npedrazzini/19thc_murder_suicide_news huggingface dataset:
The Sun. — 1846-09-10 (London, England)

MURDER BY A POACHER. The neighbourhood of Newton Abbot (a town about sixteen miles from Exeter, on the Plymouth road) was on Saturday night the scene of one of those fatal conflicts which have too often resulted from armed men being detected in an illegal act. We hope these lamentable consequence will arause in Devonshire a cru,ade against the cause of such sad effects—protection to. vermin—and may those traces, which game-laws have entailed upon the nation, be henceforth expunged and obliterated by wiser and more enlightened legislation. On the night of Saturday last, Festus Harris, the gamekeeper, and James Norman, the gardener, of Sir W. P. Carew, of Haceombe House (the High Sheriff), were on the watch, and ascertaining that poachers were on the grounds, they called to their assistance six other persons, amongst whom were Mr. Robert Rendell, of Netherton, and William Setter, of Coombinteignhead. These parties met in a field called Blendfield, between eleven and twelve at night, and surrounded the place where the poachers were. Mr. Rendell and Setter went to the gate of Kiln.fleld, and:whilst there heard the rest call out "gate"—a signal previously arranged. Theyperceived some one runnine towards them, with a gun in his hand, and on approaching within a few paces, discovered it was one Henry Warren. They ran into the field, and Warren raised his gun as if to fire. Mr. Rendell called out, "You'd better not fire;" but immediately Warren fired at Setter, and without taking the gun from his shoulder discharged the other barrel at Mr. Rendell. The shot passed by the side of Mr. Rendell's head, but the aim at Setter was more deadly; he received the whole contents in his body, causing a wound two inches in length, from which the bowels protruded, and from the effects of which the unfortunate man lingered until a quarter past two on Sunday afternoon, when he expired, at the house of Mr. Elias Rendell, Buckland, wl2ere he had been taken immediately after the occurrence.  On a post mortem examination a number of small size shot were found, lacerating most frightfully the liver, and injuring the bone. The surg,on also found a piece of deceased's watch chain, which had been carried into the wound. The prisoner was, after a scuffle, secured by Mr. Rendell, and the next day taken before H. Cartwright, Esq., who, having taken the depositions of the various witnesses, and of the dying man, committed the prisoner to take his trial at the next assizes for wilful murder, and also for shooting at Mr. Rendell. He said to Mr. Rendell, when in custody, he was very sorry he had done it, and he wished his gun had broken in pieces when first he took it in his hand. The prisoner's mate, who was out with him, has been also committed to gaol, on the charge of poaching. There was some fear of a rescue by the navvies, but Mr. Flamank, the magistrate's clerk, very wisely kept the men at Newton until Monday morning, when they were sent off to Exeter, and there safely lodged in the county gaol.
The Sun. — 1846-03-12 (London, England)

GISTERIAL AUTHORITY.  Earl CLANCARTY said that, on a late occasion, he endeavoured to impress on the House the importance of justices of the peace, in Ireland, being entrusted with the authority to compel witnesses to come forward and give information in cases where they .were cognizant of crimes being committed. On that occasion, he (the Noble Lord) distinctly stated that such power did not exist at present in Ireland, and that no person could be compelled to come forward and make a charge or supply evidence. In calling attention to that state of things he was met by a Noble Lord opposite, who stated that he (Earl Clancarty) had mistaken the law, as such power did exist with the magistrate to compel witnesses to come forward. Now, that Noble Lord being, in his opinion, a very high and eminent authority on such matters, he wished to know if a magistrate, on being informed by a policeman that a house had been burned or arms plundered, and that Aor B were cognizant of the fact, had the power to have arrested A or B with a view to compel him to give evidence?—(Hear.) Lord CAMPBELL replied that if there were not a higher authority than himself present, ha meant the Noble and Learned Lord who sat on the Woolsack, he would willingly answer the question. But he should then content himself with advising the Noble Earl to address his question to that quarter, where, he was certain, it would be fully and fairly answered.—(Hear, hear, and laughter.) The Earl of CLANCARTY said that by the Noble and Learned Lord (Lord Campbell) refusing to answer his question, he had shrunk from the position he had perseveringly maintained. What he (Lord Clancarty) understood from the Bill was, that the magistrates had not power to compel witnesses who were cognizant of crime to give evidence.  The LORD CHANCELLOR said he had been referred to, but he did not think he was bound to answer the question.  Lard STOURTON said that no language was too strong to express his conviction that such a state of things which existed in Ireland should be put down by the Lpgislature. He was therefore desirous that no impediment should be placed in the way of passing the measure. Still, he thought some exemption should be made in favour of those who were going for a priest, so that they might not be liable to arrest. The LORD CHANCELLOR said that nobody could doubt that a man going from one street to another, and going to a bed of sickness, was a perfectly lawful act, within the meaning of the Act of Parliament. Lord STOURTON wished to know, if a man, otherwise guilty of crime, were to be found in the street, going to a bed of sickness, would ho be liable to be arrested ?  The LORD CHANCELLOR said, of courso a man who had committed murder would be liable to be arrested at all times.  The report was then received, and the Bill ordered to be read a third time to-morrow,
The Sun. — 1846-03-21 (London, England)

CLA.RIESON submitted that there was no evidence to go to the jury in support of the charge of manslaughter. The evidence appeared to him to make out a case of excusable homicide.  The LORD CHIEF JUSTICE expressed an opinion that the case ought to go to a jury. The Learned Counsel having, accordingly, addressed them, and the Lord Chief Justice having briefly summed up, the jury returned a verdict of Not Guilty. Sarah Watlien, 28, single woman, was indicted for the wilful murder of her female illegitimate child, by cutting its throat, on the 16th of August last, at the parish of Brighton. It appeared that the prisoner, who is a very good looking young woman, entered the service of a gentleman named Hammond, who resides in Brunswicksquare, Brighton, in April, 1843, as lady's maid, and resided with the family in that capacity until the 10th of August. For some time previous the prisoner had complained of tooth-ache and other illness, but not the slightest suspicion was entertained of her being in the family way. On that day, however, she complained to a fellow-servant, named Boreham, that she was too ill to wait upon her mistress at her toilet, and requested her to do so for her, and she then returned to her own room, where she was shortly afterwards heard to groan most pite• ously, and this fact caused a suspicion of her condition. The prisoner soon afterwards came down into the kitchen, and in consequence of what had transpired, a search was made in her bed-room, where such appearances presented themselves as left no doubt that she bad recently been delivered of a child ; and, on the bed being examined, the dead body of an infant was found between the mattress and the sacking of the bed. There were several alight cuts upon the body and arms of the infant, but the mortal injury had been in flicted upon the neck of the child, which was nearly severed from the body, and merely hung to the trunk by a few of the integuments, and the injury ap peered to have been inflicted by a pen-knife which wes found in the room, and the blade of which was covered with blood. There was no distinct proof of the unhappy infant being born alive, the testimony of the medical gentlemen who were examined merely going to the extent of expressing an opinion, from tests which they applied to the lungs of the deceased child, that it had breathed, but they could not take upon themselves to state the necessary facts to show that in law the infant was born alive.  The LORD Cm? JUSTICE, when the evidence had been gone through, expiessed an opinion—that the capital charge could not be sustained, and the only pies. tion that remained for the jury would be whether there WAS a concealment of the birth. Mr. CLARKSON said that upon this part of the case he felt he could not expect to obtain a favourable verdict, and he si ould therefore decline to occupy the time of the Court by addressing the jury. The prisoner was then found ;sulky of misdemeanour, and was sentenced to twelve months' imprisonment. CIVIL SlDE.—(Before Mr. Baron
The Sun. — 1846-12-23 (London, England)

THE MO-1010141TES.  MURDEROUS ATTACK.—The day before yesterday being fine, I took the gun on my shoulder and walked out to look for some snipe on Oman bog, and went on from one bog to another, until I came out on the road, close to where Mr. Bates is building a new mill. I then saw between twenty and thirty people, employed on the hulloing, running up the road, and as they passed some of them said, " You had better take care, for there is a man coming with a drawn sword, and he will murder some one." I took no notice, but walked on along the road, and in a few minutes heard the pattering of feet behind me, and the most horrid imprecations. When I turned round there was an atrocious-locrking ruffian, stripped of coat and waistcoat, with a heavy ship's boarding cutlass in his hand, swearing he would cleave my skull. I called out to him to know what he meant, and to stand back, bringing the gun to the recover, having both barrels loaded. I had a moment's reflection within myself, whether I would fire at his right hand, to disable him from using his weapon; but seeing several women and children (who had run out of the house) in the line of fire, and fearing to hurt some of them, I thought it best to take my chance of closing, and grapple with him. He delivered a downright cut at my head, which, had it taken effect, would have killed me. I watched his eye, parried the blow with the barrels of the gun (which are cut into the bore), closed with the ruffian, and in doing so I threw the gun from me on the bank of the ditch, fearing an accident in the struggle. After a desperate encounter, in which he attempted to shorten the weapon and stab me, I wrested it from him, and threw him with his head into the hedge. I followed him to the ground, put my knee upon him, and got a good grip of his windpipe. After I got the sword from him, he made a great effort to reach my gun, which was in the ditch, but I succeeded in preventing him getting hold of it. While the grapple lasted, not one of all the fellows employed at the mill, and who were looking on, ever put hand to help me; but as soon as I had got him down, and had throttled him, they came. When two or three of the fellows had got a secure hold of him I let him up. A decent sort of man, who appeared a kind of steward at the mill, came forward, and got the ruffian secured. He turned out to be a carpenter, who mistook me for one of the pay-clerks of the public works, against whom he had some enmity. I have lodged informations against him. The steward said, if I had not been merciful, I would have shot him, and I wondered I did not. —Correspondent of Northern Whig.
The Sun. — 1846-04-04 (London, England)

COLTMAN.) CHARGE OF MURDER.—Jesse Bridger, aged 88, stood indicted for the wilful murder of his wife, Jane Bridger, by giving her a kick. It appeared from the evidence, that deceased was seen in a state of intoxication, in the Borough-road, on the 20th of February; the prisoner was seen to run after. her, strike her on the face, and kick her in the abdomen, and swear he would knock her eyes out. She fell, and was subsequently carried home, and from thence to the hospital, where she died on the fifth day after the occurrence. On the cross-examination it appeared that deceased bit one of the men who was carrying her home, which compelled him to let her fall, and she came to the ground with considerable violence. On the cross-examination of one or two witnesses, it appeared that the deceased was a most inveterate drunkard ; that she was in the habit of going to public houses and getting drunk in the absence of her husband, and had been found reeling about the streets drunk ; and was brought home to her husband in that state, with her head cut, &c., upon several occasions. The Surgeon who made the post mortem examination, deposed, that deceased died from a rupture of the bladder, which was caused by some external violence, and which might have been the result of a fall against any projecting substance ; and that the prisoner called frequently at the hospital to see deceased, and appeared very anxious about her. The prisoner bore an excellent character, and was said to be a man of sober and industrious habits, and never absconded, or went out of the way, during his wife's illness. The jury acquitted the prisoner of the charge of murder, and found him Guilty of Manslaughter ; but recommended him to mercy upon the ground of the great provocation he had received. The COURT said that in consequence of the recommendation, the sentence would not be a severe one ; it was, that he should be imprisoned for twelve months in the House of Correction. Richard Thorpe, coal porter, stood indicted for cutting Jane Thorpe, with intent to do her some bodily harm, on the 17th March. This was a case somewhat similar to the last in some of the particulars. It appeared from the evidence of his wife that she asked him for a penny to get bread for the child, which he refused her, and knocked her down ; she remained in the streets all that night; the next morning he met her again and knocked her down. He subsequently induced her to go into a public-house, gave her some beer, put his left arm round her neck, and with his right drew a knife across her throat; she then gave him in charge to a policeman. Several witnesses deposed that the prosecutrix was a woman of drunken and other depraved habits. The jury found the prisoner Guilty, and he was sentenced to six months imprisonment.
The Sun. — 1846-04-04 (London, England)

COLTMAN.) CHARGE OF MURDER.—Jesse Bridger, aged 98, stood indicted for the wilful murder of his wife, Jane Bridger, by giving her a kick. It appeared from the evidence, that deceased was seen in a state of intoxication, in the Borough-road, on the 20th of February; the prisoner was seen to run after her, strike her on the face, and kick her in the abdomen, and swear he would knock her eyes out. She fell, and was subsequently carried home, and from thence to the hospital, where she died on the fifth day after the occurrence. On the cross-examination it appeared that deceased bit one of the men who was carrying her home, which compelled him to let her fall, and she came to the ground with considerable violence.  On the cross-examination of one or two witnesses, it appeared that the deceased was a most inveterate drunkard ; that she was in the habit of going to public houses and getting drunk in the absence of her husband, and had been found reeling about the streets drunk ; and was brought home to her husband in that state, with her head cut, &c., upon several occasions. The Surgeon who made the post mortem examination, deposed, that deceased died from a rupture of the bladder, which was caused by some external violence, and which might have been the re,ult of a fall against any projecting sterstance ; and that the prisoner called frequently at the hospital to see deceased, and appeared very anxious about her. The prisoner bore an excellent character, and was said to be a man of sober and industrious habits, and never absconded, or went out of the way, during his wife's illness. The jury acquitted the prisoner of the charge of murder, and found him Guilty of Manslaughter ; but recommended him to mercy upon the ground of the great provocation he had received.  The COURT said that in consequence of the recommendation, the sentence would not be a severe one ; it was, that he should be imprisoned for twelve months in the House of Correction.  Richard Thorpe, coal porter, stood indicted for cutting Jane Thorpe, with intent to do her some bodily harm, on the 17th March. This was a case somewhat similar to the last in some of the particulars. It appeared from the evidence of his wife that she asked him for a penny to get bread for the child, which he refused her, and knocked her down ; she remained in the streets all that night; the next morning he met her again and knocked her down. He subsequently induced her to go into a public-house, gave her some beer, put his left arm round her neck, and with his right drew a knife across her throat; she then gave him in charge to a policeman. Several witnesses deposed that the prosecutrix was a woman of drunken and other depraved habits. The jury found the prisoner Guilty, and he was sentenced to six months' imprisonment.
The Sun. — 1846-08-12 (London, England)

MAULE.) Eliza Cross, aged 24, was placed at the bar to take her trial on an indictment and a coroner's inquisition charging her with the murder of her newly-born illegitimate female child, on the 17th of May last. Mr. Skinner appeared for the prosecution, the prisoner was defended by Mr. Symons. The prisoner, who was an ironer to a washerwoman named Mrs. Rowles, slept on the night in question with her fellow-servant, Sarah Young, who had long suspected her of being pregnant, but had received denials to every question she had put to her on the subject. The prisoner, on the morning of the day in question, got up between four and five o'clock, and went down stairs, and after staying there some time returned into her room and threw herself on the bed, and after lying there about twenty minutes, went down stairs again, and while below called out, inquiring whether Sarah Young was dressing to come down, to which the latter replied that she would be down in a few minutes. Sarah Young when dressed went down, and observing some stains of blood on the kitchen pavement, made inquiries of the prisoner as to what had occurred, as also did her mistress when the fact was communicated to her. On being questioned subsequently, she admitted that she had miscarried and thrown the child into the privy, where, however, nothing was found on a search. Afterwards, in the course of the same day, the body of a child was found in the prisoner's room, wrapped in a gown near her bed. It was proved that the child was full-grown.  The surgeon described the injuries as of—a most grievous nature, and stated on examination that this must have resulted from extreme violence. On crossexamination, however, he said that a person treading accidentally on the head of a newly born child might possibly have inflicted them. The prisoner, though unmarried, had previously had two children, one of which was still alive, to which she testified her mistress was very kind, and which she supported. The defence was, that the child having been born suddenly, as the prisoner was going down stairs to the kitchen, had received the injuries causing death by its mother accidentally stepping on its head. After an address to the jury by ➢lr. Symons, and an able summing up by the Learned Judge, The jury found the prisoner Guilty of concealment of the birth only. His LORDSHIP sentenced the prisoner to imprisonment for three months.  NORTHERN ClRCUlT.—Appleby, Aug. 10. The assizes for tbe county of Westmoreland commenced here to-day; Mr. Justice Wightman presiding on the civil side, and Mr. Justice Cresswell in the Crown Court. Five causes are entered for trial. The calendar contains the names of thirteen prisoners, the greater number of whom are charged with petty thefts. The charge of rape against four men engaged on the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway has caused a great deal of excitement in the county, as well on account of the respectability of the persons who suffered from the outrage, as of the peculiarly brutal circumstances by which it was accompanied.  (Before Mr. Justice
The Sun. — 1846-12-12 (London, England)

KING'S COUNTY.  PARSONSTOWN, DEC. 9.—ATROCIOUS MURDER.—The King's County Chronicle of yesterday contains the following:—" We regret exceedingly to report that again has blood been shed—another victim has fallen. Outrage after outrage, murder after murder, and crimes innumerable disgrace and pollute the annals of our county. Yesterday (Tuesday) evening, about half-past six o'clock, Mr. William Lloyd, when standing at his hall doors, in Church• lane, within a few doors of the post-office, in this town, a shot was fired at him, the contents of which entered his body. Mr. Lloyd was heard faintly to cry out Murder, murder,' and immediately he fell to the ground a lifeless corpse. Doctors Wood and Keenan were immediately in attendance, but their services were not required, as death was instantaneous. The assassin must hare been quite close to the unfortunate gentleman. Some of the police who were in Duke-street heard the shot and went in pursuit, but without effect. It was a heartrending sight to behold six orphans bending over the lifeless body of their beloved parent, who but a short time previously had left them in the possession of life and health. The perpetration of a savage murder has thrown the town and neighbourhood into a state of fearful excitement. The assassin in his flight dropped a hat, which is in the possession of the police. Mr. Lk), d was the owner of a small property, which is situate at Ballough, in the county Tipperary, within three miles of this town. He has had the misfortune of having a very refractory set of tenants, who very seldom, if ever, paid him rent without his having been obliged to resort to law to compel them. His care-taker has been beaten, threatening notices innumerable, from time to time, have been posted, and some weeks ago he had cattle distrained for the rent of these lands, which are considerably in arrear. On the day of sale a very large mob assembled, and he was compelled to abandon the sale. Mr. Lloyd was a very quiet, inoffensive man. It appears that after dinner he went out. During his absence one of his tenants, named Watkins, called, and told his son that he wanted to settle his rent; a domestic was sent for Mr. Lloyd, but returned without him. Watkins then left the house, and in less than half an hour afterwards the unfortunate gentleman was murdered. Sub-Inspector Duncan had Watkins and his wife arrested, both of whom were lodged in gaol. Mr. Duncan, accompanied by constable Finn and party, proceeded to the county of Tipperary, and returned with four men, who were charged with being implicated in the murder. At an early hour this morning James Dillon, Esq., senior coroner of the county, arrived to hold an inquiry into the melancholy circumstances of the case. The following magistrates were present at the inquest, viz.:—John Warburton, Thomas Hackett, J. Persse Grome, Esqs., and Captain Kelly, R.M.; John Duncan, S.L., was also in attendance. A respectable jury was sworn, and after the examination of-some witnesses, the jury recorded a verdict of wilful murder against some person or persons unknown."