npedrazzini/19thc_murder_suicide_news huggingface dataset:
The Manchester Examiner. — 1848-09-02 (Manchester, Greater Manchester, England)

MYSTERY STRANGELY SOLVED.—The other week we related the facts of a case in which two men had been apprehended at 'Jessie, for having in their possession various articles of clothing known to be those of a young man who some time ago was staying at Leeds. This case has been before the Sculcoates bench of magistrates for four successive weeks. On Tuesday last Bateman and Bunting, the two men who had been detained in custody, were discharged. It appears that Mr. Jonas Edward Iredale, who represented himself as a clerk to Mr. Ledgard, of Mirfield, the solicitor who prosecuted A:Mahe and Reid for the murder of Mr. and Mrs. Wraith and their servant maid, had lodged at a publichouse in Leeds for about twenty-six weeks, where he represented himself as having business to do at Dewsbury once a week, for which he received £1 per day. His appearance and manner being respectable, he became the acknowledged suitor of one of the daughters of the landlord. At the second trial of M'Cabe and Reid` he gave evidence against them. They were convicted. His connection with Mr. Ledgard immediately ceased, and he went to the north, still continuing his correspondence with the landlord's daughter, which suddenly ceased on the 7th of July. From subsequent inquiries it appeared that he had left Durham shortly after writing to Miss —, and had not afterwards been heard of, until, on the 17th, the prisoners were apprehended at Hessle with a large portion of his wearing apparel in their possession. It was, of course, supposed that he had been murdered, and that these men in all probability knew more of his death than they would tell. The facts, as ultimately elicited, are, that Iredale never was clerk to Mr. Ledgard, but being in York Castle during the imprisonment of M'Cabe and Reid, he was, at the same assizes, indicted for forgery, but the bill was ignored. When M'Cabe and Reid were acquitted, he went to Mr. Ledgard, and told him that he had in prison overheard a conversation between M'Cabe and Reid, which went to prove their guilt. Upon this information they were retaken, and again committed. Iredale represented himself as being on the point of proceeding to America. To secure his attendance at the trial he was allowed Li per week to live upon until the assizes. This he received at Dewsbury, and the receiving of it was his only business there. Of course his connection with Mr. Ledgard lady yeads abtattittengtroiablt,abibuet dheetorpeiporyeits,eenntd tew ilintcnbisyeltfeltdoetdhbe tymo Inf 3 per day. At the time when he suddenly disappeared, he fell in with Batenian, and proposed to him .to go and break into the country house of a banker, not far from Newcastle. Iredale, who had lett his carpet bag in the care of Bateman, actually got into the house. Bateman's heart failed him, and he ran away, took the carpet bag, and came down to Hull in a steamer, on board oyafetriivsahrgeicleeh,raktambidsetdtNebvcieltallim.Bunting. edantosubp; posed ds oi t obre, theu rsduel; epdo,s is nloaww a burglar.—Htill Advertiser.
The Manchester Examiner. — 1848-08-22 (Manchester, Greater Manchester, England)

SECRET MEETINGS AT ASHTON-UNDERLYNE.-STATE OF THE TOWN.  Ashton, we are sorry to say, still remains in a somewhat disaffected state. The deplorable events, and their consequences, which so recently we have had occasion to detail, do not seem to have produced that salutary effect which we had hoped would have resulted from the prompt and energetic measures adopted by the authorities. Happily nothing of a serious character has openly transpired; no attempt has been made to renew the disturbances of last week, or to reenact the tragic occurrences which then took place. So far as a casual glance at the town may discover, there is nothing to excite the slightest apprehension in the minds of the inhabitants. The annual wakes, a season of merriment and festivity, commenced on Sunday, and little out of the usual course was to be observed. However a large portion of the country people, who used to come from a distance, appeared to be afraid to pay their accustomed visit. On Sunday there did not appear to be half the vistors in the town there generally is. One object of attraction to those who did visit the town, was the spot on which Bright was murdered; and several hundreds were seen looking at the position where the deceased fell, and the direction taken by the button from his coat. Yesterday, as many whirligigs were turning, boats flying, shows exhibiting, as great a quantity of gingerbread and flutes selling, and as many merry, laughing faces to be seen as on any previous occasion; nor were the smallest indications of fear for any outbreak publicly manifested by the inhabitants.  Nevertheless Ashton does not appear to have reassumed that state of peaceful satisfaction which, judging from all accounts, the other towns in the neighbourhood enjoy. Meetings of the chartist and confederate clubs continue to be held nightly, but their plaoe of rendezvous has not been definitely fixed, or, at all events, has not yet been discovered. The chartist hall, in Bentinck-street, it will be remembered, was for some time their regular meeting-house; but since the murder of the unfortunate policeman, and the arrests which followed, the police have taken possession of that building, the key of which is in the custody of Mr. Robert Newton, the chief constable. There, too, it will remain, until the hall be required for some more legitimate object than an assembly-room and drilling-ground for a parcel of hot-brained, misguided fanatics -- not to call them by a worse term—who dream of upsetting a government, and show their courage by assassinating a solitary unoffending police-constable. They appear, however, not to be altogether discouraged by what has taken place; regular assemblages of the clubbists are known to take place every evening, and so far as can be ascertained the most retired spots are chosen for their meetings. About midnight on Friday a large body, armed with pikes, met on the Moss, a large barren common, a short distance from Ashton on the Manchester side of the town. Towards Droylsden, also, small bodies of armed men have been seen to assemble, and
The Manchester Examiner. — 1848-04-11 (Manchester, Greater Manchester, England)

CHARTIST MEETING.—A public meeting of the chartists was held last night, in the Chartists' Room, Bentinck-street, which was soon found to be too small to accommodate the people; they therefore adjourned to a piece of ground known as " Thacker's ground." Mr. Richard Pilling was called to the chair. He said the time was come for the people to act, and hoped they would keep the peace' and not pass any resolution they • were not determined to support. He then called upo "7. Storer to propose the following resolution: " That this meeting approves of the proceedings of the convention, and pledges itself to carry out their instructions, whatever they may be." He had made up his mind as to what course lie should pursue some years back; and he was convinced nothing short of a reform in the legislature of this country would give to the people freedom and liberty. He then begged of them not to vote for the resolution, if they were not prepared to support it and the convention.—Mr. Ibbotson seconded the resolution; in doing which he said he was not satisfied with being put off time after time. He believed the convention would not wish them to do anything that was illegal; but whatever they did require the people to do, he hoped they would be prepared to follow their instructions. He did not believe they 'would' ask them to go and murder any one, or rob any one's shop; lie did not believe they would ask them to act any way but in the defensive, and where was the man that would allow himself to be heat down without returning the blow? He then said the convention would req_uire some pecuniary support, and if they were not prepared to give them that as well as other support, they were all lost men. The motion was then put and carried. unanimously.—Mr. Abel Duke proposed the next resolution,—" That the meeting is of opinion that the gagging bill, as introduced by Sir George Grey, is unconstitutional, unjust, and uncalled for, and that we pledge ourselves to oppose it by all the constitutional means now in our power, and that a petition be drawn up, signed by the chairman on behalf of the meeting, praying that such bill be not allowed to pass into a law, and that the same be forwarded immediately to Charles Hindley, Esq. the member for the borough. Mr. Duke, in moving this resolution, took occasion to refer to the position taken by the special constables of Manchester in the Corn Exchange yesterday, and called upon every man to assist in keeping the peace. He considered the bill would so far infringe upon the rights of the people, that they would not be able to have such a meeting as the one lie was then addressing.—Thomas Gordon, an operative, was then called upon to second the resolution, which he did briefly, when the motion was put and carried; after which three cheers were given for repeal, three for the charter, and it was proposed to give three for O'Connor, but it was getting late, and the meeting was adjourned till six o'clock on Wednesday evening.
The Manchester Examiner. — 1848-05-13 (Manchester, Greater Manchester, England)

MASSACRE OF AN ENGLISH CREW. Intelligence of a massacre perpetrated by the natives of the New Caledonia Islands, was communicated on Wednesday at Lloyd's. The unfortunate circumstances are briefly these :—" The Vantilt N'w the Cl guard, William Cunningham, master, sailed from Sydney in the in crtoebacehr,on an e expedition portionedition course of a fortnighi. The natives exhibited a friendly eedaornlyi a p art Islands,e f reaching th feeling towards them, issi ing the crew daily in obtaining obtained about twenty tons of it, when one of the c -t fsi) ented himself on board, and urged Mr. Cunningha t ta two boats up one of the bays his people. This was on the 19th of November. Ist a cargo of sandal-Woo where a large qua yof nod had been collected for him by In consequence of the lateness of the hour Mr. Cunningham declined then to go, but would start in the morning,. requesting the chief to remain on board for the night, ffi chargeeAe tr , daybreak bror. fe Bunting, Mr. he tl Cunninghamwo wo i nseg morning,. maeonnr d,n i ntt he gne, . the wll which lb seamen,o ‘avtast ha esatea rcchetpieedtfe dion. steward and the cook being left in care of the Vanguard. Scarcely hail the captain's boat got out of sight, when a canoe, filled with natives, approached the ship; three of' them were allowed to go on board, but upon one of them attempting to murder the mate with a tomahawk, they were turned out; the remainder attempted to board the vessel, but were beaten off, and, in the course of several successive attempts, it was necessary to fire a musket. The canoe then retired. They remained in anxious suspense till two o'clock the following day, when from forty to fifty canoes, laden with natives, containing upwards of thirty men in each, were seen on the posite side of the bay bearing down upon the vessel. being impossible to resist so tremendous a force ate, with much judgment, slipped her anchor, Ni., m ing all sail, ran the ship before the wind. In assing rough the bay where the captain and crew had landed, nothing could be seen of them or the boats. A large volume of smoke was observed on shore, apparently as if they had been burning some bodies. The canoes attempted to give chase, but a strong wind fortunately aided the Vanguard's crew in getting clear out to sea. She was then hauled upon a wind till daybreak the following morning, when they made for the bay, and remained cruizing about for three days, in the hope of obtaining some information of the unfortunate master and his men. The moment the vessel arrived at Sydney, and the particulars of the outrage were communicated to his excellency the governor, despatches were sent to the naval officer at New Zealand to proceed in a vessel and seek the redress of the natives—part of the survivors of the crew of the Vanguard to i accompany him. It is feared two vessels' crews have met with a similar fate, and the vessels been captured, during the preceding three months, no tidings having been heard of them since.
The Manchester Examiner. — 1848-01-25 (Manchester, Greater Manchester, England)

ATTEMPTED MURDER.—On Friday morning, a deliberate attempt to murder an aged woman, mimed Wilks, was made by a man named George Mason, a coach painter, woo has absconded. Mrs. Wilks resides in a small tenement in Norman's Buildings, Cannon-street Road, St. George's-inthe East, with her daughter, who is the mother of one child, and had been keeping company with Mason, who wished her to leave her parent and live with him. At the instigation of her mother ,she refused, and Mason repeatedly threatened the most deadly revenge against Mrs. Wilks and her daughter. Those menaces were disregarded, and at one o'clock on Friday morning the inhabitants of Norman's Buildings were alarmed by cries of murder, proceeding from the house inhabited by Mrs. Wilks. It was some time before any one went to her assistance, when, upon entering a room op stairs she was found stretched on her bed weltering in her blood, which proceeded from a deep wound on her throat, and cuts on her arms and hands, while by her side was a little girl three years of age, who in the greatest terror was clinging to her grandmother. The house was soon filled with police constables, and no time was lost in sending for the nearest surgeon. Mr. Broadwater, a medical . practitioner, who resides in Cannon-street, adjoining the railway arch, was soon in attendance, and ascertained that the woman had received eleven wonnds, of which the chief was on the ' right side of the throat. It appeared that Mrs. Wilks had received the wounds on her hands and arms while they were uplifted, and in protecting her grandchild, whom the man attempted to stab. The injured woman was conveyed at her own request to the residence of her son, No. 26, Little Turnerstreet, Commercial Road, where she remains with very little hopes of recovery. Sue stated to the police that she was just dozing off to sleep when she heard a Mall in the room, and at we same iostant received a stab upon her arm. She was rising herself up in bed, and distinctly saw Mason before her, with a knife in his hand, and lie repeated the blow, and cut her across the hand. She called out murder, .and her giandchild screamed and clung to her. She was afraid that Mason would kill her datikliter's child, and covered it with the bedclothes. Mason continued stabbing at her till she became insensible. Inspector Forbes, of the El division, as soon as he heard of the occurrence, placed constables in charge of the house, and despatched two constables in • pursuit of Mason, and it is believed it will not be many hours before he is in custody. In the course of the day the officers ascertained that Mason had called at his own lodgings, 9, Felix-street, Hackney Road, .at an early hour on Friday morning, and after changing his coat went out again. The coat he left behind him was seized by the police: there are stains of blood upon it.—Daily News.
The Manchester Examiner. — 1848-10-03 (Manchester, Greater Manchester, England)

BRIEN. That the policy which has produced this result is the worst that could have been adopted by the Irish Government in the present state of things, cannot be doubted. The very cause of the trial—the head and front of O'BRIEN'S offending—should have dictated an opposite course. The so-called rebellion having been put down, and its instigators in course of punishment, the natural and civilised conduct for the Government to adopt would have been to win back, by conciliation, the great body of the minor offenders to their allegiance. Had the authorities given up a copy of the indictment, &c. the concession would not have been lost on either Catholics or Repealers. But what effect will the rejection of 100 out of some 120 Roman Catholics as jurymen have on the minds of the disaffected? Will they not look -upon the act as a marked official insult to all who profess the Romish creed? Is it not saying to them, "Your sentiments accord too keenly with the rebellious to convict a rebel, even though he should be proved guilty, and therefore we put you aside"? Hence, is it not almost implying that, in the opinion of the Irish Executive, because a man is a Roman Catholic he ia at heart a rebel? Are these, let us ask, proper inferences to fling in the faces of a people at all times excitable, but doubly so now, when scarcely recovered from the eclat of a rebellion—puny though it was—and who are, alas, in all probability on the eve of a famine? Independent of the widely-spread bad effects which the spirit exhibited by the prosecutors at the commencement of O'BRIEN'S trial is likely to produce, there is a lesser evil which must be pointed out. O'BRIEN is on his trial for the greatest crime it is possible for a man to commit in a community where human life is held sacred, and property rigidly respected. Although it is unjust to create a prejudice against a prisoner in so awful a situation, it is dangerous to give the faintest colour for a false sympathy in his favour. This is most effectually done by presenting him to the masses as the victim of some injury; and that is just the position in which O'BRIEN is made to appear by the bad management of the authorities. It is peculiar to the process of reasoning adopted by the people in general, that the guilt of an accuser or of a witness is subtracted from the guilt of the criminal; thus the sentence recently passed on the London Confederates is thought by many to be too severe, because one of the evidences against them was a shameless spy. Recently a reprieve was granted, chiefly in consequence of the "pressure from without," for one of the most coldblooded murders on record, because the murdered man was discovered to have injured the murderess. This is the kind of reasoning which will in all probability be applied to O'BRIEN's case. The authorities have only to heap a few more technical injuries upon the prisoner's head to convert him, in the eyes of a large class of the British public, into a martyr.
The Manchester Examiner. — 1848-10-03 (Manchester, Greater Manchester, England)

THE SUSPECTED POISONINGS IN ESSEX.—On Thursday last, Mr. Codd, the coroner for North Essex, under whose superintendence the inquiry into the charges of alleged wholesale poisonings in the Fendring Hundred of this county has devolved, received a report from Mr. Professor Taylor, the lecturer on chemistry at Guy's Hospital, in the case of the man Nathaniel Button, whose remains were exhumed last week for chemical analysis: that eminent gentleman having superintended the analysis in the cases Of poisoning at Wix and Tendering. His report of the result of the analysis of Button's stomach and contents, shows that there is no foundation for the belief entertained that he had died from the effects of arsenic. Mr. Taylor states that, in conjunction with Mr. Bird, surgeon, of Harwick, they had made a minute examination, and not the least trace of poison could be detected. A statement has been published to the effect that in consequence of a private confession of the deceased murderess May, the authorities had a clue to a number of women in Essex, who had poisoned their husbands and children. On the authority of the under-sheriff of the county, who officiated at the execution of the wretched creature, we can state that she made no confession whatever. She maintained a strict silence up to her last moments on the scaffold. On the day before her execution, the under-sheriff, with the rev, chaplain and governor of Springfield gaol, had an interview with the convict, and endeavoured to elicit from her some declaration as to the justice of her sentence, also in respect to the actual fate of her former husband and children, all of whom had died suddenly. She either refused or could not give the slightest information. One remark she made, however, which excited observation. The governor, in noticing several incidents of her life, introduced the name of the man Ham (the deceased husband of the woman Southgate, who is in Chelmsford gaol awaiting trial), who was suspected to have been poisoned, and in whose unfair death the convict was supposed to have been an accessary either before or after the fact. To this she replied, "It is no use questioning me further. I shall not tell you anything." After a pause, she added, "If I were disposed to open my lips, it would be giving work to Jack Ketch for a week." It has also been mentioned, that it was the intention of the coroner to direct the exhumation of some twenty persons, asserted to have been "white powdered" (poisoned with arsenic). With the exception of one instance, no such intention, at least at present, exists. The police, under the direction of Captain M'Hardy, the chief-constable of the Essex constabulary, have been actively engaged investigating every circumstance; and, according to what facts have transpired, there seems to be no foundation really for the report of such a wholesale system of poisoning as has recently been alleged. The inquest on Button stands adjourned to Monday next, the 2nd . of October, at Ramsey, when the jury will no doubt bring in a verdict in accordance with Professor Taylor's report.—Daily News.