The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-04-02 00:00:00

MURDER OF A CHILD BY ITS MOTHER AND ATTEMPTED

SUICIDE OF THE PARENT.

Ann Rothwell, a decently-attired female, of the age of
24, was given in charge for the wilful murder of her son,
Edwin Turner, otherwise called Edwin Turner Rothwell,
at Prestwich-cum-Oldham, on the 29th of December last.
Mr. Brandt, with whom was Mr. Pickering, conducted
the case for the prosecution; and, at the instance of Mr.
Gibbs, the Governor of Kirkdale prison, who represented
that the impoverished circumstances of the prisoner ren-
dered her unable to employ counsel, Mr. Wilkins kindly
and promptly undertook the defence.
Mr. BRANDT briefly stated the case. He said, the
grievous offence with which the prisoner was charged was
that of having administered a poison, called laudanum, to
her own child, a boy upwards of two yeaas of age, who
was called Edwin Rothwell, that being the name of the
prisoner's husband, who was still living, though, for the
last two or three years, she had been living at Oldham
with a man named Turner. Towards the latter end of the
last year Turner left Oldham, taking with him the furni-
ture of the house ; and, after he had gone, she fell into a
state of extreme depression of spirits, thinking that she
had been abandoned by the world, and it was while she
was in this state of desperation that she administered to
herself and her child the dose of laudanum, whish she had
previously purchased at two or three druggists' shops in
the town. The circumstance that she administered the
poison depended, in a great degree, on her own acts of ad-
mission, accompanied with the fact of her having pur-
chased the poison, and of her having written the following
letter to her sister, at Manchester, shortly before the oc-
currence :

" Oldham.

" DEAR SISTER,—I write to let you know that Charles
has dons his utmost. He has belied me, and now left me
destitute. I can't beg, nor yet see my child starve. If
you will come to-day you will find me and Edwin a corpse.
You must get a wire to lift the latch. See you have
tickets. Farewell!
"To Mrs. M`Lean, Manchester."
The only difficulty in the case would turn upon the point
as to whether the jury should be satisfied that the child
bad died of the effects of laudanum •, and this difficulty
would be occasioned by no traces of the poison having
been discovered in the frame. Congestion of the brain
had been discovered ; but, as that might have been pro-
duced by apoplexy as well as laudanum, the case would
require careful sifting, in order to enable the jury to ar-
rive at a correct conclusion.
Mary Leech was examined by Mr. PICKERING, as fol-
lows :—I am the wife of Josiah Leech, a hatter, at Old-
ham. The prisoner was lately living at Oldham, in the
company of a person named Turner. On Thursday, the
28th of December, about two o'clock in the afternoon,
the prisoner came to our house with her child. Her child
was about two years and a fortnight old. His name was
Edwin. She went by the name of Ann. The child at
that time appeared in good health. After having remained
about an hour, she sold me the child's chair for sixpence,
twopence of which I handed her. She then went away.
On the following day, about half-past two, she called
again, but did not bring the child with her. I asked her
where the child was, and she said he was asleep. She
appeared very cheerful at the time •, so cheerful that I
thought she must have heard something of Turner, the
man with whom she had been living. I asked her if she
had heard of him, and she said not. I then paid her the
remaining fourpence for the chair, and said, " Ann, I
heard you sent your sister a letter : is that true ? " She
replied, " Yes • and when she gets it, if she has any love
for me, she will come through fire and water after me.'!
Turner removed his goods from the house where the pri-
soner lived on St. Stephen's day.
Mary Crompton, examined by Mr. BRANDT.—I am
wife of William Crompton, and, in the latter end of Dec.
last, lived nearly opposite the prisoner. Between eleven
and twelve o'clock on the night of the 28th of December
last, I was passing her dour and heard the cry of a child
from the room above. It seemed to be an ordinary cry.
On the evening of the next day, I saw the prisoner near
her door, and spoke to her. I asked her where was her
child. She said it was asleep. I asked what it was laid
upon, and she said, on her petticoat. I asked whether it
had had any thing to eat lately, and she said, " Oh ! yes."
I saw a man on the prisoner's stairs at the time. His
name is Nivett. Between eight and nine o'clock the
same night I heard an alarm of the child being dead, and,
on going to the house, I saw that they were walking the
prisoner up and down the room.
Cross-examined.—She appeared very much dejected
when I spoke to her.
Joseph Nivett examined.--I am a hatter, at Oldham,
and, about four o'clock in the afternoon of the 29th of
December last, I went to the prisoner's house with two
men, of the name of Cheetham and Crompton. The pri-
soner was there at the time. I did not see the child.
There was not any furniture in the house. I then left,
but returned about seven o'clock the same evening. The
prisoner let me in, and I went up stairs. I went into the
chamber. There was no bed in it, and the only light in
the place proceeded from a miserable fire in the grate. I
saw something lying on one side of the fire-place, but
said nothing about it. The prisoner said nothing about
her child. She appeared down-spirited and sick. A man
named Chapman and a woman came to the door while I
was there. The woman asked where was the child, and
the prisoner replied that it was asleep. The prisoner then
wanted me to stop while Chapman went away, for she
said she thought he was going to bring some disgrace upon
her. I stopped until after he was gone, and then I left.
I was only about twenty minutes in the house altogether.
The woman who accompanied Chapman was the witness
Crompton.
John Smedhurst examined.—l am a hat-finisher at
Oldham, and knew the prisoner. She lived with Turner
as man and wife. She brought a letter to my house on
the 28th of December, and asked me for a pen and ink
with which to direct it. She said she had written the
body of the letter with a pencil. She directed it, and
then said that she had directed it badly, as her hand
trembled. She gave me a black-lead pencil, saying, that
she should not want it again. She had the child then with
her. She said, •` Charles (meaning Turner) will be much
surprised when he comes to know the contents of this
letter." She left the house, saying, that she would take
it to the Post-office. (Witness here identified the letter.)
She came to my house upon the following day, about
half-past two, and desired, that if her sister or any female
came I should show them where she lived. A female,
named Ann Winterbottom, was present, who asked ler
where the child was. She said she left it asleep. The
same night, about nine o'clock, Charles Turner came to
my house and asked me to go with him to the prisoner's
place. I went, and Turner, having procured a light,
went up stairs, I followed in about six minutes after, and
saw the child lying in a corner of the room. Turner, in
the mean time, came down, and went for a doctor. I
heard the prisoner say that she was a ruined woman, and
that she had done for herself and the child. Sbe seemed
very poorly indeed, and was leaning against the wall.
I She was evidently in pain and great distress both of body
and mind.

Cross-examined.—She was a paftiettiarly fond mother.
There was nothing in her house, except the shawl or
petticoat on which the child lay, and nothirig to eat, ex-
cept a bit of sapped bread in a pan.
David 11I'Lean examined.—l am the grm of John
Nl,Lean ; and, an the 29th of December last, I received
a letter by the post, about five in the morning. 1 live in
Manchester. (The witness then identified the letter.)
know it by a blotch. I took it to my mother ; aed my
brother William read it and gave to my father, who told
me to take it to my brother Wellington. I did so.
Matthew Wellington M`Lean examined.—l live in Man-
chester, and know the prisoner very well. I married her
sister. She was married to a man named Robert Roth-
well. He is living still. She has been living with a man,
named Turner, for about three years. The child, Edwin,
was the offspring of that illicit intercourse. When I re-
ceived the letter from the last witness, I read it for Tur-
ner's father and brother. I met Charles Turner about
seven o'clock the same night ; and he read it by the light
of the gas. He said he believed the contents were true ;
and he and I accordingly went by the first train to Oldham.
On arriving at Oldham, we called at Smethurst's, where
we procured a light ; and, while we were getting a light,
the prisoner opened her chamber window and asked, in a
low tone of voice, who was there. No answer was returned,
but Turner went in. I remained at the door. In a short
time Turner, as if in pain, called out to me, " 'Wellington,
come and help me." I rushed up, and sawthe child in
his arms and the prisoner falling on the floor. Turner
said, " My child is dead." I felt it, and it was, quite cold
and dead. It was wet about the mouth, as if it had been
vomiting. I raised the paisoner up, and asked her how
long it bad been dead. She mentioned some hour : I be-
lieve it was half-past three. She seemed very wretched
and wild, and labouring under great mental and bodily
suffering. 1 asked a woman who came in to procure some
warm water and salt, with the view of administering it to
the prisoner, to cause her to vomit. Turner then went
out for a doctor; but, before he did so, he asked the pri-
soner to forgive him, and she did. There was some bread
and water in the can, and a little dry bread and sugar on
the ground. The prisoner was on her knees sometimes,
her eyes were downcast, and she was weak and heavy.
In a few minutes Turner returned with a doctor. I then
left, and shortly after the prisoner was taken away in a
coach.
Cross-examined.—l only visited her once in Oldham.
That was about two months before the murder. I never
thought that the child would live long, as its head was
large.. I often said its head was too heavy for its body.
I cannot recollect that it was in the habit of turning up
its eyes in such a manner as that the whites only ap-
peared. Ever since her father's death the prisoner has
been affected in the head. Her father hanged himself.
To the Court.—She used to sit for hours in our house
and never speak a word ; and sometimes she was for
weeks without speaking a word, except to say that she
would wish to follow her father. She also wished several
times that she was at the bottom of the river which runs
close to our door.

Charles Turner examined.—l am a hat. finisher, at Old-
ham, and know the prisoner. I have been living with her
for three years. I knew that she was a married woman
at the time, and that her husband, Rothwell, was living.
I had a child, Edwin, by her. On the day after Christ-
mas-day I sold off the furniture of the house in Oldham
and went to meet the prisoner in Manchester. I• never
saw her there. I remained in Manchester four days, but
never saw her until the 29th of December. When the
witness. Wellington M`Lean, showed me the letter before
referred to, I was very much alarmed, and proceeded to
Oldham with Wellington. When I went to the prisoner's
house, I called out " Ann," and received no answer. It
was quite dark at the time, and. after I had procured a
light, I went up stairs, placed the candle on the cornice,
and clasped her in my arms. She was in a terrible low,
dejected state, labouring under mental and bodily suffer-
ing. She said, "Charles, I forgive you, lam a ruined
woman." 1 caught up the child, who was lying by the
side of the fire, and found it cold and dead. The prisoner
said she had vomited before. _ _

The witness, in cross-examination, stated that he fre-
quently thought the prisoner was not right in her mind,
she talked so incoherently.
John Brumley, a police officer, deposed to finding a
bottle in the prisoner's room on the 29th of December,
with the words " laudanum" and " poison" on it, and
that when be found the bottle he said, "Why, Ann, you
have poisoned your child, she said "I have, I have given
it laudanum,"
Three druggists then deposed to the prisoner buying
laudanum at their respective shops on the 28th and 29th
of December. _

John Rountree examined.—l am a surgeon, at Old-
ham, and, on the 29th of December last, I went to the
prisoner's house aboui nine in the evening. I found her
walking aboat, supported by two men, apparently drowsy
and sleepy. with a singularly wild expression of the coun-
tenance. I gave her an emetic, and applied the stomach-
pump. From what came off the stomach I could not per-
ceive any smell of laudanum. I had to inject warm water
before I could produce vomiting. From her general ap-
pearance, I imagined that she was suffering from the
effects of laudanum. Her feeble and drowsy state would
be produced by a dose of that kind. When laudunum
produces death it is said to cause congestion of the vessels
of the brain, or in other words, a fulness of the vessels.
When laudanum is taken in a liquid state it is speedily
absorbed in the system. I could not depend upon the
smell as a test in cases of the kind. The absence of smell
is no proof that laudanum has not been taken. I saw the
body of the dead child on the same evening. It appeared
to have been dead some hours. I made a post mortem
examination on the body the day after, with Dr. Murray
and Mr. Dulkelly, a surgeon. There were no marks of
external violence. The body, externally, was plump and
healthy. It appeared to be a fine child. There was nothing
remarkable about the size of the head. I opened the ab-
domen, and found the viscera apparently healthy. There
was no appearance of inflammation. I opened the cavity
of the chest, and the heart and lungs appeard healthy.
The vessels of the brain and its membranes were gorged
with blood. Congestion of the brain was the immediate
cause of death.
Cross-examined.—l never attended a case of death
produced by laudanum or want of food. Spasm of the
stomach might produce vomiting. The worst form of fe-
ver is sometimes produced for want of sustenance. Such
form of fever is sometimes accompanied by delirium and
wild expressions of the countenance. I cannot tell the
remote cause of death in the present case; and, if I had
not been told of the circumstance about the laudanum, I
could not account for death except from natural causes.
Re.examined.—There were no traces of delirium about
the prisoner when I saw her, neither were there any
symptoms of fever. She looked thin, pale, and haggard.
1 gave the stomach to Mr. Davis, the chemist, of Man-
chester,

Dr, James Murray examined.—l am a physician in
Oldham, and assisted the last witness in a post mortem
examination. The immediate cause of death was pressure
on the brain, arising from congestion.
John Davis examined.-1 am a lecturer on chemistry at
Manchester, and have paid attention to the chemical analysis
of laudanum on the human body. According to the best
authorities, the effects of laudanum may disappear in four
or five hours. I examined the stomach of the child in
this case, and could not find any trace of laudanum,
Wellington M‘Lean was here recalled, and, in reply to
Mr. Wilkins, stated, that when the prisoners father hang-
ed himself, ten years ago, the verdict of the jury was
"insanity."
The case for the prosecution having been closed.
Mr. WILKINS eloquently addressed the Jury for the
defence, contending all through that there was abundant
evidence to show that the prisoner was not the mistress
of her own actions, and that there was no proof of her
having caused the death of her child.

His LORDSHIP commenced his charge by compliment-
ing Mr. Wilkins for the ability he had displayed in the
management of the defence; and he then went on to say,
that the two questions in the case had been very correctly
put: namely, whether poison had been administered, and
whether the child died of its effects ; and next, whether
the party accused laboured under such a disease of the
mind at the time of the administration, if they should be
satisfied on that head, as did not render her amenable to
the law.

The jury, after an absence for about half on hour, to
the surprise of many present, returned a verdict of not
guilty.

BURGLARY IN WHITECRAPEL.

Richard Johnson, 20, pleaded guilty to a charge of
having burglariously broken and entered the dwelling.
house of Lewis Heyman, at Wilitechapel, Liverpool,
with intent to steal his goods and chattels.