The Sun. — 1847-02-01 (London, England)

DETERMINED SUICIDE OF TWO  LOVERS.  the A nmi gohs tt loafmEerni dt aabyl el aasfft,awi rh itcoho kh aplace e a ti ne d Wakefield e sensation o d re eesppees ct t respectablet rfeasms i i Ae s have in eb eneeni g ltthbroouwr hn o ointo a nad stater e obtY: t ht we young man, named George Hampson, about twenty-five years of age, bad paid his addresses to a young woman of the name of Susan Morton for about three years. Both the parties resided in Wakefield, the young man being a whitesmith, and son of Mr. George Hampson, also a whitesmith, &c., in that town. On the evening of Friday last, Hampson went as usual to the house of his lover, and at that time it would appear the girl was not very well, for she sent for her younger sister, Fanny, who came to her, but when she arrived Susan was better. Susan, however, had, a fainting fit during the evening, but it appears she had been subject to them for some time. About ten o'clock, Susan feeling better, was persuaded by her sister to go out walking fora short time, and advised her to go and see her mother, who was in a different part of the town. They all three went together, and after walking round St. John's, and afterwards into the town, Fanny left them, as she slept at the house of a friend. It seems Hampson and Susan returned to the house of the latter, and Susan's brother left them in the house together when he went to bed. Nothing more was seen or heard of them until the following (Saturday) morning, when two coats and a hat, and a bonnet, shawl, and boa, were found on the banks of the Barnsley Canal, near the bridge which crosses it in some fields near Heath Wood, about a mile and a half from Miss Morton's home. Search was afterwards made in the water, and the bodies of Hampson and his lover Susan were found near the place where the clothes had been discovered. The suicidal determination must have been strong in each, for their bodies were firmly tied together with four handkerchiefs, which must have been fastened by Hampson, as the knots were tied behind the young woman. In his pocket was found a pistol loaded with ball, and two bullets, some powder, caps, &c. ; and in her pockets was found a soft substance, like paste, which has not yet been analysed, but which is supposed to be poison. What tends to make the affair more mysterious is the total inability of any one to find a reason for the commission of such a rash act. There were no, marks of violence on either of the bodies, or anything to lead to the belief that either of them had come to their death by unfair means. The deceased young woman was about 21 years of age, a fine figure, and very pretty. An inquest was held on the bodies on Saturday, before Thomas Lee, Esq., Coroner, when the jury returned the following verdict :—" Found drowned, without any marks of violence ; but how, or by what means, they got into the canal, there is no evidence to show."  A JUDGE'S CHARGE ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO —Johnson, in his life of Savage, gives the following version of the speech of Mr. Justicgeei'age„tz, the jury, at the trialjary oi—f !—.You are tfooreomnsuidredrert,haint 11,7r27i Savage is a very much greater man than 'you or ll,lltgleemnteleilmoefn ry great the jury :—that he wears very fine clothes; much finer clothes than you or I man ; a a?bfutnhdeance jury, oisf money in ina gentlemenN,e of the jury—that he has than you or I, gentlemen his pocket k much more money should the jury—but, gentlemen jury, that Mr. Savage s,h, of the same LearnejdurYjud e gentlemen of the ' terms, and it will be seeng thlaet given hard therefore case, gentlemenkiu yon or of mt hee, Another remarkable charge Iv containsen i h t e following anecdote that, in one sense of the term, at all events, may be said to be original :—" Gentlemen of the jury—Ye have heard the evidence against this here fellow, and all that. He not only robbed the gentleman who was so good as to prosecute him, of his effects and money, but, as far as I can learn, has always been a vagabond, a stroller, I think; a fellow that went about with tricks and fancies. Now I never liked your tricks and fancies. I'll tell you a pleasant story. Some years ago, when I was at Exeter, there was a fellow, an ill-looking dog, somewhat like the prisoner at the bar, that went about with a bear and fiddle: a troublesome rascal, there was no living for his tricks and fancies. So this was very well; I was not then a judge, but went only on private business. However, some time after I went that circuit. You may be sure I inquired for my old friend; but, :somehow or other, the bear was dead, and the fiddle was broke. But how o you think I serred the fellow ? 11 hy, I hanged him."