The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-04-08 00:00:00

THE ST. HELEN'S MURDER

Robert Woods, 21, Isaac Jacques, 25, and Thomas Moly-
neux, 28, were indicted for the wilful murder of Henry Gray-
son, at Windle, near St. Helen's. They pleaded not guilty.
We gave the facts of this extraordinary case so fully at the
time, that it is unnecessary now again to detail them. We
will merely give in brief what took place before the court.
Dr. Brown and Mr. Brandt appeared for the prosecution,
and Mr. Wilkins for the defence. Dr. Brown, in the course
of his opening, stated, that without the evidence of a man,
who was his principal witness, he had no case. This man
had not presented himself to give evidence till fourteen days
after the parties now on trial were in custody, and not until a
reward of £250 had been offered for the discovery of the mur-
derer. It appeared that he had also asked a party, when the
bill offering the reward was read, if the actual murderer
would he pardoned, and had stated that he had something
weighing heavy on his mind. He (Dr. Brown) then de-
tailed the circumstances of the case, and the nature of
the evidence which he would have to present. After a few
witnesses had been called to testify to the finding of the body,
and its condition, the party above alluded to was placed
in
the witness box. His testimony, both on his examination in
chief, and in cross-examination, was so much at variance with
that given before the magistrates, and he was so flatly con-
tradicted by other witnesses, that the case was stopped, and,
under the direction of his lordship, a verdict of acquittal was
taken. The prisoners were discharged in the course of the
day

MANSLAUGHTER BY A MIDWIFE.
Maria Henry, 73. stood indicted for having killed and
slain one Margaret Carter.
We also reported the circumstances of this case as detailed
at the coroner's inquest. They will be found in the Standard
of the 18th ultimo.

The prisoner was acquitted.
FORGERY

Robert Wood Richardson, 45; formerly an attorney, was
charged with having forged a receipt with the intent to defraud
John Hope.

Mr. Brandt conducted the prosecution, Mr. Wilkins de-
fended.

Mrs. Hope, having been sued through the district court,
gave the prisoner the amount of the debt and costs. He
returned her a receipt for the amount, which it afterwards
turned out had not been paid.
The jury found the prisoner guilty. His lordship sentenced
him to two years' imprisonment and bard labour.

NISI PRIUS.-TUESDAY.
DAVIDSON, PUBLIC OFFICER, V. BOWER

Mr. KNOWLES (with whom were Mr. Crompton and Mr.
Martin) stated the plaintiff's case. The plaintiff was the
registered public officer of the Commercial Bank, at Man-
chster ; and the defendant, Mr. Alexander Bower, was
formerly one of the directors of that bank. The action
was brought to recover about £5,000, alleged to be due
from the defendant on his banking account. The action
was brought by the body of shareholders against Mr.
Bower, who, for a long time, was one of their directors, to
recover that of which he had: long ago had the use and
advantage ; and the claim, he supposed was to be resisted
by Mr. Bower, upon some purely technical ground. The
bank was established in 1834, by Mr. Joseph Macardy
Mr. Bower was an exceedingly active man in its projec-
tion; he was one of a provisional committee of five, formed
before the bank was completed. In a little time, a number
of shares were taken up ; a deed of settlement was prepared ;
and then the provisional committee-men were, with a little
exception, made directors. They were, Thomas Ashton,
Alexander Bower, Thomas Palin, Thomas Slater, and Ralph
Turner. The sixth rule in the deed of settlement provided,
that the bank should be under the control of a general board
of directors ; the seventh provided, that, till such general
board was constituted, the various business and concerns of
the company should be under the entire management of a
board, to be called the Manchester directors, who should
also have the management and control of the stock fund and
revenue of the company. The five persons just named were
the Manchester directors. It was one of the necessary quali-
fications of a director that he should take 200 shares, and ac-
cordingly every one subscribed to that amount. The business
commenced ; it soon became a flourishing concern ; branches
were established in different towns ; local directors were ap-
pointed, and everything seemed to promise a lucrative busi-
ness. There was one part of the business of a director in
which they soon did some business. Having the power, they
very soon began to borrow money ; although, with a modesty
hardly consistent with their other conduct, they made no
boast of it, but kept it as quiet as they could. The 200
shares were paid for by Mr. Bower on the 27th September.
When the provisional committee were first appointed, they
reserved for distribution among themselves and their friends,
13,000 shares, of which he (Mr. Knowles) should not have
complained, had these been taken up and paid for. The pro-
visional committee reserved 13,000 shares for themselves and
their friends. The first deed of settlement appropriated
these shares, and the executive directors proceeded to appro-
priate the shares; and the document was signed by Mr.
Bower himself, showing that he took a part in the transaction.
The document was entitled—
" Shares appropriated upon the cash credit, at the forma-
tion of the Commercial Bank of England.—Alexander Bower,
1,500 ; Thomas Ashton, 1,500 ; Thomas Slater, 1,500 ; Tho-
mas Palin, 1,500 ; Ralph Turner, 1,500 [so that, observed
the plaintiff's counsel, each member of the Manchester
board got 1,500 shares] ; Joseph Macardy (who was the ori-
ginal projector of the bank), 2,000 shares. Interest upon
above to be charted at the rate of 31 per cent. from the
12th February, 1835.—Ralph Turner, Chester, 600 shares ;
Anthonyp:. n from the id June, 1835
ce. iN7ard
(Signed)
800; Isaac Holmes Liverpool,
800-; Richard Heywood, Burslem,
This account did nontta"ppAeLrEaXt in
100. To pay interest at 4
R.
tthe BOWER,
books
of
fa i rt mh
the
n .
bank,
not till a dividend wasryofit except this document. It was
nor was there any e
occurred to the parties to
declared, in February, 1836, that it
accounts. A dividend wa
enter the cash credits in the gene-
rals then declared of 8 per cent.
on the paid-up capital for the preceding year, and it was there-
fore necessary for parties holding shares on cash credits to
have
creditthem
ofentered
rB innw the enf books.GB
3s 'The first was an entry to
the
d
tlis
shares were at
he
tahceams ha s creditpnid -up
capital,rcent.
d;
therefore
eafsn tore
receive 8 per cent. on
would be a clear
cent.ui The gainer of the difference between 31 and 8 per
in-
terest on 1500 shares to that time was 931
dividend on £7500 was £600; and the betweendifferenac.e6L
"lis
these sums amounted to £368 Bs. 6d. ; and accordingly, in
his pass-book, if he produced it, would be found, under date
of the 3d March, an entry, " Credit by cash from profit and
75
coeonti, from
the 31st December, 1835, .loss, £368 Bs. fid." In the stock ledger Mr. Bower was de-
bited aJsuinlaer,el, shares,B£367s,.wiltnhtlesreoOst,at3
per
depo-
sitbiteodn, or h
i ditto,t
i £ll6 10s. Id. ; and on the other
side he was credited with the full value of those shares, £7691
10s. ld. This stock ledger was a private book, to which the
public shareholders had -no access; but, after the entry of
these sharps in the books, they were always treated as paid-
up capital; they were sold like any other shares ; and the
drawers always received a dividend upon them, and treated
Ahem .as so much paid-up capital, in ahares. The learned