The Statesman.
London, England, 1812-01-06 00:00:00

THE STATESMAN.

TILE LATE MURDERS.
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It will be satisfactory to the public to be made ac-
quainted with the following circumstances, tending to
confirm the conviction of the guilt of Williams, as
concerned in the late murders :
The privy belonginging to the Pear-tree public-
Louse, where he lodged, has been searched and eaa.
mined, and in it have been found buried a pair of
blue striped trowsers, much staiued with blood from
top to bottom ; they are spoken to very confidently
by Williams's fellow-lodgers at the Pear-tree, as
having been seen frequently lying about the house.
A pocket-book has also been found in the same place,
containing several instruments and a pair of sCissars,
which, no doubt, will be proved to have belonged
either to Mrs. Williamson or Mrs. Marr. The
trowsers and the pocket.book were discovered thrust
down near four feet under the surface of the soil, by
a birch broom, which was also found in a perpendi-
miler position upon the trowsers, but completely co-
vered by the soil. The contents of the pocket-book
are quite fresh, and do not appear to have been dis-
turbed.
The late Mr. Williamson and his wife, have, it is
•aid, left property to the amount of about 6001.—
Among their papers has been found a will made by
Mrs. Williamson, on the presumption that her hus-
band might die first, and the la*yers are not a little
embarrassed to ascertain which was murdered first,,as
if she became a widow before she died, it would in-
fluence on the descent of the property. Mr. Marr
has left property to pay 19s. in the pound.

.4 SUSPICIOUS CHARACTER..

On Thursday last an examination took place be-
fore the Mayor and several Magistrates of Deal, of.
a man of suspicious character and appearance, who
called himself John King. lie is about five feet
nine Inches high, stammers a little, is thin visaged,
with dark piercing eyes, aged about 32. lye was'
dressed in a brown sailor's jacket, blue trowsers,
blue and white worsted neckcloth, hat covered
with black oil-cloth, &c. lye ssas apprehended on
Wednesday evening, in consequence of entering by
the back way into the premises of Mr. T. Gore, of
Deal, who, on seei:ig him approach the house, ques-
tioned him as to his errand. The man replied he
wanted something to drink !—He was informed by
Mr. Gore that his was not a public-house, and re-
quested Kin; to retire, with which request he inso-
lently declined to comply. Mr. Gore (who is a
constable) to enforce his command struck him a blow
on his right arm with his staff of office ; upon which
King drew out a knife. Perceiving this, Mr. Gore
again struck him, knocked him down, and forced
him to retire. After King was thus forced out of
the premises, he was observed to cut a mark with his
knife on the door frame, and then retired to a public-
house. The rencontre between Mr. Gore and King
was soon spread about Deal, and several neighbours
went with Mr. Gore to the public-house King had re-
tired to, where he was then creating a disurbance, and
behaving insolently. In replying to questions put to
him, he prevaricated very much; and at one time
sneeringly said, that he " belonged to the Audacious
man of war, and afterwards to the Insolent gun-
brig!'' This conduct exciting suspicion, King was
put into the watch-house for the night, and was
next morning taken before the Mayor and De-
puty Mayor, before whom he underwent a pri.
Nate examination, in which he described himself to
have come en shore ou Christmas.day snoruing,
from on board the Sally West Indiaman, bound to
Jamaica, commanded by Captain Williamson, end
stated that he had been left on shore by the sailing
of the Sally with the rest of the fleet; that be
bad left London about five weeks ; that while there
he had lodged with Mr. Dempsey, in' George-street,
Commercial-road. On being questioned by the
Mayor, whether he had heard of the murders in
Ratcliffe-highway, King sharpy replied, " Dro you
suppose lam a murderer r le evinced some agi-
tints, on being asked by the Deputy Mayor where
he came from ;—aud replied, " from Yarmouth, by
bend."--.He was informed that it was not possible
for him to have come such a distance within the
time mentioned ; and was at the same time ad-
'wised not to secret the truth. Ile then exclaimed, '
.--" Well, to tell you the truth, I came out of
:Vcwgate." He had been confined there twelve
months, he said, for a misdemeanour. After this
declaration, and after other questions heel been an-
swered prevaricatingly, the Mayor adjourned to the
Town-hall, and sent for the Town Clerk to take
in writing such disclosures as King might make.—
At this examination numbers of the inhabitants
were present, and the particulars of it were nearly as
follow :--His name was John King, he was born in
1779, at North Yarmouth; his father was a soldier.
When he left school, he went out in a West Indiamau
to Jamaica, as book-keeper to a coffee, planter, at
Mount Moses, in that island. He was afterwards
clerk to Mr. Nicholas, who was also a planter and
conducted his own sugar-works iu the same island.
King then took several voyages to Baltimore, Sa-
vannah, &c. and returned to England. His em-
ployment subsequent to his return, he could not or
would not particularise ; nor, on being questioned asl
to why and for what crime he had been confined
in Newgate, would he confess before so many per-
sons. lie said he was discharged from Newgate on
the 31st of July or lit of August last, and had
since been employed in the London and New Docks,
and on board ships in the river, until about five
weeks last past, when he engaged himself as cook,
at 11. 15s. per month, to Captain Williamson, of
the Sally West Indianutti, bound to Jamaica, on,
poud of which he had been bat three days before she
left the Red-house, Deptford. They dropped down
to Gravesend, where the ship lay nearly three weeks,
and sailed from thence on the 9.3 d for the Downs,
where she arrived on Christmas-day in the morn-
ing, just at sun-rise. He thon came on shore
In :he ship's boat, with others of the crew, to pare
chase liquor for the use of the ship's company, and
went to a public-house, where he got to much liquot
himself, and the ship sailed without him. Since the
95th ultimo he had existed on ten shillings, the
balance of his month's advance ant river pay,
as received from Captain Williamson, deapjeg
different 0'1)11c-houses, and paying, amiseumeieee
other items, ens shilling pee night for lb bed.
war-During his examination he disclosed having a

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brother and other relatives. This brother he de-
scribed to be an officer, with the rank of Captain in
the Artillery Company, and by whom he had been
supplied with cash and apparel for the last ten years.
King stated that be had lately written to this bro-
ther hat had net yet received an answer. Ile also,
mentioned, by name, a particular friend, and an
uncly, a clergyman (whose names and address we
shall, from tnotivesoc respect to the individnals, for
the present forbear to mention), who knows him andi
his whole connection and career through life. Upon
being closely questioned by the Mayor as to his react- '
deuce between the time of his leaving Nee/gate andl
embarking on board the Sally,he said he bad " olt
and on for many years lot ed with Mr. Dempsey, a
carpenter,who reshkd in Denmark-street, Ratcliffe.'
highb,-ay, near the Black-dog•public-house," to whom
he paid for board and lodging 18s. or 19s. per week,
and to whom he had been known for many years. He
added, that Mr. D .mpsey had lately rernoverito the
Commerci ' -road. 041 being again questioned, whether
he had heard or read of the murders of the Marrs
and the IVilliamsons ? he replied, he believed, since
he had been at Deal he had heard of the murders,
and that a man had been taken from on board some
King's ship for having done them, and had acknow-
ledged that he bad read the newspapers, but could
not remember reading about any murders ' he tbight
have read them, but could not rember that he had: '
During the whole of the examination King was re-
served, cautious, and collected,aed exhibited in many
instances a daring resolution of demeanour. The ap-
pearance of a systematic prevarication induced the
Mayor and Magistrates to re-commit him, to enable
them to make further inquiries respecting him.—
King's allowing himself to be a resident in the vicinity
of the Marrs and the Williamsons ; and the prompt
familiar manner in which he used the coincident
name of Williamson • his emigration from Newgate •
his unaccountable mode: of existence from the time of
his quitting Newgate until his detection at Deal°, all
combine to render him, at least, a very suspicious
character, and his committal does credit to the prompt
and zealous measures adopted by the Mayor and Ma-
gistrates.
• The detention of the Sally, at Gravesend, must have ex-
posed her in common with other vessels to the general examina-
tion, which took place on account of the late murders; and had
King been on hoard her, it is to he supposed that the relation et'
his story, as now told by himself, would have led to particular
inquiry about him.

POLICE..

BOWSfREET.

On Saturday William White was brought to the
office by Taunton, charged with stealing a 201. &Ink
of I:1%1am! note, and other property, to a consi,ler-
able amount, belonging to Edward Manners, F.sg. of
Epsom, in Surrey.- It appeared that the Prisoner
was servant to the Prosecutor. On Monday last he
was sent with a 201. Bank note to pay for some ma-
nure; but, instead of which, he absconded with the
note ; previously to which, however, he obtained
property from tradesmen in that neighbourhood, un-
der a pretence that he was sent for it by Mr. Man-
ners. Taunton traced the Prisoner to Furl-street,
Seven-dials, where he apprehended him ; and on
searching him, be found nearly the whole of the 201.
with which he absconded, also several articles of
wearing apparel belonging to Mr. Manners, and a
a pistol ; the property, however, that he obtained
from the tradesmen could not be found. lie was
I committed fur trial.

UNION-HALL.
A woman named Davies, the wife of a gardener,
in Mead's-row, Lambeth,applied to the Magistrates
on Saturday for a warrant against two men, under
the following circumstances August last, her
husband being out of town, two men, one of whom was
one of the men against whom she now applied, went
to her house one night, and having got admission,
informed her they were in possesion of a secret of
the utmost importance to her husband—nothing less
than his having committed a murder upwards of
twenty years ago in Wales, for which two men
had been executed. On this account they had
got an order from the Lord of the Manor to
seize all her goods, and unless she could pay
them twenty pounds immediately, they would take
them, and then inform against her husband, and
get him hanged. This sum she assured them, she
had not the power to procure ; upon which they pre-
tended to take an inventory of the goods, and at
length terrified her so much, that she promised to get
them five pounds; and did, by selling some of her,
things, procure them that sum. On Wednesday
morning last, about one o'clock, she was again
alarmed, her husband being out of town, by another
visit from one of the men who came before, accom-.
panied by a stranger : they insisted on admission, and
were attempting to force open the door, when the
watchmen came up, and took them into cuetidy.-'
The watchman stated, that previous to their going to
Mrs. Davis's house, the two men came to him at hie
stand, and wanted his gun, saying they were going
to break open Davis's house, he having been guilty di
murder. He supposing them to be drunk, advised'
them to go home ; and after some persuasion, they
went away : he followed them at a distance, and saw
them turn into Mead's-row, and came up just as t 1
were attempting to break open the door, and with
the assistance of another watchman, he took this
into custody, and conducted them to the watch-
house. The constable of the night, however, refused
to take charge of them because Mrs. Davis did not
attend, and they were discharged; he had since,
however ascertained where they were to be found,
and the Magistrate granted a warrant for their ap-
prehension.

SHADWELL OFFICE.
On Saturday, in eonsequence of Mrs. Vermilloe
baring said, " that, if Cornelius Hart had been sa.
amined by the Magistrates u closely u she had bean,
something more would hue come oat," Hart was
again brought before the Magistrate% when hop,*
precisely the same accessetist hi amW that M Wen
five previous eltallilo4llo4 sad his story having been
coold the legeiries et the dims, he was
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pocket :" on doing which the knife fell Out ; it had
a white ivory handle and narrow blade. Williams
told him he hadjust bought it. This circumstance
occurred three ,reeks ago. The witness, after Wil-
liams was taken into custody, searched his chest, as
well as every part of the Pear-tree public-house, for
the knife, but without success. Notwithstanding the
suggestion of the Surgeon, who attended the Coro-
ner's inquest on the bodies of the Williamson family,
1 that the throats had been cut with a razor, it is sup.
posed that this dreadful deed must have been accom-
plished with this instrument. The Magistrates, in
consequence of a suggestion that Williams might
havethrown the watch he had taken from Mr. Wil-
liamson into the necessary behind the house of Mrs.
I Vermilloe, hare ordered the place in question to be
emptied, and rigidly examined, where it is probable
the knife may also be secreted.

larded.sarriMO, thi sailor, osalarwiat a se-
coed examinatioi relative to a Dow From& knife he
haitaion is the possession of Williams, which ma-
Serial circumstance he had omitted testate as histor-
ian examination. Ua heid 414 William to morn
a handkerchief ashidi its lean iiiia ; tow 6-11
Williams replied, id G. sod Wit it out of my coat-