npedrazzini/19thc_murder_suicide_news huggingface dataset:
The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — 1854-03-28 (Liverpool, Merseyside, England)

MURDER ON BOARD A STEAMER. John Jordan, steward of the steamer Trafalgar, was next placed in the dock, charged with having, on the night of the 14th March, on board the above-named ship, then lying in the Sandon Dock, murdered William Hare, a lad aged about 14, who acted as assistant steward. From the evidence, it appeared that on the night in question, about half-past eleven o'clock, the watchman on duty at, the Saudon Graving Dock heard a noise, which was differently described by the different witnesses, as being like the falling of a door ; like the sudden shutting of a door, with a rushing towards it, accompanied by footsteps ; and as the sound of some one falling into the hold. On the watchman and others going on board they discovered the body of the deceased lying on the deck, and quite dead, with his head between the fore and hind wheel of a gun, with a small pool of blOod under his head, and his legs stretched out straight from the body, one leg crossed, over the other. Deceased had a wound over his left eye, from which blood had flowed, but which had not flowed over his right eyebrow. It further appeared that the deceased was the son of the cook of the Trafalgar, and had last been seen. alive about a quarter before ten o'clock. On raising an alarm the prisoner was with difficulty aroused, and he seeraed.in a state of stupefaction from the effects of drink. On being apprised that deceased had been found dead on the deck, he made some singular and. :incoherent remarks, and, taking the deceased's head between his hands,said in a wild sort of manner, " 0, Billy ! 0, Billy !" and went dawn stairs into the cabin. The body of the deceased was taken to the Northern Hospital. On. a post mortem examination, it was found that the deceased had an extensive fracture of the skull, accompanied by laceration of the brain, at the back: of the head exactly opposite to the wound above the eye, which the medical gentleman who conducted the post mortem examination stated to have been the immediate cause of death. He also said the fracture was covered by a contused wound, and that the injuries might have been produced by a blow, or by a fall. The injury to the brain was accompanied by effusion on the brain, which is frequently an accompaniment of apoplexy. H'e further stated, that if the injury had been caused by a fall, the deceased might have struggled in.an unconscious state for a yard or more from the spot where he had fallen. A great number of witnesses were examined for the prosecution, but they offered no evidence which showed in any direct way a connexion between the prisoner and any circumstances attending the death of the deceased. After a trial, which lasted between three and four hours, his lordship stated to the jury, that the evidence laid before them was not of a sufficiently conclusive character to warrant them in convicting on so serious a charge. A verdict of acquittal was recorded.
The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — 1854-03-28 (Liverpool, Merseyside, England)

MURDER IN LIVERPOOL.  Charles Flower was then charged with the wilful murder of Michael M`Dormott, in Dennison-street, on the afternoon of Tuesday', the 31st February last, about a quarter before five o'clock. Another count also charged the prisoner with the manslaughter of the deceased. The first witness called by Mr. Blain, who prosecuted, was John Allan, seaman, a shipmate or deceased, who was in Dennison-street, at the time stated in the indictment, and saw the deceased, who was standing in the middle of the street, with his cap lying on the ground, and he himself was in a fighting attitude. The prisoner was also there, and witness went up to the deceased and put his cap upon his head, and took him away. The deceased was standing up as if to fight with the prisoner. Deceased returned again up the street, and the prisoner was standing on the door-step of Parry's boarding house, where he. lived. The prisoner jumped off the door-step and struck the deceased with his fist. Blows were given on both sides, and the parties closed and struggled. Witness endeavoured to separate them ; but did not then see that the prisoner had anything in his hand. The prisoner and the deceased then got entangled, and remained so till deceased fell down. After that, witness saw a knife in the prisoner's hand, but did not observe where he had got it from. The prisoner made a heavy thrust at the left groin of the deceased, who almost immediately afterwards fell. The people, of whom there was a great crowd round, endeavoured to secure the prisoner, but could not. Witness, along with some others, picked the deceased up, and they took him to the hospital. Witness saw the deceased dead at the hospital, next day. [The knife was here produced : it was a regular dagger, about eight inches long in the blade, proportionably broad, and with a very sharp point, which, for about three inches up, was two-edged. It had a metallic ornamented handle, and a leather sheath.] The weapon was identified by the witness as the one with which he saw the prisoner strike at the deceased's left groin.—On cross-examination the witness said a orowd was round the prisoner and the deceased when they were fighting ; and the deceased might have been struck by others besides the prisoner, and the prisoner was struck by some of them. George Hall (who is now blind) lived in Mrs. Parry's on the 31st January, and could then see well enough. He knew both the deceased and the prisoner. Some time after three o'clock, witness and the deceased went about halfway up Dennison-street; witness went into Parry's, where he lived, and the deceased went on. Shortly afterwards, on coming out of the house, witness saw a crowd, and the prisoner was in it, standing in the street, and deceased was near him. They had been having a quarrel, and the deceased was in a fighting attitude, and the prisoner was standing on the pith and a few paeans round bim, seve.
The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — 1854-03-28 (Liverpool, Merseyside, England)

MURDER ON BOARD A STEAMER. John Jordan, steward of the. steamer Trafalgar, was next placed in the dock, charged with having, on the night of the 14th March, on board the above-named ship, then lying in the Sandon Dock, murdered William Hare, a lad aged about 14,- who acted as assistant steward. From the evidence, it appeared that on the night in question, about half-past eleven o'clock, the watchman on duty at the Sandon Graving Dock heard a noise, which was differently described by the different witnesses, as being like the falling of a door ; like the sudden shutting of a' door; with a rushing towards it, accompanied by footsteps ; and as the sound of some one falling into the hold. On the watchman and others going- on board they discovered the body of the deceased lyinc, on the deck, and quite dead, with his head between the fore and hind wheel of a gun, with a small pool of blood under his head, and his Pegs stretched out straight from the body,one leg crossed over the other. Deceased had a wound over his left eye, from which blood had flowed, hut which had not flowed over his right eyebrow. It further appeared that the deceased was the son of the cook of the Trafalgar, and had last been seen alive about a quarter before ten o'clock. On raising an alarm the prisoner was with difficulty aroused, and he seemed in a state of stupefaction from the effects of drink. Ori,being apprised that deceased had been found dead on the• deck, he made some singular and ;incoherent remarks, and, taking the deceased's head between his hands,said in a wild sort of manner, " 0, Billy ! 0, Billy !" and went down• stairs into the cabin. The body of the deceased was takento the Northern Hospital. On- a post mortem examina tion, it was found that the deceased had an extensive frac=ture of the skull, accompanied by laceration of the brain,, at the back of the head exactly opposite to the wound' above the- eye, which the medical gentleman who. con.. ducted the post mortem examination stated to have been the immediate cause of death. He also said the fracture• was covered by a contused wound, and that the injuries might have been produced by a blow, or by a fall. The injury to the brain was accompanied by effusion on the brains which is frequently an accompaniment of apoplexy. He further stated, that if the injury had been caused by a fall, the deceased might have struggled in an unconscious state for a yard or snore from the spot where' lie had fallen. A great number of witnesses were examined for the prosecution, but they offered no evidence which showed in any direct way a connexion between theprisoner and- any circumstances attending the death of the deceased. After a trial, which lasted between three and. four hours, his lordship stated to the jury, that the evidence laid before them was not of a sufficiently conclusive character to warrant them in convicting on so serious a, charge. A verdict of acquittal was recorded.
The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — 1845-10-14 (Liverpool, Merseyside, England)

THE AFFAIR AT MADAGASCAR.-Our readers are aware that an united English and French attack was lately m4de on one of the Madagascar forts, in consequence of the oppressive conduct of the Queen and her authorities towards European settlers. The attack was unsuccessful ; but not fnr want of courage, as the following account (f an eye-witness will_testifv.:—  "I must give you the detail of the flag affair:—The flag staff was shot through, and it fell inside the circular fort, on the edge of which it had stood ; it was then put on a lance, or something of the sort, and stuck again on the wall, in a crevice of the stones. It was shot away again, and this time it fell outwards, hanging down within a few feet of the bottom of the ditch, between the nner fort and the screen, Two English sailors and a midshipnil two or three Frenchmen, made a rush into the ditch after l it, and neither party being able to get it from the other; . .ime for it, in the very hottest of  after st the NI a  ; two or three letters remained the' Manjaka: and the French  the major part of the leanavla :' the English the hy and the French the luff,' of the colour, as the sailors say." in returning after this admirable arrangement Lieutenant Kennedy was getting through one of the embrasures in the screen, when the gun went off, and killed several, but he escaped with a wound from a splinter through both thighs—not dangerous.  At Demerara,- Berbice, and Essequibo, the blacks are forming " joint stock companies," and becoming proprietors of the very soil they once cultivated as slaves.  The King of Hanovei• has purcht.sedHagdon's repetition of Napoleon musing at St. Helena, and placed it at his palace of Herenhausen. Faodor Wehl has been sentenced, on the ground of offence to the King of Prussia, which is found is his pamphlet, " The Devil in Berlin," published at Hamburg, to nine months' imprisonment with hard labour. Twelve young men, driven from Barcelona by the conscription, and torced to take the road as robbers, were captured and shot on the 26th ult. The eldest was under 21 years of age. The Cologne Gazette states from Berlin, that a project of convoking a general council of the clergy of all sects in Prussia, with a view to hearing their opinions on the religious questions which agitate the public in that country, is under consideration.  Most disastrous accounts have been received from the Coast of Africa relative to the prevalence of fever at certain parts of that station, and on board numerous vessels, by which vast numbers of the crews have been swept off. In one case 70 are reported to have fallen victims on board one vessel, out of a complement of 130.  IRELAND  The coachman of the Rev. Mr. Butson has been committed for the murder of that reverend gentleman's steward at Clonfert.
The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — 1845-06-24 (Liverpool, Merseyside, England)

LATE FATAL DUEL, PORTSMOUTH.-011 Tues- water? Did you try the experiment, however, with a day the investigation before the coroner ended by the learned waiter, who could catch, at all events, a glimpse of jury returning the following verdict •—" We find that the your meaning, a mistake would not be, perhaps, of great immediate cause of Mr. Seton's death was the result of a importance. You might think the whiskey tendered from surgical operation, rendered imperatively necessary by misconception for brandy, or the ale to porter—no bad the imminent danger in which he was placed by the in- substitutes for the originally ordered orticles. But in the fiction of a gun-shot wound he received on the 20th of apothecary's shop—Heaven help us!—the case is different. May last, in a duel with Henry Charles Morehead Haw- Oxalic acid mistaken for salts, or a neat packet of sugar key, of the Royal Marines. We, therefore, find the of lead politely handed over the counter for magnesia, may said Lieutenant Hawkey and Lieutenant Edward Pym, lead to awkward consequences, connected with coroner's as well as all the parties concerned in the said duel, juries and paragraphs headed " poison by mistake—careGuilty of Wilful Murder. The jury would further ex- lessness of an apothecary," in the newspapers. And let press their unanimous conviction that everything whieh it not be said that chemists or their assistants, although the best professional skill, the greatest attention, and the not acquainted with Latin as a language, know well the utmost kindness could suggest, was rendered to Mr. peculiar abbreviations of the peculiar words that come beSeton by his respective medical attendants." Mrs. Haw- fore them. Their knowledge in ninety-nine cases out of key, the wife of Lieut. Hawkey, was examined. She de- a hundred is purely mechanical; they read Latin as parposed that Mr. Seton had made improper overtures to her, rote speak English, and thus, deriving no help from with which, however, she had not acquainted her husband the sense, but trusting entirely to the accuracy of the until shortly before the ball where the altercation took formation of the characters--a false stroke of a pen, the place, and'at which she said she danced with Mr. Seton, accidental transposition of a dot on a line, may lead to no. with her husband's consent. thing more or less than manslaughter.—Shilling Mag.  —when nnlr of  , the Income.  filling tli  Ind I Prime M  _)t extend beyond the office sere his paper is printed, or the lodging he occupies in the neighbourhood of his printer's. The thousand and one charms, too, that colour and gild his existence, consist, in cold truth, in his devouring—no matter what his taste or appetite may be—a quantity of raw manuscripts ; in answering questions about the colour of Prince Albert's hair; in being insulted by every other correspondent ; in making an enemy for life of every contributor whose article he rejects; in being presented with ' the lie' by member of the aristicrac  ..
The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — 1845-12-09 (Liverpool, Merseyside, England)

FOREIGN AND COLONIAL.  INDIA AND CHINA  We have received by our extraordinary express, in anticipation of the Bombay mail of the Ist of November, our despatches to that Gate. The affairs of the l'unjab continued in the same disturbed state. The ranee or queen-mother continued to be the nominal head of the government ; but she had since the assassination of her brother expressed her willingness to retire, and even to take her son, the boy-king Dhuleep Singh, into obscurity, provided that a snitable jagheer was secured to them both. Old Gholab Sing continued to reside in his mounta,n fortress of Jamoo. Although the  Lahore soldiers wished him to be wuzeer, he did not appear desirous of assuming that most precarious dignity. The Dussera had passed over in quiet at Lehore, for the troops were masters. The Ralah Lall Singh had taken part of the power from the queen-mother, but neither of them dared to demand vengeance on the perpetrators of the frightful assassination of the late Wuzeer. Of Peshorah Singh, who was nominally a favourite with some of the troops, little was known ; the report of his being still alive had died away, and he was believed to have been murdered at the instigation of Jowahir Singh—a belief which subsequently produced the death of the latter. I •  The Governor-General, Sir Henry Hardinge, reached Agra on the morning of the 16th of October, having travelled with great speed from Calcutta. He was to leave that station on the 28th, and to proceed to Delhi, where he would meet the commander-in-chief. The decision of the government of India with respect to Lahere was not known. It was not thought possible for the British government to permit such a lawless soldiery as the Sikhs to keep the frontiers in constant alarm. It was therefore considered highly probable that the governor-general would propose some decided arrangements to the Lahore government, for the control of those soldiers ; and that the introduction into the Punjaub of the British troops ome necessary to enforce those arrangements.  would t  In Scinde tranquility prevails. Sir Charles Napier was at Kurracbee. In Gwalior the measures adopted by Sir R. Shakespeare had produced the be,t results in the pacification of the country. _ .  The surrender of Serampore was effected by order of the Danish government, on the 9th of October. The British flag was hoisted, end the Danish rule then ceased. A fearful fire had taken place in Bombay on the first night of the Dewallee (lamp festival) of the natives. It took its origin from some fireworks in a shop where a quantity of powder was stored. Having destroyed near 200 houses of various descriptions, it was stopped by the energy and activity of the Europeans. Fifteen persons lost their lives. Bombay escaped a dreadful calamity, for about -1,000 lb. of powder were removed from the houses on fire. . • ,  The latest ne.vs from China extended to the 30th o September ; but it contained nothing of importance Trade was dull, except at Shanghai.
The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — 1845-05-13 (Liverpool, Merseyside, England)

PEEBLESSHIRE ELECTION.—On Monday Mr. Forbes Mackenzie was re-elected without opposition. Peaches were sold on Wednesday at Covent-garden market at ss. each. Sir Cuthbert Sharp has been appointed the new Collector of Customs at Newcastle•on-Tyne. Douglas Jerrold is the writer of Mrs. Caudle's famed " Curtain Lectures" in Punch. Mr. Wordsworth and Mr. Samuel Rogers went over the New Royal Exchange on Tuesday. It has been recently discovered that the whole of the architrave of St. Paul's Cathedral is composed of white marble.  The " Royal Consort" steamer was totally wrecked off the Mull of Galloway, the week before last. All the passengers were saved. Mr. Charles Mathews' debts are set down in his shedule at £26,000. The estate will pay a dividend of about 6d. in the pound. The number of signatures attached to the Stockport petition, fora mitigation of Mr. Winterbottom's sentence, is 18,610. The Duke of Sussex steamer was wrecked yesterday week, within .150 yards of the port of Boulogne. The passengers and crew were saved by the pilot-boats.  The Auction Duties' Repeal Bill received the royal Mr. Hume has given notice to move a " Call of the assent on Thursay place and no duty is to be paid on any House on the 221 inst. The inciting cause to this mo. sale which took since the Bth of April last. Lion was the excuse made by an honourab!e member for A servant in a family at Greenwich last week murdered absence from a railway committee, namely, that he had the infant child of her employers, in revenge for her misbeen engaged during the day on three or four other corn- tress having given her notice to leave.  mittees c so, says IVir.Burne, as there appears a deficiency Dadd, the parricide, is in Bedlam. He has recently of gentlemen for the due performance of business, we produced some beautiful paintings. He is still mad, being must look after the truant members, and bring them to fully convinced that his unfortunate father was a fiend by their tasks. whom be was persecuted.  An original oratorio, entitled "The Resurrection," the composition of a working mechanic of Devonport, was performed on Thursday, at the Town-hall, Devonport.  The nominal value of the contributions prepared for the great free trade and Ant( Corn-law Bazaar about to be held in Covent-garden Theatre is said to be above £20,000. The debts of the late Duke of Sussex have all been paid, with but two exceptions, one for a bond given to Madame d'Este for £lO,OOO, and a considerable sum to his legal adviser. Miss Isabel Robertson, late of Glasgow, has left by her will the sum of £37,000, in sums varyir.g from £5OO to £lOO, to the different charitable and religions institutions of that city.  A rival to Van Arnburgh, in the person of a Mr. White, has lately arrived in England. He is accompanied by a numerous assortment of lions, tigers, &c., which he has in complete subjection. The late Mr. Johnston, long a shipowner in Kircudbright, has by his will bequeathed the magnificent sum of £5,500 sterling for the immediate erection and endowment of a free school.
The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — 1841-03-19 (Liverpool, Merseyside, England)

CIIARGE OF STABBING.—On Wednesday, a decently dressed man, who said he was a carpenter, and that his name was John Wade, was examined before Mr. Rushton, at the police-court, on a charge of having stabbed Wm. G. bockedy, a sailor, with a knife, and assaulted him with a leaden ball. The complainant stated that, between twelve and one o'clock on Friday morning last, he was going home, along Whitechapel, in company with another young man, who was rather tipsy. Complainant was quite sober. When they got to the end of Preston-street, the prisoner and another fellow came up and said something to the young man, but complainant did not hear what it was. The prisoner then knocked the young man's hat off, and collared him ; complainant picked up the hat, but immediately after doing so his own cap was taken off. While he was looking for the cap he received a blow on the head, which knocked him down. When he got up, the prisoner had hold of him, and in a moment after he felt something warm at his side. The prisoner then let go his bold, and complainant staggered into the street, where he found that blood was issuing from his side. He instantly called out that he had bee stabbed, and laying hold of a man who was passing at th time,e his shirt to put it into the wound. He did not recollect what happened after. In the scuffle with the prisoner he received another cut on his left arm. He was quite certain the prisoner was the man who stabbed him, because he took particular notice of him, and there ways gas-light burning near the place.—Hannah Doncaster deped that she saw the' prisoner strike the complainant with something fastened to a string, and that the force of the blow knocked him down. She then saw the prisoner draw a knife, either from the side pocket or the sleeve of his coat, and stab the complainant with it in the side.—Policeman No. 57 deposed that on hearing the cry of " Murder" he proceeded to the spot, and found the complainant lying down and the prisoner kicking him. The prisoner had a deadly weapon in his hand, composed of a ball of lead fastened to a string ; the string went round his wrist. Witness took this instrument from him, but had scarcely done so when he received a blow which Vimbled him on the ground. If another policeman had not come up on the instant, the prisoner would in all probability have escaped. When arrested, the prisoner's right hand was covered with blood; there was blood also upon his trousers; and, on searching the place where the scuffle occurred, a knife was found.—Mr. George Owenstone, surgeon, said he had examined the complainant, and applied leeches to a stab he had received in the side, which was about two inches in length and an inch and a half in depth. He had another wound, of no consequence, on the arm ; and his life was not in danger.—The prisoner was gommitted for trial at the