The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-10-09 00:00:00

CORONER'S INQUEST.-COMMITMENT FOR

WILFUL MURDER.

Yesterday afternoon an inquisition was taken before P. F.
Lurie, Esq., on view of the body of Ann Kehoe, wife of
wen Kehoe, who died in the Infirmary from the effects of
rtain wounds on the head, inflicted by her husband. As

case was one of a most serious nature, we give the whole

:vidence

Mary Philburn, the wife of Miles Philburn, of Allen s-
court, Stockdale-street, being sworn said :—The deceased
and her husband lodged in our house. The husband's name
is Owen Kehoe. They came to lodge with us about three
months ago. They lived on very bad terms with each other,
always quarrelling. The prisoner is a ship-scraper by trade.
Yesterday fortnight, about two o'clock in the day, the de-
ceased called out to me to come up to her, and cried murder
several times. I went up stairs directly, and met the de-
ceased coming down. She held her hand to her forehead,
and was bleeding very much. She asked me to go with her
`o the druggist's, as she was destroyed. The deceased came
ewn stairs, and I left her there, and went for her son, Mid
ever saw the deceased afterwards. On my return home I
stairs, and found the prisoner standing in his own
room with one of the two scrapers now produced, in his
hand.—[These were common ship-scrapers with ash handles,
and triangular blades. Both of them were a good deal
worn, so that the blade of each might measure from point to
point 24 inches.]—The witness continued :—Being afraid to
speak to him whilst he had that in his hand, I went down
into the kitchen, and the prisoner followed me. I said to
him " You have done a nice job now." The prisoner replied
" I am not sorry for it, and if I had not done it now I would
do it again, and this is what I done it with"—holding up the
scraper to show me. I cannot swear whether it was one of
the two scrapers now produced, but it was one like them.
On the Monday before the occurrence took place, I heard
the deceased calling for help. I was in bed at the time, but
I got up directly, and went into the room and found the pri-
'oner with the deceased across his knees, and he was grap-
)ling and squeezing her. The prisoner told me to go out of
he room, and not to interfere between man and wife, and
hat he " would do what he liked with her."
Anthony Griffin stated, that he was a labourer, and lived
a Jordan's-court, Stockdale-street, not very far from the
ourt where the prisoner and his wife lived. He knew both
Yesterday fortnight, between two and three o'clock
“re afternoon, witness was going down Stockdale-street.
Just as he was passing the end of Allen-court, the deceased
came sunning down the court, and exclaimed, " For God's
sake carry me to a doctor's, or else I shall fall dead !" Wit-
ness carried her in his arms to a druggist's shop, in Mary-
bone. A great deal of blood was running from both sides of
her head, and from her hand too. She was quite covered
with blood. In the druggist's shop, she said to witness,
" For God's sake bring me my children, that I may see them
before I die !" Witness went and fetched her children, and
the deceased was then taken in a coach. She told witness
her husband had struck her. Witness had since seen the
deceased lying dead at the Northern Hospital this day.
William Collins said, I am a labourer, and live in Wil-
liams-court, Stockdale-street, the next yard to where the
prisoner and his wife lived. The deceased was my mother,
by a former husband. A fortnight yesterday, about two
o'clock in the afternoon, Mary Phelburn (the first witness)
came and told me my mother was killed by her husband. I
went to the house where my mother and the deceased lived.
I found him sitting in the room they occupied, with his head
on his knees. I said to him, " You've killed the old woman
at last 1" He replied, " that he had not." I told him he
should not leave the room until a policeman came. I ob-
served a quantity of blood on the lobby, at the door of the
room, and on the door, and in the passage of the court. I
went out to look for a police-officer, and, not being able to
find one, I then went to the druggist's shop where the de-
ceased had been taken to. I got information, whilst I was
at the druggist's shop, that the prisoner had gone dowu Ma-
rybone. I went after him, and found him with the ship
scrapers, and I took him in custody, and delivered him in
Bridewell on charge of what he had done. I afterwards took
the deceased to the Northern Hospital. The prisoner and
the deceased lived on very bad terms, as he was always ill-
using her. Whilst I was taking the deceased in a coach to
the Northern Hospital, she said the prisoner was determined
to take her life. The prisoner was perfectly sober. The
deceased was above forty years old.
Daniel Wilson said, I am assistant-keeper at Vauxhall
Bridewell. The prisoner was brought to Bridewell on the
23d of last month, by the last witness, and charged by the
witness with assaulting his (Collins's) mother. The prisoner
had the two ship-scrapers now produced with him. There
was blood on the iron end of one of them, and what appeared
to be human hair. I made a remark to the prisoner when I
was putting him into a cell, that it was a shocking thing to
use these -weapons, (meaning the scrapers.) The prisoner
replied, "It was." I then told the prisoner I should like to
ask him a few questions, but that he might please himself
whether he would answer them. I then asked him did he
think the woman was dangerously hurt ? He said, " I think
she is, a good deal." I then asked him which end of the
scraper he struck her with ? He said, " I struck her with
the sharp end." I again asked him, if she treated him un-
kindly, and he said, "No ; but I have good neighbours." I
cautioned the prisoner before he answered any questions, and
did not bold out any inducement for him to answer ; but the
prisoner said he knew what he had done. and would answer
the consequences ; and he also said, he had been thinking of
doing this for a few days. The prisoner was perfectly sober,
and laughed a good deal, and made very light of it.
Catharine Murphy said :—I am the wife of William Mur-
phy, and we lodge in the same house where the prisoner and
his wife lived. I know them both. I cant remember the
day, but it is going on three weeks since, I was in the kitchen
when the woman of the house brought the deceased down.
Blood was flowing from her head and one of her hands. She
begged for some one to take her to a doctor. Just as she was
leaving the door, she clasped her hands together and ex-
claimed—" My God be with me; the murdering thief has
killed me at last." In about a couple of minutes the prisoner
Caine down stairs, and he had a ship-scraper in his hand.
The scraper was full of blood, and the prisoner kept wiping
it in his coat. The prisoner said he had done it, and that he
was not sorry, and that he would do it again, or words to that
effect. He said he had struck her with the scraper. He
afterwards said he would go up stairs and fetch the other
scraper, and go to his work, and he then went out. I then
went to see the woman dressed, and found her in a gore
of blood in a druggist's shop. She was afterwards taken
away in a coach, and I have not seen her since.
Ellen Collins being sworn, said—l am a single woman,
and live in Holden's-buildings, Stockdale-street. The de-
ceased was my mother by a former husband. I went to see
the deceased the day after she was taken to the Northern
Hospital. She was in bed at the time, and appeared per-
fectly sensible. I thought she was in a dying state at the
time, and she seemed to be fully aware of that also, because
she said to me she would never get out of that. She then
gave me a full account of what had taken place. She said
there was not a word between them, and they were sitting by
the fire after he had his breakfast, (meaning her hus-
band). She said they were going to shift from that
room, and that she had got a pot to put the cinders in
before they went, and that the prisoner got up and went for
a scraper, and said to her, " This instrument is very sharp,
and three blows from this would take a man's life." He
then put the scraper to her cap, while she was kneeling, and
she told him that her cap was quite bad enough, and that lie
need'nt be tearing it ; and he never said a word more, but
struck her on the head with the scraper, and struck her seve-
ral times after before she made any alarm. After he had
struck her, she said her sight had left her, and that she tried
to find her way out, and had got hold of the jam of the door
with one hand, when he struck her :with the scraper again
across the hand. She said the last blow he gave her was on
the back of her head, and that he was determined to cut her
head off, but the scraper would go no further. She also
said that we must appear against him, as she would'nt be
able, but that the doctor's notes, she expected, would con-
demn him. This was all she said to me, and I left her
shortly after.
Bridget Collins said :—I am the wife of William Collins,
and we live in William's-court, Stockdale-street. The de-
ceased was my mother-in-law. A fortnight, yesterday, just
after I had finished dinner, a person came and informed my
husband and me that the deceased was murdered. I went to
to the house where she resided, and found she had been taken
to the druggist's. I went into the room in which the pri-
soner lived, and found him there alone. He had a ship
scraper in his hand. I said to him, " I think you have
murdered her at last." He replied, " that if she was not
murdered he would murder her." I was quite fright-
ened, so I then came down. I went to the Northern
Hospital on Thursday last, and saw the deceased. She
was perfectly sensible, but appeared to be dying, be-
cause she told me to take her clothes from home and
pawn them, and to buy clothes for a little child of mine, as
she did not think she would want them any more. She said
that she was taking up some ashes, and that her husband had
put a ship scraper to her head while she was stooping, and
said this was a sharp weapon ; that she stooped again, and
that her husband then struck her on the head with the scraper,
and that lie had more trouble in getting it out of her head
again, than he had in putting it in ; that lie struck a second
blow at her, and that she put up her hand to save herself, and
that the scraper went through her hand. She also said that
whilst the prisoner was beating her he stated that he would
only get twelve months for murdering her. These were the
last words she said to me.
Edward Toye Woodward said :—I am one of the House
Surgeons of the Northern Hospital. The deceased was
brought there on the 23d of last month. She was bleeding
very profusely at the time, and, on examining her, I found
five wounds in different parts of her head. There was one at
the posterior part of the head, just at the junction of the
head and neck, about an inch-and-a-half in length, from
which blood was issuing very profusely. On examining her
left hand, I found a severe cut on the inner part of the fore-
finger, and a wound on the middle finger where it joined to
the hand, with a fracture of the bone. She was exceedingly
faint when she was brought in, but perfectly sensible. Every
thing was done for her, but she gradually declined until her
death, which took place yesterday morning, between five and
six o'clock. I have since made a post mortem examination of
the body. The four smaller wounds were quite healed ; but
the large one, at the posterior part of the head, was not heal-
ed. On removing the scalp, I discovered, about the middle
part of the skull, a small fracture, passing completely through
the skull into the brain. At the posterior part, on the right
side of the head, there was another fracture, also extending
completely through the skull. Upon removing the skull, I
found a small spicular bone driven into the posterior lobe of
the brain, and on removing the membrane covering the brain,
there was a large abscess in the substance of the brain itself.
There was also effusion of serum in the ventricles of the brain.
I consider the abscess in the brain the cause of death, and
hare no doubt of it arising from the injuries to the head. 1
have no doubt but that the injuries to the head might have
been inflicted with an instrument similar to the scraper now
shown to me ; and very great violence must have been used
to have done it.
The voluntary examination of the prisoner, taken the same
day (he being first cautioned that he need not say anything
unless he pleased, and that anything he did say would be
taken in writing, and used against him), he answered and
said—" I have nothing to say."
The jury, after listening to the Coroner's charge, brought
in a verdict of WILFUL MURDER.

of them

menced

DREADFUL MURDER AND SUICIDE.—A most dreadful
murder and suicide were committed in the forest of Dean,
on Monday night about seven o'clock, by a man of the name
of Willis, a foreman in the employ of Messrs. James and
Co., of Sydney. He was sitting by the fire at home, when
his daughter named Ann, a girl about 18 years of age, went
out of the door, and while in the act of gathering a few sticks
her father suddenly rose from his seat, took up a hatchet that
was near, struck her on the head, and knocked her brains
out. The poor girl ran a few yards to a neighbour's house,
where she died in a few minutes. After this attack on his
daughter, the man ran at his wife. and made a blow at her
head, but fortunately turning aside, she received it on her
arm, which was much hurt. He then ran into the orchard in
front of the house, and with a rasor cut his own throat, and
died immediately. This melancholy circumstance has caused
a great consternation in the neighbourhood, as the man was
always considered " a quiet inoffensive " man, and supposed
to be possessed of property to the amount of 7or £BOO. It
is right to state that about three months back, he attempted
to destroy himself by cutting his throat, but was prevented
by his wife from doing it effectually. He was then placed
in a private asylum at Whitchurch, in Herefordshire, where
he remained till about a month ago, he then came home, and
appeared quite well. Our informant saw the bodies of the
deceased on Tuesday morning, laid out side by side. The
daughter was a handsome and fine young woman. The spot
where the occurrence took place is about a mile from Coles-
ford, and within a few yards of the house where the unfortu-
nate RichardYarworth breathed his Standard.

GREAT MEETING
OF THE
LIVERPOOL PROTESTANT ASSOCIATION

The annual meeting of the Liverpool Protestant As-
sociation was held yesterday, at the Amphitheatre. It
was announced that the proceedings were to commence
at eleven o'clock; but long before that period almost
every seat in the theatre was occupied. The plan of

opening the doors some hours before the time appoint-

ed for the business of the meeting, has proved to be
an excellent arrangement. It obviates the unpleasant-
ness of a general rush towards the doors, and especially
affords the ladies an opportunity of securing comfort-
able seats. Indeed, the whole of the arrangements for
the occasion were exceedingly judicious, and reflect the
highest credit on the committee.
At a moderate estimate, we should say that there
were upwards of four thousand individuals present. The
appearance of the theatre from the platform was truly
magnificent. The circus, the pit, the boxes, the galle-
ries, were densely crowded in every part, the boxes be-
ing chiefly occupied by ladies, all of whom seemed to
take a deep interest in the proceedings. It has been

the fashion of our radical contemporaries to affect to

disparage the importance of the meetings of the l'ro-

testant Association, on account of the great number of
ladies who are in the habit of attending them. We
think that their presence adds greatly to the impor-
tance of the proceedings. The influence which females
exert over popular opinion is too great to be sneered

down by the jests and jeers of the radical press.
The following were among the clergy and gentry
upon the platform :

Revs. T. Tattershall, D.D., R. P. Buddicom, H. M`Neile,
Hugh Stowell, R. J. M`Ghee, W. Maynard, Furnival,
E. Lawrence, J. Jones, A. Knox, J. Lyon, R. Davies, Y.
Richards, (Montgomeryshire,) Purdon, Cheetham,
Smith, F. Ould, C. Postlethwaite, (Vicar of Hendon, Notts,)
Dover, (Leeds,) H. S. Joseph, Borroughs, (Cambridge,)
Chalmers, Banning, (Greenock,) Meyler, (Prescot,)
Allen, (Tilston,) Birkett, (Northwich,) D. Seddon,
(Salford, Manchester,) Stone. (Rossett, Chester,) Fal-
loon, Hamilton, James Haworth, (Chester,) T. Barker,
(Farndon,) Mayne, (Manchester) Swinton, Dodd,
A. W. Richards, J. M. O'Connor, De Vere Coney, (Mission-
ary from Achill,) D. James, H. Carpenter, Mathley,
(Manchester,) Lyons, A. M'Conkey, M. Allan, Ro-
berts, T. Bridges, (St. John's, Newfoundland,) Hassell,
Mainwaring, Driffield, (Prescot,) W. Coombes,
Henderson, G. Mansfield, M'Guire, G. T. Driffield,
(Oxford,) Witts, J. B. Ingham, S. P. Boutflower,
Furnival, J. E. Bates, Stokes, F. Barker, F. Parry, C.
S. Absolam, (Tilstone,) B. A. Marshall, J. Fearon, P.
Brown, Spencer, G. Mallony, T. Rawson, W. Fenton,
J. C. Hamilton, Barker, (Chester,) Long, (Davenham,)
J. N. Peill, W. Fisher, and Lindon ; Messrs. Rigby,
Howard, Rounthwaite, Vale, Leete, Rowett, Boutflower,
Sands, Roskell, Codner, Horsfall, Edwards, Brindley,
O'Neill, Anderson, Reed, Cotesworth, Preston, Hodgson,

Jones, &c.
At eleven o'clock the chair was taken by the Rev.
Thomas Tattershall, D.D., and the proceedings corn-

The Rev. CHAIRMAN opened the meeting as fellows—My
Christian friends,—We have an apostolical injunction that
men should pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without
wrath and without doubting. And we cannot be otherwise
than fully persuaded, that the most likely way to obtain any
blessing from God is to supplicate the footstool of his mercy,
for it is the spirit of humble faith. It has been the uniform
practice of the Asssociation of which we form a part, from
the commencement of its institution, to open all its meetings
with an act of devotion. And as I am sure I speak your
feelings as well as my own, in the desire that this meeting
should form no exception to the general rule, I shall beg
leave to call upon the Rev. Mr. M`Conkey to open this meet-
ing with prayer.
The Rev. ANDRXW M'CoNKEY offered up an impressive
prayer appropriate to the occasion.
The Rev. CHAIRMAN then addressed the meeting. He
said—Rising now from prayer, and standing in the position
in which you have placed me, I think I cannot better
open the proceedings of this day, than by expressing a
hope and trust that an answer to the prayer which has been
already offered up will be vouchsafed from on high, and that
it will produce a softening and hallowing influence on the
entire of the remaining part of our proceedings, so that those
proceedings may be both carried on and completed in a man-
ner suitable to that in which they have been commenced. If
I say that it is with regret that I find myself placed in my
present position, it is not that I would wish to express the
slightest unwillingness or reluctance to obey either your call,
or the call of the committee of the Protestant Association, on
this or any other occasion, and to render any trifling service
which I may be able in the best manner that I can ; for I
would not distrust the grace of that God which was ever
made conspicuous in human weakness; and, moreover, I have
good cause to exercise a strong confidence in your own
kindness and indulgence, which, having been so liberally
shewn to me on former occasions, will, I am persuaded, be
repeated on the present occasion, and which causes me to
entertain a full assurance that no deficiencies of mine will
have the effect of deteriorating from the harmony and from
the value of the proceedings of this day. My regret arises
from another cause. I find myself standing in a position
which would, with so much more advantage, have been
occupied by one of three others—two of them ennobled
individuals, for whom this place was destined on this occa-
sion : I refer to the Most Noble the Marquis of Downshire,
the Right Hon. the Earl of Winchelsea, and Mr. Plum ptre,
M.P. for East Kent. (Hear, hear.) Any one of these,
had he been present, would not only have more efficiently filled
the situation of chairman presiding over this meeting, but
have given much additional weight to the proceedings of this
day. However, as the very humble substitute of one or
other of those able and exalted individuals, it will become
me to say a few words with respect to the objects on behalf
of which we are called together. We are, then, let it first of
all be remembered, professedly a meeting of protestants ; we
are professors of protestantism, and by protestantism we
mean primitive Christianity—(cheers)—the Christianity of
the Bible, the Christianity of the word of inspiration, ante-
cedent to and set free from all extraneous additions, all cor-
ruptions, and defilements, which during the lapse of ages have
been crowded upon the true Christian scheme, either during
the Nicene age, or subsequently, during the ages of papal
darkness and superstition, (Applause.) We protest against
all and every doctrine, professing to be part of Christianity,
which is not found in its enunciation, and in its proof
and developement, in the Holy Scriptures. (Cheers.)
The Bible alone is the religion of the protestant. (Hear.)
Whatever professes to be Christianity, if it is not 'contained
in the Bible, against that we protest. (Cheers.) More-
over, we are assembled here, not merely as protestants, but
as members of a Protestant Association—that is, of an asso-
ciation formed for the diffusion and defence of protestantism.
Having thus met together, it is to be hoped—indeed, I am
fully persuaded—that all the proceedings of this meeting
will be of a character suitable to the nature of this profession.
We are of opinion that doctrinal truth is not a matter of mere
naked speculation—that according to scripture language,
"As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." The doc-
trines which he receives as true have an influence on his
whole character and on his conduct, in all the relations in
which he is placed, whether domestic, social, civil, or reli-
gious. (Applause.) We are of opinion, that true doctrine
will have its proper influence in the production of true and
honest and beneficial practice. We believe that this is true
in man's public relations, as well as in his private relations ;
and we feel persuaded of the converse of this fact, namely,
that whosoever entertains false opinions, is, so far as those
false opinions have influence, likely to be carried to an im-
proper and injurious course of action. (Hear, hear.)
Hence, therefore, we think it a matter of importance
to warn our fellow-creatures, of every degree, against the
influence of what we consider to be anti-scriptural doctrines,
believing that the true interest of every community is bound
up in the cordial reception of the truth as it is in Christ
Jesus. Having made these very few simple remarks, I might
now—indeed, it would by many perhaps be thought better
that I should—immediately sit down, and allow the busi-
ness of the meeting to go on ; but I must beg permission
to make one or two allusions to some circumstances which
have been of a character sufficiently notorious, and which
have occurred during. the past year, since we last assembled
in this place, and which are not without their reference to
some of our friends present, who will take a prominent part
in the proceedings of this day. I dare say I shall be very well
understood at once to refer, in the first place, to an attempt
which has been made to fix a foul stigma, no less than that
of disloyalty, on one of my reverend brethren here present.
(Applause.) If any one wishes to be satisfied respecting the
opinion held upon this subject by the parties to whom that
rev, brother of mine is known, let them come here, and we
will tell them. Let it not, however, be supposed, either by
my rev. friend or by this meeting, that I am about to enter
on an unnecessary work ; for I am not a Roman Catholic,
and therefore do not estimate the value, and never wish to
put in practice, anything of the works of supererogation. I
am not about to vindicate that which does not require to be
vindicated, nor to defend that which does not require to be
defended, or, if it did, would find more able defenders than
myself. But I wish, nevertheless, to make one or two
remarks respecting the attempt itself. Calumnious indeed,
as I have already remarked, has been the nature of the stigma
on our friend, and the occasion on which it was made is
well known to every one that hears me. (Hear, hear.)
Every body is aware that our friend, at a meeting like
the present, in a county not far distant, in discoursing,
as he is used to do on these occasions, respecting the
Church of Rome, and giving his opinion of her qualities,
applied the apocalyptic term of Jezebel to that apostacy.
Now, attempts have been made to turn aside that term from
the application in which it was used by my rev. friend, to
another very different and very otherwise deserving quarter.
But this is what I will remark, that the author of this ca-
lumny, be he who he may, and I neither ask who he was no r
care who he was, either did understand my friend's speech at
Whitchurch, or he did riot. If he did not understand it, there
may be some excuse for his attempt ; but he must have been
most incorrigibly stupid. I will venture to affirm that the re-
marks of my rev. friend were easy to be understood, and that
there was no occasion that they should be misunderstood. If,
on the other hand, he did really understand them, and the ap-
plication in which the term was used, I am willing to say
that the author deserves credit for his ingenuity ; but the less
we say of his moral principle the better. It may be said
that that calumny did not proceed from one, but from a great
number of quarters, and that the origination of the remarks
might be traced to different sources. I do not believe that
there was any general misunderstanding of the term, and we
can easily understand how, when the cry was once set
agoing in the form of a newspaper paragraph, it should be
joined in by many, without knowing in what it originated.
I therefore think that the credit of that calumny should be
considered as belonging to sonic ingenious individual. But
what, after all, is to be said in the way of excuse, even of a
person misunderstanding a case of this kind ? Was it any-
thing new, do you suppose, that our rev. friend had been
giving utterance to on that occasion ? Was the application
of the term Jezebel to the modern Babylon anything new or
unheard of? Why, I hold in my hand a volume on the in-
terpretation of prophecy, in which the author gives his
interpretation of the epistle to the apocalyptic churches, and in
so doing he quotes, or rather, more properly to speak, alludes
to the opinions of preceding apocalyptic interpreters. He
alludes to them in the present instance, in the volume I hold
in my hand, for the purpose of expressing his dissent from
them. This book is entitled " The Accomplishment of
Scripture Prophecy, or the Approaching Deliverance of the
Church," which was written in French by one of the minis-
ters of the French church at Rotterdam. This is said to be
a translation from the second edition of tire work published in
French some time before, in which the author alludes to the
opinions of three other authors. Why, this very volume was
printed in 1687 ; so that, I think, we might even here trace
the interpretation for a couple of centuries, for every one of
the three writers, to whom the author alludes, applies the
term Jezebel to the Church of Rome. In one respect, and
that no doubt a felicitous one, the modern Jezebel resem-
bles her ancient prototype, and that is in the number of her
ready and faithful friends. There have been found not a
few ready to come forward at Jezebel's bidding, to bring
accusations against an innocent individual ; axd what crime