The Express. — 1851-10-02 (London, England)

THE MURDER AND SUICIDE. AT  CAMBERWELL.  The scene of the dreadful tragedy announced the Express of yesterday evening continues to attract numlscrs of persons, anxious to learn the particulars of the mournful event. We proceed to give some additional details. The house where the catastrophe occurred is situated at the corner of Queen's-place and George-street, Wyndham-road; the locality being about a quarter of a mile from the Walworth turnpike-gate, and rather remarkable for the general poverty of its aspect. A visitor, in passing through the street, can scarcely help observing how numerous are the small shops in it, and amongst them those kept by the humblest class of grocers are chiefly conspicuous. The shop of the deceased Fawcett is one of the best in the i street. The name of his predecessor i, still over the door, and "Wyndham House" is painted on the house in large characters. Immediately over the door are the words " Benjamin Stockhant, licensed dealer in tea, coffee, tobacco, snuff," &c. There are six rooms in the house, and the shop has a double frontage. At the back is the wash-house, where, under the sink, the murderer was found with his throat cut ; and further behind is a pretty garden, well stocked for the period, and about 60 feet in length, into which Fawcett was dragged by police-constable Sherwin. . .  There is considerable conflict between the accounts in circulation in reference to the money which Fawcett paid, or undertook to pay, for the stock and good will. One statement, for example, was to the effect that he had paid 701. all that he possessed in the worlil—and that the discovery that the business was far less than he had expected, led him to commit murder and suicide. According to another and more credible account, he hail engaged to take the stock at a valuation of 351., and the good will at 151., and for the whole he had given a promissory note of 50/., which was payable, but not paid, on Monday at noon. Whichever statement may approach nearest to the truth, it appears evident so far that the prtrenzy wnich terminated so sadly was directly connected with the entrance upon a new undertaking. During the whole of Saturday Fawcett was occupied in taking stock, with the air and manner natural in any one so situated. On Monday evening, the very night before the murder, ho visited Mr. Conway, the landlord of the Prince Albert Tavern, in George-street, and during this visit he smoked a pipe and spoke cheerfully to the innkeeper of his prospects. On this occasion, while speaking to Mr. Conway, he referred to some tea with which he hail sapplied him in the course of the day, saying, " 1 am sorry I sent in your tea in such a way, but my ten papers have not yet come in. It will he all right next time, however ; and you'll find that I'll serve you better than anybody else." The only repay which Mr. Conway made to this apology was that " he didn't care about the paper so long as the article was tea and he had the weight." Fawcett added, that "as he was a stranger he was sure the landlord would do his best for him." Mr. Conway said he would, and thereupon introduced the deceased to several of the most respectable neighbours. In addition to the three children whose lives lie attempted to take, in two cases with such Intel success, Fawcett had two grownup daughters. One of these, about 20 years of age, is apprenticed to a respectable dressmaker in Queen-street, Oxford-street ; the other, who is about 17, is stated to be in service. Intelligence of what has occurred was c.a. veyed to the eldest daughter yesterday evening by Mr. Lewis, a baker, of Wyndham-road ; and it led to a very which tends to surround the whole affair with a fearfully peculiar kind of interest. The informant said to the daughter, " I um sorry to tell you that your father is dead." Ou hearing this, the daughter exclaimed, in great agony, "Oh, my God ! has he committed suicide—has he committed suicide ?" Mr. Lewis then gradually revealed to her the whole of the particulars ; and he thus elicited from her the painful facts that he had on a former occasion attempted suicide by drowning, and that both his father and brother had actually committed suicide. The police constable who first entered the premises found on the person of the deceased a five-pound note, and in the till about 2s, in coppers. This is all the money that was found on the premises. Yesterday a careful examination was made by the eldest daughter of the deceased's papers, and amongst them were found all the documents relating to the transfer of the business. The house remains, for the present, in the charge of the police. Mrs. Fawcett is staying, in a state of complete distraction, at the house of a neighboar named " Lee," and here, also, is her child Mary Ann. It was gratifying to learn, on inquiring at the house of Mr. King, the surgeon who attends her, that this sole survivor of those who were attacked, is likely to recover, at least that the wound itself is not likely to have a fatal termination.