The Sun. — 1829-06-30 (London, England)

MURDER AND ATTEMPT AT SUICIDE.  It is our painful duty this day to record the particulars of as atrocious a murder, committed in the vicinity of the metropolis as has occurred for a series of years. At an early hour yesterday morning a report was circulated throughout Blackheath, Greenwich, and Deptford, that a man named Joseph Lambourn had murdered his wife, Who was living servant at Mr. Davidson's, landlord of the Yorkshire Grey Inn, at the foot of Blackheath-hill. Several residents of the above neighbourhood, hearing what had taken place, quickly repaired to Mr. Davidson's house, when, on entering the kitchen, the lifeless body of a female, named Maria Lambourn, presented itself to the beholders. The body of the unfortunate woman was lying on the floor with the head nearly separated from the trunk, to which it adhered only by a small piece of flesh at the back of the neck. There were several cuts on the cheeks, and also on the arms, particularly on the right one, which had a wound on it nearly six inches in length. The floor of the kitchen was literally inundated with blood from the wounds on the deceased, together with a quantity which also flowed from a 'gash that appeared on the throat of Joseph Lambourn, the husband, who was discovered lying beside his wife, and who it seemed, after having murdered her, had AtteTqted to destroy himself by cutting his throat, When the surprise and horror which such a dreadful spectacle was calculated to inspire in the minds of those who first beheld it had in some manner subsided, the knife which the wounded man still held firmly in his grasp was wrested from his hands, and he was forthwith conveyed into another apartment in the house, and medical assistance sent for. I,:n the interval he thrust the fingers of one of his hands into the wound he inflicted on his neck, and tried to tear it open, and no doubt would have succeeded in destroying himself, bad he not been prevented 11 several persons who held him. On the assival of the surgeon be found the unfortunate woman beyond the power of all human aid. The wounded man, however, who was then not considered in imminent danger, was enabled to articulate when the wound was stressed, and on the way to Guy's Hospital, where he was ordered to be conveyed, he scarcely opened his lips during the whole way from Blackheath. From subsequent inquiries made by our Reporter, it was ascertained that no person was present when the circumstances that previously occurred between Lambourn and his wife took place, and which terminated in the truly shocking manner above described. It seems that Lambourn and the deceased, who had been married to each other about two years, lived very unhappily together, he being of a morose and violent temper. In consequence of his ill-treatment of her at various times, she left and went into service, and since then 'tie has frequently called where she was living and ill-used and abused her.— Ori;:ng to a beating that he gave the deceased at OAO commencement of this month, she went before the Magistrates of Greenwich, and took out a warrant against him, which, however, was not executed, as the person against whom it was issued left the neighbourhood, and went down to work in Oxfordshire. Since he absented himself from Blackheath his wife has been living at the Yorkshire Grey, where she has conducted herself with great propriety, and was considered by her employers as a quiet, inoffensive woman. Mr. Carttar, the Coroner for Kent, having been made acquainted with the dreadful nature of the case, immediately issued his summons for a Jury to investigate the affair.