The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-10-04 00:00:00

EXTRAORDINARY CONSPIRACY,

bristol has been the scene of one of the most romantic in-
cidents in real life which ever occurred, and of which a
highly respectable merchant has been unfortunately made
the dupe.
This affair has been made public in consequence of the
gentleman (Mr. Wooley) having been charged before the
magistrates with having conspired to defraud a goldsmith of
a lady's gold watch and chain.
Mr. Wooley has been, it appears, for the last five years a
widower. and Miss Bryers, who is now about 22 years of age,
and whom he has brought up and educated from the early age
of eight years, resided with him in the New Cut. About six
months since, Miss Bryers intimated to him that a lady
whom she knew, and whose property was worth £17,000,
had accidentally seen him, and had on the instant fallen in
love with him ; that she had striven long to conquer her
passion, but in vain ; that her declining health bore testimony
to the intensity of the struggle ; and that, as a last resource,
she had communicated her passion to her (Miss Bryers),
with a view to her sounding her brother-in-law as to the state
of his heart, with much more sufficiently nonsensical and ab-
surd. Hearing this tale, Mr. Wooley, being of course most
anxious to know who the lady was, pressed Miss Bryers to
inform him who the fair inamorata might be, and was at
length told by her that she was Miss —, a lady of the first
family and respectability. Mr. Wooley, who had never seen
the lady whose name was mentioned to him, oddly enough
agreed to reciprocate the alleged affection, and pressed
anxiously for an interview. To that Miss Bryers replied,
that such a course was entirely out of the question, for should
the relations of the lady arrive at the knowledge that such an
acquaintance existed, they would immediately have her re-
moved, her peace of mind would be ruined for ever, and Mr.
Wooley's chance of the £47,000 would be destroyed. To
mitigate the rigour of this sentence, however, a tender cor-
respondence was fabricated and carried on in this lady's
name (who was all the while unconscious of even Mr.
Wooley's existence) through Miss Bryers, and in answer to
one of these tender billets, Mr. Wooley pledged his honour
not to seek an interview with the lady until it could be safely
granted. The matter having been mentioned to some confi-
dential friend by Mr. Wooley, it was suggested to him that
he ought to be better assured of the truth of the affair, and
that it might be a hoax. This insinuation was, however, in-
dignantly met by Mr. Wooley with the reply, " Could they
suppose that she whom he had brought up as his own child
from the early age of eight years, whom he he had ever
treated in the most kind and indulgent manner, would
attempt to or be a party to the playing off of any trick upon
him who might be considered as her father ?" His friend '
still remaining incredulous, Mr. Wooley said he would write
a letter to Miss --, which would be taken by Miss Bryers,
and that to satisfy himself of her truth, a female, the wife of
a person in his employment, should see whether she went to
the house where the lady resided with it. This was done,
and Miss Bryers was watched by the female to the door of
Miss —'s house. Shortly afterwards, some circumstances
transpired from which he was again led to think that a trick
was being played him, and determined to make assurance
doubly sure, he mentioned his suspicions to Miss Bryers,
wrote a letter to Miss —, and proposed himself to ac-
company Miss Bryers to the door of the lady's house, and to
wait outside for an answer. Miss Bryers, nothing daunted,
reproached him for entertaining the slightest suspicion, and
said that she should be most happy to convince him, and that
he had better at once write the letter, and they would walk
together with it to the house in which the lady resided. This
was accordingly done, and on reaching the house, Miss
Bryers knocked at the door, and having ascertained that the
lady was at home, sent in her card (both being personally
wholly unknown), and desired Mr. Wooley to wait for her.
She then, with unparalleled effrontery, introduced herself
into the presence of the lady. Being requested to be seated,
she apologized for her intrusion, but that being informed that
Miss was very kind in administering relief and religious
consolation to the poor, she had presumed to solicit her to
visit a poor woman at a place in Cathay, which she named,
to administer some relief to her mind. That the poor woman
did not need pecuniary assistance, as she (Miss Bryers) had
procured for her everything which was necessary. The lady
replied, that it was true she was ever most happy to con•
tribute to the relief of the suffering poor as far as possible,
but that with respect to religious consolation, she thought
the clergyman of the parish was the proper party to be applied
to. Miss Bryers immediately acknowledged that this was
the proper course, and having apologized for troubling Miss
—, requested to be allowed to write a note to the rev.
gentleman, soliciting his aid. This was, of course, acceded
to, and Miss Bryers sat down to write the note ; but instead
of writing to the clergyman, she penned an amorous answer
to Mr. Wooley's letter, in the name of the lady in whose
house and presence she was committing this wanton fraud.
Having finished, and used a wafer instead of a seal, she
wished the lady good morning, and having rejoined Mr.
Wooley in the street, she triumphantly produced the note,
still wet, told him Miss was much annoyed at his sus-
picions, and, in fact, completely convinced the too credulous
Mr. Wooley that all things were proceeding rightly for his
marriage with the lady. The correspondence continued un-
interrnptedly between the parties, and at length Miss Bryers,
producing a very handsome ring with the initials of the lady
engraved upon it, told him that she had sent it with the re-
quest that he would wear it for her sake. Things being in
this state, it was arranged, in this semi-fictitious correspon-
dence, that £20,000 of the lady's property should be settled
on herself, while the other portion should be at her husband's
disposal. A request was also made that they should exchange
watches, and Miss Bryers produced a neat lady's gold watch
and chain, which the police reports show that, together with
the ring, she had procured from Mr. Jones. Mr. Wooley
then became most anxious for the lady to name the happy
day, but Miss Bryers told him that before he married, as he
had been a widower for some time, he ought to refurnish
certain portions of his house in a style befitting the reception
of a lady. This was, of course, agreed to. Miss Bryers
was directed to select the necessary furniture, and on her
handing in the various bills cash was given her to discharge
them. At this period, this artful young lady, in order to still
further blind her too-credulous relative to her machinations,
requested him to accompany her to make a morning call upon
the lady of one of the first merchants, at her residence at
Clifton, and told him that this lady was most intimate with
Miss —, and would no doubt induce her to immediately
name the day. Mr. Wooley, accordingly, accompanied her
in the carriage to Clifton, to the house of Mrs. —. When
they arrived there, Miss Bryers persuaded him not to enter
the house, but to remain in the carriage while she went in
and spoke to Mrs. upon the subject, as they should not
be able to converse freely in his presence. Miss Bryers then
welts into tree house, bCIIIB tty
whom she had not at all known previously, informed her that
she had been taken suddenly ill at her door, &c. It is need-
less to say that the lady, of course, sympathized with her for
her illness, and persuaded her to take a glass of wine, which
might recover her. The artful girl did so, and took care to
spill a portion of the wine on her cambric handkerchief ; she
then assured the lady of the house that she felt better, and
having returned to the carriage, told Mr. Wooley that she
was sorry to have detained him so long, but that Mrs.
had promised to go immediately to Miss —, and that she
would make her have a glass of wine, and, " Bless me,"
added she, " I declare I have spilt some of the wine over my
handkerchief." If any doubts whatever had remained in
Mr. Wooley's mind he must have been more incredulous
than the generality of men if he had any longer entertained
the slightest suspicion, and accordingly he procured the
license for their marriage in Redcliff church.
Bridal dresses and presents were prepared, bride-cake
ordered, and every arrangement made for the performance of
the ceremony ; on the day preceding which, however, a
strange series of events took place. In..the afternoon of that
day, Mr. Wooley sent to the house of the Rev. Marcus
D'Arcy Irvine, to request that gentleman to perform the
ceremony on the ensuing evening. The rev. gentleman was,
however, gone out to a dinner party, and Mr. Wooley, the
anxious bridegroom, sent again and again—at six o'clock, at
eight o'clock, and at ten o'clock at night—before Mr. Irvine
returned home, who then stated that he would perform the
ceremony in the morning, but that it was a strange time of
night to come to a clergyman about such an affair. In the
meantime, the confectioner, who had orders to make the
bride-cake, happening to see one of the brothers of Miss
—, the circumstance was mentioned, to the utter astonish-
ment of that gentleman, who immediately communicated the
intelligence to his brother and Miss —; and, as was to be
expected, finding that their sister had never seen Mr. Wooley,
or knew aught of the matter, they determined that a respect-
able man like Mr. Wooley should not be made the victim of
so cruel a hoax. They, in the evening of the same day, went
to his house, sent in their card, and desired to speak with
him. Mr. Wooley was at home, but, being persuaded by
Miss Bryers that they had found it out, and were only come
to stop the marriage, he had himself denied, and would not
see them. These gentlemen, however, in the most praise-
worthy manner, made another effort to undeceive him, and
wrote him two notes, desiring to see him at their counting-
house on business of the utmost importance, at the earliest
hour in the morning, and before he went any where else.
These notes, however, together with their call, and the answer
of the Rev. Mr. Irvine, only strengthened him in the opinion
that their object was to prevent the marriage, and at the per-
suasion of Miss Bryers be felt convinced that they should be
interrupted if they attempted to get married at St. Mary
Redcliff Church, and that they had better get married near
London. With this view the sister-in-law was despatched
to Miss —, to inform her of this alteration, and make the
necessary arrangements. This being done, Miss Bryers, in
the most artful manner, informed Mr. Wooley the next day
that, in consequence of the brother's having found it out,
there had been a great disturbance, and that Miss had
left her home, and was then in the house, where she would
remain until the day of their starting for London, but that
no one must see her except Miss Bryers, not even the servant,
as her character would be compromised if it should ever
become known that she had been in his (Mr. Wooley's)
house before they were married. In order to favour this de-
ception, Miss Bryers had procured the daughter of a neigh-
bour, who was kept upstairs by her, and requested to fre-
quently walk about. " There," said Miss Bryers, " don't
you hear her over head, how agitated she must be, poor
thing !" Mr. Wooley pressed very hard to be allowed to see
her, but this was still refused, and tender billets were passed
by the hands of Miss Bryers, upstairs and down, almost
every half-hour •, and at length, in compliance with his tender
entreaties, the lady above-stairs agreed that on his retiring
to rest at night he might shake hands with her, but that he
must not attempt to force his way into the room. Accord-
ingly, on going to bed at night, a hand was put out through
the door, and tenderly kissed by him, which hand it now
turns out was that of his sister-in-law, Miss Bryers. On the
fourth morning it was arranged that they should start for
London, and the supposed Miss descended to the car-
riage thickly veiled, and accompanied by Mr. Wooley, Miss
Bryers, and a male friend of Mr. Wooley's. They proceeded
to Bath, where they dined at an hotel, Miss Bryers and the
lady in one room, and Mr. Wooley and his male friend in
another. The male friend then returned to Bristol, and the
other parties proceeded to London, where a license was pro-
cured, and after the fourteen days had transpired which by
law they were compelled to remain, they were married, Miss
Bryers officiating as bridesmaid. After the marriage they
drove to the country, and visited the Isle of Wight, South.
ampton, &c., driving everywhere with four horses, and living
in the first style to pass away the honeymoon, and on Monday
last Mr. Wooley and his bride returned to Bristol. On the
day after their arrival at home, friends called, as is usual, to
offer their congratulations. Amongst them was Mr. I
who, on seeing the lady, said, " Why, my dear Wooley,
thought you had told me that you had married Miss of
—, sister to the Messrs. —, African merchants ?" " So
I have," replied Mr. Wooley ; " this lady was Miss —,
she is now Mrs. Wooley." " That lady !" exclaimed the
friend - " she is no more Miss than I am." The friend
then departed, and Mr. Wooley immediately charged his 1
wife with what he had said. " Indeed," said the lady, I'll
convince you and all the world in the morning that I was
Miss --- s
, for your sister-in-law and myself will go to mx
y
brothers and bring awe the deeds of my property, &C.
On hearing this Mr. Wooley was reassured, and everything
passed
wentoff wello ut untilfor thethe
ptlrp morning,ose as whensta
stated
de
by
bride
her andthe Miss
pre-
ceding evening. It is needless to say that they absconded,
and have not since been heard
moafr;riaenddth Mr. Wooley
.W;ioislesy_d is:
covered. that instead of having
with £47,000, besides expectancies, he was, through the con-
trivance of Miss Bryers,
worthmarrietlto a person bearing, indeed,
the same name, but not forty-seven pence. How the
affair will end we know not ; but it will doubtless furnish
abundant occupation to the gentle
Supposing the wife to be a party to tliTeeifiraoufd,th wee
shouldlong srobe.
pose that a marriage under such circumstances
would nott
valid. What were the reasons inducing Miss Bryersni c to playt
her brother-in-law such a trick remain a profound
Jr is right to state, that the lady whose name was so usneeveraert-.
rantably made use of to deceive Mr. Wooley, not only knew
nothing of the transaction, but is a perfect stranger to both
Mr. Wooley and Miss Bryers.
The conspirators, Ann Bryers and Mary Ann Morgan, the
sister-in-law and wife, were on Friday brought before the

magistrates at the Union-hall; and the victim Mr, John
Wooley, appeared to prosecute his sister-in law for felony
and his wife for forgery. He restated the main facts of the
case, with the addition that Miss Bryers once obtained £2O
of him, and that the name of the lady whom he supposed
himself to have married, was Louisa Poole King, The ficti-
tious Miss King could not write; but thatdifficulty was none
to the fertile invention of Bryers ; when the bride had to sign
her name at the marriage, he was, of course, " agitated," so
much so that it was necessary for Miss Bryers to guide her
band. After the elopement of the ladies, he met them in the
City, and gave them into vistody. He supposed another
woman at Bristol, named Allen, to be implicated in the con-
spiracy. The prisoners were remanded, without throwing
any further light on the motive of the chief conspirator, or
Mr. Wooley's most extraordinary readiness to be deceived.

APPREHENSION OF TEN CHARTIST LEADERS
FOR CONSPIRACY.

MANCHESTER, FRIDAY EVENING.

Through the.searchirrgi;;;;Wigations of Mr. Gregory, the
solicitor acting for the government, which for the last six
weeks have been diligently proceeded with, a clue has been
obtained to the existence of a conspiracy amongst the char-
tists. The leading movers in the conspiracy, it appears,
were the 10 persons placed before the magistrates to-day,
and also Mr. Feargus O'Connor and Dr. M`Douall (the for-
mer of whom was apprehended on Friday). From this knot
of dangerous disturbers of the public peace all the seditious
placards which were issued during the riots emanated, but
hitherto they have cunningly contrived to elude the vigilance
of the authorities. Amongst the parties this afternoon ar-
rainged in the dock before Mr. Maude, the stipendiary ma-
gistrate, were Mr. James Schofield, the minister of Every-
street chapel, Manchester, and his son, Mr. William Scho-
fiefd. Mr. J. Schofield is the person in whose burial-ground
the monument of the late Henry Hunt is erected, and in
which a congregation of chartists was to take place on the
16th of August last, in commemoration of what they term
" the Peterloo Massacre of 1819." On this occasion, after a
procession through the town, Feargus O'Connor was to have
delivered an oration on Hunt's monument, but he considered
it best to postpone it, and he fled, leaving the rest of the
chartists to get out of their scrapes as they best could, having
previously connected himself with the conspiracy with which
he is now charged. Attached to Mr. Schofield's chapel is a
surgery, at which physic is prescribed by himself and son to
those who may require it. He, in fact, practises as a quack
doctor. The other prisoners are James Leach, (on bail for
the special commission on another charge of conspiracy,)
Bernard M'Cartney, (one of the speakers, with the late
Mayor of Liverpool, at the Clayton-square " Distress Meet-
ing," now on bail on a charge of sedition,) Christopher
Doyle, (a trades delegate,) John Massey, James Ellison,
John Norman, Robert Ramsden, and Richard Railton.
Feargus 0 Connor and Dr. M`Douall constitute 12 indi-
viduals already charged with the conspiracy.
Mr. Gregory, addressing the bench, stated, that the pri-
soners were ~barged, with others not in custody, with a con-
spiracy of a more serious nature than that for which some
of them had alreedy been held to bail to answer, and his
application was that they be remanded until Tuesday next,
by which time the others would most likely be apprehended.
With regard to the two Schofields, who, he understood,
moved in a more respectable station of life than the rest of
the prisoners, an application had been made to him to allow
the son out on bail until Tuesday, it having been represented
that his business or profession would suffer materially by
both being absent from home until that time. As represent-
ing the government on this occasion, he (Mr. Gregory)
wished to state, that he had every disposition to treat the
prisoners with indulgence, consistent with his duties to the
public, and therefore he should leave the matter in the hands
of the magistrates.
Mr. R. Cobbett, who appeared for the Schofields and
Leach, wished Mr. Gregory to state the case against the
prisoners, as it was unfair to remand them for five days with-
out showing sufficient grounds. Under any circumstances
the case could be as easily proved against the parties in
custody in the absence, as in the presence of others impli-
cated. After what had fallen from Mr. Gregory with respect
to the Schofields, he should say nothing on that head ; but
in the case of Leach he begged to make an application. That
person was already under heavy bail to appear to take his
trial at the special commission, and would be unable to tra-
verse. He was at present engaged in preparing for his
defence, and that he might not be prevented from properly
defending himself, he (Mr. Cobbett) asked the court to
liberate him on his undertaking to appear on Tuesday next.
The rest of the prisoners could traverse, but he could not,
and the former bail was quite sufficient to secure his ap-
pearance.
Mr. Gregory, in reply, declined to state the particulars of
the case against the prisoners. The charge was expressed in
the warrant.
Mr. Bent, solicitor, who appeared for M`Cartney, said that
his client was also under bail, and it was necessary, for the
support of his wife and children, as well as the getting up of
his defence, that he should be in Liverpool, where he carried
on the business of a bookseller.
Mr. Gregory said the other charges against Leach and
M'Cartney were perfectly distinct from this. Although the
former offences with which they were charged might be great,
they were less in magnitude than the present.
Mr. Bent urged Mr. Gregory to state his charge, but that
gentleman again declined to do so until Tuesday next.
Mr. Maude, the magistrate, said that he had no doubt but
the warrants against the parties were issued on sufficient in-
formation, and he should remand the prisoners. Schofield
the younger might be liberated on bail.
Mr. J. Schofield here said that his son could not perform
his duties, and that he wished to be liberated on bail instead
of his son. His son, he supposed, hart been apprehended for
having something to do with the writing or publishing of the
seditious placard issued by the chartist executive : his son
had no more to do with it than the magistrate on the bench
had.
Mr. Gregory said that the application was made to him on
behalf of the son, and having acceded to the wish expressed,
he saw no reason to make any alteration.
Mr. Cobbett said it was defeating justice not to allow Leach
to go out on bail.
The Magistrate replied, that he should remand all the
prisoners until Tuesday, with the exception of the younger
Schofield, and he would be released until that time on finding
two sureties of £lOO each.
Bail having been found he was liberated.

SATURDAY.
"Last night Mr. Stanley reached Manchester about seven
o'clock, with Ueorge Julian Ilarncy cud Richard Ottley
from Sheffield, both of whom had been taken by the officer
in the course of the morning. Harney is well known in
Manchester, having been one of the most active amongst the
chartists both here and in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1839.
Ottley, we believe, is a tea-dealer in Sheffield, and might
have made an honest livelihood at his business had lie not
given himself up to the popular and destructive doctrines of
chartism.

This morning M`Mullin arrived from London with John
Campbell, the secretary to the " Chartist National Associa-
tion." Campbell formerly resided in Manchester, and dis-
tinguished himself during the attempt to enforce a national
holiday on the 12th of August, 1839. Campbell is a most
violent agitator, and has effected more mischief in this town
than any of his coadjutors. M`Knight has brought M'Ar-
thur from Carlisle, and reached Manchester this morning at
an early hour. About one o'clock Inspector Mabury and
Taylor arrived by the Manchester and Leeds Railway, with
the Rev. (query) Mr. Hill, editor of O'Connor's paper, the
Northern Star, and T. B, Smith, both of whom were ar-
rested in Leeds on the previous day. About the same time
Inspectors Lipsett and Row arrived from Bradford,; having
apprehended Wm. Fletcher, the chartist agitator of Bradford,
and Robert Brook, of Todmorden. The whole of the pri-
soners were brought up before J. F. Foster, Esq., chairman
of the quarter sessions, and Daniel Maude, Esq., the stipen-
diary magistrate ; and, at the request of Mr. Gregory, were
remanded until Tuesday next.

INTIMIDATION OF WITNESSES.
At the conclusion of the hearing the cases of the chartists,
William Blair was placed in the dock, charged with as-
saulting and intimidating Mrs. Mary Farell, the wife of a
policeman, residing at Patricroft, a village about four miles
from Manchester.
It appeared from the evidence of the prosecutrix that she
had been called upon to give evidence against some of the
rioters of that village, some three or four weeks ago, and
that ever since that period she was continually annoyed and
abused by the rioters, the most active of whom was the pri-
soner. On Thursday week her son, a boy of 12 years of age,
was playing in the streets, and he and his little sister were
most brutally abused and assaulted by a number of boys, set
on by the prisoner and other parties. Mrs. Farell, who had
only just got down stairs after her confinement, on hearing
of the ill-treatment of her boy, ran to his assistance, and on
her arrival on the spot she was also attacked and severely
beaten by the prisoner.
Several witnesses were called to prove,the assault, and the
magistrates ordered the prisoner to find bail for his good
behaviour for three months, himself in £4O and two sureties
in £2O, and to give 48 hours' notice of bail.