npedrazzini/19thc_murder_suicide_news huggingface dataset:
The Sun. — 1826-08-25 (London, England)

DAY.)  LOU) MAIRTBOIIOVGII.—It appears that his Lordship is determined to accomplish his intention of procuring the release of Eleanor Goodall, for which purpose our readers may recollect he made en application to Mr. CONANT, the sitting Magistrate on Tuesday last, and which application was refused. s This morning Mr. Robson, his Solicitor, attended the office, and being ,nshered into the bench by the chief officer, he stooped, and addressed something to Mr. Roe in a very low tone, who observed, "I do not exactly understand you, Sir." On this the applicant more audibly addressed him in the following worth "I have called by the request of Lord Maryborough, to know if you will discharge an old woman who was committed for begging in Saville-passage. Mr. Rot —Did Lord Maryborough send you with that soresage to me. Applicant—Yes. Mr. Rot--I don't know why Lord Marybo►•ough should send such a message to me ; I don't know any grounds he has; I ass not aware of any grounds for her discharge. You will give that answer to his Lordship, with my compliments. The applicant very respectfully bowed and left the office. A man named Alexander was brought up from St. Ann's wateh-house, where he was sent last night by his wife, on his attempting suicide. She stated that he had been clerk to a coach-maker, hut had lost his situation by drinking and neglect. Last night he went home and attempted to hang himself, but was prevented. A surgeon was sent for, who cupped and left him. Ile then seised a large case-knife, and attempting to cut his throat, was prevented by his wife, who knew of no better mode of security than sending him to the watch-house. This she did not do tiU she had been violently beaten by him, which, she said, was a very usual occurrence.  Mr. Roe--Do you know of any thing that could trouble his mind in that way, do you live happily with him ? Complainant—l know of no cause ;we have lived happily till lately. We have five children, and latelY be has left me for four or five days together. The night-constable of St. Ann's watch-11ot* said that the prisoner had tried to kill himself in the watchbouse, and they were forced' to watch him all night. , Mr. Roe directed Mr. A. to fetch the surgeon who bled him, as he should not admit him to bail till he knew whether or not he was fit to be at large. ' Re than ordered the officers to take his neckcloth and every thing that he could use for self destruction. The prisoner, during his examination, said not a word. He was a genteelly-drest, well-made man, but the stern and silent wildness of his countenance impressed all_ present with his determination still to accomplish his desperate purpose.,
The Sun. — 1826-04-26 (London, England)

MARLBOROUGH-STREET.-Yesterday John Williams, who has been repeatedly charged at this office (on one occasion for a robbery at Lord Lovain's), was brought up from St. George's watch-house, and charged before Mr. Conant, the sitting 'Magistrate, with having committed a robbery under the following circumstances, upon the Countess of Belfast. William Allen, coachman to the Countess, deposed, that upon Monday afternoon he attended his m►stress with the carriage to the Park. About five o'clock the carriage left the Park, and in proceeding through Dean-street, Seymour-place, the Countess pulled the check string, and informed him that a man was behind the carriage. On stopping, he saw the prisoner jump' down and run away. The Countess then informed him that the prisoner had put his hand into the carriage, and had taken her reticule from her lap. He instantly pursued the prisoner, calling out "stop thief;" and, with the assistance of Mr. Allen, secured him in Seymour-place, where he recovered the reticule and pocket handkerchief, which were worth twenty shillings. Robert Dunn, footman to James Bell, 'Esq. deposed that, he was in Seymour-place, and heard the cry of " stop thief;" on looking round he observed the prisoner running with something in his hiMd, and instantly pursued him and caught him by the collar. The prisoner dropped the bag, and knocked him down. He had just got away from him when the last witness came up and took him into custody, upon which he ran for the beadle, who secured the prisoner. The Beamlle.stated that he found nothing on the prisoner.—The prisoner was fully committed to Newgate.  Accounts from Wampoa (China) state, that a disorder called an " epidemic cold" had been very prevalent there, particularly among the shipping, the entire crews of several of the vessels having been seized with it. Some slight dispute is stated to have taken place at Canton between the Europeans and the Viceroy, but at the departure of these letters matters had been amicably arranged. A most melancholy act of suicide was committed by Mr. William Gibson, head gardener to HENRY PETERS, Esq., of Betchworth Castle, near Dorking, on Thursday, last.—Verdict—" Temporary mental Deriingement. ' St. Martin's Church in the Fields presents now a  grand termination of the view from Rill-Mall, as all the obstructions that prevented it- from being seen from that point, are now removed. The Papers are all mistaken which state that Sir
The Sun. — 1808-10-10 (London, England)

STONVE.—The PRINC2 still remains' at this noble .maUsion, and is extremely well in health, and in ekcellent spirits, and appears mOst-bighly delighted with the attention of his noble hosts. His Royal Highness the Duke of SUSsEX is confined to his chamber by an attack of the asthma.,,, His evenings are employed at the piano-forte, at which Mrs. FREEMANTLE presides, whose brilliant execution on that instrument is unequalled; the Duke occasionally joins in the vocal music. Dunkio, one of the firemen belonging to the Phcenix Insurance Company, who was much burnt at the conflagration at. Covent-garden Theatre, has So lar recovered, under the judicious management of the professional Gentlemen at Middlesex Hospital, as to be able to quit the Hospital, and he is now an out-door patient. He and Mr. Turner, of LeighStreet, tied-lion-square, are, we believe, the only two of those who sustained injury by the accident at the fire who are now alive.  ATTEMPT TO COMMIT SominE.—On Friday a female was seen in the act of plunging into, a pond'in Hackney Fields. A Gentleman who was passing instantly hastened to her assistance, and 'after considerable difficulty brought her to the bank. On her recovery, which was effeeted soon, after she was taken out, she refused to tell her name, or give the least account of her connections. She spoke incoherently, and appeared to labour under mental defangement. The Gentleman who rescued her endeavoured, by promises. of assistance,, to extort a confession of the circumstances which induced her to attempt suicide, but she remained gloomy and silent. Ttrti unfortunate girl Was conveyed to Shoreditch Workhouse, to be recogbized by her friends. She appeared by her dress to have lately travelled from the country. . Saturday se'nnight a girl of the name of Sophia Weaver, about six or seven years of age, who bad gone into. the fields at Downside, in the parish of Back well, Somersetshire, to pick blackberries-, was ruisseJ by her parents. A diligent search was made after her, by several of the neighbours, till twelve o'clock at night, without effeCt. In the course of search,.they found a deep pit, covered over with brambles and long grass, from which, many years since, lead ore .had been extracted, and to which they 'were led by the barking of a dog belongig to the fatheref the child. The grass, it appeared; had recently been trampled upon ; but the lateness, of the evening deterred those who were in search of her from descending. In the morning, however, they returned, and two men were let down with ropes ; ,when, to their great astonishment, the child was found in one of the lanes leading from the pit, standing upright and free from injury, excepting the little hurt she had received in being scratched with the brambles. The preservation of the child was still more remarkable also, in her having re. tired into the lane, as the men in their descent rolled down several large fragments of the rock, which must otherwise have inevitably dashed her to pieces., She remained 14 hours in the pit. Its depth is upwards of too feet.
The Sun. — 1867-04-15 (London, England)

OOQ-souls, of whom, to be'sure, fewer are women and 'Children than in an equal number of Mormons ; but yet the voters in Nevada could be outnumbered, it is likely, by those in the Territory. So it is not wonderful that, Young expresses his satisfaction with the proposed measure, declines to send money to Nevada to defeat it, and only stipulates that the new State shall be called the State of Deseret.—The Nation. The time occupied in a trip from the Missouri River to Salt Lake City now is only eight days. Three of them aro occupied on the trip from Omaha to Denver, and the remaining five from Denver to Salt Lake. In this eight days' travel there are 300 miles of railroad and 900 of staging. At a recent meeting of the Academy of Natural Sciences of California Professor Blake exhibited about 20 fossil vertebrae of what he believes to have been a great marine saurian, or crocodile. These bones aro each about four inches long and three in diameter, and, together with teeth of sharks and other remains, were found in Tulare Valley, 1,500 feet above the ocean. Ben Wade is 67 years old, George William Curtis is 48 years, and Horace Greeley 56.  David Johnson, who has had charge of the Government coal fleet at the Mound City (Illinois) navy yard for several years, has committed suicide, because, through a mistake of his in measuring, the Government lost four hundred bushels of coal. On this the Watchman and Reflector remarks :—"lf all officers who have voluntarily or involuntarily defrauded the Government possessed like tender consciences what a scene of hari-kari the ranks of Government officials would present." Mr. Henry John Lewis, first saloon, embarked at Falmouth on Thursday, in the Mississippi, for New York. •  The Round Table, of the 23d ult., says :—" 1)r. Samuel G. Howe and Mrs. Julia Ward Howe sailed last week for Europe. Dr. Howe will leave his family in Italy while he proceeds to Greece to superintend the distribution of the Cretan relief fund ; he will act during his absence as correspondent of the Boston Advertiser and the Chicago Tribune. Mrs. Howe's departure will have the effect, it is said, of causing the removal to New York and publication in newspaper form of Northern Lights, the weekly magazine to which the newspapers have given a singularly unpleasant reception, partly probably because it was a new thing and.they didn't understand it, partly because they dislike " Edmund Kirke," which is quite intelligible. In this week's number of The Galaxy i§ commenced " Steven Lawrence, Yeoman," the new story of Mrs. Edwards, author of " Archie Lovell." published in the same magazine. The Galaxy will print the story from advance MS. somewhat ahead of its appearance in England.
The Sun. — 1867-10-18 (London, England)

THE ACTON MURDER.  On Wednesday Professor Taylor, of Guy's Hospital, to whom the knives, clothes, and other articles belonging to the prisonerßaker were sent, completed his analysis. It will be remembered that traces of that which was presumed to be blood were found on some of the prisoner's clothes and on one of the knives in his possession. After a very minute examination extending over a month, Professor Taylor has made his report of the experiments made in the matter to the Chief Constable of Hampshire, wherein he states that it is human blood upon the knife and clothes. Doubts were entertained at first as to whether the knives found on the prisoner were capable of mutilating the body in the way it was done, owing to their smallness. A large number of police under the authority of Superintendent Cheyney have, since the magisterial investigation,minutely searched a large circle round the scene of the murder, including the river Wey, which rises near the spot; bat after 16 days diligent search failed to obtain any knife, or the part of the little victim's body which is still missing. The county surveyor, aided by a staff of assistants, has just completed a plan on a large scale of the hop field and the surrounding neighbourhood, to be prt-sduced for the information of the court on the trial of the prisoner iu December next.  The prisoner's conduct since his committal to Winchester Gaol has been anything but reserved. He is very talkative to the warders, but more especially to the chaplain, and is attentive to his religious duties. lie seldom complains. Once when he did so, at not having sufficient exercise, he was told to walk faster, which he acted upon, but made no reply. He frequently refers to the murder, and observes that his own conscience is quite clear. He wonders who the guilty party was, and expresses a hope that whoever the guilty party was he will be found out. lie possesses an excellent appetite, and sleeps well, which is rather remarkable, considering that while under arrest at Alton awaiting the magisterial investigation he shuddered at the sight of meat in any shape, and was very disturbed in his sleep. So strange was his conduct that a strict watch was placed over him as a precaution against his committing suicide.  The subscription on behalf of the parents of the poor little victim, who are in humble circumstances in life, for the purpose of assisting them to meet various expenses which have been entailed upon them, has been fairly responded to.
The Sun. — 1867-03-07 (London, England)

THE AZTECS.  Prior to their departure for Italy these very interesting personages are holding a series of public receptions daily, at the Queen's Concert Rooms, Hanover-square. The marriage of the Aztecs caused a new sensation, and at the same time a very great desire appeared to exist amongst a great number of persons who delight in natural curiosities to wish them joy before commencing their wedding tour. To meet this wish the happy pair at once consented to receive company, and for the last week or so their drawing-room has been very fully and fashionably attended. The Aztecs are unquestionably the greatest human curiosities ever seen, and although the peculiarity of their conformation would lead to the belief that sense and reason were strangers to them, yet both receive their company in the most affable and cordial manner, and entertain them in a variety of ways. The departure of the Aztecs is fixed for an early period, so the present attractive receptions cannot be continued for longer than a few days at the outset.  The Murder and Suicide in Bermondsey.  - -,- This morning Mr. Carter held an inquest on the bodies of Eliza Catford, aged 37, and George Catford, aged four. Mr. Catford said on Tuesday morning he left•his home to act as a juror on an inquest held by Mr. Carter in the neighbourhood. He resided at 23, Grange-road, Bermondsey, where, with his wife and children, he occupied the ground floor. His wife appeared in her usual health, but expressed some dissatisfaction at the loss of time resulting from the inquest. He told her the case could not "occupy the jury long, and that he should be back to dinner. On his return at a quarter to one o'clock he found the wretched woman and her son lying on the bed quite dead, with their throats cut in the most shocking manner. The child's head was nearly severed from the body, and the wound on the neck of the woman, although not so formidable in extent, was deep enough to divide all the respiratory passages. The deceased woman, it was said, was subject to fits of depression and symptoms indicating aberration of intellect.  The jury returned a verdict of temporary in sanity.
The Sun. — 1867-08-07 (London, England)

FRANCE.  The French Government (says the Echo Agricole) 4.11,v.x. to two swkalrin rtuk.w..2.A.xci riamokazacs 0 in the department of the Loire-Inferieure. The fair of Sainte-Anne, which i. 3 held at Pont-Rousseau, is usually considered, and rightly so, as one of the best, if not the very best, of the department, especially for Brittany mares. For two or three days beforehand considerable transactions take place between the dealers ; the stables are full, and, in fact, there is a three days' fair. On the present occasion all was much changed, as there were not more than fifty or sixty mares in the market. Two causes chiefly led to that circumstance—the scarcity of horses generally, and the requisitions of the Government addressed to those who could nrocure remounts for it, principally for the Artillery, the I.llilitary Train, and the Cavalry of the Line. The dealers made every effort to meet those demands by collecting the animals from the breeders whereever they could ; and consequently the latter have had no occasion to bring their stock to market. The wheat harvest has commenced in some favoured localities around Brussels. The grain is described as magnificent, and the ears well filled.  A rather serious conflict took place a few nights back at Zurich, between the students on one side and the citizens on the other. Several of the former, who caused the tumult, were arrested.  An explosion of fire damp has just taken place in a mine at Wittkowitz, in Austria, belonging to Baron de Rothschild. Up to noon of the following day 32 dead bodies had been recovered, but 10 or 12 other men were missing. About 30 workmen were got out alive, and although insensible for the moment afterwards recovered. The disaster is believed to have been caused by the use of blasting powder, contrary to the regulations.  it M. Mulaton," says the Journal de Villafranche, 6, a wealthy proprietor in the commune of Lierput an end to his life. He had been for gUCS, has some time under ideas of suicide, in consequence of the failure of his vine crop. He was only 23 years of age and married."  The railway from Vendome to Tours has just been opened to the public. The shooting season is fixed to open on the 17th August in the departments of the Haute-Garonne, the Herault, the Aude, and the Var ; and on the 18th in the Gironde.  '
The Sun. — 1867-04-25 (London, England)

BOW STREET.  ATTEMPTED SUICIDE.—A MELANCHOLY STORY.— Wm. Dixon, a wretched-looking old man, was charged with attempting to destroy his own life by swallowing poison. _ _  Police-constable 67 F deposed that last evening, at about half-past seven, a young woman came to him and stated that her father was trying to poison himself in Great Earle-street. Witness immediately proceeded there, where he found the prisoner emptying the contents of a blue paper into his mouth. Witness then snatched the paper away from the prisoner, awl took him to Charing-cross Hospital. The doctor, having examined the timo, discovered that there was no great harm done, and the prisoner was not detained any longer. The prisoner was then taken to the station-house. The packet was labelled "White Precipitate."  The p-isoncr's daughter here came up with a child in her arms, and informed Mr. Flowers that her father had been in a desponding state ever since he buried his wit, about three months ago. He had boon unable to obtain work all the winter, and had even sold all his tools to ebthin money. He was a cabinetmaker by trade, and had several children to support. She further said her father had often meditated suicide, and on the evening iu question he asked for a cup. Witness inquired what he wanted it for, and he said " Nothing." He then took a little blue paper packet fr:rm the shelf, and without taking the cup told his daughter that he was going to get half a pint of beer. Prisoner behaving somewhat mysterious in his manner caused witness to follow him to a publichouse in Great Earle-street. She saw him empty the contents of the packet into his beer. She then seized the pewter and threw the beer away, and he went into the street and commenced swallowing the remainder of the poison. Witness then sent for the police-constable. In answer to the charge, the prisoner said that he bad tried and tried in vain to get work, and the thought of that and his wife's death so preyed upon his mind that at times he felt that he must make away with himself. The daughter here asked Mr. Flowers to let him go this time, and she was sure he would not attempt such a thing again.  Mr. Flowers—You would have done no good if you had succeeded in your terrible object. Your poor children would have suffered.  Prisoner—Exactly, sir. But I had a drop of beer, and my trouble again distresseJ me. I solemnly declare I will not try to kill myself again,-,your worship. Prisoner was then discharged.
The Sun. — 1867-12-24 (London, England)

THE ROYAL LIVER FRIENDLY SOCIETY.—A very singular mode of exercising the virtue of charity has just been brought to light at the Southwark Police-court. A Mrs. Parkinson appears to have been in the habit of insuring the lives of children and other persons (who are too poor to do it themselves) in a friendly society, in order that when death ensues she may hand over to the families of the deceased the sum assured, less the amount paid by herself. The magistrate said he was sure that no insurance office of respectability would do anything of the kind. It was certainly illegal. The rules of the society in question were greatly called in question by Mr. Burcliatn, the magistrate, and Mr. Tidd Pratt undertook to report the circumstances to the proper quarter, when a thorough investigation will take place, and the society (the officers of which contend that they are acting in a perfectly legal manner) can be represented by counsel. ALLEGED MunDEIL—A charge of murder was preferred yesterday at the Thames Police-court against two men, named Jeremiah Duggan and Timothy Donovan. Shortly after one on Sunday morning cries of " Murder" and " Help " were heard coming from the direction of the bridge over the London Docks in Gravel-lane, Shadwell. A Mr. Wagstaff ran to the spot, and found the two prisoners on the bridge and a man in the water. The man was drowned, and on the police coming up gr. Wagstaff as well as the two prisoners were taken to the policestation. Search was made for the body, and it was almost immediately recovered. It proved to be that of a man named Francis Brown. While, searching for his body, another—that of a prostitute named Elizabeth Moore— was found. It is supposed that she had committed suicide. The prisoners Duggan a!idEyEtat vere remanded.