Tragical Event.
The Times, 1824-01-30T00:00:00

(From the Tannto'n Courier.) On Mnda lat,_histown was thrown into a state of great con- Sternation andXhortor. by an occurrence whichi has overwhelmedl a mdost r&sp~ctable fasmily ih eztrertte distress. About half.past twoa o'clock in the afternoon, Hligh-stree-t b1ecame asente of contfuigon antl alprm from 'a report. that the house of Richard ilieade, rsiq.. the erainent solicitor. hiad just been ~he scene of the nrioili shocking events. It appea~rs th-st M1r. AMoade's geryant.. moaxi, who had ulived with bini 14 vears, 'and was abouit 3l& years of age, bad suiddenly dtestroyed himself by cutriig his throat, af'ter ba'r- ing, in the most barbarous manner, attempted the murder of -Fran- cves Towning, a -female in the same falmily, (to whiom he had-paid his addiresses fotur or live years, and with whoTm he was shotrtly to hiave beeni married), by Ibelting hier bead inhumanly w.ith a hani-er! On thte'unfortunate girl screamiing out for assistance, Mlrs. WVarren, the mother of Mlrs. Meade, ran to her assistance, upon which (he *retch struck.AMrx. WVarren with thie hammer so severely, thait both herlfe,and it-of the young woman wtowose aid she had flown, are- in a lamentably douibtful state. Thh furthier particulars are -ccurately detailed in the followving: report of the evidence or. tie ACoroner's Inquest, which was held on the body of the suiicide the next day:- INQUEBST ON 'THE BODY' OF JOSEPH! NORMAN. 'Vegterday, ;tt half- pa~s twelve o'clock-, a Coronier's Inques asgem. bled at the WIel Inn, in thiis towni. Thu .Jury were of tlse greatest respectability, uind after hiavinig, been swvorn, proceeded to view. the body of tise deceeisseil. On.- their return the following evidlence was adduced_ Mr. Johin Bailey, aaianaging clerk aLt Mir. ileadle's, said-I have known the dec.gaxcd:,upwarsls of two years past ; I Was in tile office yestrdayat alf-asttwo,whe I hardviolent screams;~ I listenedl *fo~a m'men an herd te sreas reeatd-Iwent firol miy ofiee tot'grs i1r Mede' ofic, ad mt 'dr Medein the pdksvae, who sai, "or od' sae,,wha's he atter ?" We hurried dlown stais t thepasage eadng r th, ktchen, the direction in whiichi the sundscame.I sa Mrs.Warrn, who was screamning vio- lentlv, andl thie eldest of Mlr. Med' agters ; there was great confusion. I saw MNr. Mfeade -o to te nusr-ro oor, whlichj is on he grunil-dor; Ms. ~iarren' screms cotined outside thepasagedoo, twars te fontdoor. I went towardfs the fron dor, midmet r. eore spporingilis.Varren in his arm,; n afewmomntsI hardMr.Meae cllme by name, to come o hi aid I wnt tohim:Mr. eadesaid, "1 Follow mie." Mr.AMeade went to the back stis an t flowed him ; we gtnt to the bedroinmr door of the decease, amdfudit boltedI ; Air. AMeadesaid, "'Iwill -onme in," and thiereupo-n thirust his font vio- lently against the dloor, which burst openl decea-sed hliad his coat, waistcoat. and neckeloth off; lie was standing like olle in tiie at- tituide of shaving, at a smiall dte-,sing table, on whicl wvas a heokng.glas ; deceased was at that momnitt cuttinig his throat hewa hlIng hiis throat wvith hiis lef't hand, and wvithi tIte righit, whilch hield a razor, was its the act of' perpectrating hiiiself.de- strutcrion. JIere the razor wvas produced, which was coveredI withi bloodl.1 In a .iVerv few seconds hie tuirned rouind andt reeled to- wards us. the blisuIo th'en giishing profusely, fromi his thiroat, and de- ceased fell on the floor, withosit speaking a weord. I remiained in the room about tO minutes, and deceased died abouit 5 mintutes after. Mlr. LAddon, the suirgeon, was in the roomi before I left. Deceascd shiti liot answer when Mr. Meade called to hiim, on breaking oFen his bed-room door. The razor was foundGon the dressing-table, anid I smippote it tirppoed from the hand of the deceased the momient he turnied roitmd andi fell. I received the razor fromi Mlr. Aclansi. - Richard Aleade, E,;q., solicitor, dIeposed as4 follows :-Vesiertlav alittlea.fter two 'clock, I iwas in, MY offie' an earaviln screulh i elow, which at first. I thought wdtl from thte chiildreni, andc did 'not at theiti rnusent move tfromn my chair ; bas thec shrieks; coni- tinuing, I rushed out or' myi office amist met Alr. Bailey. lie ran dlown stairs wvithl thep utmost speed-[ triedt thie outside dloor leading to the kitchen, in the dtirection of' wthich the shriek-s wvere heardl, -and thtoighit at thec instant thiat the door was securzed with M.. I thlen with great tbrre throat thec door open, uipon whiichi Mlrs. Warren premtenti,%Mfrself, shrieking:~ and trying- to force hier way oni towards thlestreet. She grsp,ied me withifeer hald,without bei-ngabletn speak and extendied her Itaid towvards tIre parlour, meaning thazt I -'nould go ini that dircgtion I thiink shie merely uttteredI thie exciatnaion ~The chiildren !" t Wet,t oni towards thie dining-room--the chiildren were theni shrieking in the iAs,sagej but could iiot tell what hant' hap- penad i I thien ini a mioment turnedt oni the righit toward., the nursery doar, and on oipeniing it saw thte deceilsed lying on ithe floor, his feet towards thie door, amid htis head from me. Ile was lying rather o;f the right siide, butt I coulId see his lolt'eheek. There w&s a pistol o n the floor onl the reght behind hiim. alitl aniother lower downi tielar his knees. Tltt' womian.seervant, Fr-ances Town. in, was sitting dn flIe lowv chiair by, the side of clie tlre.place, lier head reclining apainst the meatle-piece or wall, anid groaning usiost Pitecously. 11cer head was bleeding profusely. f sawv a stream of blood aLll over her head and face At this timie I thioughit deceased 'had shot himiself, andt wits dead: hle was Ilytu.g quite ftill. Thle servsstt, F. 'rowiiing, was behindl himi. I saw blood flowsing fromi bis mnouth. i called loud(ly for aisistance. Deceased thein torned rouind, andI milttering somnething, fixed his eve upon us-I thintk I said, " Ohi, Jloseph :" Onr wichle, to my great surprise, he miade a etnigles ifecoeringfioin a fainting tict, anti got upon his~ legs, upon svicli tinsanl grasped hiini by thie right armi, and also took him y th cot. Ife srugled to disengage himself fr.oma mne, and I calldou fo assstace.He ucceeded itn gettiing front unse, and wemt- ed so %tagger fra m1ompent. I saw tlie blood in hiis miouthk. I otade ani attenspt to seiz trie Ocirts of hiis coat, btitt missed my aim. At that instant, as hie WaAs running from me toward, tict kiitchien, Mrs. Nirarrer, was brought in l;feediug. Al r first thiought ron see- ing btet was ithat sie had received a pistol' so. Sewsl downvi as genitlv as possible in the helpless state int which she teas found, uipon ethe sofa in tile dining-room. I beard the (lecessed dis- tinctly ru pse two pai baksar, anda shut his doer witlt great violence:. I thlen itiianhtiately ran up after himi, and called 1,1lr. Bailev to follow mnet when I got to sthedoor, I foundi it seccure, a,id' Iburst it open. I then raw the sleeasetl standing at tite dressingz- table, iICt c fcuting hiis thot a s esrbed b- th precrdling witness; derceased turned rouind and f'ell down. I remained in thle -mans for a few mirtuttes until Alir. Liddon came. Deceased had lived 14 years wish mec as noty servhliut; he was a man of very strong pas- sions, and verv suisceptible of excitement. During tite last year-, sincte Lady-Day, I have observed a difference ini. hisi conduict to what it fornierlv used to be: at thimes hie app-earei -dejeted. I had it in conternplati ni to clsch-erge him. shire which he ap~lpeared parti- cularly deiected. flehad been informed that he mutst qluit nsv, service, and had. Yreived a monthi's notice aboutt a month ago, atid( fr'om an op. prehen.4ion that he would do himiself a mischief, lie hiad rcceiV,ed per- mission tostayv until Lady-day, whien hisycear'sser'.'icew.euldtertmina-te. For the last 4 or 5. months he had not bieets in the samfe lsappv asatd he was frmerl. 1 new nthit ofiny, quarrel lie had i'had w-ithi FracesTowingyet~ca3~mo'sio, or do I believe that any had the taen lac, o a an prceuingtie, DeceasedI had been eti- gagd t mary er or he astfou orlive years, but wvas foarfuli thathe soul nOtdo o wel i mariedanti ni bhosiness, as he dlid in service :1 h lave remonnstratedt with him on the iinipropiieiy of dtelaying Isis miarriage after so long a time, btdeceased saidi lie could niot please himself with a sliop in whichi to begin busineSs: I cannot sas that lie was its a fit stare of mind to be trusted. Deceasedi had de- clared that he rtvesr weitld live unless he was permitted so remain its hits service until hi.s year was regularly expired. On, Sandlay evening, deceased went to his mnistress,-and implored her, ias very' enegetc trms tointercede wifk me to keep himn unjtil the year wasexpre; ation being aeguainted witlh his wishes, and an-- preensve esthemight commit siome violenc-e on himself if re- futsed' I cosente to his request. On the slightest excitation, deceased was utenoeral,adwoulsl listen to no- pergsua stion or argtument kothscueof his late excitation, and whicis cautse led to the inteto of dischiargn bins ; it weas a circumustaunce of a pecuiniary natue relatingt itd ty householtl expenditure. De- ~eated hacd asked FnesTonug"wethier she liad ever thought of her becing buritwshhnnoe grave?" and said "1he hiad been thinking Of it tady. TisFrancesq Towening told me yesterday, aifter the dresfi ccrec.One of the pistols aere d to have flashed in the pan, utfernained 'loaded with a bulIt'I h other had been recently discharged. I think dleceasedl shot Midself itt the ruirsery.bcfore he ran up stairs and cut his tliroat, and am of' opinon hat Itebailis ow i th bod. Wen I entered the nur- seryroo, te sell f gnpoderwasexceedingly, strong. I hiave thepisols [Te pstos wre sodced. they were of a small pocet izeandon ein uncreed,one was foundi loaded wvith ball wihoe any',rmin'feminig, romits having, it is presumed, flased n te jan,andtheothr hd befsrecenitly loaded add dis- chargu. Mr dn Iddtlon, surgeon, depissed as follows :-About half- past two o'clock yestetday I received a very huri-ed muess-,age to g'o -to Mr. Meadc's. Oa arriv-ing there,.! found nia, y peol assembled if, the heuse: M Vrs. W'arren was lying on the sofa: she lied, receiv'ed a violent blow on the head, and appeared faint andi confosied ; the position in which she wvas being a favourable one, I left her, and wetit to the nursery, sehere I found the serant, F'rantces; Towning, bad also receuved very severe injtury on the head, *on 'five or six divisions of the skull. I ex- attined thern all, andI found that fracture bad.- taken plate in one direction, whiere the probe passtd. No bone lhad been driven in ; there was no pressure ; I leftl her wvith my' brotlher, who had pret*dcd me in his ilsit-2 and went.to the man-servant's b6d- room; I found him lying oni hss side on the floor of the reomi,which 'was covered withi blood ; 'I1madle a sort-of pillow. witli Isis coat, on which I laid his head,and oni turning his head I saw all the large yes- sgels of the neck had been divided. by souie sharp instrumenst ; lie was ,bleeding much, and there was no pulsationi. I remiiined wvith him a very tfew minuites, anid seeing notfing could be donie, I left him, to rendler uasistaiiee to the itufferrers below ; -I sew bins aftlerwards, and exatmined th ar; blood was then coming froith liis mouth, but thi miht aveptceemled from thie blood flowing back fromn thr pars o th diide thoat ~'bseveda considerable blackness asb~tlis~aioed~ba cold on henascrlib that he had shot him. sel. Iexanln& te pstos, nd oud that polwder had recently 'hiert~hahr~tfron-thsnuzleofone,ad,te tuchhole of the other T'wusndl~thutbrat ws 'te imriuahieiad uindeobted -cautse of his Zdtheb. Anna MAia Thomas d eposted, that she is pretress to lil. 'Aeada's chbdren. Haed known the deceased Ithea n~i ontlhs, afli atw&sys thsiught hi1m gloomiy, atid freqoestly, flighty'l-,h'is conduct obsetved hit _ticiaITiarly.dnusuhf it is -g Ief Sst i we i . secmijed to dO things in a hurriet nner, as thougho soddedi& xe- covered from a state of abstrac'i:;'- : Downing Blake, Esq., deposed as follov:s :0n Sotneay, tefISth- inst., deceased on enteng into the;chapeI at the-ntine of tie ;first prayer. when be c gation vexe sfanding, did not &o,ed tobhis seat, ns tusual, bit tuWed round, looked' teward the trontdoor, tDngh he wssgoing to speak to somebody;" he then went 'tnwa4 htg pevr, whirch lhe enteredand-eat down in dre midde of it e n hear=eg the report yesyerday of,;what had gappened it inimcdlztely occurred to.rne, from moy recollection of hss behnvzour,. that the.4- ceased TDUSt have baen deranged. - - - T ewo orthree other inrdesses deposed to a similar straligrtSess ard. 'apparent'disorder of mind in the deceased. Joseph 1?arkhouse, guusniit, s orn-1 sold abrace of pisel to deceasedyes erday mordThg he paid mefortbem. He cae onct S fore I wa up,abnut eighi o'clock, and In an honrafterheM oeegafff He put his haId on a brace of pistols, and n3ked the price of themv I told hiM 2S!. He said he could get them at Coxts for h pound, which I denied. He did not say what he was going ' t do wit them. I did not ask. I did not observe any thing pecliar m his manner. This completed the evidence, and the Coroner then requerted dte robm to be cleared while the jary were deliberatinsc on their vecdict, who. after a short discuFseon, returned a verdict of " Insemit5 After the coroner's inquiest had ternicinted 3Ir.. John Liddon, accompanied by his brother, Iir. Hepry. Liddon, examineIthc badyof the deceased in the presence of Dr. Kinglake. The Co2r was found ting-d-with gunpowder, and a groove vwas formed on the back of it where the bultet lhd p6ssed along through thic etft palate, and had finally lodged on the anterior part of -the first vertebra. The bullet was flattenea to nearly the extent of hbaS itu sphericity'bythe force with which it was drivnn into 2he-boneof the vertebra. It was evidently not the intention of the dedeaeet w -ssasssoate Mrs. lWarren, but the lady being the first wvo presentl hmeLf to the aid of the unfortunate servant girl, Mfrs. Warren beeame tbe object of his indiscrhninating violence. He was of apenuridsalid, avaricious turn of mind, and had saved severml hbndred pounds in his seivice, the greater part of which we are glad to find asil so>tr5 the first victim of his fur;, if she recoversthe pSO girl to wnom he was shortly to be married, and inr whose favour he somc time since made a will. It is with great satisfaction we close this melancholy Occotflt. by stating that favourable indications have presented themselves both as to Mrs. Warren and the maid-servant, but the situation of either is by no mcans exempt from danger. The hemmer used bv the assassin was of rather a larger size than is eominorly used for hftusehold purposes; it was with the claw part of thix instrument that Alrs. Warren was struck, ard was found to be broken fom the handle by the force xvith vwhich it had been used on this shockiLg cfcasion. 'the hands of the servant girl are dreadfally mutilated, and the wrist-bone of one of themn it is feared is broken, having en- clearoured to detend herself from the blows by placlng her hands on her heatl. It is conjectured that the w%retcth intenceed taostut his sictim in the first place, astd then to shoot het, but one pistol missinp fire, and thinking it necessary to secure his own self-des-ruction with the other, the result was as stated in the evidence. He bad, as it now unquestionably appears, shot himself in the *nouth after the lirst pistol had missed fire, and the |imnscdiate efrect was to render him-senseless. His subsequent strug. gle anti escape froni his master, and being enabled to reach the dis- itance of is bed-room, are remarkable facts; but as the hemorrhage was at first sligh t, he had not become much weakened by the occar- rence, though he was remarked in his escape from thenurscry-to run in a bending position. Alr. Caines, of Laneport, wag tfie Coroner onl this occasion, he- twveen whom and Mr. Peatson, a solicitor of London, a cosaners- Ition l passed-previous to our entering th.e room, on the qoestion Iof right on the part of thte oroner, to exclde any persons whom |e hmight think proper. Mr. taines stated that he was ready to, I abide by hsis responsibility in his rensing to allos any person to at- tend that le did not p roe,uponwhich Mr Pearson rtired. TRAG1CdJL YBANT.