The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1846-06-16 00:00:00

THE MATRIMONIAL SPECULATOR

On Saturday, Joseph Mortimer, the pretended Ame-
rican landowner, who pays especial attention to persons
advertising for situations as housekeeper, and offers to
marry them and take them to New York, was finally ex-
amined before Mr. Alderman Farebrother, at the Guild-
hall, London, on charges of stealing and bigamy.
Mr. Shuttleworth, a gentleman residing at Chelmsford,
produced a certificate of the marriage of the prisoner on
the 27th of June, 1839, to Mrs. Josephine Langhorne, a
widow, at St. Giles's Camberwell. He compared it with
the original, and it was a true copy. He was present at
the marriage, and knew Mrs. Langhorne well, being his
wife's sister. He knew she was living so recently as the
22d of March, being well acquainted with her writing, and
having a letter in his possession written by her. It bore
date New York, March 22d, and the New York post-
mark of the 29th. It reached England about the IGth of
April, and was addressed to her mother. It described the
distress she bad suffered through her connexion with the

prisoner.
Mr. Alderman Farebrother asked the prisoner if he
wished to put any question to the witness.
The prisoner said he did not. He knew nothing about it.
Mr. Alderman Farebrother said he was aware he mar-
ried this lady.

Prisoner said yes; but he was aware she was dead ; at
least he was informed so.
Mr. Alderman Farebrother was afraid he did not take
much trouble to ascertain.

Robert M`Kenzie, B 5 police-constable, produced an
extract from the register of marriages at St. Philip's
Church, in the parish of Liverpool, showing the marriage
of the prisoner to Miss Mary Susanna Lovejoy, of Liver-
pool, on the 22nd of June, 1844. He had seen sliss Caig,
the bridesmaid, who would come from Liverpool, to iden-
tify the prisoner.
Mr. Alderman Farebrother asked if he would put any
question to this witness.
The prisoner replied he should hung all his force at the
sessions. He would, however, ask the witness if he knew
whether this person was living ?
The officer replied she was dead, and the impression at
Liverpool was that she did not die a natural death.
Mr. Alderman Farebrother said he had a letter lying
before him giving some account of the prisoner, and he
was surprised the prisoner had adverted to it, as if be had
any feeling it would raise recollections very distressing to
him. The prisoner sailed for New York with his wife in
the October succeeding their marriage in the Siddons,
Captain Cobb, and the letter was written by a fellow-pas-
senger. She writes—" I did not see Mrs. Mortimer after
the first day of our voyage. I believe she never got
out of her berth after the second day. I was introduced
to her by Mr. Roberts, and she appeared to be in toler-
able health. I was in the next cabin, and as there was a
large opening at the top, we heard very plainly what was
said in each other's place. A plain good-natured Eng-
lish-woman, in the next birth to theirs, offered to do any-
thing for Mrs. Mortimer, and was refused, till she was
ashamed of offering her services. The first time when I
recollect anything about them was when he was drunk.
When he got into bed, she screamed out, Mortimer,
don't touch me.' Afterwards she cried, and, I suppose
pushed him away, for he swore at her, and said, 'Let me
s into New York, and I will mash you.'
d every or.e wondered that Mrs.
When she became so ill

once get my I€s
The time went on
Mortimer did not t

. -
that her groans were too distressing for me to bear, I sent
for the mate and told him, and the captain, I believe, saw
her ; but no woman was allowed by the husband to do any-
thing for her. Two young women wished to go to her,
and they told me that he said ' She is mad ; it is of no use
to speak to her.' She, hearing him, said ' I am not
mad, James; I know what they say, let them come in;'
but they were not admitted. As I was lying awake at
night I heard her say, ' Lord have mer-,' Christ
save -,' and such broken sentences ; and my children,
who could hear better, being even with her bed, said she

talked queerly, but that was only 24 hours before her
death. Mortimer was never up with her for one night,
for the night before she died she exclaimed, Oh, Morti-
mer, I shall die, I shall die,' and he doggedly replied,
Die, then.' Thus she would beseech him,—' Dear,
dear James, take me out of this place;' but still no one
was allowed t- •-• it was h-

A 3 go in. __ beyond description paintut
to me to lie and hear her painful groans, which resembled
the howlings of a cat. The last night she lived, in rather
a stronger voice than I expected, she said, ' Turn me,
James—l am dying.' He was asleep by her side, and in
reply he said, ' What do you want ?' Some time after I
heard another faint groan, and at the time said to myself,
That is much like a rattle in the throat.' I had been
much disturbed night and day, and I fell asleep. At eight
o'clock the next morning the boy who waited on us came
and told us Mrs. Mortimer was dead and overboard.
How much I was shocked I need not try to tell. The
same day Mortimer was walking about the ship, with her
gold watch on his neck, an object of suspicion and dislike
to all on board. I was told he was ransacking her trunks
before I knew of her death, and at night he had a man in
his cabin, with whom he was laughing and chuckling about
the watch and other valuables. I did not see him throw
the deceased's dog overboard, but the sailors did ; and you
may rely upon it deceased was not sewed up in any rug.
He did ask the English woman to dress her in a night
gown, &c. ; but she replied, ' No, you would not let me
do anything for her while living, and now she is dead you
may do the rest yourself.' I heard that she had a clean
gown, cap, shift, and stockings put on. This is the plain
account, so far as I know anything about it. I do not
give any opinion on the tale. I only add, that he was an
object of detestation to all, and walked about the vessel
looking like—what he is, a very bad being in a human
shape." This letter was written by Mrs. Sarah Shearman.
Mr. Caldecott, of Clapham, proved the marriage of the
prisoner to Mrs. Wright, a widow, at Shoreditch Church
on the 9th of June, 1845. She is now living in Dublin.
This gentleman had a letter from the prisoner's brother,
in which it was stated that the prisoner has three wives
now living in New York. As we have already stated, he
is supposed to have two wives living in Dublin, one in
Roscommon, and one (who is passing by her previous
name of Holmes) somewhere in London.
The policeman produced the register of this marriage,
and Mr. Shuttleworth proved that his sister-in-law, who
was married in 1839, is still living.
The prisoner was committed on these two cases of
bigamy, and also upon the charge of stealing a box con-
taining some clothes, and also stealing 21 soverigns, the
property of Mrs. Loyer, who caused the prisoner to be
apprehended. No new evidence was offered for the pro-
secution, but the prisoner did not let slip the opportunity
of annoying Mrs. Loyer by cross-examining her about
an old Mr. Higginbottorn, to whom she owed £5OO, and
about her indiscretions at Paris, when she was assisted to
bed by a gentleman who was employed as their translator.
The prisoner, who had spent a shilling in having his
hair dressed that morning, that he might make an impres-
sive appearance at the bar, seemed to have quite recovered
his spirits, and to be quite at ease, either because he con-
siders his fate to be sealed and that it is useless to repine,
or because he feels sure that he shall escape. It is sup-
posed that a wife is living whom he married before the
widow Langhorne in 1839, but if the prisoner establishes
this by way of defence, the same evidence will sustain a
new indictment for bigamy in marrying Mrs. Langhorne.
The prisoner applied for the return of some money and
new clothes the officer had seized. Mr. Alderman Fare-
brother refused to give them up. considering that the
clothes were bought with Mrs. Loyer's money, and that
the money was the remainder of her 21 sovereigns.

MILITARY SERVICE.—A warrant has been issued by
the Secretary at War, which curtails the prescribed period
of military service. Hereafter a man may enlist for as

short a period as seven years.
JEWISH FREEMASONS : IMPORTANT DECISION OF THE
GRAND LODGE OF ENGLAND.—The Grand Lodge of

England has, after a correspondence and remonstrance,
conducted by the Earl of Zetland and the Grand Secre-
tary, resolved to withdraw their representative from the
Grand Lodge at Berlin, in consequence of the refusal of
the Russian lodges to admit Jews to their meetings, though
such Jews have diplomas of the Grand Lodge of England.
The representative of the Grand Lodge of Berlin, in this
country, is to be informed that he can no longer be ac-
knowledged or take his seat in the Grand Lodge of Eng-
land in his official character of representative.
NEW TRANSATLANTIC STEAMERS.—It is said that
Cunard's company have contracted for three new immense
steamships. They are to be about 2,000 tons register
each ; the length of keel and forerake is to be 250 feet;
the length over all, 280 feet ; the breadth of beam forty
feet. They are to be built of timber by Messrs. Robert
Steel and Co. of Greenock ; and the engines, of about
700 horse-power each, are to be supplied by Mr. Robert
Napier, of Glasgow. In order to show the great s'ze of
these vessels, we may slate that the Cambria and Hibernia
are only 220 feet keel, 245 feat over all, and 36 feet breadth
of beam ; while the engines do not exceed 500 horse
power each. The Britannia, Acadia, and Caledonia are
still smaller, being no more than 205 feet keel, 225 feet
over all, and 34 feet beam ; with engines of only 450
horse-power. It is also intended, it is said, by the same
enterprising company, to order a new iron steamer, of the
same splendid dimensions as the three wooden ones now
about to be laid down.

THE POISONING CASES IN NORFOLK.--In the House
of Commons on Friday, Sir James Graham, in reply to a
question put by a member, said that " he had received no
report relative to these cases. No less than twenty per-
sons had died, there was every reason to believe, from
poison administered by one individual ; and yet in no one
of those cases had an inquest been held. Now, by law
any person having reason to think that a death had oc-
curred under suspicious circumstances, was entitled to call
on the coroner to hold an inquest.. But within the last
few years there had arisen a disposition to dispute the
payment of the charges of coroners ; and the result was
that inquests had not been held in a great many cases in
which, in his opinion, they ought to have been held. He
understood that the magistrates of Devon had come ttf a
resolution not to allow the expenses of coroners in cases
in which verdicts of " Died by the visitation of God" had
been returned. (Hear, hear.) The consequence was, that
a coroner of that county had refused to hold an inquest in
a case at Ilfracombe, in which it was alleged that an in-
quest ought to take place. The refusal of the coroner was
at present under the consideration of the Court of Queen's
Bench. But he (Sir James Graham) should repeat that,
in his opinion, that determination not to allow the ex-
penses of coroners had operated most injuriously with
reference to the performance of the duties of those officers.
It certainly appeared to him that the law as it at present
stood ought to be more generally carriedi nto effect.
Those wishing to rent or purchase property should pe-
ruse Mr. Williams's advertisement.
SHAKING CARPETS.—This process, which is very
entirelittle
understood,and
ddtms,ucrhugtso, ps,recs.e,rvies
Performed in great perfection by Mr. Dobson, whose
advertisement will he found in another column. We are
.happy to hear that Mr. Dobson has secured the patronage
of the leading hotels, and a Jaw number of the families
in the town and neighbourhood.
texture which
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