The Albany register. [volume] (Albany, Or.) 1868-18??, 1874-11-27
THE STOLEN HEIRESS.

When we read that graceless scamp
Mr.. Barry Lyndon's account of the in
genious manner in which he and his cou-
sin, Mr. Uick Brady, carried off the
Irish heiress and married her TO the lat
ter gentleman, We praise the admirable
manner in which Thaokeray tells the
story, but are unwilling to believe that
similar occurrences have taken place in
real life. Indeed, the record of such
cases are meager-five or six of them on
ly are reported-but their very rarity
gives an increased spice to their details.
The following sample Is certainly as in.
teresting as romance, and more true
than most histories.
Miss Ellen Turner was the only
daughter and heiress of William Tur-
ner, ESQ.,, a gentleman of large landed
property, residing at Shrigley Park,
Cheshire, and at one time Sheriff of
that county. She had attained the age
of fifteen in February, 1926, and was at
a boarding school, kept by the Misses
Daulby, at Liverpool. Her fortune and
expectations had been made known to a
certain Mr.. Gibbon Wakefield, during a
visit to some frienos of his who resided
near Shrigley Park. Wakefield was
widower, with one child, and involved
at the time in pecuniary embarrass-
ments. He thought that marriage with
of his difficulties, and plot was formed
to lure the young lady from school, that
she might become Mr.. Wakefeld's
bride.
A French servant, one Thevenot, was
sent with an empty carriage and a letter
to the school-mistress, announcing the
dangerous illness of Mrs. Turner, and
that the private carriage of the physi-
clan had been procured to convey her
hn uoIn
well tutored in names and dates, and
the device succeeded. Miss Daulby
entertained no suspicion, and resigned
her charge to the adroit stranger, who
conveyed her in safety to the Albion
Hotel. Manchester. There, Mr. Glib
hon Wakefield, ssa gentleman from Par
is" of fashionable exterior and address,
introduced himself to the schoolgirl,
and explained that the illness of her
5 mother was a mere pretext-the real
reason Of her being summoned from
schooi being her fathers pecuniary diff
ficuIties. and that he was sent to escort
her TO him. as he could not venture to
annear in person. MIR. William Wake
field here Joined his brother, and their
familiar acquaintance with household
matters at Shrigley Park Laid at rest all
suspicion, which, of course, was not
likely to arise in the mind of q young
girl fresh from school
They posted In carriage and four,
nv circuitous rout, through Yorkshire,
to Kendall, and thence to Carlisle. The
two brothers had exerted all their ad-
dress on the way to work upon heE
fears. They told her the people around
the carriage were bailiffs that hel
father was lying snug IN back room,
lint could not stir for fear of arrest
that both the Macclesfeld and Black
burn banks. where he kept accounts,
had stopped payment; but an uncle OF
the Wakefe1ds, generous and wealthy
had agreed, on the persuasion of Glib
hon Wakefield, to advance the modest
little sum of eco, 900, and as grand
cIimax to this long story, that Mr.
-Grimsditch, the family solicitor, ha6
written a letter, which the clever suitol
read. or pretended to read, suggesting 9
marriage between himself and Miss
Turner as the only device which could
save the family from ruin. The fertile
Genius of Richardson or Fielding never
snooegted q more notable exped1ent
Never was Clarissa Harlowe or Miss
Allworthy in a more peculiar position.
Miss Turner was startled and con