The Sun. — 1842-12-30 (London, England)

ATROCIOUS MURDER AT SPERNALL, NEAR STUDLEY.  (Abridged from the Worcestershire Chronicle.) In the last two Chronicles it has been our painful duty to record the particulars of a most lamentable tragedy at Rouse -Lench, and this week we have to lay before our readers an account of a far more atrocious deed, committed on Sunday last (Christmasday), at Spernall, in Warwickshire, not ten miles distant from the scene of the Rouse Lench tragedy, Spernall lying near the Worcestershire border, on the river Arrow, about three Miles north.of Alcester, a short distance off the road leading from, that town to Birmingham, and midway between Studley Castle, the seat of Sir F. L. H. H. Goodricke, Bart., and Coughton Court, the seat of Sir Robert Throckmorton, Bart., one of whose tenants, Mr. Crowley, a respectable farmer residing at Spernall, is the unhappy father of the murderer. The murdered man was one of Mr. Crowley's labourers, and, horrid to relate, met his fate at the hand of the man who, but for his fatal interference would, in all probability, have imbrued his hands in his father's blood, and thus, if possible, have increased his crime by standing forth an unnatural parricide, instead of an ordinary murderer.  The murderer (James Crowley) has long been on bad terms with his father, on account (as he would have it to appear) of the partiality shown by the old gentleman towards other members of his faVy, to his (James's) detriment ; but according to others (and the subsequent conduct of the unhappy young man goes far to prove their reason to be the real one) on account of his violent, dissipated, extravagant, and- undutiful conduct. Be that as it may, the father at length became so terrified at the behaviour of his graceless son, that he was compelled, from prudential motives, to have some one reside in the house capable of protecting him from such unnatural violence. The individual selected for this extraordinary but necessary duty was one of his labourers, a fine young man, named ' Tilsley, standing six feet ,in height, though not more than twenty years of age; and in order' to give him additional authority, he was regularly sworn in as a constable. As soon as these precautionary steps had been taken, Mr. Crowley 'eXperienced sense • of something like security and tranquillity, feelings ,to.which he had long been a stranger, but, as will be seen in the sequel, the ominous calm was only the forerunner of the storm which was about to burst upon him, and bring his grey hairs with sorrow to the grave. On Sunday last, the unhappy young man proceeded from his lodgings in the neighbourhood to the farm, apparently with the intention of shooting Crowley, as he took a double-barrelled gun with him. On arriving at the house, he behaved in such a' violent manner as to cause the greatest alarm to the inmates, and on Tilsley and two others approaching to arrest him, he suddenly turned round, and, fiercely exclaiming " D—n your eyes, I'll shoot you I" raised the piece to his shoulder, fired, and in an instant poor Tilsley fell to the ground a frightful corpse. The report of the gun of course brought the whole of the family to the spot, and the scene which ensued when they beheld the lifeless body of their protector weltering in his blood—and deprived of life, too, by one so nearly allied to then by the ties of nature— may be better imagined than described. As soon as assistance arrived, the body was conveyed to an 'adjoining building, to await the Coroner's inquest, which was held yesterday (Tuesday), by W. 0. Hunt, Esq., of Stratford-upon-Avon, one of the Warwickshire Coroners, and a respectable Jury, but the result had not reached us when we went to press. The sensation which this awful deed has created in the neighbourhood is, as might naturally be expected, very great, and many for miles round will long remember Christmas-day in 142. The public sympathy is increased by the fact that poor Tilsley, though so young, was a married man, and has left a widow and two children to lament his untimely end. From another account it appears that a reward of 401. has been offered for his apprehension. The perpetrator of this dreadful crime is a remarkably fine, handsome, gentlemanly-looking young man, about 30 years of age, with light brown hair, and light eyes, and a forehead and countenance which would seein to promise very different conduct to that which he has shown through life ; he has, too, received, and in some respects done credit to, a better education than the generality of persons in his statio:i obtain. He some time since wrote a pamphlet of 16 pages (the letters in which are dated May and December, 1841) on the subject of fends in his family, and endeavoured therein to prove himself a deeply injured young man. This attempt failed with people who knew that his father allowed 1/. per week to maintain him in idleness, and the keep of a horse to ride for his recreation. The pamphlet is written in a manner which evinced some ability, but bore in its tone evidence of the jealous disposition of the writer, amounting almost to. monomania, on the subject of wrongs towards himself, and preference towards his brothers or sisters, on the part of his father. This feeling continually increasing, and gradually filling his mind, produced frequent quarrels, and at lengt resulted in the awful crime here recorded. Ilis conduct some time since induced his father to offer terms before mentioned for his absence from the farm, and he had lodged with a blacksmith in the neigh-1 bourhood until the day of the murder. It was stated at the Broomsgrove Petty Sessions, yesterday, that the murderer has been apprehended, but our latest accounts from the scene of the tragedy do not confirm the statement, and the last reports received at the County Police Station, in this city, also state that he has not yet been taken. Should he not be hoard off soon, we shall incline to the opinion (for which his previous excited state of mind affords ample justification) that he has added to his other cranes that of suicide.  The Marquis and Marchioness of Westminster, with the Bishop of Chester, Earl and Countess Grosvenor, Lord Belgrave Lord and Lady Parker, Lord Robert Grosvenor, and the clergymen resident in the neighbourhood of Eaton Hall, attendel the annual examination of the scholars educated at the Grosvenor schools, established through the munificence of the Noble Marquis and Marchioness. The prizes were awarded by the Marquis and Marchioness personally to the young persons who had distinguished themselves in their learning. As is usual, an excellent dinner of what is termed " old English fare" was provided at the expense of the Noble Marquis. TILE EARL or