Worcester, Tuesday, Augus...
The Times, 1824-08-05T00:00:00

URTIMI'.AL UOVRT.-ffcturr M1r. Jtl(tief PARK. .wary Hal nrpewt, tne wife 01 a tanner at brocton, in *tuscounty, was indicted ror the wilful imurder of her servant. Mary 'alton, who died en the 21st of Match la8t, nccomplishea bv giving her blows on the head, and throwing her uoun the grouacl. She was also charged on the Coroner's inquisition ivith the tame offence. She appeared at the bar with a very fine child in her arms, and was allowed a seat. She pleaded " not guilty." Mr. CROSS stated the case for die pro,secution. He represented the deceased as an orphan, who was ot' sickly cnn;stitution, and in- capable of bearing any severe infliction. On ,ridsv, the 20th of MlIarchi, hhe was beaten by the prisoner for some allege misconduct, and having fallen, was again beaten while on the ground; and on .he Saturday niight she died. The prisoner attempted to hasten the luieeral, and stated that her servant had died of an infectious lever. Fromn the testimony of tbe surgeons, tlle jur would hear wvhetlher her death could be attributed to tele usage sae ad received from her mristress. If they thosugkt it resulted from this cause. they woultl then decide,under tlie direction of the learned Judge, whether the cirruntisrasces of rite case amounted to murder, or whether the prisoner was guilty of the lesser offence of manslaugbter only. In conchluioti, the learned counsel entreated the jury ts banish every prejtidice from tLeir minds, if anv had ever entered them, and to watch the evidence, with th'e recollcetion that the life of the prisoner lwvas in their hands. Thomas Wal1ton was then sworn.-He said. I aml the brother of the deceased Mar;y 'ralton. Her father aud mother havc'ee dead 20 years. She was 29 years of ase. It is inore than rfree years since I saw her. She had been about that time in Mr. Haifpenny's family. Martha Jay, a poor girl of 15 years of age. raid-I was appren- ticed by the parish to 111r. Halfpenny, and lived with himt thlree years. Wlthen 1 first went there, alery WValtoa ,ras erPloyed in the house, but latterly she went to labour in thle fields. She had pretty good health all the time ; she ate and drank to the last. On thc Friday morning before she dlied I was on the garden side of the house next the fields. Mary Walton had gone to fetcb some tur- nips, atid had washed theis at the4draw-.well in the garden. As she was returning, she dropped them out of the basket; and her mis- tress said, ' You'll pick them up, won't you, or i'll mnake YouI.> She picked thetat up, but her mistress cut her all the time -ith a Wihip [whicIh was produced in court.1 She did not opeo the lash, but struck her with the butt-end on tihe back five or six times, as hard as shie cout4 lay on her. Alary Walton then tried to lift the turnips, but she could not- she dropped theta down, and called to me to cmrry them. Her back vnts so weak she could not raise them herself. Al iiiistress said to tne, "You take them in, and I will make her come in." The deceased then went forwardto the door, and fell on the ground. While she lay there, her mistress struck her agun four or five blows with the whip on her side, shoulders, and back. Then h?rs- Half. penny told mie to take one arm while she took the other; I did so, I and we pulled her into the back kitchen. When in the back kitcesen her mistress beat her again to make her get up as hard as zhe coul& She roiled about for some time, before sbe could get up, from wealr. nes. Mlrs. Halfpenny then told her to wash her hands, which had become dirty in hpr attempts to rise. As she uttempted to go, she dropped at the foot of the stairs,after she bad gone atev steps. atr mistress then desired her to get up ; she attempted to070 se by catching bold of the door; on which Mrlrsm HalfpennY Said, " Yloxu are going to climb up the wall, are you ? I'll make you come from there ," and again cut hermaLny times with all her strength O0l the back and shoulders. She got up and went to the sin, wasled her hands, and went up stairs. Hert mistrcss fbiowed, and came down with hergown, pinafore, and stocklngs, whichi she ihad oti when she wentup.' Thweredirty, and Irs. Halfpenny took them and washed them, which she had never done before. Afte thw, she complainted of the beaning: her mistress told her shte hoild not Stay there if she would do .othing, and drove her up again. The rext morsg my mistress caled ime at five o'oC; zndvasle-T z'. : nct MWiary up yet ?" I replied, "' No." She .aid, i' I vill feic Itif ... soa s I have tied eny,Own" She -then 'went up with a holly ek, sand I ea tr tZgirl with it on her back, head, and all Ir O thI aytetdeea0d went to bed earlier than usual, in cr ae of soreness from the beatings. About dinner e OiaI'pebts boiled her some cidei~ candle,aiid 'took it up irm. nAftressm t asi4 an~d the chlildren were gone"to bed, I went tli myoitesto hZ er room; she took up a can ~of chamomile tea: ar saloon 'wI hLn nildres-Sed alid in bed. AMY .Jmistress. serit for a sonijh I brought. She put some of thle cha- mil les ito espoon, and-Put it to the girl's mouth, but couldi get t Is. Idolot tlhink the girl was then da h emdt cii,and ~ld7rtsr~ ushe,ihr in the bed when she did niot T rete net that I. bring you shall take." Aly strts sat e Ms. eore'sfor the chamomile, and told me to ellAir. srget~atn hn was the matter with Mary, that se hadoffmI teotside of the bed all that night, di not c'pulott. WhnI went to light my mistrests tg ,sbe said clothesof" hier, for shec is ini a nice reat." dlid not feel her move at all in the night. The next rning, which Ivan SundaY between five and six, my mistress led to me 'an told me to asl Mary how she was. I then wvent d put my finger to her check ; it wasm cold. I sthook h'er, buit shec not move. She was lying in the samie place as alhe hiad lain in epight , L wentt my istress and said, - She is dead, mistress." erpid LShe isnot,is shell" Shethlen told ne to'go and call rnmaste sand te-ll him. She next told me to puit 0On some water bi, anda whlen Is was ready tookc it up stairs, NO person cm assist in laying out the hotly. My mistress told Me to tell't'he' otlmpn, If Lwas asked, th',t Iwent Ouit to assist in washing and ing out the body, as siae knew no one in the parish to send for. as also to saY that'MY Master was In the roomi.Onofteys the ecesedwasblack all round. Mly mistress had beaten the eased about a wveek before her death. Cross.xamjnd by r. Cutntwooju. The deceas%ed had lived th heprsoertheeyears I think she was hired for ayear, and d egagd fr aoter year just before. The only complaint shie ade as f bing ore Ilse dd not say she wanted a doctor. The-e non fls~r tanTenbury, whien is four moiles from us. I ye nt o lae lvedwithl My miaster, but with a schoolmnaster, e.xmind b th JLDGE....Qrg. Halfpnny has three children. e sdt eat mie very muchi all over. She'did not beat me on eFia.MY mnaster once askted ine wha-t tile noise waLs about. y mitcssaid-,, I do not care; but I will make themn do their EKaminedi again by Mlfr. CuRwvoorn.- do not ricollect the de. based receiving a blow at the well; buit my mistress told me to 'Itll te gentlemen So. She desired nite to say that the wi-ndlass Iruick lier onl thle head. r said so to the coroner. IEdward P eece, a son of the prisoner by a former husband, sad-- 'he decease.jtoil mse shie had received a hiurt from the windlass )rut a week before her death. I saw her very bad on Friday nigiitI !fore she died. On Sunday morning my mother said Mtary W al- ndied of a fever. nTiter was no fever that I knoiv of in the house. hiave neve enthe prisoner strike the dleceased with a stick or hip bu Ihav wth the hand. Afartha Jay told me the deceasedI Id hr se ha ben struck by a windlass oni the headi. Thoms Dais, lal.oneing man, said-1 was sent for to the pri- ~ houe on he Aeopday after the dleath of Mlary WValton, sasy hr o te hurch otn the Tuesday. The prisoner said there as a stroIng sIMell fromn the deceased, and shie thought she must ave died of a fever. ,8xarnined by ttt JuTnGE..-.I hadi workedi all the Friday at the ior'. . never saw the prisoner strike the deceased itu hitp or a ~rtck. I was workcing in a barn, about 30 or 40 yards from eIhnv.~e, and][ heard no noise. I saw thie deceased in theimorning. J'nn Edwards, a labouirer in Mr. Halfpenny's emnploy, was" called 'prove siome ill usage about Chiristmas, but the learned Judge otught this too remote, and the counsel for the prosecution isusme- iately- withdrew the evidence. The Rev. Thomas Elton Mliller said-I am brother to the incum- ent of the parish where the prisoner lived ; and, at the tinie of lary Walton'sdeath, I performed his duties. On the AMonday I 'ent to inquire of Mirs. Hailfpenny whether any one was dead in her Ouse, she said the servant girl was dlead. I asked what she died of; e c,A+d S.she was atfraikta very bad infectious fever." I asked if e had called in Medical adlvice; shie said she had not. I ked why she hadl r.et ? Her answer wras, that she thought er 'was no danger. I as'ked hier how long the girl had been I ? She said, "1She failed on the Thu'sdav or Friday." I asked, Ho ogthe girl had been d-ead ' She first said Friday nerning, but afterwardis corrected herself, and said Saturday:- hen directl corrected herself again, andl said Siunday. She excused 'erseif by saying she vwas very muchel agitated by wil at hiad happen. d. I asked in what state the body was ? Slie said, "1 it bad be- orne very offenive." She saidi she wished to have the hotly buried n ITuesday laftnernoo~n; th-e coffin would be brought in that evening, 'id her husband was gone to fetch the relations of the deceased. I fterwardls returned, and.asked to ace the body. She zook me di- ectly up stairs, sad I lookedi at the corpse. On the lett eye I thioughit saw a mnark, and asked her about it? She said,"1 it had a.!ways )een ;n that way." The bedy, was not at all ofi'ensive. I remarkedl hat it seemed swollen. She said it had been larger, but she re- uced it by a bandage. She said she hatd bumned pitch, and I smelt rtronielv. Mlr. Johhn D)obie.-I male the coffin for the deceased, ".y a usea- lure. I took It home on Mlonday evening about 5 o'clock, and went iP stairs I offloredI to assist in placing, the body in the coffin ; but ; he said, " No; she was going to have aWomtan." Mlr. .Jolrtt Cheese1, a surgeon, s-. id-On WVednesdav, after the leeth of Mlary Waltont, I w-ent, in comnpany with lMr. C'lare t !xamine the body. It was then in the coffin ; but it, was taken out ~hat we might inspect it. Wie careftilly examined it all oyer. Air. 3;arke cut off the hair, andI Halfpienny shtaved the head. We found wound on the scalp about hialf an inch in lengthi, bitt it did not pass through the scalp. There was an extravasation of blood under ,he s!calp. Ti-crc was a discolouration of the integuenitaLs of the left eye, and al'o about the left temiple. A contusion was On the right shoiilder blade. whichi mnight ha-ve beett produced by a fall. A superficiatl scratch was on the right leg, just below the knee. Boll legs were swollen by disease, and the f'eet, arms, and hands. badly affecced witli the cluilbinins. WVe proceedled to retieove the scalp, and foundI that the wound on the righit parietal bone lhad not penetratedi the scalp. There was contusion anti extravasation there, sncd en the left temnple. We removed tlue summit of the skull, and found nei,her fracture nor depression. The membranes Of the brain were in a natural state. 1Mr. Claike dividled the decra and pia nateer, and disse-cted the brain. The left hemisphere was in a nturl tat, ecet treedrnusofserum in the ventricle. On examiing te riht heisphre, w foud a silighit turgidity of veins on l' srfce;inoiie rspetsitha anatural appearance The thorx, te hart,luns, lver andstoach were in a natural state. I ri no thik te tugidty ad te srum, sufficient to cause death. I hae herd he eidene a to he teatent whichi the dleceased re- ceie on the Fridlay ; thjere mighit be concussion. A violent bow frmawindlass would hiave produced thlese appearances ; but whec- ther thedeceasedI could have gone about for a week after such ablow, I c-annot say. No blows on the shoulder or back could have pro. duced the appearances. The blows on the hiead appeared not to bc very recent; pe-rhaps threa or four days. 31 r. Clarke, the other surgeon, said I-have heardI the evidence, and I think the beating which the deceased received on thie Fridav wns not sufficient to cause death. A blow from a windlass wouldl have caLused the appearaunces on the head. Sir. Justice PARK desired that the girl M1arthia Jay should be re- -cailed, and asked when MIIrs. Halfpenny desired her to say that the deceasedl was struck by the windIlaqss; to which she answered the day before the inqluest. Air. Justice PARK then saiul, there was an end of the case. If the witness Preece spoke ;ruly,tbere wvas every reason to believe that this blow on tlse head was caused by the windIlass, for he said the littl girl toldI him of the blowv awveek before the servant died, antil *he couldi then have receivedi no instructions from lier mistress. Set- ting this aside, it was imipossible to convict the prisoner, as the sur. geons agreed tht, even taking the evidence as true, the death was not occasioned by the treatment. But was it even clear that the t-stimotty of the girl was worthy of credit ? She stood alone in her account of- the beating ; and the sinigle testimony of a 'witne&ss, as he hatl observed on a recent occ-asioni, (al- luding to the conviction axt Oxford), was often far lesssatfisfactory than a train of isolated circumstances tending to one result. Could it be believed that if this woman, near thirty years of age, had been beaten and oppressedl as was represented, she would have reimainedI in her mistrees's service, and would just before have contrac ted for another year? True it was that, by law, a master or mistress -might moderately correct a hired servant ; but Ctie old spirt of subordination was now so muich destroyed, that he believed if atny mnan were to take a stick and beat htis servants, though they might deserve it, they would niot continue to live with him. It was very right that the circumstancest of this poor woman's death should be investigated ; but after what lhad been proved, it could be scarcely niecessary to proceed further. The Jurv, after a shiort consultation, returned a verdict of ?Vot Alr. Justice PAn K afterwerdls informled the Grand Jury, whlo, lie supposed, were waiting in expectation of receiving a bill against the prisoner for an assault on tue deceased, that the intention of pre- ferring it was abandonedl, and in lila judgment very rigitly, as the acquittal had proceeded niot merely on the evidne fte surgeons, but on a doubt whiethe-r the evidence ofthieparish apprentice Was true. The prisoner was accordingly dischiarged. FXPuSITRtE OF A CHIl.D. Mfary Brindleg was inslicted for a misdemeanour,' in exposin her infant chiild writh intent to starve it, or do it some great bodilIy harm. Alir. RYAN~ openedi the cae for the prosecution, and chiaracterized the offence of the prisoner as onie of the dleepest moral guilt. It appeared in evidenice, that on the 8th of Mlay last, thie pris-oner was delivered of a male child at a place callea the Block-lhouse, eiear Worcester. On the 13th of Juily, shec set out at three o'clock in she monn rm thtpae with the childl. At ten in t-he samne MorIng itwsfon lere, in a fieldl near Bronmegrove, among som thrsbytesd of the pit. Tue prisoner was then at 3Bromssgrovet, incopn with several soldiers, and was followed, anid taken In the sm oit at Burton-upon-Trent, in Stafford- shire, 54 miles frmteso her she had left her chiild, which was far from any hue n a not likely to be visitedI by any one who could preserv th natfom death. The prisoner, beinig called on for her defenee, said she exposed the childi to save her own life. Mr. Justice PAR]; said the case had been justly represented as of an enormous nature; and he believed was without a paraUel for a hundred years. There was an instance so long ago, in which a mother left her child in an orchard,where it was devoured by a kite, and the was convicted and executed for its murder, as this woman must have been, had not the child been providentially saved. By leaving it in such a spot, she could intend nothing but its dcath,thoughi tbat intent had been happily frustrated. If the jury believed the witnesses, they could entertain no doubt of her guilt. The Jury immediately fiound the prisonerguziZly, and zhe received senltence to be imprisoned and kept to hard labour for two years Iin the House of Correction. She held the child in her arms during W(RCESTER, TUESDAY, ATlGrST 3.