her on those occasions to go home with me to
my lodgings. She told me on one occasion that I had pressed
her to marry, that she was going to Preston. I recommended
her to go as her brother-in-law was so unkind to her, and as
it was not prudent for her to remain in Bolton-street. After
I thought she had gone to Preston I met her near St. John's
market. Her presence on that occasion surprised me. When
she told me that she was about to be married to Lee, I told
her to make her election, but I went on my knees, conjured
her to throw Lee by and to take me, and we had some brandy
and water after to make it more pleasant. (Laughter.) In
consequence of her agitation the night but one before the
marriage she and I stopped all night together at a public-
house. I remained with her to console her. (Great laughter.)
On more than four occasions she disappointed me in coming
to the church to be married, she represented herself to be so
agitated and unwell. Ou one occasion we went into church
to be 'married, but I refused as she was not dressed as
she should be as a bride, because I thought I would not get
the clothes that were bought for the marriage with Lee.
Shortly before the marriage I went to Mr. Owens, a drug-
gist, to borrow £5 to get a license. Mr. Owens refused to
lend it. I told him my intended wife was a rich widow, and
that I would lose about £3,000 if I was not married.
Cross-examined by Mr. WititiNs.—On the day of the
marriage she received a note in the church. I had a glimpse
of that note ; but she prevented me from reading it. I know
a Mrs. Cornett, of George's-street ; but that lady never told
me before the marriage that the female prisoner was a mar-
ried woman. The female prisoner told me that the house in
which she lodged, in Bolton-street, was kept by an old female
servant of her mother's. I drank brandy and water in that
house, and stopped there all one night consoling the female
prisoner. The woman who kept the Bolton-street house was
not the old lady that was with the female prisoner in St.
James's Gardens. I think I met that old lady afterwards
walking up Mount-pleasant in company with the female pri-
soner. I believe I saw them together on two occasions. I
saw the male prisoner on two occasions in the house of the