npedrazzini/19thc_murder_suicide_news huggingface dataset:
Widnes Examiner. — 1891-02-21 (Widnes, Cheshire, England)

HORRIBLE MURDER AND SUICIDE.  A WIFE SHOT DEAD  A terrible tragedy was enacted at Stone; North Stafford shire, late on Tuesday evening, when the manager of the Falcon Inn, a fully-licensed house, situate in the High-street, deliberately shot his wife with a double-barrelled breech-loading gun, and afterwards shot himself. For the past three months William Strefford, aged twenty-six, and his wife, Ada Mary Strefford, aged twenty-seven, the latter being a Liverpool young woman whose maiden name was Ada Mary Perks, have been managing the Falcon Inn for Messrs. Montgomery and Co., brewers, Stone and Liverpool. Latterly they have lived unhappily, and frequent quarrels have taken place between the two, and as late as Saturday night Strefford attempted to stab his wife, but he only succeeded in inflicting a wound on his wife's shoulder. About a month ago an infant child was found dead in bed, and this seems to have affected Strefford, for since then he has given way to habits of drinking, and his wife has been afraid of him. About 10.25 on Tuesday night Strefford was alone in the back vaults of the house, which is entered from a yard. At that time there were in the house a man named Shardlow, a barber named Flowers, Mrs. Strefford, and her sister-inlaw, who acted as assistant in the house. Strefford, it appears, sent for his wife, and there can be no doubt that he deliberately premeditated murder. On the wife entering the vaults, her husband must have deliberately taken up the double-barrelled gun aril fired. The shot must have struck her in the throat just under the chin, destroying the tongue, and entering the base of brain about the centre. Strefford then, no doubt, held the gun upright to his chin and fired, bisecting his head vertically. The first that was heard of the report of firearms was by Flowers. He did not think at first that it was the report of a gun, but on hearing a second similar noise he rushed to the back vaults along with the man Shardlow, They there saw a horrible sight. The bodies lay feet to feet, and the discharged gun was by the side of them. The heads of the couple presented a frightful spectacle. Not a shred of the features of the man could be seen, the face being simply one mass of flesh and blood. The only features of the woman that were visible were her eyes, forehead, and part of the nose, the lower portion of the face being completely shattered. With regard to the motive for the crime, all that can be said is that Strfford was a very passionate man, and had lately been drinking heavily and appeared strange in his manner. His wife, it is stated, was very jealous of her husband, and had frequently upbraided him for alleged infidelity.  A
Widnes Examiner. — 1891-04-11 (Widnes, Cheshire, England)

ATTEMPTED SUICIDE AT WARRINGTON. At the Borough Police Court, on Monday, Isaac Fitetue, a man of mild and respectable appearance, and apparently about 60 years of age, residing at 38, Green-st., was brought up to answer a charge or attempting bo commit suicide by cutting his throat with a table knife, that morning. Chief Constable Hunt said the prisoner used, five years ago, to work at Atherton Quay ironworks, as a labourer. Ho had been for some years subject to epileptic fits, and latterly they had become more frequent. Previous to that morning he had given warning that he had something of the kind coming on. The Chief Constable suggested that he should be handed over to the relieving officer and the doctors for them to determine what course to pursue with him, for he did not think he was resnonsible.—The prisoner's wife, a very respectable-looking, elderly woman, stated that he was the father of eleven children.— Dr. Joseph, who was not sworn, stated that the prisoner had inflicted twa incised wounds, about half an inch iong, in his throat. They were not serious,, though they might have been, as there was considerable 'hemmorhage from them. He had over and over again expressed a decided disposition to commit suicide, in fact homicide, having threatened his wife; and a few rare' ago he had recommended that he should be put under control, but he had then no distinct delusions, and he supposed the medical men would not certify him insane. Now he seemed to have one or two delusions, and these, although not of a fixed character, would certainly render him temporarily insane. Efe would not take hia- medicine , sometimes, fancying that he(Dr. Joseph) pcisoned it ; and he imagined also that his wife wanted to paison him, , and had such delusions as that the birds were always , singing.—Mrs. Fitchue made an unsworn statement, and said she had coped with him for six years, and had not been afraid of him till lately, but had concealed'her fear ii-om him. He had fits once or twice every month. They lasted a week, and then he went quite out of his mind, so that altogether he would be bad for a fortnight. She had had a bard struggle with him.—The Bench ordered that the poor man be handed over to the relievinr:offleers to see what they could do with him.
Widnes Examiner. — 1891-03-21 (Widnes, Cheshire, England)

SUICIDE IN A POLICE CELL AT ASHTON. A sensational discovery was made in a police cell at Ashton-in- Makerfield, near Newton-le-Willows, on Saturday evening. During the day a labourer named John Barker, residing at Stubs haw Cross,was arrested under a warrant on a charge ot unlawfully assaulting a married woman named Jane Byrne. On Saturday evening, at nine o'clock, he was found to have committed suicide by hanging himself with a muffler.  On Tuesday morning an inquest was held at the King's Arms Hotel, before Mr. Brighouse, county coroner. Police Constable Morson, testified to the arrest of the deceased en Saturday, upon the charge above referred to. —Sergeant Williams also deposed to receiving the prisoner, and seeing him searched, after which on being put into the cell, he asked that he might be allowed his scarf, as he suffered much from quinsey. Having known the prisoner well for six years,lie could say that he had never seen him without a heavy scarf or shawl round his neck, because of the complaint.—Police Constable Dixon spoke to visiting him during the afternoon andevenini.r., and he last saw him plive at eight o'clock. On revisiting the cell about nine o'clock he saw the deceased in a reclining position by the wall,and on exaMining him found him suspended by his scarf from the heating apparatus pipes. Dr. Hannah testified to being called to see the deceased soon after nine o'clock. He endeavoured to restore animation, but failed.—A son of the deceased also gave evidence as to his father suffering from quinsev, and to his being Sometimes stramyein his manner,but aid not think he was inclined to insanity. It transpired that he had threatened to drown himself on Saturday morning before being arrested, but was prevented from doing so. After hearing the evidence the jury returned a verdict of " Suizide during a fit of temporary insanity."
Widnes Examiner. — 1891-06-20 (Widnes, Cheshire, England)

FRODSHAM.  ACCIDHNT TO A. MAIL CART DRIVER.—As the evening mail was being driven through Frodsham to Warrington from Helsby, the driver of the vehicle fell from the seat and received injuries to such an extent that it was found necessary to send one of the Frodsham, postmen in charr of the mails. DISTRESSING On Tuesday morning most distressing and determined case of suicide occurred at Five Crosses, near Frodsham, when a man named Joseph Blease, aged about 50)years, shot himself in the head. On Wednesday Mr. Churton, coroner, held an inquest at Frodsham, on the body of the deceased who had been gardener to Mr. J. C. Sutton of Overton. It appeared from the evidence that the deceased had for SOW weeks past suffered from influenza, and on Tuesday morning he suggestedto his wife that she 'should go to Dr. Robinson who had been attending him and ascertain the amount of his bill. She left the house at 7.45 for that purpose and returned at nine. As her husband was not in the house she went into the garden to search for him and in an outhouse she found him lying on his back with a gun across his breast. She gave an alarm to Mr. Sutton's household and went for Dr. Robinson, but when the doctor arrived the unfortunate man was quite dead. There was a deep wound behind the jaw and a quantity of shot was emleddied in the flesh. The back of the head was blown alitibst completely away. P.S. Doyle produced a piece of twine which had been tied to the trigger by means of which the deceased had fired the gun and killed himself.—A verdict of " Suicide whilst temporarily insane" was recorded by the jury.  The Select Committee of the House of Commons yesterday threw out the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Railway Bill for a new line to London.
Widnes Examiner. — 1891-06-20 (Widnes, Cheshire, England)

SUDDEN DEATH AT EARMSTOWN.  DISGRACEFUL SCENE IN ME STREET.  On Thursday night, last week,. a. man named Michael Charnley, 65 years of age, who lodged with Mr. Melsip, No. 1; Sankey-st., died very suddenly in an outhouse of the New Market run, Earlestown. The deceased',. it appears, had been in the New Market Inn the greater part of the day, and shortly before eight &clock went out into the back yard. As he did not return within a reasonable time, one of the men in the house went out to, see what had ' become of him, as he had complaiivee during the day of not feeling well: The man who went out, found the deceased huddled in the outhouse, and at once infOrmed the barman, who sent for the police. no. Middleton was soom ort the spot, and after getting the deceased' into the yard, he found he was quite dead. Therewas nnaccommodation for the. body at the New Market Inn, and Middleton pro— cured a hand cart, into which he put the body, and removed it to the man'S lodgings. arriving there, the occupier of the house refused to talte the body in, alleg, ing that deceased had left there two days before. FOr some tune the body remained in the street without covering, and surrounded by a crowd composed princi-. pally of 'women andl children, until' a neighbour pravitlect an old sheet, which was thrown ever the corpse. P.C. Cameron then arrived on thescene, and after a consultation. he decided to ask the landiOrd of a neighbouring public-house to find accommodation for the body,, but he refused to have anything to do with it. The, body had, therefore, to remain in the street for some tins* longer, until the barman at the New Market Inn was prevailed upon to allow it ta lie in an outbuildiaz. There the body was conveyed. but about midnight it had to be again removed, and finally found a restingplace in a stable. The facts of the death, were communicated to the Coroner, but he did not think it necessary to hold an inquest.  A Vienna telegram states that Herr Vail Pilinski, Austrian Consul at Prizrend, who had recently been censured by the Foreign Office, has committed suicide. The Premier and Colonial Treasurer of New Zealand proposes in his financial statement just made to establish a graduated income tax, ranging from threepence to a shilling in the pound. He al sr) proposes to abolish the property tax and to levy a graduated land tax.
Widnes Examiner. — 1891-08-29 (Widnes, Cheshire, England)

THE SENSITIONAL SUICIDE AT WARRINGTON.  The body of the man who committed suicide by jumping into the Mersey from Warrington Bridge on Sunday, the 16th inst., was found floating in the river about 300 yards from the Iron Bridge on Saturday evening. It was removed to the Lower Seven Stars, Bridge-street, to await the inquest. The following description is given by the police : " Age, about 35; height, sft. Bin. ; dark hair, dark sandy .moustache and beard of about a fortnight's growth; dressed in a black worsted morning coat, a cloth vest with black stripe, a check tweed pair of trousers, a red, white, and blue striped cotton shirt, and striped cotton handkerchief, a pair of ribbed woolen socks, pair of lace-up boots with square nails in soles and heels. The clothing had been very much worn, and the deceased is supposed to have been a working-man."—The inquest on the body was held on Tuesday, at the Lower Seven Stars, Bridge-st., before Mr. ;W. T. Husband, deputy-coroner for South-West Lancashire.—John Smith, carter. 2, Packet-stage, stated that about half-past four on Sunday afternoon, the 16th inst., he saw a man mount the parapet of Warrington Bridge and jump into the river. On coming to the surface the man moaned and then sank. To the best of his recollection the body the jury had viewed was that of the man in question.—Herbert Booth, Sankey-st., stated that on Saturday evening he was boating on the Mersey. When near the iron bridge at Arpley, he saw the body of the deceased floating in the river. He gave informe don to the police, and the body was recovered.—P.C. Rowbotham spoke to searching the body on Saturday night, but found no papers or anything of value upon it. The body was that of a workman aged about 35. There were no marks of violence abut it. The body had not been identified.—The jury returned a verdict of "Suicide."
Widnes Examiner. — 1891-02-14 (Widnes, Cheshire, England)

SUICIDE IN A STABLE,  AFRAID OF BEING HANGED YET HANGS HIMSELF.  On Wednesday afternoon at the Parade Room, Police Court, Warrington, Mr. W. T. Husband, deputy coroner, held an inquest on the body of James Donaldson, aged 31 years, a native of Airdree. Scot- • land, who was found hanging by the neck, in a stable on Monday last, quite dead. John Kincaid, of 5, Whitfield-street. said he was a rivetter, and came last May with the deceased, who was a rivetter's labourer, from Greenock. He identified the body as that of James Donaldson. lie left his work on the 19th of December. lie had been drinking. Witness saw the body on Tuesday, at the Manx Arms, and idontified it as that of James Donaldson. Ann Littlewood, 4, King-street, said the deceased had lodged with her some time. On the 20th September last he went to Wigan, and on the 2nd of November, he not having come back, she found him at the county police office there. He was afraid that a man named Brockett who lodged with her was going to hang him. She had not seen Brockett since a fortnight last Saturday. The deceased was taken to the Wigan Workhouse Hospital, and she brought him home from there last Thursday. She found him rather strange in his talk. He was out of his senses at moments and then rational again. He began that night about Blockett again,saying he had seen him making a stool and some ropes. About twenty minutes to eleven the next night he went out and did not return. She wired to Wigan in the morning about him, and informed a sergeant of police at Warrington. Ellen Haslam, a girl who worked for her occasionally, sent her little brother to tell witness that Donaldson had hung himself in a stable,and she went and identified the body. —Hannah Oxley, wife of John Oxley, 31, Dd.kin's-yard, deposed that about a quarter to twelve on Monday morning, on account of what her little boy told her, she went to a stable used by her brothers for keeping tools I in, behind the house,and found the deceased there hang' ing by a muffler, and she then brought her husband. The deceased had no right to enter the stable.—P.C. Smith deposed to being called to see the body in the stable. The deceased wasin a kneeling position, and must have been dead all night. In witness's opinion the case was one of determined suicide.—The Coroner having addressed the jury, they immediately returned a verdict that deceased hullo. himself whilst in an unsound state of mincl. • b
Widnes Examiner. — 1891-04-04 (Widnes, Cheshire, England)

ATTEMPT TO COMMIT SUICIDE. Fanny Fern, a widow, 29 years of age, was charged at the Warrington Borough Police Court, on Saturday morning, before Alderman Burgess, with attempting to commit suicide by taking a quantity of laudanum. From a statement madeby the Chief Constable, it appearEd that on Thursday night, the prisoner who had been drinking during the afternoon picked up a small bottle from the mantleshelf of the house in which she lived, in Shipyard, and said, "I will go and poison myself." The . prisoner then left the house and shortly after was seen by her landlady, Mrs. Garrity, coming out of Mr. Hales's chemist's shop in Bridge-st. Remembering that the prisoner had threatened to destroy herself, Mrs. Garrity ran into the shop, and asked the assistant "What have you supplied that woman with ? " and his reply was " pennyworth of laudanum." Mrs. Garrity told the assistant that the prisoner had threatened to destroy herself. Hearing that, the assistant rushed out of the shop, and followed the prisoner into a public-house, when he saw her in the act of drinking the laudanum. He knocked the bottle out of her hand, and the remainder of the laudanum was spilled on thefloor. The prisoner who bad already drunk a quantity of it, was removed 4) the Infirmary, where the stomach pump was used. She was subsequently taken to the Police Station, and locked up on the charge Of attempting to commit i suicide. The prisoner said she: ad no intention to take away he f life. She drank the udanum to cure a cold la from which She was suffering. n answer to his Worship, the assistant to Mr. Hales said,half,,the quantity of the, laudaniim might have killed . her, or she might have drunk therwhole of it and still have lived. A great deal depended von the constitutiomof a person. His Worship said the prisoner had acted yen, foolishly. He was not sure whether she intenAed to take away her life. He would, therefore, give Tier the benefit of the doubt and simply bind her over to keep the pea for six months in one surety of £5.
Widnes Examiner. — 1891-11-21 (Widnes, Cheshire, England)

WOMAN FOUND DROWNED IN THE CANAL. SUPPOSED SUICIDE.  When the Pie was opened The Birds bean to Sing" The Praises of BIRD'S CUST,tIRD  On Tuesday afternoon an inques!-, was held by Mr. H. C. Yates, coroner, at the Black Bear, Inn, Latchford, concerning the death of a woman unknown, whose body was found in the Old Quay Canal under the circumstances detailed as follows: C. Shakesh aft, of 17, Gaskell-st., warehouseman,said on Monday morning he was in the warehouse where he worked, and which overlooked the Canal. He saw something in the water, and got a rake and turned it over, and found it was a woman. He got it to the bank with the help of a man named Ashworth, and informed the police. She was fully dressed, except that she had no hat on. She was in a decomposing condition. The canal was not public there. People could walk through the gateway and jump in. He had seen nobody about the warehouse. —lnspector Cox: On the other side of the canal there is a towing path.—Witness: Not public.— Inspector Cox: They are never prevented from going there.—Witness: There is a board there.—lnSpector Cox deposed to bringing the body away, and finding that the deceased had pulled her clothing over her bead and folded her arms in it. The body appeared to be that of a woman of from 30 to 35 years of age. In her dress pocket he found a bottle (produced) which had contained whisky, in another pocket threepenny pieces,an American 5 cent piece, a garter—she had the other on—and a brooch. She was about 5 feet 4 inches high, and had dark brown hair. He had circulated a description of her. —The Coroner read the description,and said the evidence suggested yery strongly that the poor woman had determined to take her life, from the fact of her arms being fol&d inside her dress, but he did not think the evidence would justify the jury in coming to the conclusion that she had committed suicide.—The jury returned a verdict that the deceased was found drowned in the canal.  MR.
Widnes Examiner. — 1891-09-12 (Widnes, Cheshire, England)

DOUBLE MURDER AND SUICIDE :IN  LONDON.  A supposed double murder and suicide was discovered on Saturday afternoon, in Hungerford-road, Holloway, London': Number fifty-one in that thoroughfare is occu pied by a traveller to a firm of chemical manufacturers, named Ernest Nightingale, his wife, two children, aged sixteen and four months, and their servant. The family retired to rest in the usual way on Friday night, but nothing was seen of them on Saturday morning. At noon, the servant, becoming alarmed, entered the bedroom,and found her master and mistress lying insensible in bed ; the i oelder child was also insensible in' its -cot. She at once raised an alarm, and a doctor being brought to the house-he found that the man, woman, andchild were dead. The police were communicated with, and took charge of the premises, witk-several samples of chemicals,which were found in the room. Late on Saturday night the bodies were removed to Holloway; to await an inqueit. Death in each case is supposed to have occurred from poisoning by strychnine?, as several bottles containing this drug was foundin the room. A fourth death has occurred in connection with the Holloway tragedy. Ruby Florence Nightingale,the baby supposed to have been poisoned on Saturday, died on Tuesday. This makes the fourth victim, and completes the extermination of the family. It was the youngest child of Mr. and Mrs. Nightingale,beinglynt four months old. Though-the doctor is reserving his discoveries concerning the deaths for the coroner's jury, it is stated that the deaths resulted from poisoning by sa powerful acid. Regarding Mr. Nightingale's :alleged financial difficulties, it is still doubtful whether the statement has any foundation as he has for many years drawn an annual salary of 41400. An inquest was opened a Holloway, on Wednesday. The medical evidence stated that without a minute analysis the cause of death could not bespecifically given and the inquiry was consequently adjourned.  To CURE SKIN DlSEAsES.—Sulpholine Lotion drives,away all Eruptions, Pimples, Blotches. Redness, Eczema, ,Acre, Disfigurements, Roughness and Scurf, leaving a clear, spotless skin. Sold evervwbere.—Advt. 'ADVICE To Moral:Rs I—Are you broken in your rest by a sick child suffering with the pain of cutting teeth? Go at,once to a chemist and get a bottle of