Norwich bulletin., 1922-03-17
FAMOUS TRIALS
FREDERICK TREApAwAY

A trial in England in 1876. which
presented many extraordinary features
was that of Frederick Treadaway, a
young man only 26 years of age, who
murdeCed William Collins, at St
| Georges Road, Pimlico. Young Tcead-
away was very well connected, his ia
ther being one OF the best known
! tradesmen i'll his neighborhood. He " as
an accomplished pianist as well as
/ singer.
| Al the time the murder was COM
mitted Treadaway was paying aUten-
! ton to a, Miss Stevens, a niece of VIII
/ liam Collins. On Friday, Dec Is, 1876,
/ the young man, who had been out of
work for some time, and had in vain
attempted to get q loan from his IA
! ther, called on Mr.. and Mrs. Collins.
! He seems to have been we'll received
and was invited 10 stay to dinner. Up
on the conclusion of the meal he in
/ dtcdted Lhat he would like to speak
to Mr.. Collins alone, whereupon Mrs
| Collins left the room.
! Very shortly afterward the wife
heard the sound Of d pistol shot and
rushing into the room was at once
knocked down by Treadaway. He then
made hasty departure. He was fol-
lowed by persons passing, who became
suspicious that all. was not right, but
he was able to elude mis- pursuers.
A search was at once begun for the
murderer, who was captured at Isle
worth at a very late hour on the night
of Saturday, Dec. Is, 1876 The trial
commenced at the Old Bailey on We'd
! nesday, Feb. 7, 1877. Treadaway being
charged with the Wilful murder of Mr.
Collins and the attempted murder Of
Mrs. Collins.
The defense set up by the attorney
fer the accused man was that the pris-
oner was suffering from epileptic YER
l tigo, and consequently was not con-
scious of what he had done. During
the progress of the trial, and whilst
7 the fiancee was giving evidence, the
t prisoner had a fit in the dock and the
case was adjourned for the day.
Several eminent doctors, who were
E present at the trial, were called to the
assistance of the prisoner, and their
evidence differed materially as to the
nature of the seizure. One of them
DR.. Gibson, who was the leading ply
sician at Newgate and an expert on
g the subject, gave as his opinion that
the attack was not of an epileptic
character, inasmuch as the prisoner
e had not been susceptible to snuff which
t had been placed up his nose, while
n DR.. Smiles, physician at the Holloway
Prison, was of the opinion that it was
of a hysterical character. The point
d at issue was material to the defense
y When the trial was resumed on the
. following day, the court house was
crowded in anticipation of some unus-
ual medical testimony. Early at the
hearing on this day. Mr.. Justice Lust
> elected from the medical wftnesse:
/ that because a man suffered from ep.
g ilepsy he was not necessarily insane
although frequent attacks of epilepsy
might produce insanity.
n The Justice made 1t clear to the ju
n ry IN summing up that the crime coult
,e not have been committed under the IN
q fluence of epileptie vertigo, and com
mented on the prisoners statement Il
regard to the newspaper report whicl
=. showed that Treadaway knew what b
- was doing, and was conscious of wha
a. he had done after the event. That com
10 nitted the crime under the influene
~ of epileptic vertigo.
The jury was out but a very shor
time when they brought In d verde
n of guilty and Treadaway was sen
+ fenced to death, but the capital pun
" ishment was never carried out. Late
~ medical man who was present at tn
- TreadWay trial and heardEhe expert We.
ttmony, and who knew the young ma
from the time of his birth, stated tina
g Treadaway had been subject to epilep
g Ey All his life and that several mem
at bers Of his family had also suffere
sly from the same disease.
n The test of responsibility has un
dergone considerable change since tn
Treadaway trial, for today epileps,
q even if inherited, could not be eli
n fectively used by las counsel to fire.
a prisoner There was every evidenc
:, brought out at the trial to show the
= Treadaway was fully conscious OF whs
n he was doing for not only was hi
murder of Mr. Collins zg4n zAlanneA an