npedrazzini/19thc_murder_suicide_news huggingface dataset:
Glasgow Courier. — 1846-01-31 (Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland)

GLASGOW.  Glasgow Police Board.—The Board met on Thursday at two o'clock,—Mr. Ross in the chair. After the reading of the minutes and the disposal of other preliminary matters, the clerk reported the import of the proposed Municipal and Police Extension Bill, a printed copy of which he had accidentally obtained, and several members having expressed their sentiments on the subject the Board remitted to the committee on this business to communicate with the Lord Advocate, and to take all necessary measures for urging the views of the Board on the authorities and the inhabitants. The Board adjourned on this business till Monday evening first at seven o'clock. West Kilbride.--James A. Anderson, Esq., manager of the Union Bank of Scotland, Glasgow, who lately purchased the estate of Carlung, in this parish, is intending to feu that part of it which lies near the shore, for building sea-bathing residences, according to a specified plan, similar to others built on adjacent grounds, which have been well-frequented. The situation is favourable. He is giving his farmers every encouragement hy. granting them tiles for draining, and other facilities for Improvement; and is directing much of his attention to the various modes adopted for the better cultivatiots of the soil, which in all cases judiciously applied, is beneficial to both landlord and tenant, as well as the public. Attempted Suicide.—On Wednesday evening last, a little after seven o'clock, a decently dressed elderly man attempted suicide, by throwing himself into the Clyde, a little above the Humane Society's House. The plash was heard by the ferryman, who gave the alarm, and immediately thereafter John Henderson, one qi the Humane Society rs assistants, plunged into the river with his clothes on, and brought the old Wm to the bank. He was in a very exhausted state, but has Niue recoured.
Glasgow Courier. — 1846-10-20 (Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland)

SUICIDE BY THE SWISS GIANTESS.  On the 9th hat., an inquest was held at the Red House Tavern, Battersea, before Mr. Carter, one of the coroners for the county of Surrey, and a respectable jury, on view of the colossal remains of Eliza Laurence, alias Madame De Letzi, but who was better known as the Swiss Giantess, which had been picked up in the Thames, near that place, on Wednesday morning. From the evidence adduced it appeared that on Wednesday morning about eight o'clock, Rock, a waterman belonging to the Citizen Pier, near the Red House, while on the pier, observed the body of the deceased floating up the river with he tide, upon which hejumped into a boat and took it on shore. On searching her pockets a piece of paper was found, upon which was written, "No. 3, Shorter's Gardens, Seven Dials, knock twice and ask for Emma." Rock called at the address, and on knocking twice, as directed, was answered by Emma, a rung and diminutive female who had been ascertained to walk with the deceased iu Regent Street and that neighbourhood, and on taking her to the Red House she at once identified her old companion, the Swiss Giantess. The last time the deceased was seen in the neighbourhood of her residence was Tuesday night, when she called at a public-house in Sherrard Street, Golden Square, when she asked a female for a penny, sayin m she was in great distress and had had nothing to eat for twentyfour hours, or very little from the Monday before. She also complained of the state of abject poverty to which she was reduced, being without a farthing or a farthing's worth of property to raise money on, and said she was going over Waterloo Bridge, and that she bad a great mind to stop there and make a hole in the water; but whether she had done so there or elsewhere there was no evidence to prove. She was, however, seen upon Waterloo Bridge at 10 o'clock on the Tuesday night, which was the last time she was seen alive. She was 51 years of age and had never been married, but had one child, a son, who did not live with her. The jury after hearing evidence to the above effect, returned a verdict of "Suicide while labouring under temporary insanity." This woman, who was well-known to the pedestrians of London, not only from her extraordinary height, but also her proportionably bulky appearance, passed many years of her life in a caravan, and was conveyed from town to town and exhibited, under the title of Madame De Letzi, the Swiss Giantess. Durimg this time she naturally acquired idle habits, and when she was turned out upon the world, in consequence of her want of continued attraction, she adopted the dissipated life which eventually led her to commit suicide, for she could not bear to be pointed at in the street as a woman without morality and character. She more than once went to Waterloo Bridge with the intention of destroying herself, and has been persuaded by her companions, or those passing, from committing the crime—London Paper.
Glasgow Courier. — 1846-01-13 (Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland)

THE LATE COLONEL GUHWOOD. To the Editor of the Times.  Sir,—Upon my arrival from Paris—which by a series of untoward circumstances was not until a few hours' after the remains of my lamented half-brother, Col, Gurwood, had been consigned to the grave—l was much shocked by a report that his untimely end had been induced by losses in railroad speculations. It is my duty to state, that my brother did not speculate in railroad shares: he did invest some money in them, but this was not attended with any loss. The cause which induced my brother's untimely death was a wound in the head, which he received from a musket-ball at the storming of Ciudad Rodrigo, where it is known he volunteered the forlorn hope; his shako and part of his skull were carried away; and it will be in the recollection of the officers of the 10th Hussars (with whom my brother afterrtards served), that at certain states of the weather he frequently complained a pain in his head; and that he has been known to fall from his horse in fainting fits in the Riding-House at Brighton. These circumstances, and my brother's long abstinence from wine in consequence of this wound, immediately occurred to the recollection of two of his dearest friends now in Paris, when the account of his melancholy end ivas received there. It has been observed by some eminent army surgeons, that " although Gurwood thought little of the wound in his head, it might some day prove fatal to him;" and accelerated, probably, by too great mental exertion in the compilation of the Wellington Despatches, it has done so. Colonel Gurwood at the time of his death, was awaiting his leave of absence to join me at Paris. He had written to me that the insomnia under which lie had long laboured had entirely left him—that he felt " quite himself again," and lie requested me to make some arrangements there for the accommodation of himself 1 and family. instead of his arrival, I received the intelligence of his melancholy death; and I ask no apology in requesting you, by the insertion of this letter, to rescue the memory of a beloved and lamented brother from the slightest imputation of a railroad gambler or premeditated suicide. 1 am, Sir, your obedient humble servant, C. H. °
Glasgow Courier. — 1846-04-21 (Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland)

GLASGOW.  Emigration appears to have commenced this year earlier than usual. The packet-ship Brooksby, which sailed from this port for New-York on Friday, carried no fewer than 170 passengers all in good health and spirits. Sudden Death—On Saturday afternoon, an elderly man, named Duncan sPGilvray, who had arrived in this city from Edinburgh in the course of the day, went into a tavern in .Argyll Street, and called for some whisky, and after having been a short time in the house, on the servant going into the room, he was found lying on the floor dead. The body was removed to the Police Office; but the friends of the deceased having been apprised of the circumstance, on application it was given up to them on Sunday. Suicide.—Gregory, the painter whose attempted suicide, by throwing himself from a window three stories high, in Eglinton Street, we noticed last week, died on Sunday morning in the Infirmary. Child Strippiny.—At the Glasgow Police Court on Saturday, a young unmarried female was convicted before Bailie Whitehead of the crime of stripping a child of part of his under clothing, in a close near Bell Street, on the previous day. The prisoner, who was caught in the very act by an officer of Police, admitted her guilt, and was sentenced to 60 (lays' imprisonment in Bridewell. Bailie Whitehead, in passing sentence, expressed regret that he was not able to inflict a more severe punishment. Furious Driting.—On Thursday evening, a gentleman, in passing Hutcheson Street, was knocked down and injured by the shaft of a cab or Harrington, which was turning the corner at a speed of eight or ten miles an hour. A crowd collected, but the driver drove very rapidly off', followed by the police. He went along Trongate, down King Street, along Prince's Street, up Saltmarket, and along Trongate, and was stopped at the Tron Church. The driver, Wm. Hill, was brought before the Police Court on Friday, and after a very severe lecture as to his conduct, was fined in two guineas. Weekly Statement.—Number of inmatesin the Night Asylum for the Houseless, in St. Enoch's Wynd, from Saturday 11th April, to Friday 17th April, inclusive: —Men, 137; women, 265; boys, 68; girls, 59; total, 529. The average number of nightly inmates for this week is 75, exclusive of 35 inmates in the House of Industry.
Glasgow Courier. — 1846-06-30 (Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland)

GLASGOW.  Attempted Suicide.—On Thursday morning, the captain of a vessellying in the harbour, left his lodgings at the Broomielaw, in almost a state of nudityraud threw himself over the quay into the river. Fortunately a ferryman and boat were at hand when the plunge was made, and the captain was rescued none the worse—but rather the better—of his ducking. We believe the poor man had been labouring under a depression of spirits for some time. Ser.mons Occurrence.—About eleven o'clock, on Friday forenoon, the porter of the Botanic Gardens, while proceeding along Argyll Street, dropped down in afit of apoplexy, near the Black Bull Hotel, into which he was removed in an apparently lifeless state. Dr. Brown of Stockwell Street and another medical gentleman were speedily in attendance, and, upon his partially recovering, had him conveyed to the Infirmary. Boy Killed—On Saturday evening, about eight o'clock, a boy about 14 years of age, a perfect object, who was in the habit of selling lucifer matches' and who was accustomed to use his hands the same as his feet in assisting him on his way, and who had from this circumstance to get the box containing the matches tied round his neck, while amusing himself at the Broomielaw quay, was killed by the falling of a log of wood on his body. The officer on the station was promp on the spot, and a surgeon immediately called, but the spark bad fled. His body was taken to the Receiving House, Rope Work Lane, and soon after claimed by his father, Edward Kelly. Fatal Accident—On Tuesday last John Murphy, the policeman or watchman of Gartsherrie Iron Works was suddenly deprived of life, by the falling in of a portion of the roofing of one of the cast-houses. Weekly Statement —Number of inmates in the Night Asylum for the Houseless, in St. Enoch's Wynd, from Saturday 20th June, to Friday, 26th June, inclusive:--Men, 104; women, 370; boys, 91; girls, 94; total, 659. The average number of nightly inmates for this week is 04, exclusive of 30 inmates in the House of Industry. is • • _  promf,tly vital
Glasgow Courier. — 1846-08-25 (Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland)

DREADFUL CASE OF SUICIDE. Yesterday, an elderly man, named John Blacklock, a clerk in a writer's office in this city, committed suicide by cutting his throat with a razor in a most deliberkte and shocking inatowa, at his lodgings, Guildry Court, Bridgegate. The unfortunate man, it appears, had been confined to the house for a few days with illness but not apparently of a serious nature, and there had been nothing in his manner during that period which could afford the slightest indication to the inmates of the house of his meditating au attempt upon his life • nor were his circumstances such as could be considered likely to produce depression of mind. Yesterday morning he seems to have intimated to his landlady a desire to be served with a cup of tea about eleven o'clock; and on her entering his room about that hour to supply him with the beverage, in accordance with his request, he (being then in bed,) manifested some irritability of temper at being disturbed. In , about an hour afterwards the attention of the people of the house was attracted by a noise in the room, and on entering the unhappy man was found extended on the floor in the midst of I his blood, which streamed from a dreadful wound across his throat, evidently inflicted by means of a razor which lay beside him. Medical aid was immediately procured, but life was quite extinct. The motive which had impelled the unfortunate man to the act of self-destruction appears quite inexplicable to every one with whom he was in any way connected here. We understand he was a married man, but lived separate from ,his wife, whose place of abode is in Ayrshire.  As I was winding up my letter yesterday evening, the Delhi Gazette of the 24th ult. came to hand, having been delayed a couple of days by the state of the roads consequent on the rainy weather. It contains news from Affghanistan of a very different character from that which I have already noticed as the last previously received. An ambassador from the King of Persia had arrived at Caboul, where he was received with distinguished honour by foot Mahomed. When he came to unfold his errand, it turned out that the object of his visit was to stir up the faithful in Affghanistan to make war on the British, his master offering to bear all the expenses. Akhbar Khan and other chiefs entered into his views with much enthusiasm; but the old Ameer, who well knows what war with the British means, would have nothing to iotittlit:e proposal. e exchange of the day is pronounced by the best authority to I have aooess—and I believe it is a good one—to be 2s. to.2s. 20. at ten months' date for large sums.
Glasgow Courier. — 1846-03-26 (Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland)

THE LOSS OF THE GREAT LIVERPOOL.  - PRESENT TO HER MATERTY.—SOOIe time after the passengers cf the unfortunate steamer, "The Great Liverpool," had been safely landed, it occurred to the late Captain WLeod that it was possible to save from the wreck a box which had been specially consigned to his care, containing a present to her Majesty from a wealthy native merchant of Bombay. Captain AI Leod, accompanied by the c:iief officer, Mr. Hamilton and two of the crew, got on board the steamer, and cut through the deck to the place where the box was deposited, and with great difficulty got it on shore, and from thence it was conveyed with the mail boxes to Corunna, and consigned to the care of the consul, who fearing it might have been damaged by being so long under water, unpacked the box in the presence ot the captain and officers. Although it was inclosed in many cases, the water had penetrated through them to the morocco case, which was richly ornamented with the royal arms of England. The present consisted of a large sized and richly wrought gold box, an exquisite specimen of Eastern workmanship, worthy of Benvenuto Cellini ; the box was supported by four stands in the form of snakes, and it contained several dresses of the most elegant and costly fabric, worked by the needle, and of cobweb texture, but the salt water had penetrated, and the Consul's wife had them carefully washed and repacked, and they were transmitted with the mails to Southampton. It was fortunate that the box escaped the clutches of the Spanish brigands, whose infamous conduct has been already described. Just before Capt. M'Leod committed suicide, he gave into the charge of the consul a handkerchief containing gold, with which he had been entrusted, to deliver to a merchant in London, with a special recommendation that it should be forwarded to its destination.  The escape of one child was miraculous, and has not yet been mentioned in the accounts published of the disaster. The first boat, it has been stated, was upset in the raging surf, when three persons lost their lives, and a second child was supposed to have been drowned, but when the boat righted the infant was found floating at the bottom, and was taken on board the vessel as it was going to pieces; restoratives were applied, aud the child was saved. The chief officer, Mr. Hamilton, was not on duty at the time when the steamer struck, and is now in town.
Glasgow Courier. — 1846-10-13 (Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland)

FRIDAY, OCT. 9. A Forced Handicap, of 10 sovs. each, 5 ft., with 50 sovs. added by the Caledonian Hunt, for the winners during the meeting. Any horses allowed to enter. Two miles. Mr. Merry's b. c. John Barris, 4 yrs 1 Mr. Merry's br. e. by Don John, 3 yrs 2 Duke of Atholl's b. in. Glencroin, aged 3 The Member's Plate of 50 soya., given by Henry Home Drummond, Esq., M.P. for the County. Twice round. Mr. Robertson% b. g. Tom Tough, 6 yrs 1 Mr. A. Johnston's b. c. Sir George, 3 yrs 2 Mr. W. H. Johnston's by. in. Roper's Daughter, aged [owing to some dispute about the first horse taking the wrong side of the Course, the owner of Sir George protested against Tom Tough carrying away the plate.]  - - _ Plate of 50 soya, given by the Caledonian Hunt. Heats one mile. Mr. Merry's eh. f. Badinage, 4 yrs 1 Mr. Ramsays br. g. Mid-Lothian, 4 yrs 2 The Hurdle Stakes were not run for at the hour of post.  Deliberate Suicide—On Wednesday morning a man's hat was found in the Union Canal above the bridge at the Castle Silk-Mill, which exciting the apprehensions of the police, drags were obtained, and the Canal searched. All their efforts were ineffectual, however, until Friday forenoon, when the body of a young man was recovered, who proves to be a stereotyper of the name of Henry. The cause of the commission of the rash act seems to have originated in a quarrel the unfortunate man had with a young woman, to whom he was attached, on Tuesday, which led to the resolution to destroy himself; and so fixed seems to have been his determination, that he filled his pockets with stones, and tied his feet with his handkerchief in order to prevent the chance of his availing himself of swimming, in which he was skilful.--Edinburgh Paper. Caution to Parents.—About nine o'clock on Saturday morning, a girl residing in Borthwick's Close, High Street, thoughtlessly poured some sweet milk into a cup containing a quantity of morphia, which she gave to a child about seventeen months old, that had been intrusted to her care. The child shortly afterwards fell asleep, and continuing in that state for five hours, the inmates of the house became alarmed, and sent for medical assistance, when Drs. Cornwall and Tait were promptly in attendance. The most effective remedies were immediately applied by these gentlemen, but without effect, the child only surviving about an hour afterwards.-Edinburgh Paper,
Glasgow Courier. — 1846-06-27 (Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland)

SUICIDE OF A YOUNG LADY AT GREENWICH.  On the 13th instant an inquest was held at the residence of Captain Fowle, of Myrtle Place, Greenwich, to take into consideration the death of Miss Jane Grant Wilkinson, aged 30, who committed suicide under the following circumstances : Miss Ann Fowle stated that the deceased was her sister-inlaw, and had returned from Barbadoes six weeks ago. Up to Sunday week she appeared in her usual health and spirits, but on Monday she became melancholy, in consequence of the continued illness of a younger sister whom she had brought over with her from the West Indies, labouring under temporary lunacy. Witness went out at the deceased's request, and bought an ounce of the essential oil of almonds, which she said she vished to take back to 13arbadoes with her for culinary purposes. She bought the oil at a chemist's of the name of Mendham, of Nelson Street, Greenwich, who did not attach the usual label of "poison" upon the phial. On the night of Wednesday she heard the deceased groaning in her bed, and upon going into the room she discovered that she was just dead. Medical assistance was sent for, but proved ineffectual, and the bottle which hail contained the oil of almonds was found in the bed with her. A medical man was called, who proved that the deceased took enough poison to destroy eight persons. This being the whole of the evidence, the Coroner summed up and the Jury returned a verdict of" Temporary Derangement." By direction of the Coroner the Jury then added that a certain degree of blame was attached to Mendhatu the chemist for not Mixing the word "poison" to the phial when lie sold the oil to a person of whom he knew nothing. This addition to the verdict was intended as a caution to.cheinists acting under similar circumstances.
Glasgow Courier. — 1846-01-15 (Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland)

IRELAND.  - -- -- The Lord Chancellor has appointed James Sharman Crawford, Esq., of Redemon House, a magistrate for the county of Down. On Dit.—The son of a Q.C. was about to be united to the fair niece of a gallant son of Mars, and the day for binding the hymeneal knot had been fixed, when to the inconsolable grief of the gay youth, the lady signified a change in her resolve. The bridal robes of the richest and rarest description I ssed were actually prepared, d ready to be delivered by one of the most fashionable mo 'stet of the day, and the marriage settlements were all eng and sealed, awaiting the signatures of the high cont cting parties. The reason assigned by the fair inconstant was, that she had been struck with so much awe at witnessing the imposing and solemn ceremonial of the marriage which has recently taken place in the highest circles, that she could not bring herself to share in so responsible a religious rite. She had received costly presents from several of her relatives and friends, and amongst them a splendid diamond ring from a near relative of the lately-betrothed fair one. Fashionable life abounds with surmises as to the magical powers of the last-mentioned present, and hints are breathed of' other slaves of the ring besides those.mentioned in the Arabian tale.—Dublin Packet. Suicide of Mr. Nott, of Dame Street, .Dublin.—Mr. Nott, ci of the firm of Nott &13 , tea merchants and brokers' residing in Dame Street, Du lin committed suicide, on Friday evening, by hanging him elf; at the house of his brother-inlaw, Mr. John Jones, of' Burton-ball, near White Church, Ratlearnham. Deceased had becu labouring under disease of the head for some time, and was heard a week since to say, "that it would be no wonder if a person suffering as lie was would commit suicide." There was an inquest held on the remains, when a verdict, to the effect, that he committed suicide while labouring under temporary insanity, was returned.