The Sun. — 1851-03-13 (London, England)

INQUEST ON MR. THOMAS RUSSELL, COUNTY MAGISTRATE. Yesterday Mr. Wakley, M.P., held an inquest at the Victoria Tavern, Mornington-road, Camden-town, on the body of Thomas Russell, Esq., aged 73, a church trustee and chairman of the bench of magistrates for the St. Pancras division. Thomas Smith, Esq., of Haverstock-hill, was chosen foreman, and the remainder of the panel consisted of vestrymen and directors of the poor of St. Pancras. The body of the deceased gentleman lay at his late residence, 53, Albert-street, Mornington-crescent. Harriet Bloom said that she had been housekeeper to Mr. Russell, who was a single gentleman, for the last 17 years. lie left home on Monday morning about eleven o'clock, and she heard no more of him mail about four o'clock in the afternoon, when she was informed of what had happened, and that his body was on its way to his late residence. Deceased had an nttack of apoplexy about two years since, and from that time he appeared more forgetful. and had but indifferent health. Charlotte Farnan, the wife of a whitesmith, of Little George-street, Hampstead road, gave evidence touching the circumstances attending the death of Mr. Russell, as detailed in yesterday's paper. Mr. John Christian Day said he was a surgeon, residing at 42, Robert-street, Hampstead-road; he was called about half-past 3 o'clock on Monday. On reaching the house in Little George-street he found deceased on his knees in the closet, and a man holding him up in his arms. He was quite dead. He had since made a post mortem examination. The brain was congested and highly vascular. There had been previous inflammation of the brain, but no sign of recent disease. There was great opacity of the arachnoid, and the brain was softened all over. The heart contained a great mass of fluid blood, was much dilated, and exceedingly vascular. It was a very large muscular heart. The lungs were gorged with blood, although no vessel had given way in the chest. He had no doubt whatever, from the state of the head and chest, that death had resulted from apoplexy. Mr. Tunalley, his medical adviser, had stated that he saved him two years ago from an attack by bleeding. The jury returned a verdict of " Natural Death."  EXTRAORDINARY CASE OF SoMNAMBULIOL—On Thursday morning week, about three o'clock, a butcher, residing near Whaley-bridge came to the house of a neighbour residing about a mile distant, and, after calling him up, told him that his youngest son, a youth about seventeen years of age, and two others whom he named, had just before been at his house, and after calling him out of bed fired a loaded pistol at his head with an intention to murder his. lie was expostulated with on the improbability of such a charge, as the son alluded had not been out of the house during that night, but the butcher stormed and would not be satisfied, and went away declaring he would inform the police and have them apprehended forthwith. About eight o'clock the accused's father walked over to the butcher's house to hear the particulars of so serious a charge, but, he not being in the house, he mentioned the matter to his wife, who seemed thunderstruck with astonishment and surprise, and said that her husband was subject to " walking dreams," and on the night in question she was dirturbed in her sleep by her husband pulling off his clothes to get into bed. When she asked what he had been doing up at that time of the night, he replied that ne had been to the shippon to see that the cows were all right. She thought no more of it, but went to sleep; and when she got up in the morning to milk the cows, was surprised to find them all loose in the shippon, with the exception of one, which bore visible marks of ill-usage inflicted with a strong stick, which lay close by, and which had been taken out of the house the same night. Seeing this, it at once occurred to her that he had had one of his el a res walkinghe dreams;ha d b not theut, what tae sptp eraerms emm ho rrer c e strange,ec the hae flair, and had as good a night's rest as ever he enjoyed in his life.— Manchester Examiner. daystouching old, whicht he