The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-04-30 00:00:00

EXAMINATION

AND COMMITTAL OF MR
JENNER.

At two o'clock on Tuesday the prisoner was placed at the
bar, before Mr. Rushton and Alderman Evans. To many of
our readers his figure and appearance, Gre no doubt familiar.
He is low set, rather broad, and round-shouldered, with a
reddish face and bald head. A chair had been placed for him
at the bar, to which he walked, and immediately sat down
with his right side turned towards the magistrates. He sunk
his head forwards, and thus remained during nearly the whole
of the examination, a small portion of the upper part of his
head alone being visible.

Mr. Dowling said, the unfortunate prisoner at the bar was
charged with having shot his son, and shot his wife, with in-
tent to kill her.

Mr. Michael James Whitty was sworn, and deposed as
follows :—This morning at seven o'clock I was sent for to go
to a house in Portland-place, Roscommon-street. I went
and found Mrs. Jenner lying in the front kitchen, with blood
flowing from her head. She subsequently stated, in my
hearing, that she had been shot in the head. I went to a
front bed-room, and there found a boy with his head bound
up and bloody. He was just able to draw breath at inter-
vals of about two minutes.
We here introduce the deposition of Mrs. Jenner, which,
though it was not read in the court, supplies the next link in
the chain of evidence.
Mary Jenner having been sworn, said, I am the wife of
William Jenner. I got up this morning before five o'clock,
and left Mr. Jenner in bed. We were preparing to go out
of the house to live in another. I went down stairs and got
a cup of tea_; I don't think my husband got up before half-
past five. He came down about that time. It was certainly
before six o'clock. He came down with his shoes in his
hand, and said he would clean them as the servant was out.
He went up again. I remember feeling something, and.l
thought I had taken a fit. What occasioned the sensation I
don't know. I heard the children scream. I was sensible
before I spoke. I heard the children cry " Mannua,,rnamma,
murder !' I called. for Mr. Jenner for God's sake to help
me ; I did not know he had injured me. I did not see him
after that. I cannot tell where I was standing when I re-
ceived the shock. lam not sensible who came to my assist-
ance. I cannot tell whether I heard anything before I fell.
No one but the children and Mr. Jenner and the children
and myself was in the house at the time. The servants were
sleeping in another house.
The next witness called was George Jenner, the surviving
son of the prisoner, a fine boy aged nearly thirteen years. The
poor little fellow looked exceedingly pale and ill, but he pre-
sented himself for examination with great firmness, and
evinced remarkable intelligence in his replies to the questions
chit to him. He said the prisoner William Jenner. is my
father, and he and my mother resided in Portland-place,
Roscommon-street. I slept in the front room over the front
parlour, and my brother William slept with me. We both
slept in one bed. This morning,,somewhere between a quar-
ter to six and a quarter past six o'clock, I was awakened
by some report near me. I arose up, and saw that my father
was standing by the side of the, bed on the side next to my
brother. I and my brother both got out of bed, and I saw
my brother standing near my father, who had a small pistol
in his hand. I, caught hold of my father's hand, and begged
him not to Ouch us. I did not exactly know what state my
brother was in. hut I smelt a smell of burning, and I cried
out murder, and ran down stairs. As I was going down
stairs, I beard a report which seemed to come from my bed-
room. When I got down stairs I ran towards the front
door to get out but I found the door fast, and then I went
into the front parlour. My father came up to me, and I
took two pistols out of his hand. I asked him what made
him do it, and "he said he was crazy. I kept the pistols in
my hand, and asked him where my mother was. lie said,,
" Up stairs." I said I wanted to go and see her, but he
said he would not let me, and he wanted to get the pistols
off me. I did not rind my mother, but, as I was coming
away, I saw something small lying on the bed, in my mother's
bedroom. I thought it was a pistol, but I could not see dis-
tinctly. I came down again, and I think I went to the front
door, but I don't recollect, I was so frightened. My brother
and my mother were in- the house, and no one else, as the
servants slept out. I had not seen my mother. I went
into the parlour, and waited there till my father came to me.
He had someting in his hand, He caught hold of me by
the head, and directly I heard a report, but nothing touched
me. He had a pistol in his hand, and I immediately caught
hold of it and hit him on the side of the head with it. I had
the two pistols in my hand which I had before taken from
him, and this was a third pistol. I then heard my mother
shout out something. I asked him where my mother was.
He said she was lying down stairs, and I told him to let me
go to her. I got away from him. He tried to detain me
but I broke away from him. He tried to detain me but I
broke away from him. I went down stairs, and I saw a pool
of blood, and my mother lying on the kitchen floor. The
blood seemed to come from her head, as her bead was lying
in it. Her head was from the door. My father came into
the kitchen. I said I would take the pistols and throw
them away. He tried to prevent me. I reached the door
that goes to the yard, and said I would throw them over the
wall. He left loose of me then, and I took the three pistols
and threw them all into the midden. I was going back to
the kitchen when I heard him coming down the stairs, upon
which I went back through the yard and opened the back
door. He came to the door that goes to the lobby, and told
me to come in and lift.my mother up. I said no, I would go
and fetch a policeman to search him. I went out of the
yard door and soon met a man. I asked him if he had seen
a policeman. He asked me what was to do. I told him,
and he said he would go and find a policeman for me. I was
proceeding to Mr. 'Ackerly (the surgeon), when I saw the
man tell the police, and I went on to Mr. Ackerley's, and
the boy said he would send up Mr. Ackerley directly. The
policemen were in the house when I got back. I told them
where 1 had put the pistols. I did not see the police-officers
find them. I have seen them since. They are the same I
took from my father's hands. When I went up stairs I
Tfoundi There
mywa
sb rboltohoedr lying down
the on
side
of thebs floor o
head.
of
iouro boeodol-roam.
d oot
speak._

William Maddox, police-officer 285, sworn. I was return-
ing from duty at twenty minutes past six o'clock this morn-
ing. I was in Great Homer-street. The last witness and a
man both came to me nearly together. The man told me I
must go to No. 25, Portland-place, as the boy's father had
shot his (the boy's) mother and brother. I went there. I
knocked at the front door several times. It was not opened.
At length a man's voice asked if it was George. I made no
answer. A voice, which I suppose was the prisoner's, was
heard again repeating the Question. I said yes," and he
opened the door immediately. It appeared to me that the
door was not locked, but only latched. I went into the house.
He (the prisoner) did not speak, but stood in the lobby.
asked him what was to do. He did not speak. Two other
officers came, and I heard a noise and proceeded forward to
the kitchen. 1 found Mrs. Jenner lying on the kitchen floor.
There was a great quantity of blood on the floor. I tried to
lift her up on a chair. Some one came down, and by the as-
sistance of that person, I placed her on a Chair. She was
bleeding very much from a wound on the right side of her
head. She cried out " Who's that ?" I told her'it was a
police-officer. She asked me what I wanted there? I told
her I was coming to assist her to get in a chair. She asked
me where Mr. Jenner was. I told her up stairs. But this
time Mr. Ackerley came down. I afterwards, inconsequence
of what the boy told me, examined the midden. Assisted by
officer John Thomas, I laded the water out till I found a
pistol. I then came up out of the midden. (Witness here
produced a small double-barelled pistol which had been
found.) John Thomas, who had assisted me, now proceeded
with the search, and I saw him find two other.pistols exactly
similar to the one I had fund. They are all made double-
barrelled rifle pistols. One barrel of the pistol I found was
still loaded. They have percussion locks, and there was a

cap in the nipple of the loaded barrel. John Thomas took
the cap off. The upper barrel was unloaded.
Thos. Wallace, police-officer 316, sworn. I accompanied
the last witness into the house of the prisoner. I saw Mr.
Jenner standing in the passage. I did not speak to him, and
he did not speak. I went down after Maddox, and assisted
him to raise Mrs. Jenner. I went up stairs and found a boy
lying on the floor before the window. He was wounded on
the side of his head, and insensible. I set him on a chair
and called for the doctor, who was in the kitchen. He came
up and dressed his head. 1 put him in the bed, and he re-
mained there till he died. I staid by his side till he died,
which was about twenty minutes past ten o'clock.
John Thomas, police-officer 338, sworn. I went to Mr.
Jenner's house about seven o'clock, and found the other
officers there. I assisted Maddox to search the midden. I
saw Maddox find the pistol which he produced. When I
took the pistol from him the lower barrel had a cap on ; the
upper barrel had been discharged. I continued to search,
and found other two pistols, which I produce. They are
double barrelled pistols of exactly similar construction to
that found by Maddox. One barrel in each is loaded with
ball, and, I have no doubt, powder.
George Archer, police-
officer 67, sworn. About twenty
minutes past six o'clock I went with the other officers to the
house of Mr. Jenner. I entered behind them and I found
Mr. Jenner standing inside the passage and I took hold of
him, and asked him what was to do. He made no answer.
I searched him. In his right hand coat pocket I found this
pistol. (Witness here produced a pistol of similar construc-
tion to the others.) He had the coat on as now. (The pri-
soner wore a light gray cloth or frieze dressing gown.) This
pistol is loaded. It had two caps on ; one on each nipple,
and was on the full cock. I had some trouble to get it from
him, and in the struggle the caps fell off.
The barrels of this pistol were unscrewed by Mr. Whitty
and then handed to the officer. Both barrels were found to
be loaded with powder and ball.
Bryce Smith, inspector of police, sworn. I went to the

prisoner's house about balf-past six or twenty minutes to
seven. I saw the prisoner in the parlour. I searched the
house. In a leather ease, in the back bed-room, I found two
small powder flasks with powder in them, a tin box full of
percussion caps, a bullet mould, and two papers of bullets.
In a drawer I found this phial. (Witness produced Lip ounce
phial, which was about one-third full of a dark-coloured
liquid, which was pronounced to be laudanum.) Iris labelled
laudanum. I returned to the parlour. He said Mr. Roberts
or Mr. Robertson, 1 am not sure which, is all to blame for
this. He further said, "If we had all four gone to the ceme-
tery it would have been all right." He spoke on his way to
Bridewell of his wife. He said, "My wife has been a good
wife to me." And "My two poor boys !" Witness pro-
duced a boy's night cap. which was crimsoned with fresh
blood. He had found it in the bed-room. A large hole had
been burned in it near where the crown of the head would go.
This it is supposed has been done by the wadding of the
pistol, and it is presumed that it accounted for the smell of
burning which the boy, George Jenner, perceived when he'
got out of bed.
Jonathan Andres, inspector of police, sworn.. I went to
Mr. Jenner's house, "at twenty minutes to seven o'clock.
Hartley was with the prisoner, and his son George was pre-
sent. He asked his father, why he shot his mother and bro-
ther. He (the prisoner) appeared greatly distressed, and
said, " We should all have come to poverty." The boy said,
" Yes, and youintended to have shot me too:" He replied,
" Yes, George." I asked him, what could have caused him
to commit such a rash act? I did not caution him. He an-
swered, that Ile had been unfortunate in business, and had
been labouring under insanity for a length of time. He asked
the boy, if he had not been a good father up to that time ?
He said, " I have a good wife and a good family." He called
about a Mr. Roberts, saying, " Oh, Mr. Roberts, Mr.
Roberts! what have you done for my wife and family ?" I
was with Inspector Smith when he found the powder-flasks
and balls in a leather case, in the back bed-room, under the
bed where the prisoner slept.
_ _

Mr. Parkinson, the governor of the Bridewell, sworn. , I
saw the prisoner in Bridewell about half-past nine o'clock
this morning. I went to see him. I told him, that while he
was under my care, whatever he wished should be done for
him. He thanked me, and said he wished particularly to
know how his wife and child got on ?
[Here the prisoner appeared to sink forward on the chair,.
and a moan of great anguish burst from him. His son
George, who had at first been taken by Mr. Rushton's direc-
tions into a private room, but who had for some reason re-
turned to the court, sunk in his seat also, and was led away
weeping bitterly. Many of the spectators were greatly affected
at this and many of the distressing incidents which were de-
veloped during the examination.]
Mr. Parkinson (in continuation.)—l said I would send to
inquire immediately. He walked across his cell two or three
times, and then said he had shot one child ; he knew it was
dead before he left home. He wished to know how his wife
was. He spoke a good deal about how hardly he had been
used. He said the world had frowned• upon him lately, and
his friends had neglected him, and much more to the same
purport. _ _

Mr. Richard Ackerley, surgeon, Grelt Homer-street,
sworn.—l was sent for this morning, about a quait:r to
seven o'clock. to go to the house of Mr. Jenner, in Portland-
place. I went there, and was directed first to the kitchen.
I found Mrs. Jenner sitting in a chair, supported by a police-
officer. Sue was bleeding from the right side of her head ;
but, from the quantity of hair, I could not see the wound.
On examiwition, I found an opening in the back part of her
head, throuoi which a ball had entered. A portion of the
bone, about the.size of the ball, was depressed. It was on
the dura mater. That portion of the bone has been removed,
but the ball still remains in the brain. 1 went up stairs, and
found the boy also sitting in a chair, supported by a police-
officer. He appeared quite insensible, and was bleeding from
two wounds, one at the right side of his head, at the back,
and the other at the front on the left side of his head. Both
these wounds had been occasioned by the same ball, which
had passed through. He was insensible, and breathing
heavily. He died in two or three hours. When I saw Mr.
Jenner, I said to him, " Mr. Jenner, this is a very lamenta-.
ble circumstance." He said, " Yes—my poor wife! She
has been the best wife in the world to me." He said, " You
know, Mr. Ackerly, I am a deranged man : you have been
here before." I said, " I have ; but I never expected to see
you under such circumstances as the present." I had been
called in to him on the 4th September last, when it was said
that lie had taken poison. His son said he had seen him
swallow it. I could not say, in point of fact, that he had
taken poison. A phial of prussic acid was found in his pos-
session, and two ounce phials of laudanum. The room
smelled strongly of prussic acid. I gave him an emetic, but
I could not rind any smell of prussic acid in what he dis-
charged, because of the strong smell of prussic acid in the
room. I tried some of the prussic acid which I found in his
possession on a cat, and it destroyed it almost immediately.
An empty phial which had contained prussic acid was found
in the room.

By Mr. Rushton.—Suppposing a phial of prussic acid like
that found to have been taken, it would have produced death
in about two minutes. The prisoner was not altogether
coherent this morning.

Mr. Thomas Blisset, gunmaker, 8, South Castle-street,
sworn. I sold the four double-barrelled pistols produced to
the prisoner all at the same time, on the sth of March last.
I sold him the pistols, a bullet-mould, two powder-flasks
filled with powder, a box of caps for each pan, and thirty
balls. He first called, and said he had received an order from
America, where he had been. He appeared to be reading
the order from a letter. He said he was to send out two pair
of double-barrelled pistols if they could be procured for five
pounds. I told him he could not have two pair of double-
barrelled holster Mstols for that sum, but hemiight have two
brace of good double-barrelled pocket pistols for six pounds.
He said they were for a friend in America, and as he knew
what would suit for that' country, having been there, he
would not mind, if the pistols appeared likely to answer, ad-
vancing the additional pound. I shewed him the pistols, and
he agreed to purchase those which have been produced. He
said he would call again in an hour. He called in an hour,
and he brought with him the leather case which has been al-
luded to. He said he did not understand the construction
of the pistols, and requested me to load them for him. It
appeared, from the further testimony of Mr. Blisset, and
subsequently that of his man, that the pistols were sold load-
ed, and that the prisoner had again called on Friday ; but he
expressing some fears that the pistols might have received
injury by being so long loaded, got Mr. Blisset's man to dis-
charge all, and re-load one pair. He called on Saturday, and
ordered some more bullets, and on Monday he called and
got these bullets. _ He told Mr. Blisset and his man that he
wished to have the pistols ready by Tuesday, for he was go-
ing to Manchester. where he should pack these, with other
goods, to send to America.
Mr. Ackerley stated, in addition to his former testimony,
that the depressed pieces of skull had been removed, and
that Mrs. Jenner bore the operation well ; but she was in
extreme danger. When he was called in to the prisoner, at
the time when he was stated.to have taken prussic acid, Mr.
Banning, who attended with him, wished to have him con-
fined in a lunatic asylum, but Mrs. Jenner would not consent.
Mr. Rushton tailed the prisoner by name, and he stood
up with an appearance of firmness and composure. In reply
to Mr. Rushton's question as to whether he had anything to
say, he said, after speaking a few words to his attorney,
" nothing
,at present." He signed his name at the foot of
the depositions with great readiness.
The witnesses were oound over to appear at the next as-
sizes, in recognisances of £lOO each, and the prisoner was
committed for trial.