Dorset County Sessions, A...
The Times, 1824-05-03T00:00:00

mir. V LtIL LIAMs brienyopenec the case by outlin'iig theevitlence which he should have to produce, in order to pr,ve that an assault of a most cruel and violent kiil had been comnitted by the prison- ers on a poor woman of Bridport, of the name of Elizabeth Parsons, on the most unjustifiable, and, in these times, mnost extraordinary pretence,-viz. that the woman was what they termed a witch. Elizabeth Parsons. exanmined bv Mr.1irr LLtA ats-Lived at Brid- port; was there on the 2d of Janiuary last; knew lWrilliam Fudge; lived with him; hc was an old man,81 years ot age; it 1'as his houzse. On the night in question she was in bed, when M r. Fudge, who had been out, came home; she got up. He had been drinking; he was not very drinky, but in liquor; when she came lown, Fudge did not go to bed; he wanted to go out again; she advisedi himn to go to bed, and. to prevent his *going to a public-housc again, locked the door of the room; knows Robert Northover and his wife; saw them at twelve o'clock at night on the2d of January, at WVilliam Fudge's house; it was after inrm. Fudge had come home; plerhaps it rnight be ten minutes after; heard Northover's voice in the court, hut dit] not see him when he came first; knows his voice * he said to Pudire, " Are you locked in ?" Fudge answered, " Yes." Northover then said, " Betty will not let you out: she'll murder you to-night and set fire to your house_-she murdered six horses anl a pig for me. She is a white, white - bitch, who murderedl my six horses and pig." Hie then aske.l Fudge if he should break open the door? Fudge told him to do so, and the door was forced open bv Robert Northover, who came ill and saitd to me, " Are you goinre to murder Mr. Fudge ?" He callcdi me a white b-r, put lup his fist and struck me a violent blowb on the head, which forced me against the stairs; I ran up to MIr. Fudge's room: Northiover followe(d me: his wife came in with a light. Ilary Northover said, " Now, old hag, I have got thee; where are my six lhorses and fat pig*" Both of them beat me; I cried for mercy, and said I was innocelnt that I never did any harm nor meant any, theycontinued beating me, and I struggled to get out; I had only my shift and Clp on. At length I escaped from them, and went to bed; a few minutes after they both came into my room. I know Charlotte Stiller; I saw her there; she was leaning against the chamber-door when thev wvere beating me; she rents a little house near Fudge's, and goes by the name of Great Charley; she hindered me fronm passing tihrough the door; she struckt me two violent blows on the head. After this, they went down stairs; the Northovers came up again into mi bed-room, they asked me again what I hadi done with their six horses anti pig; ilary Northover said, " I won't leave the room until I havgs got the old hag's blood." Robert said, " I'll be d-d if I don't mur- der her, for there's no law to hang me." He then took out of his packet a clasp knife, and cut me in the face, breaist, and airm. His wife, with a candle in one hand, anti beating ne with theother,look- ing at lier hand, said," Now, you old hag, I havegot what I wanted; now I shall be able to keep a horse and pig; why didst not give the man the cold wvater ? thou hast been ill for three days, thou hast been hag-ridden for three nights. Robert, I'll not leave the room till the old hag's down in prison." I said, " Don't put me in pri- son to-nighlt, but have me examined by iMlr. Gundry to-morrow." Robert said, " D-n you and 51r. Gundry too." Ile tlhe,, went to call the constable; siie stiyel at the chamber-door the while; the constable came to tlhe house, but not up stairs-he refuise(d to corte. Robert then saitl, " I'll turn constable mvself." He then draggeed nei out of the bed, down stairs into the street. I was naked at the time, or nearly so. I begged for nmercy, and said I was innocent-- innocent of being a witch; I did not kioow there wvas any such thing before; he said I should go to prison. Ilis wife went up stairs, and brought me down a petticoat and gown. The watchman came- stayed half an hour; I saw the Northovers iio more after; I lvent to bed. WVhat occasioneA them to go, was a cart coining to the public- houtse; they went to see it, and I crept up stairs. In cross-examination by AIr. BAxNiES, the witness said that shc did not know exactly what the Northovers meant by asking lier abont cold water; a man came to the public-house; she did not know till after that he was a conjurer; did not know till that night that there was any such thing as a conjurer; slhe has lived in Mr. Fudge's house 17'years. WVilliam Fudge, examined by Mr. WSILLIAMtS.-WVas 81 years old; remembesed what happened on the 2d of January last; he came home at lhalf-past 11; had been at the public-liouse froim 4 in the afternoon till that time; Bliz;abetlh Parsons was at his house; the noise was after he came in; the door was leeked by klizabeth Parsons- he war.ted to go out; .che would not let him go out; she was afraid lie was oing out again to drink; drank with Northover and some others from 4 o'clock. Northover brought him to the door; he burst open the door, by his consent; Northover fell iipoii BetsF Parions; he and his wife went up stairs; he remaintd btolw down bv the deor. Heard the noise above ; heard murder cried ; it was Betsy Parsons who criedl out murder; slie was then in the street; saw her afterwards; she was undressed; btat had a cloak thrown over her. Mlaria Fry, examnineld by Mr. WILLstA2 s.-Lives close by the Crown and 'Anchor: lived there January the 2d1, not man- vards from Fudge's; knows the Northovers; saw them at ten o'clock at night, at the Crow,, and Anchor drink-ing; heard them sav that Elizabeth Parsons was ar witch ; she had bewitched six horses and a pig for theli-and they were2091. the worse for her at thatimoment. Heard thiem after the clock struck eleven at the Crown and Atiehor: she left them there with her hushar.d; after she wasin bed she lieard agreat noise in the passage. Fudge's horuse. and Northover's, and hier's, were in the same passage; se hceard Northover's voice; he was spevaking very angrily, and said " 'll be d--d if I do not come into you, for that d-d infernal hag will imurder that old gen- tiesan, the sanne a8 she h.as my six horses and fat pig.' Hearl the door burst open; did not see the bNorthtvers any more that night. I 6aw hIrs. l'osthiover next morning; she said Betsy Par- sons was a witch, and she had proved it; lshe had putlled her is the neck to make her look her in the face, and that she could not look her in the face; she had asked le; why she did not give thc "man" the water; she was bad now, ad the " man" had been at hlerchamber-windows; she would be worse at the fill oftdie moon ; I said " I don't think she is a witch, Alrs. Northover," She said " Shte never will be able to injure me any more I have got all I wanted out of her; we can now keep a horse and pig - MIr. John Alartin examined.-Lives at Bridport; is an officer,of exese; was in the iiridport.sttcet on the 24d of January, at nighit; between II and 12 o'clock; knows Blizabeth Parsons; saw lher with nothing but her shitt on, which she was compelled to hIold w'ith her hand to keep it on, it was so much torn; Northover was with her, swearing most dlreadfully, and holdir.g up his fist at her; heard him say, " D_n your eyes, you d--d I-- b-h, I'll kill you - I'll be tbe Leath of you." He repeated this language several times. Elizabeth Parsons recalled; examined by Mlr. BANRES.-NO mnedicail man was called in to see her before Sundav y Dr. Strange saw her on Sunday: this was the next day but one after the assaut. Mr. BArKfEs defended the prisoners; and attempted to shotv that the assault had been exaggerated, and that the evidence wvas not true, and endeavoured to ctonvince the jury that the case was a trumpery one. He called Edwar:d Garland, who swore that he was in Bridnort on the 2d of January; saw Northover about ten o'clock. at the Crown and Anchor; Northover asked him to drink, which he did: returned to his company in the parlour. Atterwards heard Fudge caU out to Northover; persuaded Northorer to go to Fudge and te break in the pannel of the door; Northover told him titat lie heard the cry of Murder. On his cross-examination by Air. WILLIAMs, said he did not hear the cry of murder himself;- hcard nothing about the witch whilst he was there. He was close by Fudge's door ; heard no cry of murder; he did not know that he was deaf. AIr. John Strange, examined by Mlr. BAN KES.-15 a medical man, practisimr at Bridport; was called in to see Elizabeth Parsons on the 4th of January; found her labouring under a considerable de- gree of indisposition; she complained of bruises, of which he ob_ served the appearance; the wounds were not such as seemed to hiim to require dressing; if requirel to describe the wounds, should call them scratches rather than cuts; ascribed the indiaposition of Par sons partly to the bruises, partly to the violence taken altogether, and partly to her beinig ill at the time: the bruises of themselves migilt not have occasioned the degree of illness which was apparent. Cross-examined by Mlr. WiVr.LiA-,rs.-Did not examine the wounds and bruises very minutely; the parts were swollen and flush; the wounds did not bear the appe'arance of having been inflicted by an instrument; a penknife slightly grazing the skin might have oc- casLioned the wounds; that is certainlv an instrumLnt: Made out a bill of his attendance; could not remember the amount. Mr. P. NVILLIA-ms reprobated tlle attenp: oft his learned fiiend. to throw ridicule upon this cause at tihe expense of troth ancl the character of tie witnesses. The evidence of the person who had been so inhumanly treated was extremely clear, and had been throughout supported by that of olher most substantial and un- shaken testimony. Even upon the showing of the wvitnesses for the defence, this poor woman had been treated in a most cruel and die- graceful manner. T'hie dcfendarit, R. Northover, had shown his entire worthlessness by his mode of defence; his wife might be pi- tied, amid appeared to be the subject of an ignorance truly barba- rous; but tse husband w as clearly one of the most worthless onem whlo had ever appeared in a court of justice. Instead of discovering a penitential feeling on account of tihe wrongs lie had inflicted, he attempted to deny the facts, and to add to those wrongs by throwing odium on the character of a womnan whom he had endeavoured other- wise to destroy, as well as on that of those other persons who liad so strongly and cle .rly confirmed her eviderce. The ti.'Al R :X,% e- sfhortly recapitulated the principal parts of the evidence, and in the summning up, conmiented on the extraordinary facts or the case, astonishinge as thiey ewere as happening in this conI). try, and at this time. The pritlcipal witness was suptorteti through. out (lie testimony of all the others, and not at all contradicted, but mainly corroborated by that of the evidence set up in opposition to it. He expressed his regret at perceiving any disposition on the part of the medical gentleman who had been called ab a witness for tie defence, to keep back what were obviouslv the facts of this most out- rageous and violent injurv, done to a poor and helpless and sick wo. mar. It was really difficult for the Courtt under the circumntae.ec, of the de7entlants' condition and family. to proportiomi the amount of the punishment to tie nature of the off.rnec, but for the purpose of marking as strongly as possible its abhorrenee of such transaclions atid sucs aspirit, they would endeavour, if possible, to check t(le in.dulgenee of such feelings by such ignorant ard infatuated persons in future. T*he Jury immediately found a verdict of Guilttt,and the prisoners were sentenced by the Court to be inmprisoned for one year. DORSET COUNTY SESSIONS, APRiIL 27. WITCHCRAFT.-TIIE KIXG V. R. 'ORTI1OVER AND MAIfAn XOURTIZOVER, FOR AS ASSAUL.T ON ELIZABlETH PARSONS.