The Statesman.
London, England, 1818-01-26 00:00:00

LilW INZELLIGIBIIOIL •
COURT Or KiNG'S:nr:N.clol4l.l. it:

APPRAI.,O4 MURDER. •
ASUBOAD if. ABRAHAM VigillMMO.
We particolariked the proceedings in this case, in
our Paper of Saterday.• We have how merely to
add the following copy of the Replication, of which
we gate the sobatance :
REPLICATION.
Orr Saturdey next, eight days iftei the morrow. el
Illary.--And the said Abraham Thornton saith,
be, notwithstanding any thing stated ,by the
Win. Ashford, in his cooker-plea, should be
hod to wage battel. For the said cooeter-plea
tufficient, and be,is not bound by.tite,low of 111••
to give in any answer thereto.—Bot neverthelesal
Jth, that before and at the time of issuing the
counter-plea, there were and are, the following
proofs and 'Went presumptions, that be is.
asilty of the murder and felony. charged again*
• the said writ of appeal. That is to say—
et arida* the said Mary Ashford went to the
of the said Mary .Butler, on the morJng
of
.'11) of May, as above set forth, she we there
ione arid unaccompanied by the said Abraham
Tharoton. And he fartber says, that she left the
of the said Mary Butler, at about s quarter
four o'clock, without him, and proeeetted from
legion towards Lauttley, in the comity of War-
. A short lime after site left the house of the
Mary Butler, slse !vet at a short distance
the same, in a direition leading from Erding.
swards Langley, by' one James Dawson—the
.braharn Thornton not being then in company
her, nor in sight. And in a short time afterwards,
the space of a quarter of an hour after she left
,ouse of Mary Butler, she was-met by one Thos.
Shorat, crossing -the turnpike-road from Len-
to Chester. She continued her course along a
called Bell.lane; towards Langley aforesaid,
being alone at the time. And the said Abraham
aton farther says, that at the said email places
,e the said Mary Ashford was, as aforesaid, seen
those two persons, the said road was broad and
bt for a considerable distance, so. that if be had
there he might have been seep, if proceeding in
tme direction with her. And he farther says,
on the same morning of the 27th of May, at
.past, or twenty-five minutes after four o'clock,
'as met by the following persons, viz. William
isnuings, Martha Jennings, and John Hayden the
)ger, being persons with whom be bad no ac-
tarter, while "ratting in a lane that led from
igloo to Castle Bromwich, which was the direct
from Erdiugton to the house of the Appetlee's
i's father, where be vesidad—and the said Abra.
Thorton was then walking very slowly, leisure.
and composedly, along the said lane—and did
Ippeer in any degree of confusion or disorder.—
triber saith, that he slopped near the farm-house
.ho Holding—and, when be went a-mile from
farm-house, he was seen by John Holding,
walking in the
.same direction from Erdiugton
)stle Bromwich. It was then about five in the
;rig. Ile wee well arqesioted with the said
Holding, and conversed with him for the
of a quarter of an hour, after 't which
parted from bier, and ontottled. to walk
lids the house of his father at Castle Brom.
And the said Abraham Thornton feather
, that one John Woodcock saw hint and John
ling stop and converse together,and he was af-
silt& seen by ,01IP Jaroes White, at half-an-hour
25 minutes, past five. o'slock, at Coale Brrinpvich,
he was walking slowly and leisurely Inwards
father's house. And he farther saith, that the
ince from the house of the said Mary Butler,
mg Bell-lane, and over the said hirrowtd field; in
;cornier-plea tnentioned, to the pit of water where
said Miry Ashford was drowned, is one mile,
furlongs, and 30 yards. And the distance-from
farm-house of John Holding to the said pit is one
t, three furlongs, and 62yards. And the distance
the said pit of water round by Erdlington to the
tuse of his father is two miles and two furlongs at
least. And the said Abraham Thornton farther
th. that the way to the said farm-house of John
acing, the elder, by which any person travelling
foot could arrive at' it in the shortest time, is the
lowing; that is to say—along the said pit and
)ugh certain closes, by the Chester road, neer
the garden wall of one Mr. Ilopkina, and so
tr certain other enclosures, to a certain lane by
t Mr. Lefler's, and so to the farm-house of the
I John Holding, the elder. And the distance of
said pit of water from that place, measured I
that way, is one mile, seven furlongs, and I
70 yards. And the said Abraham Thornton farther
*th, that the distance from the said pit of water, in
lirect line, to the farm-house of the said John
ailing, the elder, is one mile, four furlongs, and
yards—but that there is no footpath in the direc-
laat mentioned, except far about one hundred
ads by the canal—and, from the intersection of
dferent enclosures, and the intervention of hedges,
would require a longer time to proceed by the List.
'rationed course, than the more circuitous course
•eriously pointed out. And the said Abraham
'hornton farther saith, that the clock at the house
the said Mary Butler, by which the time of the
.eparture of the said Mary Ashford therefrom is
bated, was compared on the 27th day of May, he.
;.,re any alteration was made in the time, by Was.
Wilson, Eq. a person wholly unknown to the said
Thornton, and called as a witness by the Pro.
*now, with the true time kept at Dirminghani, and
Raund to he correct. And that the time of the clock
the farm-house of John Holding, the elder, was'
Aso, on the ‘.27th day of May, before any *lteration
was made in the time, compared by E. Twamley, with
the true time kept at Birmingham, atul found to be cor-
rect. And the said Abraham Thornton therefore saith,
that the quarter after four, when the said Mary Ash.
ford left the house of the said Mary Butler-land the
,wenty-fise minutes or half hoer after four, when he
was seen at the farm-house of John Holding, the
elder, together with the other times mentioned,
'were all correct, being measured by the true time
'4t Birmingham on that day. And the said Abraham
Thornton farther saith, that on his arrival at his
father*. house at Castle Bromwich, on the morning
of the 27th of May, he changed the hat trod coat
ittech he-wore on the preeedipg eight; hi no other

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