The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1835-08-14 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.

NORFOLK CIRCUIT.—NORWICH, AUG. 7.
111111115 ER.
Fanny Billing and Catherine Frarey were indicted for the
wilful murder of Mary, the wife of Peter Taylor, by administer-
ing; arsenic in gruel.
Mr. Prendergast and Mr. Cooper prosecuted, and Mr. Palmer
defended the prisoners.
The prisoner Frarey is the wife of a shoemaker at Burnharu;
(the birth.place of Nelson,) and at the time of the commission
of the murder in question she lodged at the house of a Mrs:
Lake, next door to the deceased. Peter Taylor, the htisbarui
of the murdered woman, is a haircutter; and in the beginning
of the present year formed an illicit connexion with Mrs. Bil-
ling, the prisoner. This begat a jealousy on the part of Mrs'.
Taylor, whom the prisoner, in consequence, resolved upon mar,.
dering. For,Mrs. Frarey's services to Mrs. Billing in this mur-
der, the latter agreed to 'assist the former in getting ricray her
(Mrs. Frarey's)husband, who had become jealous of her; and
these two atrocious schemes were forthwith carried into court
plete and fatal effect. In the latter 'end of February the two
prisoners went to the shop of a cheinist at Burnham, where they
purchased three peuriy worth,of white arsenic, stating that they
were sent for it by Mrs. Webster, a tradesman's wife, who, how!.
ever, had not sent them. The arsenic was put up in two sepal.
rate papers, and the word "poison" written upon .each in large
'legible letters. One of these packets was procured to poison
Mrs.- Taylor, the other to poison Frarey's husband. In the
eta:ping of the 4th of March Mrs. Talbot, a sister of Mrs. Tay-
lor, called upon her, having heard that she was unwell. She
found' the poor Won= sitting in a chair, vomiting frightfully'
and in the greatest agony, calling out for water, and that " her
.stomach was on fire." Peter Taylor, her husband, was sitting
by her side. Mrs: Talbot, seeing her sister so unwell, went to
the house of the prisoner Frarey for some gruel, and having
found some standing en the "bob," she warmed it and took it
to the sick wotnan. The prisoner Frarey entered the robin of
the invalid.-it the same time, and after observing that " the
gruel was too thick," she took it from Mrs. Talbot,. and pre-
sentlY returned with it in a more liqUid state, and said to Mrs.
'Taylor, in the blandest tone, " I hope, my dear, you'll take
some of it now from me, and that it will do .you all the good I
wish." At this moment the husband. called Mrs. Talhot out of
' the room, leaving his wife alone with the prisoner Frarey.
Upon the return of Mrs. Talbot to the bed-room, she perceived
that her sister had eatal some of the gruel, and found her much
weaker than she had left her. She requested Fraley to go-for
the doctor but she excused herself on the plea that "it. was no
use, the woman was a dead woman ;" but she agreed to ,ao upon
the solicitation of the husband. The poor woman died before
the doctor arrived, and her body was laid. out by the prism:lets .
and two or thiee others, who'regaled- themselves with copiouk
streams of tea after the cereaaouv, iu the very room in which
lay the dead, body of the person %slim two of them had.so
cently murdered. The unusual appearance of the dead body
excited suspicion, and the coroner held an inquisition, when it
appear %d beyond all doubt that the two prisoners had poisoneil
the uatrending woman. The village blacksmith, who called
early in the evening in question at '1 aylor's house, for the pur-
pose of being shaved, found the prisoner Vrarey raking together
the embers of Taylor's tire. Having done this, Frarey left the
house, but presently returned, bringing with her some gruel in
'a small pannikin, which she heated on the embers. She then
unfolded a small paper, out of which she took nearly a tea-
spoonful of what the blacksmith thought was salt or lump sugar,
which she put into the gruel. The prisoner Billing came in at
this time, and inqui. ed how Mrs. Taylor was? Frarey replied,
" She's very ill, but the man will do," and Billing said "'I hat's
just right." Frarey presently observed, " I'm boiling her a
-little g.ruel, and I shall sit with her husband and keep him com-
pany in his lonesomeness for au hour or two." She then put
the gruel into a basin and took it up stairs to Mrs. Taylor, say-
ing to Biding, "I hope it will settle her, poor thing." After
remaining up stairs for some 'time Frarey returned with the
basin, from which a considerable quantity of the gruel had been
'taken, and went with it into her own house, accompanied'
Billing. It was this poisoned gruel which Mrs. Talbot unfor-
tunately found upon going to the prisoner's house a few hours
afterwards ; but the deceased had previously taken a too fatally
copious draught from the bands of Frarey to be further injured
by that which was subsequently administered. Several surgeons
examined the body of the deceased, and applied the usual tests
to ascertain the presence of arsenic. The usual and looked-tiir
results followed each and all of these tests, and metallic arsenic
was reproduced in rather considerable quantities; so that the'
gruel must have been highly impregnated with that deadly Poi-
son. After the first day of the inquest, the two prisoners and
the husband of Mrs. Taylor met at the house of the latter, when
a woman, who was in, an adjoining room, heard Frarey say to
hint "'There you are, Peter dear,- we shoeld all have been
done if it had not been for mother, Gad bless her; the gruel was
made in her house." (It appeared that Frarey was in the habit
of calling ill's. Lake, the person with whom she lodged, by the
name of "mother.") Taylor made no reply. Upon the ter-
mination of the inquest, he and the women were taken into cus-
tody; and on' their journey to the gaol, Billing was heard to
-say to him, "Hold your tongue, Peter, and then they can't do
nothing with you, I feel sure.' This wretched woman appeared
throughout the transaction to be more solicitous for her para-
mour than for herself. A few weeks before the evening of the
murder she was sent to Bridewell, upou the complaint of the
husband of Frarey. On the same day Mrs. Frarey hired a
horse and gib, and was driven several miles to see a " cunning
woman," whom she requested to tie Mr. Curtis's (the consta-
ble's) tongue, that he might be " witched," and not be able to
put any questions to her mother (this mother is the Mrs. Lake
before-mentioned.) The cunning woman took her fee, and
promised to "witch" Mr. Curtis immediately.
The statements-made by the prisoners to the coroner, at the
inquest, having been put in, the case for the prosecution closed.
The prisoners made a general assertion of their innocence,
but offered no substantial 'defence.

Mr. Baron Bolland, at great length, summed up the evi
deuce; and the jury, after a short consultation, found the pri
soners Guilty. ' '

The two irisoners were then arraietied,, upon an indictment
charging them with the wilful murder, by poison, of -Robert
Frarey, the husband of one of the prisoners.
Thc; deceased was the unfortunate Man whOse murder hi thoie
abandoned women wag agreed upon'as the price of Mrs. Frarey's
assisting Billing to murder Mrs. Taylor. It did not appear that
any ill-will existed between Mrs. Billing and Robert Frarey, or
between Mrs. Frarey and Mrs. Taylor. It appeared by the
evidence that as Robert Frarey was sitting at tea with his wife
and a friend, the prisoner Billing came in with a jug of porter,
and asked 'Mrs. Frarey to give her a teacup. The prisoner
Frarey rose and took a cup from a shelf and gave it to Billing,
who poured some of the porter into it, after shaking it up in the
mug. Having done so, she turned her back, and having stirred
it up with her finger, handed it to the husland, who drank it up
immediately. The friend who was at tea observing a white sub-
stance in the mug, said to Frarey, " Why, I could not drink
sugar in my porter if it were ever so." No reply was made,
and Billing left the house with the rest of the porter in the mug.
In the course of the night Frarey, the husband, was taken ill,
and, after lingering in great' agony for two days, death put an
end to his sufferings. His wile had him buried with all possible
expedition. After the funeral Mrs. Southgate, the person who
was drinking tea with the deceased when the fatal dose was ad-
ministered, said to Mrs. Frarey, " If I were you, I'd have my
husband took up again and examined, for I'm sure the world
will talk, and I'd shut the world's mouth." The prisoner re-
plied, " I should not like it by no means, would ythi ?" To
which Mrs. Southgate answered, " Yes, I would like it ; for if
you don't, it will be a check upon you, and your children after
you." The story of the porter with the sugar in it got noised
abroad soon after this, and the body was exhumed; and, upon
examining the stomach, a quantity of arsenic was found in it.
The purchase of arsenic by the prisoner was proved, as on the
former trial, and their own voluntary statements tefore the
coroner were put in in evidence.
Mr. Baron Rolland having summed up the evidence with his
accustomed care, the jury returned a verdict of Guilty.
The learned Baron immediately proceeded to put on'the
black cap, the fatal symbol of death, and to pass on the wretched
women the last sentence of the'law. They were ordered fol.
execution at noon, on Monday last, and their bodies were di-
rected to be buried within the prison walls. Frarey, towards
the close of the learned judge's affecting and solemn address,
fell into hysterics, and both the prisoners seemed duly sensible
of their fearful situation; but no sympathy appeared to be felt
towards these monsters in human form on the part of the
auditory.
Thus ended an inquiry into one of the most atrocious deeds
of violence ever perpetrated in this country.

TURKISH BLOCKADE OF THE PORTS OF SCUTARI.

(From the Gazette of Tuesdaylast.)
FOREIGN-OFFICE, Aug. 7.—Lord Ponsonby, His Majesty's
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary at the Sublime
Ottoman Porte, has transmitted to Viscount Palmerston, His
"Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, an
octal note, of which the following is a translation, which has
been addressed to Lord Ponsonby by his Eicellency the iteis
Effendi :
"OFFICIAL NOTE TRANSMITTED BY HIS EXCELLENCY THE
REIS EFFENDI TO HIS EXCELLENCY LORD YONSONBY,
DATED JULY 14.

" Certain inconsiderate persons hayink committed acts of
disobedience and rebellion in the neighbourhood of Scrutari,
in Albania, it has therefore become necessary to proceed to the
punishment of these ill-disposed persons for their misconduct ;
and there is no Government which is not anxious for the sup-
pression of disturbances and revolt.
"The Sublime Porte has decided upon the measures neces-
sary for the punishment of the rebels,.and has detached a suf-
ficient number of ships of war of the Imperial navy, which
•have proceeded to blockade Boyana*, Du-razzo, Lesche, Mor-
ton, and Cavaia; places situated within a short distance of
Scutari, and of which they may be considered the ports.
"A suitable period has been fixed of 31 days, to date from
the 31st of the present month of Rebuil-Evvel (namely, from
the 17th of July, 1835,) beyond which no merchant ship or
other vessel shall be permitted to resort to the ports above-
mentioned; and in order to prevent all complaints which might
arise from vessels repairing to the places in question, no vessel,
with or without cargo, and of whatever nature the cargo may
be, will be permitted to touch at those parts of the woast
of
Albania beforementioned after the expiration of the period
shrive stated, and until it shall please Divine Providence to put
an end to the distUrbances. .
" It being necessary to notify this blockade which we' are
about to establish to the representatives of all friendly Powers
residing at Constantinople in order that they may make it known
to the merchants and subjects of their respective nations with
the least possible delay, and that the necessary orders may be
issued that no merchant vessel or ship of war be permitted to
repair to the ports of which the blockade has been decreed—we
therefore, for that purpose, make known the same, by the
present official note, to his Excellency the Ambassador of
Great Britain. •
" 18th Rebuil-Evvel, 1251 (14th July, 1835,")