The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-05-05 00:00:00

4 Me and Glo

There is some great fun in this part

We like Martin Chi

to anything Boz

s he is in this "

genus—homo

nd of queer lads, more particu

Fat Bo

is boy in the o:

Lt the hotel in Salis-

where Pecksn

L. S. D. By Samuel Lo

No. V

der mother, on the discovery of the unfortunate affair, had
managed, by her influence, to get the footboy sent on board
the hulks, and had given the old villain (as she called him) who
had brought the daughter to her (applicant's) house, £2OO,
to procure a proper place for a private accouchement, and
I also temporary necessaries for her infant, This information,
from a person of her appearance and address, was such as to
,lad played a welcome air, refused the pence remove her suspicion, and led her to hope that some day or
1, and strode down the stair, saying, " Flout ! 1 other she would be paid handsomely for her trouble, and fur
. ..........,.... ~.1.../ -, .1_ _ • i .-,,,,,,,, ~..,i mnnthc chp rnntinued to nay the nurse a reduned

le was

whom h(

„., u occ.. tne meantime her hus.
band had been to all the grocers' shops in and about Hol.
born, in the hope of being able to see Mr. Williams (the
T I 1 I

ere living sti

leis of any other p,

le head or hand are difficult

)r money, made himself into h

.Ln a bared toot, a oared ancle, or a bared gentleman in the cloak), out was uuz.,,u..,u,. ....Lc MAU an t)
t the looking-glass till he confessed that he written to Mr. Williams, the clergyman at Carnarvon, but
. Nor did he desist when that gentleman said he knew nothing of the parties. The
, " Come in," nor move from magistrate said that he would send to the relieving officer of
out deliberately explain his object, and continue the parish, and the applicant was to appear again on a future
till be had made the sketch. day.

t benumbed by exposur

'mild say,

A labouring man named Isaac Litten, belonging to the
parish of Eisey, and his wife and four children, having been
turned out of their cottage, were sheltering, on the night of
Friday, the 21st ult., in ,a camp which they had constructed
3f hurdles and straw, ;n Golden Rose-lane, in the above
when about half-past 10 o'clock, the fire not being
roperly extinguished, the place ignited. Litten and his wife
escaped unhurt, leaving three of his children, aged respec-
tively ten, seven, and five years, in the flames, without mak-
ing any attempt to rescue them. Before any assistance

arrived the poor children were burnt to death. On examining
the ground where the fire took place, some blood uas dis-
covered; this excited suspicion, and on examination of the
bodies the skull of one of them was found to be fractured.
This added to the suspicious nature of the circumstances,
and the father was immediately taken into custody.

A fearful sensation prevailed; of course, in the parish and
neighbourhood of Eisey, and, in expectation of the coroner,
a large number of respectable persons assembled on Tuesday.
Mr. B. W. Whitmarsh, coroner, having arrived about 3
o'clock, p.m., a jury was immediately sworn, and after view-
ing the bodies and the spot where they were burnt, adjourned
to Mr. Pinniger's, of Seven Bridge Farm, to take evidence.
The father, Isaac Litton, after being warned that any state-
ment he made would be taken down and used as evidence
against him, said—l lived for the last fortnight in a camp,
situated in Golden Rose-lane. I went to bed about a quar-
ter past eight on Friday night; my wife was sitting up in
bed. I came from Wheeler's, where I went to ask him to
take us in, as the policeman had told me I must move before
the next day, or they should take me before a magistrate.
There had been a fire about a yard and a half from the camp.
It was out when I went to bed, and had been ever since seven
o'clock. I undressed myself and got into bed. We burn no
candle. I and my wife slept inside at the entrance of the
tent and the children at the further end. About ten I was
awoke by sparks of fire falling on my face, I jumped up,
awoke my wife, and ran out, and took hold of the hurdles to
pull it off the children, but in doing so it fell upon them so
that I could not find them. My wife ran for assistance, and
in about five or seven minutes Richard Wheeler came, and
in ten minutes afterwards we found the children. I never
heard them scream or struggle.
The mother, Martha Litten, said,—l and my children
went to bed about eight. My husband was not in. I covered
up the fire with the bricks. He came in about nine with a
lighted candle. I was lying down with my baby on my arm.
I never knew him before that night bring a lighted candle
into the entrance of the camp. I saw him on his knees with
the lighted candle in his hand. He did not get into bed that
night. 1 fell asleep, and was awoke by some noise. My
husband said, "D— thee, thee beest all afire." He was
then getting off the bed ; he ran out, and I followed as soon
as I could. I did not hear the children scream. I ran away
to call for help with my baby, and did not see him do any-
thing; he might have saved the children if he had liked.
Richard Wheeler came with me. When I left, the fire was
only burning on that part which covered us, it was not burn-
ing where the children were.

Richard Wheeler, being sworn, said—When I came from
my work on Friday evening last, a little after night, I
Litten was sitting in my house. in Golden Rose-lane

told me; the policeman had said he must remove from ____
lane on the following morning, or else they should take him
before a magistrate; he asked me if I could take him and his
family in, so that they might lie down. I told him I could
not, as there was only one room in the house ; he said I
might have the hurdles. I said I wanted only mine own; I
should wish him to bring them. He said he would not re
move a single thing, and that he would set fire to it all first
•

on after he went away, and took nothing with him from
my house. I then went to bed, and about ten o'clock, as
near as I can tell, I was awoke by the screams of a woman ; I
jumped out of bed and unfastened the window and saw a
light, as if somebody was in flames ; I partly dressed, and
ran to the spot, about 60 yards from my cottage, and in the
adjoining parish of Eisey. I found the camp was down and
on fire. I saw Isaac and Martha Littera ; the latter was
running about crying for assistance. Isaac was stooping
down, apparently looking for something. I asked him where
the children were; he pointed to the spot and said, "There."
I then asked him to move the stuff away that I might see
where they were. I pulled them out ; they were much burnt
and quite dead. About two o'clock Mr. Pinninger and John
Ball came and assisted me to remove the bodies iuto an out
house.

The inquest was adjourned until the following morning
(Wednesday), to receive medical evidence.
Wednesday morning, at ten o'clock, the inquiry was re-
newed, when

Mr. Parker, surgeon, Cricklade, said he had examined the
children, and found that the eldest child was a girl about 10
or 11 years old ; she was very much burnt, and in examining
the head, he perceived a severe fracture of the skull on the
left side, which must have been produced by a terrible blow,
as part of the skull was destroyed, which injury was sufficient
to cause death. That morning, the 26th instant, he made a
further examination of the body of the elder child, and found
the membrane covering the brain scorched and burnt, from
being exposed by the loss of the skull; therefore he was of
opinion that the blow was received before the body was re-
moved from the fire. The other children were much burnt ;
but he could say that the blow on the eldest was received
while living.

Mr. C. O. Gilby, surgeon, assistant to Mr. Thos. Taylor,
Cricklade, being sworn, said, I have this day in company
with Mr. Parker made a minute examination of the bodies
of the three children, viz., Caroline, Sarah Ann, and John
Litten. The eldest child was a female, appearing to be about
10 years of age, 1 believe her name was Caroline; she was
burnt quite black in certain parts of the body. On exami-
ning the head I perceived a severe fracture of the skull, on
the left side, which was sufficient to cause death, and must
have been produced by a severe blow, or some heavy sub-
stance falling upon it, and not by the effects of the fire ; part
of the skull was wanting, and upon sponging the blood away
I perceived the membrane lining the brain to be scorched
and burnt, and also the fractured ends of the bone to be
much burnt, which leads me to the opinion that the blow was
received previous to the child's removal from the fire, but
whether before death or after it is impossible for me to say.
The other two children were vary much burnt, but I could
discover no particular marks of violence, with the exception
of a dislocation of the elbow joint of the left arm of the body
of the girl Sarah Ann, but that might have been done in re-
moving the body from the fire, as all the integuments about
the joints were totally destroyed by the flames.
Two other witnesses supported a portion of Richard
Wheeler's assertions, but neither of them could say that the
father had made, or appeared to have made, any effort to
save the children.

After some deliberation the jury returned a verdict " Tha
Isaac Litten wilfully set his tent or camp on fire, therebi
causing the death of three of his children."

A young girl unfortunately fell into the Nith, near Dum-
fries, on Tuesday week, whilst raising a small pail at the
water side. She was carried down the river, snd soon sank
to rise no more.

A GANG OF MIIRDEREES.—The Kilkenny papers give
an account of the capture of a formidable banditti, who
within six months committed the most appalling murders in
that and the neighbouring counties. It appears there is evi-
dence to show that they murdered the late Mr. George
Haly, of Johnstown, and after that set fire to the body, to
destroy all traces of the murder. They also murdered Mr.
Mortimer, in Freshford, having hired themselves for a sum
of money, for that purpose; they shot General Kearney's
steward, butchered a•poor farmer at Hoyne at noon-day in
his own yard, and they closed their sanguinary career by
attempting to assassinate Mr. Shee.

DISTRESSING CASE.—.On Wednesday last Mr. J. W.
Hall, upholsterer", of Hampstead-road, London, threw him-
self from the second 'floor window of his house whilst in a
state of delirium caused by brain fever. A brother of the
unfortunate gentleman said " on the day in question he was
talking to deceased, who had been very violent, when sud-
denly he wrenched off a poultice from his forehead where
leeches had been applied, and, flinging it violently at the
window, sprang out of bed, knocked witness down by a blow
on the face, cried out, " Oh, .I am mad, I am mad ; I shall
be dead in five minutes," and instantly flew out of the room
up stairs to the front window, whence, before witness could
recover his feet and follow him, deceased had darted into the
street. Witness did not think deceased had been in any
respect neglected during his illness. Deceased was a very
sober, eheerful, industrious man. By the fall his arm and
thigh were broken, and his head fractured."

GLAsoow AsstzEs.—ln the Circuit Court of Justiciary,
at Glasgow, on Friday last, Charles Mackay was charged
with the crime of murder, in so far as on the 18th day of
December,•lB42, he attacked and assaulted one Catherine
M'Kechnie, his wife, which violence terminated in her
death. The prisoner pleaded guilty, " but not with intent to
murder. This plea was rejected by the Advocate. Depute.
and the case went to trial. After the examination of several
witnesses, Lord Meadowbank summed up the evidence, and
the jury having retired about 20 minutes, returned with a
verdict, finding Mackay guilty as libelled. Lord Meadow-
bank then assumed the black cap, and in the most solemn
manner sentenced the prisoner to be executed on Thursday,
the 18th day of May next. The prisoner during the time
the sentence was being passed stood upon his feet, and ex-
hibited considerable firmness. The court was much crowded
during the trial.

STRANGE AFFAIR.—On Monday last, at the Lambeth-
street (London) Police-office, Mrs. Campbell, a midwife,
stated to the magistrate that, on the 10th of August last, an
elderly gentleman brought to her house a young woman, and
entreated shelter for her as she was very ill, and, in fact, in
labour pains. The gentleman added that they had been on
the river together in a steam-boat, and the lady having wit-
nessed an accident it had brought on premature labour. Ap-
plicant, observing that the young woman was momentarily
about to become a mother, took her into her house, and had
scarcely time to prepare the necessary accommodation before
she was safely delivered of a daughter. The gentleman en-
treated that a suitable nurse should be provided for the latter,
the mother not being able, from its premature birth, to suckle
it; and witness engaged the wife of a mechanic in the neigh-
bourhood to take charge of it, the gentleman agreeing to pay
her 7s. a week for its care. The lady remained at her house
for three weeks, during which time she was constantly visited
by the gentleman in the cloak, whom she represented to be
her uncle, said his name was Williams, and that he was a
grocer in a very . extensive way of business. She also said
that her name was Catharine Mills ; that-her winthefiNg
Union Inn, at Carnarvon, of which place her uncle was the
clergyman ; and that she had a third uncle, the captain and
owner of a vessel. When the lady left applicant's house, the
gentleman gave her £2 for her trouble, and 14s. a fortnight
had been sent to her for the nurse until the 27th of Novem-
ber, when it had ceased, and from that period to the present
she had not been able to learn anything whatever about them.
On the 24th of November, the lady called and paid the fort-
night's money, and this was the last she saw of her. About
a month after, however, a lady, of middle age and dashing
appearance, called at her house and inquired if she was the
person at whose residence a young lady had been prematurely
delivered of a female infant? She replied in the affirmative,
upon which the lady seemed much rejoiced ; said she had
been anxiously endeavouring to find her out for two months,
and inquired particularly how the baby was. She (applicant)
replied that the little foundling was very well, but she did
not know what she should do with it, as she was accountable
to the nurse for its maintenance,. and its mother and her
uncle had neglected to send her any money for several weeks.
The lady, who seemed indignant at her calling the infant a
foundling, said the applicant little knew of the rank and sta-
tion of the young lady, the mother of the infant, and re-
quested she would struggle on a few weeks longer, when she
might rest assured she would be handsomely paid. She also
said that the young lady was the daughter of a lady of for-

. . _
tune and station, and was entitled to a fortune when of age
(being now only in her 16th year) of £3OOO per annum, but
had unfortunately become pregnant by her mother's footboy.