npedrazzini/19thc_murder_suicide_news huggingface dataset:
The Sun. — 1868-05-05 (London, England)

THE LATE MURDER NEAR NEWCASTLE.  At the Tynemouth Petty Sessions, on Monday, Stephen Cady, 45, Patrick Barrett, 22, Catherine Barrett, 42, and Bridget Maley, 38, were charged with having, along with another not yet in custody, caused the death of James Lavery, at Willington Quay, on Saturday night. The deceased, who was an Irishman, had a small kitchen garden, and fowls belonging to another Irishman, called Edward. Barrett, sometimes got into it and damaged the vegetables that grew there. This naturally annoyed Lavery, and about three weeks ago he summoned the owner of the birds before the county justices •at Tynemoutb. The case, however, was dismissed, as the magistrates considered that the proper tribnnal to try a case of alleged damage was the county court. But Barrett, his relatives, and friends seem to have felt very much aggrieved at Lavery's con.luct. They were also further vexed on account of a practice he had of occasionally shooting the trespassing hens. Among those who warmly sympathised with Barrett in the matter were two Irishmen who lodged with him, and whose names were James Lynch and Stephen Cady. Their antipathy to Lavery reached a tragical crisis on Saturday night. As he was proceeding to his garden and passed Barrett's door, about five o'clock, they came out and commenced to give evidence of their unfriendly feelings towards him. They were joined with much heartiness by Mrs. Barrett, her son Patrick, and her mother, Mrs. Maley. Although Lavery carried a gun, and bad as a companion a man named Case, he took as little notice as possible of the hostility that these persons persisted in shewiug. The women shouted, and Mrs. Barrett went even the length of holding a stone close to Lavery's face. Cady challenged Lavery to fight, but the latter wisely refused to do anything of the tuft. Case and he went on towards the garden, which is not more than a score of yards from Kellman's-row, where the Barrette reside. They entered the garden. Lynch, Cady, and the others followed, shouting and threatening as before. Lynch made forward to Lavery, seized the gun, which was unloaded, and after a severe struggle managed to wrench it from his grasp. Holding the weapon by the stock with both hands, be struck Lavery a fearful blow with the barrel on the back of the head, felled him to the ground, and inflicted a wound whence the brains protruded, and which proved fatal in the course of about twelve hours. The force of the blow was so great that the barrel was severed from the stock. Lynch stood for a moment over his victim and swung the butt of his gun round his head apparently overjoyed with his brutality. His delight was participated in by the women, who arc:said to have sent up a shout of triumph and gladness. Rut theylsoon deemed it advisable to make off from the scene -6f their cruel wickedness. Lavary was removed to his home, but, nothing could save him, and he expired on Sunday morning. The prisoners were remanded, and meantime the police are actively ' for Lynch.—Northern, Daily Express.
The Sun. — 1868-03-10 (London, England)

TRAGIC AFFAIR.  An inquest nas been held at Norton on the body of James Hamer, a miner, about 40 years of age, who lost his life while engaged in rifling the fowl-pen of Mr. Thacker, farmer, Brownhills. George Thacker was present, in the custody of the police, having been apprehended on a charge of having wilfully murdered the deceased. Ann Thacker deposed that she was 14 years of age, and lived with her father. On Wednesday night, between nine and ten o'clock, her brothers were in bed, and her sister Jane and herself were sitting downstairs. Her brother George came downstairs, and unhung the gun which was hanging up in the house, at the same time saying, " Some one is at the fowls." He asked for the lantern, but it could not be found, and therefore, at his request, .she took up a lighted candle and. went out after him, followed by her sister. They went to the fowl-house, and her brother several times asked who was there, but got no answer. He then asked her to show the light, and she had no sooner done so than a man sprang out of the pen upon her brother, and the candle was knocked out of her hand by the man. A struggle took place between her brother and the man, and while it was going on she heard the gun go off, and saw a man fall to the ground. He never said " I will shoot you." She did not notice how he carried the gun, but she was quite certain it went off while the struggle was going on. He did not say when he unhung the gun that he would shoot any one who might be there. The fowl-pen was not locked. There were about fifteen fowls in it.—George Thacker, after being cautioned by the coroner, stated that on Wednesday night he heard a noise at the fowl-pen, and got up and went out, as described by his sister. He did not take out the gun with the intention of hurting any one. He loaded it on the preceding Friday, and then put it at half-cock. The man jumped on him, as described by his sister, and while they were struggling' the gun went off, but how he could not tell. When he staggered back after the discharge he had the gun in his right hand. The man never spoke, although witness called to him several times to come out. The gun was loaded I,li et h eav eanrcgee ,ofa oz.nd ti eo f juryN o. 2 wdeur were k shot.left to This consider completedtheir verdict ; and after a short time they found that the "deceased was killed by the gun accidentally going off in the struggle." Mr. G. Thacker will in due course be taken before the magistrates on the charge of having caused the death of Hamer.  The Queen has been pleased to present, through Sir William Jenner, to St. Thomas's Hospital, for the use of the patients, a copy of "Leaves from the Journal of Our Life in the Highlands." The presentation of the volume is recorded tterein by her iNlajesty's Royal siga manual.
The Sun. — 1868-03-10 (London, England)

TRAGIC AFFAIR.  An inquest nas been held at Norton on the body of James Hamer, a miner, about 40 years of age, who lost his life while engaged in rifling the fowl-pen of Mr. Thacker, farmer, Brownhills. George Thacker was present, in the custody of the police, having been apprehended on a charge of having wilfully murdered the deceased. Ann Thacker deposed that she was 14 years of age, and lived with her father. On Wednesday n;ght, between nine and ten o'clock, her brothers were in bed, and her sister Jane and herself were sitting downstairs. Her brother George came downstairs, and unhung the gun which was hanging up in the house, at the same time saying, " Some one is at the fowls." He asked for the lantern, but it could not 'be found, and therefore, at his request, she took up a lighted candle and went out after him, followed by her sister. They went to the fowl-house, and her brother several times asked who was there, but got no answer. He then asked her to show the light, and shehad no sooner done so than a man sprang out of the pen upon her brother, and the candle was knocked out of her hand by the man. A struggle took place between her brother and the man, and while it was going on she heard the gun go off, and saw a man fall to the ground. He never said " I will shoot you." She did not notice how he carried the gun, but she was quite certain it went off while the struggle was going on. He did not say when he unhung the gun that he would shoot any one who might be there. The fowl-pen was not locked. There were about fifteen fowls in it.—George Thacker, after being cautioned by the coroner, stated that on Wednesday night he heard a noise at the fowl-pen, and got up and went out, as described by his sister. He did not take out the gun with the intention of hurting any one. He loaded it on the preceding Friday, and then put it at half-cock. The man jumped on him, as described by his sister, and while they were struggling the gun went off, but how he could not tell. When he staggered back after the discharge he had the gun 'in his right hand. The man never spoke, although witness called to him several times to come out. The gun was loaded with a charge of I.oz. of No. 2 duck shot. This completed the evidence, and the jury were left to consider their verdict ; and after a short time they found that the "deceased was killed by the gun accidentally going off in theb ef osrter ut hg eg t a.e 'a' g ißsltr. raG.slo'nhatekheerchwairlgl einofdhuaevcionrceausbeetdakthene death of Hamer.  The Queen has been pleased to present, through Sir William Jenner, to St. Thomas's Hospital, for the use of the patients, a copy of "Leaves from the Journal of Our Life in the Highlands." The presentation of the volume is recorded therein by her Majesty's Royal sign - - manual.
The Sun. — 1868-05-26 (London, England)

EXECUTION OF BARRETT.  TUESDAY, May 26.  This morning the Fenian convict, Michael Barrett, expiated his great crime on the scaffold in front of the gaol of Newgate, in the presence of a vast concourse of people. The crowd was, to a large extent, composed of a better class of persons than usually assemble at executions there, and the prevailing behaviour was in accordance. A large open space was kept by the police in front of the scaffold, so that the crowd at first sight did not appear so great as it really was. The convict retired to rest last evening about 10 o'clock, but passed a somewhat restless night. At 6 this morning he rose, dressed himself, and engaged in prayer. Shortly afterwards he was joined by the Rev. James Hussey, from the Roman Catholic Chapel, Moorfields, by whom he has been attended since his conviction, and who remained with him to the last. It is understood that in the course of the morning he received the last Sacrament of the Church from his priest. All along, according to Mr. Hussey, he had borne himself with greatains fortitude, and given much satisfaction by the p he had taken to prepare himself for his end, and the docile and affectionate manner in which he received the consolation of religion. He died without making any confession, so far as the public are concerned. What took place between him and his priest in reference to the crime may never be divulged. All that is known is, that he gave " immense satisfaction" to the clergyman who attended him in his last moments, to use that gentleman's own expression.  A course altogether unusual was adopted by the authorities, iu one respect, in the arrangements  immediately preceding the execution. Instead of being conducted to the press-room to be pinioned,  the convict was pinioned in his cell in the presence of the Under-Sheriffs, and thence conducted by a way entirely private and unusual to the scaffold. This he mounted with a firm step, accompanied by his priest and attended by the executioner. The moment he appeared upon the drop a kind of cheer broke from the crowd, which swayed about with the wildest excitement. The preparations were soon made, and to the last moment the Rev. Mr. Hussey continued to utter words of consolation to the doomed man, whose responses were indicated by the motions of the lips, concealed though the mouth was by the cap which had been drawn over the features. The drop at length fell, and piercing shrieks from women in the crowd rent the air for a moment, and that indescribable hum peculiar to such occasions broke upon the ear. The convict, who had great muscular strength, appeared to die slowly.  It is a noteworthy circumstance that after his conviction he was never heard by those in attendance upon him to deny his guilt. Whenever he referred to the crime he always said he was convicted on insufficient evidence, and that he was not guilty of murder.
The Sun. — 1822-01-04 (London, England)

HERMANSTADT, DEC. 9.—The accounts from Moldavia and SVallachia are full of details of murders and atrocities committed by the Turks. On the Ist of this month several Ottoman Officers arrived from Constantinople at Jassy. All affirm that the Porte has rejected ail the demands of Russia. These Officers in their vain boasting already talk of nothing less than reconquering the Crimea.  Every Iv here the Christian Churches are spoiled. The Church plate is the prey of the Asiatic soldiers, who carry it about the streets in triumph. The nuns, and the priests are illtreated ,or sold ; in short, every 'day is marked by new horrors. linusstr.s, Dr.c. 26, Yesterday afternoon three couriers from Paris passed through here, on their way to Holland. En the night two English Cabinet messengers passed through ; one from St. Petersburgh to London, the other from London to Vienna.  M. Mauback has just surrendered himself prisoner, to answer before the Court of Assize to the accusations which concern him in the affair of the Vial Liberal. It is on the 15th January that the Court will proceed to the trial of Messrs. Collette and Oits, the printer and editor of the Vral Liberal, accused of having attempted to excite troubles in the kingdom.  On the 3d of January the Court will try Charles Gneaux, for threatening violence against the person of the King.  LEGUORN, Nov. 30.—Considerable sums of money have been sent by the Greek merchants settled in Russia to the Greek Archbishop at Pisa, and with this aid Hajioponlo sailed from hence to Greece. He was accompanied by many young Greeks of the so-called Sacred Band, and several youths from Germany and other parts of cultivated Europe, who all wished to hasten to the assistance of Greece. Their depm..ture was like an expedition ; they embarked for the Morea in the first place, where Hajioponlo means to form a separate regular corps. He has summoned those Germans who wish to repair to Greece to take a part in the present struggle, to attach themselves to his corps, as he would do every thing to make their situation as easy as possible. By his side they would find a German Officer acting in union with him, Captain 0. Von Hobe, who will be ready to assist his German brethren in particular with word and deed. Accounts of the taking of Tripoliza affirm that the Greeks there acted with the greatest valour, that many thousand Turks and 600 Jews were cut down, and that much property fell into the hands of the Greeks. The last successes of the Greeks at sea are considered as official here; twenty-one Turkish vessels were partly taken, partly sunk. Every thing seems to assume more and more an orderly appearance in the Morea.: a Senate of 26 Members is appointed; and when a better regulation of the troops has taken place, a corps will be sent into the other provinces. According to letters from Corfu, two other places occupied by the Tut ks have fallen into the hands of the Greeks.—(Algemeine Zeitung.)
The Sun. — 1822-08-31 (London, England)

TRANSFERS OF MORTGAGES.—As it may act be generally known that a considerable reduo. tion has been made in the rate of Stamp Duties on Transfers of Mortgages,we beg to refer our readers to an Act 3d Geo. IV. c. 117, passed at the close of the last Session, by which the ad valorem duties upon Transfers, &c. of Mortgages are in certain cases repealed ; and in lieu thereof it is enacted, that upon all Transfers, &c. where no further sum of money or stock shall be advanced, the Stamp Duty in Great Britain shall be 1/. 155., and in Ireland 1/. British currency ; and that where any further sum of money or stock shall be added, the ad valorem duty shall be charged only in respect of such further SLIM of money or stock.  At the Assizes for the county of Cork 2 on the 22d instant Daniel Singleton and John Lynch were arraigned for the murder of Hugh Colligan, in the barbarous attack on durchtown Barracks, on the 31st of January, by the insurgents. Both prisoners were acquitted. On Wednesday morning Catherine Black! man, servant in the family of Mr. James Duncan, of St. Mary Axe, was sent by her master to Woolwich, at which place Mrs. Duncan her mistress was on a visit, and about halfpast seven in the evening she left for London, her mistress giving her eighteenpence to pay her fare' by the Greenwich stage. On the road. between Woolwich and the place from whence she intended to take the coach, she was accosted two or three times by a fellow in a waterman's dress, who inquired if she was.bound for London. To this she made no answer, but quickened her pace ; the fellow still followed her, and on reaching a very lonely part of the road, he seized her by the arms, and with considerable violence dragged her down a dark lane, where he threw her down, and placed his knee upon her chest; he then drew from his pocket a knife, and having opened it, he, with horrid imprecations, declared he would sever her head from her body unless she instantly delivered over to him all the money she had. The poor girl implored him not to kill her, and called loudly for assistance, and then the villain began deliberately to untie her bonnet, and applied the knife to her throat, but on her giving him the Is. 6d. she had to pay her coachhire, he relinquished his diabolical purpose, but was going to proceed to other acts of violence, when a gentleman, who heard the poor girl's screams, came towards the spot ; opon which the ruffian made a precipitatelretreat, and although an instant outcry and pursuit took, place, he effected his escape. The gentleman conucted the poor girl to the coach, and humanely paid her fare to London. Yesterday information of the affair was given at Union-Hall-Office, and, from the description given of the villain, there is reason to expect that he will soon be brought to justice, as Hall, the chief officer of the establishmen; has some clue where to find him.
The Sun. — 1822-05-22 (London, England)

HORRID MURDER.  [From a New York Paper.] A most horrible murder was committed in this city, about one o'clock on Tuesday morning last : Some time in the month of Sept. last, Mr. Lechler made a discovery, which induced him to believe that too great an intimacy existed between Mr. Haag and his wife. The business was, however, adjusted by some pecuniary arrangement between the parties. But Lechler, growing dissatisfied with the arrangement which had been entered into, made increased demands of Mr. Haag, which the latter resisted. In consequence, of this, an altercation took place between Lechler and his wife she left his house, and lie on the 6th of October last, advertised her.  Some weeks after this, Lechler took his wife home again, where she has since remained, except on one or two occasions, when she left him for a day or two, and .was prevailed on to return.  On Tuesday morning last, about one o'clock, Haab asd his wife were awakened by a noise in the brewery, which adjoins the house; afterwards the noise appeared to be made by some person in the kitchen, which was separated from the room in which they slept by a small room in which the children slept. Haag, passing through this room to the door which opened into the kitchen, laying his hand on the lock of the door, and stooping down, so as to bring his mouth near the key-hole, demanded " who's there ?" The person in the kitchen, supposed to hate been Lechler, immediately discharged his pistols, which were double-barrelled,i two of the bullets passing through the door, about six or eight inches above the lock, and close to Haag's head ; the other two passing through the opposite side of the door. Mrs. Haag, who was standing-at the door • which opened into the children's room, which is immediately opposite to that which opens from that room into the kitchen, received one of the balls in the centre of the beast, which occasioned her death in the course of a few moments. The neighbourhood was then alarmed, and the Mayor and other officers sent for, who proceeded to force an entrance into the house of Mr. Lechler, who lived immediately opposite Mr. Haag. Upon entering Lechler's house his children were found in bed, and upon further search Mrs. Lechler was found up in the garret, hung by the neck with a rope to one of the beams. From the bruises on the arms, breast, and back of Mrs. Lechler, it is almost certain that she must have been murdered in her bed-chamber (on the ground floor), and then carried up two pair of stairs to the garret, and there hung up ! in order to induce a belief that she had hung herself ! ! ! Both women were in a state of pregnancy. Mrs. Haag within a few days of her confinement. Each of them have left a family of six small orphans. The supposed perpetrator of these most diabolical acts has as yet escaped.  Covent-garden market yesterday made a most beautiful and abundant display of every sort of flowers, fruit, and vegetables. New pease were 3s. a quart ; very fine asparagus half-a-crown a hundred ; and strawberries Bs. a dish, of moderate size.
The Sun. — 1822-08-17 (London, England)

JUDGE. You said you were sorry that you had not visited Gardiner; did you ever visit him never did.  This was the case fo-r the Crown.  Mr. WILLIAMS rose in tears to address the Jury on behalf of the defendant, and said, that after all that his persecuted client had suffered—after the course of calumny and artifice with which he had been visited, he was not ashamed that his feelings overpowered him when he rose to address them in reply to the wretched case that had been offered to them, for he knew that there was scarcely a person in Court who did not sympathise with his feelings. The Learned• Counsel (still continuing deeply affected) gave a history of the life of his client, from his first entering the Somersetshire Fencibles, to relieve an aged father of the burden which his continuance at home would occasion to his parents, of his promotion to be Serjeant Major, until, in less than twenty months, from his extraordinary merit, he was appointed to a situation on board , the Hulks ; and from thence, out of twenty candidates, to that of Governor of Ilchester Gaol. He would show, from testimony of the highest character, that there was not a single transaction of his persecuted client's life that was not characterised by integrity, benevolence, and the highest Christian charity. He asked them whether they would admit the testimony of a felon like Gardiner, who was mature in guilt, and black to the core, before he had arrived at manhood ? The Learned Counsel commented upon the evidence for the Crown, and contended that such confinement as had been visited upon the felon, Gardiner, was such as the discipline of the gaol required ; and it 'would be an insult to the understandings of the Jury to suppose that they would not agree that a most rigid discipline was necessary in such a gaol, or how could he stand up in the midst of 300 felons or murder, ers ? The practice of putting men in strait-jackets who were refractory, and giving them, when they shammed illness, what was called the black dose, was perfectly well known in the army, and even in the Bluecoat School ; where boys shammed illness, the practice of administering what was called the black dose was common. He concluded a speech of several hours length by saying that he trusted that by the evidence which lie should adduce, hr should rebut the foul calumnies that had been circulated in every part of the country by the vilifying papers, and render this a day of triumph to Mr. Bridle, for malice had not been proved. The first witness called in behalf of the defendant was EliaSomers, who stated that in November, 1820, she was a prisoner in Ilchester gaol. She recollected a quarrel between Mary Cure and Elizabeth Smith, and recollected Mary Cure going into solitary confinement. She recollected going to the cell where Mary Cure was confined.. There was a fire-place in the cell, and fuel in it. Mrs. Hobbs, who went with the witness made an offer of fire to Mary Cure, who replied, she'd be d—d if she would have any, for her time was not long, and she did not mind it. She had a basin in her cell. Cross-examined by Sergeant