The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1836-12-06 00:00:00

SHOCKING MURDER AT SHEFFIELD.

Early on Tnesday morning last a horrid murder was com-
, mined at Sheffield, by John Farmer, a hotelier, residing in Far-
in town, ran the body of Joseph Wilks, his step-son.
The wreteltA perpetrate,* of this crime has for several years
past lieNt occasionally much addicted to liquor, and when in a
state ot intoxication ex:tibited all the violence of an insane 'per-
ann. His mai'gnity on these occasions was principally directed
towards hiS•wile and her two sons by a former marriage. This
produciA by a strong impression, then all powerful on his
Blind, that he was suffering injury from:them hit pecuniary
way. On the night in qiListion being in liquor, lie 'went home •
about eleven o'cl.);!,, am'. having sat down in a room where his
, family were at supper, the first. thing he did was to put his lomd-
in his pocket and draw therefrom five £5 notes,, which he,
threw in the tire Tle'v were snatched from thence by his wife,
who preyen,ed their deitruction by immersing 1111411 In some
ale which chanced to he on the table. Farmer then took tip' a
table knife and made a stroke at 'her. This being observefL
she gave way, and received only a Cult CM the neck, which other-
wise Mig}it have been fatal. Unon this outrageous behaviors
taking place, all the members of the family left the house, wit
the excevtion of the unfortunate youth, who was afterwardh
murdered. He had gone to bed an hour previous to the ahoy i
occurrence taking place and the 'author,' man was thus lefe
in the house alone with the poor boy. It is believed that Far-
mer, after a while, then went tin stairs arid 'must open the door
of the room where his step- son was sleeping, and what took
place afterwards. can only 10-conjectured. A little hefore one
o'clock, two young tern passing the house and bearing some
noise, approached the shop-door in order to discover what was
going on ; when the de,tr opened, and nut rushed the young
man Wilks, who decle his tether had stuck him. They
conveyed him to a neienhouring ptaie-house, the iminitt,s of
which heing aroused, he was taken in, laid on a table, and ser-
Fie& assistsuee proc' but the medical men from the first
pronounced it to he a fatal case. He languished about three
hours, and then expired. Two wetehmen being ca led in, they
• burst open the door Vermer's house. They then went in,
ercompattiecl by Mr. ''hotnas Hunt, and found the author of
the deed walking sic i• the house without his coat. After ap-
proaching him with c they threw the lights of their lan-
terns, increased to dazzling by reflectors, into his face; then
. nit alit-et closed and seem-et! him. On Wednesday an. inquest
wan
held hethre Ai-. Badger, and a post tnortem examination
tr.ok
place nn the hotly of the deceased, in the presence of the
)wry, when it
the
ant? • ee tnst a wound had been inflicted between
inches in 14,7_';,`11i ribs on the right side. measuring about six
theouse had produced death. In what part of
evi-
dence ; hot it ~eethe Z.°,l"V was perpetrated did not appear in eel-
, he went to bed, from Li! youth Was anticipating violence wtrn
ings on, and the tahip sari slept with his trowsers and stock-
if they had been used as a chairs
Itieing fnend about the door as
• before the jury, arid after the rR-e.The father was brought
evidence was reild to him, the co-
roner irrwiree, if he had
' plied. Obi. the least said sognnlestsauy, when lie briefly re-
some disapprobation of the company ;,",.`1:1. and expressed
jury retirnert verdict of Wilful Murder'as,:•'',t """,,st• The
which the cot— r ißsneri his warrant for his ttim ""
Castle. The e,,,,aseri was about twenty years of age, end
to York
sad
w"
much respected fer his civil behaviour and his indu strtous
~i~ Leeds Intelligences.

THE LATE HURRICANE.

LONDON.—So boisterous was the wind during the whole of
Tuesday, that several portions of the stone balustrades of
Blackfilars Bridge, to the length of six or nine yards, together
with a great part of the wooden palings on both sides of it, were
forced from their fastenings, and blown down. The wind had
also the effect of unroofing the church opposite the Bank, at the
corner of St. Bartholomew-lane, the lead on the top of it being
completely rolled up. Part of the stone work connected with
the statue of King Henry the Eighth, on the Royal Exchange,
and some of the balustrades round the 'Change, were blown
down. The sky-light at Lloyd's received much damage. Part
of a stack of chimneys was blown down in Great Russell-street,
Bloomsbury. This gale, for the time it lasted, may be said to
he one of the most violent that London has experienced for
several years. At three in the morning it began to blow
violently from the SW., continuing, with increasing violence
until between one and two in the afternoon: about four in the
afternoon it ceased altegether. We have received a variety of
accounts of the disastrous effects of this gale. At Mr. Bate-
Man's, Sun-street,.Bishopsgate, timber merchant, a gang of the
Sawyers had just returned from dinner, and were about to re-
suine their work, when three heavy beams of timber placed on
a stack of planks, weighing about 5 cwt. each, were blown down,
and fell on a sawyer named Thomas Franklin, crushing him to
death on the instant. The unfortunate man has left a widow
and several children. Twelve large panes of glass in the City
of London Tavern were blown in with a loud mash • the entire
roof of the house of Messrs. Lake and Co., 'of iishopsgate-
street-winiia, seedsmen and florists, was torn off by the whirl-
wind, and several of the rafters carried away with it. The
river was much agitated, and seemed literally boiling.
The ball and cross of St. Paul's Cathedral were observed to
vibrate-in a fearful manner during the hurricane ; for some time
it' was a matter of some difficulty to either stand or walk near
the Cathedral. An old gentleman named Lander, aged 82, be-
longing to the Charterhouse,-who was walking in Charterhouse-
square, was blown down, by which his thigh was broken, and
he is much injured; several other gentlemen belonging to the'
Charterhouse had narrow escapes from the, falling of the trees.
In Cross-street, near the City Saw-mills, a stack' t6f chimneys
fell upon the house of Mr. Coates, an engraver; Mrs. Gould-
ing, the wife of a mechanic lodging in the upper story, was en-
gaged at the moment cooking her husband's dinner, but being
driven from the fire-place by a sudden issue of smoke and flame,
she snatched up her infant and retreated to the lied& of the
apartment, in a moment afterwards the chimneys MTI fallen,
and the whole of the front was lying in ruins. In the New-cut,
and Lambeth-marsh, the wind did very great damage. In
Regent-place West, by Judd-street, New-road, a stack of chim-
neys of No. 2, the middle house of three, was driven down by
a sudden gust upon the roof of Mr. Macgregor, No. 3, and
carried-in thz.. whole of the roof; unfortunately one lady named
Crookshank, and her female attendant, were in the front attic;
the lady wee lotiried up to her neck amongst the fallen bricks
and rubbish, and was severely bruised; her life was only saved
by the gallantry of an officer in the army (Capt.l'aynton), who
on bearing the crash instantly ran up from the drawing-room,
and succeeded' in extricating and bearing her down stairs; the
servant maid has been still more seriously injured. The roof
of No. 4, Newton-street, Holborn, fell in with a shocking crash,
burying the inmates of the garrets, consisting of two adults and
one child, a little girl, named Elizabeth Belcher, two years and
a'-half old, in the ruins; the two females were taken out alive,
but severely mutilated; they were removed to Middlesex Hos-
pital; the poor child was taken out a corpse, being crushed in
a dreadful' manner. In various other parts of the west end of
the metropolis chimneys, sky-lights, and tiles, were blown about
the streets, and a number of persons received more or less in-
juries by these. In St. Margaret's church-yard a corpse was
being carried across the church-yard for interment, when a vio-
lent gust rendered it impossible for the supporters to proceed
with their burden, and the coffin fell on the stones, the pall fly-
ing off to a considerable distance. In the, neighbourhood of
Kensington, Vauxhall, Lambeth, Walworth, Camberwell, as
well as Islington, Pentonville, Somer's Town, Clerkenwell,
and other parts of the town the effects of the gale were not less
severely felt. The effects of the high wind at the west-end of
the town were truly tremendous; a stack of chimneys was blown
down from the residence of Prince Es ' rhazy, Chandos-street,
Cavendish-square, and, falling on the ro f the adjoining house,
Es
completely beat it in. Nearly the whole rthe coping was swept
from the house of Lady Walsh, Upper Harley-street, and fell with
a tremendous crash. Nearly 500 cwt. of lead was tort] away from
the Jerusalem Chambers, a part of Westminster Abbey, and
large masses of stone fell from the Abbey itself, and also from
St. Margaret's Church. Along the Great Western Road, tiles,
bricks, and chimney-pots were strewed in every direction. and
persons walking along the more exposed parts of the road had
the greatest difficulty in keeping their feet. At Twickenham,
Hounslow, Teddington, Hampton, &c., great damage was also
done. In Kensington-gardens and Hyde-park, nearly thirty
large trees were uprooted'; among them was a venerable oak,
near the Halfway-house, which, though it had stood the blast of
ages, was on Tuesday shivered) to pieces. From the country,
the accounts are equally bad. At Brighton, the greatest part
of the shops in the town were closed, and business completely
suspended. That beautiful structure, the chain pier, has ma-
terially suffered. There has been a heavy fall of snow at Bath
and in that neighbourhood, At Worthing, Shoreham, Exeter,
Southampton, Rochester, Stroud, Ramsgate, Poole, Woolwich,
and Hastings, its effects have been seriously felt. At Birming-
ham, five or six houses, and a shoeing-smith's shop, occupying
a frontage to the street of about lOU yards, were swept down
level with the ground by an itninense body of water which had
escaped by the bursting of the old Birmingham Canal Wharf.
Near Micham, we regret to State, a fatal accident o " ed to
Mr. Fisher, the postman of the village, who, while ed in
delivering his letters, was unfortunately killed by I of a
tolits
tree. Mr. George Trunks, guard of the Bath mat , ' par-
ticulars of a dreadful accident of which he heard a Marie-
borough : three miles on the London side of Marlborough, near
FroCktield, a gentleman, with two ladies, was driving in a
phaeton, when, a tree falling, the back of the horse was broken,
and the gentleman and the elder of the two ladies killed ou the
spot; the other was seriously injured; this happened in what
is called Maidenhead Forest. The Custom-house at Ports-
meet!), by the uptearing of numerous iron stanchions in its
1 frontage, has sustained serious damage.
The nuiubor or persons brou,ht into the different hospitals in
the metropolis, who sustained injury during the eke gale,ils as
follows:—St. Bartholornewltl2; Ipndon, 3; G's, 1; West-
minster, 3; North London, 1; Middlesex, 3; total, 33. Of
these two have 'terminated fatally, and three remain in a pre-
Carious state; hilt the remainder are in a fair way of perfect
reco very. —Metropolitananiservatice Journal.

Poot,E,--The hurricane of Tuesday morning was severely
felt.bere. Tiles were blown from houses in every part of the
town, many chimneys and garden wills were blown down ; at
Ileckford:Farm 14 trees were levelled to the ground, as were
also the extensive sheds belonging to the rope and cable manu-
factory of Messrs. Major, Seeger, and Co.—Dorset County
Chronicle.

DOECHESTER.-9n Tuesday morning this part of the county
was visited by one of the most violent gales of wind ever ex-
perienCed. For an hour it amounted to almost a hurricane.
Accounts have reached us from all quarters of damage sustained ;
chimneys blown down; wiuduws smashed; and trees levelled
every where; but happily we have no intelligence of serious
personal injury having been inficted.—lbid.
TAUNTON.—'Phis morning (Tuesday) the town was visited
by one of the most tremendous hurricanes that has happened
for some years. About 10 o'clock the wind suddenly increased
to a hurricane, and in an hour fifty or sixty houses were in a
great measure stripped of the tiles. and immense damage done
to many others. It blew. in this manner for about an hour, and
then gradually abated.— lb/a
Fatinorm—On Monday evening last it blew a heavy gale
from S.S. W., which continued all night. On Tuesday morn-
ing about a quarter-past eight, the wind suddenly shifted to
N.W. by Wound this rieighbourhood was visited by a hurricane
or rather whirlwind, such as was never perhaps before expe-
rienced its this part or the world. In exposed situations the
most substantial houses were violently shaken, and from nearly
every house slates were blown away. In the main street a great
many panes of glass were broken on the easten side, by the
slates blown from the western. Two chimneys were blown
down, one at the residence of Captain Britton, in Stratton-
place, and the other at that of Capt. Truscott, R.N., on Bowl-
ing-green Hill, and in both cases the falling masses went through
the- roof., and individuals very narrowly escaped personal in-
jury.. Tile violence of the gust stopped the town-clock at 20
minutes past eight, thus determining the exact time of its visit.
Its effects in the harbour we have the satisfaction to add were far
less disastrous than might have been expected. Those who
witnessed its passage across the water describe the appearance
of the sea as truly horrific, the water having been caught up as
it were in one immense body of foam which hid the shipping
and the opposite shore from the view. Even Flushing could not
be seen across from Green Bank. A small smack about 30
tons, called the Emma, belonging, to Mr. Willoughby, of Mew-
den parted hbet. cables, and was driven on shore near St. Mawes.
The ikfittine, packet, drew her anchors, but sustained no damage.
The schooner Alert, lying in. Peuryn river, drove foul of the
Yeoman's Glory, which bad her bowsprit carried away and her
bows stove in; both came in contact with the Solace, of Ply-
mouth, and carried away her yards. The schooner Violet, of
London, drove foul of• the barque West Indian, bound to Ja-
maica, which was, lying in the Cross-channel, anditvrasfound
requisite to cut away the Violet's mast, rigging, sails,
&c. These
are all the, casualties we have any account of, and we believe
all the restof the shipping sustained no injury.—cormizi.o.
-HELSTON, Nov. 29.—This morning our town was visited with
a tientendoui hurricane, which has done considerable damage.
It commenced between seven and eight o'clock and raged with
great fury for about two, ours. Several of the old- houses,
haying thatt;hed roofs, are very seriously damaged. The slat-
ing from' he 'houses in every street was blown about
like feathers, but coining with greater violence against the
windows-of other houses caused great destruction, some are
.dailiernearly to pieces.-Ibid.-7-
PE` z, NCE. Nov. 30.—0 n Sunday night it blew a heavy gale
front S.S.E. to S.W. Several vessels parted their fast-ropes
in Penzapce pier, but were made fast again without much
&tillage.' On Tuesday morning, about eight o'clock, the wind
suddenly shined front S.S. W. to N. W., and blew a hurricane
fora short time ; the roofs of some houses suffered much; tiles
were flying in all directions, so that it was dangerous to pass
.the street. Two chimneys were blown down in Clarence-street,
the one of a new uninhabited house belonging to Mr. Robert
Stevens,.the. other of a house belonging to Mr. Alexander
Berryman. In the latter case, the chimney fell through the
roof on the bed of Mr. B.'s daughters, who were just going to
rise, and it was with some difficulty they were extricated un-
hurt. I fear we shall hear of much damage both by sea and
land. The wind is now got. back to S.W. and has every
appearance of a gale again to-night.—lbid.
DISTRESSING SHIEWRECK.—On Wednesday night last,
about ten o'clock, the schooner Samuel, of Bristol, was totally
wreuked under .St. Alban's Head, and the captain, John
Harvey, his son, John Harvey, and Johu Green, one of the
crew, were drowned. The vessel had left Waterford on Mon-
day morning laden with barley and oats, for Chichester and
Portsmouth, and rounded the Land's End with a fine wind
front the N.W. on Tuesday morning. On nearing the Star
Point, on Wednesday morning' the wind began to blow very
hard, and, before night, increased to a gale, with a thick fog.
The schooner passed Portland, the light being. W.N.W., about
seven o'clock, and drifted on towards the rock at St. Alban's.
On the vessel striking, the captain jumped overboard with a
line, but was dashed head foremost on the rocks. The boy got
jammed between the hawser and companion, and was soon
drowned, the waves beating right over the vessel. Green was
also drowned in attempting to reach the shore, and three only
of the crew were saved. The vessel immediately broke up.
Inquests have been held by J. S. Cope, Esq , coroner of the
Isle of Purbeck, and verdicts of" found suffocated and drown-
ed in the waters of the sea" returned.—lbid.
PLYMOUTH, TuEsna Y.—lt has blown very heavy for the last
two dais, and this morning, from eight to ten, it blew a perfect
hurricane from V.S. W., during which the barque City of
Edinburgh, bound to Van Dieman's Land, and the brig
Aurora, for Marseilles, broke their anchors in the Sound, and
drove very near the rocks; the former cut away her masts,
hut they both ultimately brought up without striking. The
Prussian brig Juno got foul of the barque Jane in Catwater,
and carried away her bowsprit; the weather, after ten, mo-
derated, hut now (four p.m.) it appears to be coming on again,
and looks like a very dirty night. In the town, a number of
chimneys have been blown down and several houses unroofed.
At Devenport and Stonehouse, the houses have suffered con-
siderably more than here; the damage in the dock-yard is
estimated at 1:1,000.—Ibid.