Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-07-20
MRS. MAVERICK FREE
Liberated From Her English
Prison Home Today.
ON HER WAY TO FRANCE
LAST SIX MONTHS OF CoNFINE-
MENT AT A COUNTRY HOME.
Transfer Unprecedented Action-story
of Trial and Conviction
Years Of Mediation.
ON HER WAY TO FRANCE

TRURO, Cornwall. England. July 90
Mrs. Florence Maybrick is free. She left
here at 11:43 am. today on her way to
France
Mrs. Maybrick, who was Miss Florence
Elizabeth Chandler, member or a we'll
known and prosperous southern tamly,
was married July 81, 1881, in ST. James
Church. Piccadilly, to James Maybrick OF
Liverpool. She was then eighteen years
old. Her husband was over forty years or
age In the spring of 1889 Mr.. MaybricK
became i'll, and in few days he died
His brothers investigated his death and
charged Mrs. Maybrick with the murder
of her husband.
A long trial followed and a number of
doctors swore that the deceased died ar
arsenical poisoning. The defense proved
that for twenty years Mr.. Maybrick had
been a confirmed user of arsenic, and that
he daily took doses large enough to have
killed a dozen ordinary men. Mrs. May
brick was eventually sentenced to death
by the judge, Sir Fitzjames stephen, who
spoke for two days in charging the jury
He said 1t was impossible for them to find
her not guilty in the face of the medical
eviderce The judge died some time later
in mad house.
Unremitting Efforts.
From the time of Mrs Maybrick's con-
viction her mother, the Baroness de Roques,
was unremitting in her efforts In behalf
of the prisoner. She succeeded in having
the death sentence commuted to penal serv-
itudc for life and finally has obtained the
freedom of her daughter, to whose re-
lease from prison she had devoted her life.
The baroness aided by influential
friends on both sides of the Atlantic. In
1901 after the death of Lord Russell of
Killoven. chief justice of England, let
ter which he had written to Mrs. Maybrick
in Al
convinced that she ought never to have
been convicted. and it has been generally
unC ers God that all the recent American
am Jassadors to the court of St. James have
done everything possible to obtain Mrs
Ma ybrick'S pardon.
Her Land Interests.
The fact of her probable release was used
as a reason for securing the postponement
of a trial last year of law suits bearing on
Mrs. Maybrcks interest in land in Ken
lucky, Virginia and West Virginia, until
she was able personally to testify. If she
was not able to testify in these suits Mrs.
Maybrck and her mother would have lost
all title and interest in the many thou
sands of acres of land involved in the
case.
On February last Home Secretary
Akers-Douglas, replying to question In
the house of commons, confirmed the re-
ports which had been in circulation that
Mrs. Maybrick had been removed from
Aylesbury prison to a convaleScent home,
where she would remain until the summer,
when she would be allowed her freedom.
The home secretary said license had
been granted to Mrs. Maybrick under the
penal servitude acts.
Mediation Of Duchess.
The transfer of the prisoner from a penal
| prison to a quiet country home constituted
| an almost unprecedented action on the part
| of the British authorities. 1t was due to
| the mediation of the Duchess of Bedford,
who, as a visitor to Aylesbury prison for
| MANY wears, had taken keen personal IN
| terest in Mrs. Maybrick, and finally sue
| ceeded in obtaining the mitigation or her
| punishment to the extent of her being al
| lowed to spend the last SIX months Oh her
| confinement outside the prison walls
Mrs MAVERICKS Imprisonment was not
terminated with the clang of doors the last
sound which remains in the ears OF so many
| of her fellow prisoners VINO hau pfeceueo
her to liberty from Aylesbury prison Where
she spent more than fourteen years OF her
life.
II closed before the arched doorway OF
rbe white convent of the Sisterhood of the
Eninhany in this little town, with the black
robed sisters softly uttering their blessings
| and good wishes for her future.
Not Coming to America.
| With two companions Mrs. Maybrick en-
| tered the carriage of Miss Dalrymple, SEQ
retary of the sisterhood, and was driven
| rapidly to Staustel, a small station four
! teen miles away, where, after exchanging
| good-byes with her companions, she board
| ed a train and started on her journey TO
| France. She will not go to America until
| her presence there is considered impera-
| lively necessary.
| The greatest secrecy was thrown about
| Mrs Maybrick's departure. Mother Supe-
| rior Julian of the convent said to repre-
sentative of the Associated Press that under
| her Instructions she must refer all inquirers
| to the home office. Others at the convent
were equally uncommunicative.
| At the railroad station orders were issued
| forbidding the employees to discuss Mrs.
| Maybrick or even to admit that she was at
| the convent.
Crowds Watched the Gates.
| The little town has taken deep interest in
this international figure. Crowds early
| stood at the iron gates of the grounds,
waiting for Mrs Maybrick to appear but
| they were rarely rewarded, she going out
| only when the road was reported clear.
When Mrs. Maybrick first arrived here
she was kept under strict surveillance, nev-
| er leaving the convent Whatsoever for
| walk in the grounds she would have to be
| under the escort of one of the sisters. Sub
| sequently she was allowed to walk in the
quiet streets of this picturesque place and n
| the shady country lanes in the vicinity.
Those who have seen the published por-
| traits of Mrs. Maybrick soon got to recog
| nize the black-robed woman, with black
bonnet and flowing strings, and gave her
kindly greetings, which frequently passed
| unnoticed, Mrs. Maybrick seeking so far as
possible to avoid the attention of the Gu
rious. Her time at the convent was taken
| up by sewing, reading and chatting with
| the sisters, endearing herself to them by
| many acts showing that even the many
years of servitude at Aylesbury prison had
| been unable to stamp out her innate kindly
| disposition.