The Sun. — 1845-02-06 (London, England)

DREADFUL MURDER. A most barbarous and revolting murder was committed at a village called Lammonby, in the vicinity of Penrith, Cumberland, on the afternoon of Wednesday last. It appears that a woman of the name of Jane Crosby, who is married, and who keeps a small inn at Lammonbv, has been very much addicted to drinking of late, and the htuband frequently reprimanded her for her misconduct. They have two daughters, about the respective ages of nine and ten years, and the younger of these children was the father's favourite • and she frequently, on being questioned by her father on his return from work, informed him that her mother had been drinking during the day in his absence. The consequence of this was, that the mother took a most rooted antipathy to the child, and had determined to put her out of the way on the first favourable opportunity. It seems, on Wednesday afternoon, she accordingly undressed the poor child, with the exception of her shift, and having first hidden the clothes in a closet, or recess, in the house, actually made a large fire purposely in the kitchen, and then took the child up by the legs, held it over the fire with its face downwards, and laid it on the top grate bar until the poor child's Mesh was literally all burnt off her face, and death put a period to her sufferings. The inhuman wretch then, it appears, had taken the child off the fire, and called at a neighbour's house, and stated that the child had been left in the house with her little sister only, and her clothes having caught fire, she had been burnt to death during her absence at a farm-house about two miles distant. The story was doubted very much by the neighbours; and on looking at the remains of the child, the shift it had on was found to have been only partially burnt about the neck and breast, but the back part was whole, and as no pieces of the burnt clothes had been found about the fire-place in the kitchen, their suspicions naturally became excited, particularly as the woman had previously only borne a very imperfect character in the village. The coroner was accordingly summoned, and on the inquest these suspicions were communicated to him, and the house having been searched, the child's clothes were found wrapped together concealed in a closet ; and on further inquiries being reside, it was found that the inhuman mother had perpetrates the crime in the presence of her other child, who was in the kitchen at the time, and who had been so terrified and frightened by the cruel threats of the mother that she would burn her also if she revea'ed the occurrence, that she in consequence never mentioned it till questioned by the coroner and jury. The coroner, Mr. Carrick, after a very patient and lengthened investigation of the ease, adjourned the in- . quest until Monday next, to give time to obtain some circumstantial evidence, and in the meantime ordered the woman to be taken into custody, and she is now in gaol until the verdict of the jury is returned. This painful occurrence has been a source of the greatest alarm and excitement in the secluded village of Lammonby and its neighbourhood ; and it is supposed that sufficient evidence will be elicited to warrant the coroner in comnaiting the wretched woman for trial for the cruel and unnatural murder.