npedrazzini/19thc_murder_suicide_news huggingface dataset:
The Sun. — 1844-11-27 (London, England)

MELANCHOLY SUICIDE.—Last evening an inquiry was gone into before Mr. Higgs, at the Union, Jermynstreet, to investigate the circumstances attending the death of Edward Arthur May, Esq., aged 24, of 17, Duke-street, St. James's, the son of Sir Stephen May, Bart., who put a period to his existence. The first witness examined was Charles Belzoni, the landlord of the house, 17, Duke-street, who stated that deceased's aunt had taken a furnished bed-room at his house, and the deceased arrived on Friday last, having just come from Madras. The last time witness saw him alive was when he came home at eleven o'clock on Sunday night ; he asked for, and was supplied with some bread, butter, and porter. On the following morning deceased's cousin, Mr. Brinsley de Courcy Nixon, came about half-past ten o'clock to call him up, when he found the door of his room fastened on the inside. He had not done so before. An entrance was effected by a door which communicated with another room, and on merely looking into the room and seeing some stains of blood on the bed, witness immediately ran and fetched Mr. Miller, a surgeon, who, on examination, said he had been dead several hours. The manner of the deceased gentleman was very strange, and witness was of opinion he was not right in his mind. He was found undressed in the bed with his throat cut, and he had evidently inflicted the wound with the table knife, which had been sent to him with bread and butter (the knife was produced covered with blood). His clothes were much the worse for wear.  A letter signed by the deceased was produced, directed to the Custom-house agent, to clear his luggage from the barque Mary Anne, by which he arrived from Madras. Robert Jaques, captain of the bakue Mary Anne, said, from his conduct at Madras and during the voyage, it was evident he was not right in his head. He was dismissed from the Madras army by the sentence of a general court-martial. He was very melancholy during the voyage. Brinsley de Courcy Nixon, of, 20, Holles-street, Cavendish-square, a cousin of deceased, said he was formerly a Lieutenant in the Hon. East India Company's army of Madras. He dined with witness on Sunday, when be appeared to have a very wild, vacant, and restless look.  The jury returned a verdict of "Insanity."
The Sun. — 1844-11-11 (London, England)

SUICIDE FROM DISTRESS.  On Friday a protracted inquiry took place before Mr. Wakley, on the body of Mary Alloways, aged 63, a poor needle-woman. The jury, having viewed the body, expressed their horror 'at its wretchedly emaciated appearance. Ann Jones, the landlady of the house in which the deceased lodged, said she last saw her alive on Tuesday evening. She fancied there was something strange in her manner, for, as she went up stairs to bed, the deceased broke a piece from a loaf she had with her, and in a very singular manner said, " Only taste it ;itis so very sweet." On Wednesday, a friend of deceased found her lying on the bed quite dead. There was a cup, which had contained some liquid, lying upon a box by the window. On the table was a letter (read to the Court); which stated that she was very much troubled in her mind in consequence of not being able to procure work, and owing witness, as she said, seven weeks' rent. It further.stated, that the only thin in the world she possessed was a...watch, which she imagined to be worth 101. She bequeathed the proceeds of its sale to liquidate her debts, and the remainder to go towards her funeral ; but if it did„not raise sufficient for the latter purpose, her body was to be,. sent to the workhouse for interment by the pairish. It then added her earnest wish that she should have one friend to follow her to the grave, and, a hope'that her poverty would not be made known; concluding with the words, " God bless you all—l am very much ex, cited, and my pen is very bad." Deceased was an extremely well-behaved woman, and had been highly educated. They always imagined she had some trifling income that helped to support her, but since her death they had found such was not the case, and that she supported herself by her needle. She had latterly appeared very desponding, which she stated arose from her inability to procure work and the poor wages she received for it. She had once or twice adverted lately to the double suicide at Kilmarnock, and said she would rather follow their example than apply for relief. She had some friends, who occasionally gave her food, but she seldom had any other meals but breakfast and tea. The surgeon said, the body was wretchedly.' emaciated, and therdeceased had all the appearance of having been completely starved. The jury returned a verdict " That the deceased destroyed herself by, taking oxalic acid, but in what state of mind she was at the time there was no evidence to show."  BRISTOL SUGAR MARKET, IVov. B.—There is no alteration to notice in onr sugar market this week ; the demand still continues limited, but prices•are about supported ; the sales since our last are under 500 hhds. West India, and 700 mots Mauritius.. In rum. there is nothing do g.—Bristol Mercury.
The Sun. — 1844-06-08 (London, England)

DARKNESS.—On Monday last, as the navigators employed in the completion of the Ledbury Canal to this city were engaged at Monkmoor in forming a wide ditch close to the hedge adjoining Mr. George's factory, the spade of one of the men came in contact with a human skull, and on further turning up the earth a whole skel The l eton, in a very advanced state of decay, was discovered. frai memorials of mortality lay upon an oak slab, or board, at a depth of about four feet, the hole dug for their reception being filled up with stones and rubbish. From the absence leer,tahinnttyfrwohmeththeer the ethreempeali?s, are iftehmac it is impossible these soseofa mtoasle or ayw sam:l. nm ea ns oe fe rtthaei nbl yo noefs ai et iisn cdoi cutau oe fd stmh aa lt tshtae yt u are re; tahnods et hoef teeth being very perfect, most likely those of a person in the bloom or full vigour of age. From the circumstance of a drain having been cut through the ground over where the crumbling skeleton lay, without any discovery of the body, there is little doubt that the interment took place before the inclosure of the common, and therefore the deceased has probably lain in the eartk for a period of sixty years. The spot is secluded, and at that period must, even though open, have been ono of peculiar loneliness. Whether, however, the remainsas has ahreee tnh sons er sf a ds m frome hapless the br ae ti hn ge r f ocualrl eyfuml un daenr ends r, or,in which they were deposited, of some suicide, or person who died by the hangman, and was consequently denied the rites of Christian burial, is one of those questions on which the mind may speculate with mysterious curiosity, but can arrive at no certain conclusion. Some years ago, a pensioner about 70 years old, on his death-bed, declared that in his younger days he hadmurdered a man, and that the corpse was buried on Monkmoor, but the circumstance was little regarded at the time, and it is in vainto speculate upon it now.---Hereford Journal.
The Sun. — 1844-06-08 (London, England)

DARENEM—On Monday last, as theu navigators employed in the completion of the L edb ry Canal to this city were engaged at Monkmoor in farming a wide ditch close to the hedge adjoining Mr, George's factory, the spade of one of the men Clinic in contact with a human skull, and on further turning up the earth a whole skeleton, in a very advanced state of decay, was discovered. The frail memorials of mortality lay upon an oak slabs or board, at a depth of about four feet, the hole dug for their reception with stones and rubbish. From the absence being filled up it is impossible to say with certainty wligtlo4 of the pelvis, the remains are those of a male or female, hut from the smallness of the bones it is conjectured that they are those of a woman, certainly of an incliYidll4l of small stature ; and the teeth being very perfect, mast likely those of a person in the bloom or 4111 vigour of age. From the circumstance of a clrslin having been cut through the ground over where the grumbling skeleton lay, without any cliseovery of the body, there is little doubt that the interment took place before the enclosure of the common, and therefore the deceased has probably lain in the earths for a period of sixty years. The spot is secluded, and at that period must, even thoughuw open, have ave been one of peculiar loneliness.* Whether, h remains are those of some hapless being (bully murdered,elh or, as has been surmised, from the rather careful manner in which they were deposited, of some suicide, or person who died by the hangman, and was consequently ti.enled the rites of Christian burial, is one of those queatidns on which the mind may speculate with mysterious curiosity, but can arrive at• ~ no certaip Some years ago, a pensioner about years ow, on his death-bed, declared that in Ilkg younger ays he had murdered a man, and that the cmpse Rat burled on Monkmoor, but the circum,st4lli4 *is little regarded at v the time, and it is in all‘Co speculate upon it now.—Hereford . . AMMO,  ko"- 17-41 "4:11N
The Sun. — 1844-09-18 (London, England)

VERDICTS OF INSANITY.  At an inquest held by Mr. Wakley, M.P., on the body of a woman aged 22, a sempstress, who had taken an ounce of oxalic acid, and who, although she continued to suffer the most excruciating agony until her death on Saturday last, did all she could to prevent her life from being saved, and would not swallow voluntarily tea or coffee, lest some remedy should be mixed with it, the Coroner said, the determination of some persons to die was wonderful. Some time since he held an inquest on a woman in Clarendon-square, who had swallowed the strongest preparation of sulphuric acid, who had lived nineteen hours afterwards, suffering the direst corporeal torment—for her tongue, palate, throat, and stomach, must have been seared as if a red-hot iron had been passed over them—yet she never acknowledged what she had done—kept the act a secret from her medical attendants ; and it was not till after death that the truth was discovered. " Gentlemen," continued the Coroner, " the present is one of those cases in which there is no evidence of insanity, though some persons think that the very act of taking poison is an evidence of unsound mind. Such an opinion is very dangerous, for a person having taken poison, and labouring under its effects, might commit murder, and be on such an opinion acquitted on the plea of insanity. It will be found that persons who commit suicide adopt the means best calculated for the end they have in view. I think it is a very dangerous practice for coroners' juries to come to the conclusion that persons who destroy themselves are insane. The very same jury may be called to the Old Bailey, and placed in very great difficulty in trying a man for murder when insanity would be pleaded, because no motive for committing the murder could be proved, and divers eccentricities could be shown in the previous life of the murderer. They might be told that they had just before returned a verdict of insanity in a case of' suicide committed without motive, having taken that as well as previous eccentricities of character into consideration, and they might be told that want of motive and eccentricity in case of murder should weigh equally in their minds, and induce them to record a verdict of insanity, I want to get rid of the dangerous practice of returning verdicts of insanity when the evidence does not fully justify them. On the other hand, we are told that there should be a verdict of self-murder where there is no evidence of insanity, with the view of preventing suicide by the dread of burial at midnight, without funeral rites, and in an unhallowed grave—a
The Sun. — 1844-09-18 (London, England)

SUN.—The English Securities leave off firmly to-day, Consols being 992- for Money, and 99i for Account. Exchequer Bills touched 765. premium, Bank Stock continued at 204 to 205.  There was not much doing in Spanish Bonds, but they continued at about previous rates. The Five per Cents. were 23i to 24; and the Three per Cents., 34/ to Venezuela Bonds were 42 to 4; Chilien Deferred, 50 to ; Buenos Ayres, 35 to 36; and Greek Bonds, 124. The additional transactions in Railway Shares have been these:—Bristol and Exeter, ex div., were 10 to 9i; Chester and Holyhead, 1i f; Dublin and Belfast, 3il Dublin and Cashel, 81; Great Western, Half, 37; Lancaster and Carlisle, 1 /; Liverpool and Manchester, 107; Birmingham Thirds, 34 ; Ditto Quarter, 224 ,to 23; Croydon, ex div., 3; London and York, 34 Manchester and Leeds, Half, 221 to 23; Midland, 6; South Devon, 41; South-Eastern, 54; Trent Valley, 7; York and North Midland, 53 to 55; Ditto Half, 27; Paris and Lons, 7; Paris and Orleans, 181 4; Rouen and Havre, premium. Brighton have been 24; and Blackwall, 94 discount.  The Shares unissued of the Orleans, Tours, and Bordeaux (D'Anthouard's) Company, have been sold today at 4 premium. The Foreign Exchanges generally were very firm this  afternoon.  The following is the official return of the exports of Bullion from the port of London, for the week ending Thursday last:— Silver Bars to Rotterdam  very ridiculous and erroneous idea, because I do not believe that any person so ill-treating his sensitive body as to commit suicide, cares one straw how that body is treated when dead. In the case before you. I ask, whether it is possible for you, with the evidence you have, to determine the state of mind the 1 woman was in when she took the poison ? I am of opinion that it is impossible, and I think it would be a mark of insanity to come to any determination of the sort. lam also of opinion that tie proceeding. of our law courts are tinged with insa ty. Counsel, in cases of murder, plead that the murderer acted under uncontrollable impulses, and the plea succeeds, and the culprit is pronounced insane and provided for during life; but if a poor lad suffering from hunger, and I think such privation most likely to produce uncontrollable impulses, steals a loaf of bread, the plea of insanity will avail him nought, and the House of Correction will be his lunatic asylum. Think you, if M'Naughten, instead of murdering the unfortunate Mr. Drummond, had stolen his horse, or his ox, or his ass, or anything that was his, would be guiltless of the crime on the plea of insanity ? No, gentlemen. I advise you, then, in cases of this sort to pass a medium verdict--one neither of sanity or insanity." The jury instantly acquiesced, and said, " Deceased had destroyed herself, but the state of her mind when she did so was not known to them."
The Sun. — 1844-09-18 (London, England)

VERDICTS .OF INSAA IT Y. At an 'nquestleld by Mr. N'treley, M.P., on tip body of a .womeu aged 22,• a :imps; Bess, , who bad Wien en oe,nce ofoxrlie, raid, end who,- elthough she continued to stiffer t'-!e most exci the 'bg agony wart her death, on Satox'ay Inst, did rll. she could to prevent he:. f..ora being saver' end world not swallow volentooy tea or colic 3: lest some remedy should be ,v-ith it,' the Coroner r'd, *he de.; texmination.of some pet Air t ("e iq Some One since he held, en inquest on a worrrn in Clarendon-square, who bod sw lowrd the ta'. .vir4est. preparation of sulphtii...3 , who 11. rvcd r'neteen hours eftet %yards, suffei• ig the direst coti meal torment—for her Olive, joelat 1, throat end st on-qeb, must have been seemed as if a red-hot iron b-i been passed over • them—yet she never f' +nowledged what she bad done-=kept the r .I'z a her medical attendsnts; end it noi; 1111 r r death that the tuith was .discover 1, " C ntlerren," continued the Coroner, " the -„Or2scnt is one of +- lose c-res in which there 51 no evidence of ;rseriti, though some persons tbly.,l( *'zit the vein aet of td—gr-ison is an evidence of unsound &id. E.:ch rn op -ion is very dangerous, for a Larson l•-•vng taken and laboux (7 under its efects, zeiriht ComiritlMlTder, and be on such' en 00;";Oti on the pica of insanity. It w.!11. be tound that pel 'rs who commit suicide adopt the meens hest crier! for the end they have in view. I Wnlr it is a very d,13.; fors practice for coroners' ju,.:es to come b the conclusion tint persors who des.; Toy • thz;mselves are insv'ie. srne 4e,./ Iry be called to the Old Br"ey, redvefy &;:e:nt difficulty in tyingfern for mu.7l,er when 7r sf would be plead-d, becat-71 no rnof' ye for corrn-i.,'ng the murder could be proved., end (r.ve6 could be shown in the previous rfe of the Inv.:defer. They might be told *hat' ney bri jest be ore re:.r.ned a verdict of insanity in a case o. suicide corri.r:.,A without motive, hr.v...ng tf ken `h rs well FS .ors eccentricities of cheracter into cons!detallon, end they might be told that wrnt of motive end eccentricity in case of murder should weigh equally in their minds, and induce them to record avertr et of I went to get rid of the dangerot s pi., -2i.tee of re.,a,.nwhen the evidence dcs not ing verdicts of inner-icy fully justify them. On '-7.1e other b-nd, we Vt.' told that there should be a v,r.‘rdlct of self-murder where there is no evidence of insanity, with the view of preventing suicide by the dread of buri'l at midnight, with Out funeral rites, and in an unhallowed grave--a
The Sun. — 1844-06-04 (London, England)

CAUTION TO CAD-DRIVERS AND CONDUCTORS.— The Registrar of the metropolitan public carriages has given notice to the Commissioners of Police that a general renewal of licenses to drivers and conductors, accompanying an issue of new metal tickets, has just Lefton place; that on and after the Ist of June all persons acting in the above capacities wearing the old metal tickets will be doing so illegally, and their tickets may be instantly seized, in order to be returned to the Registrar. The distinction between the new and old tickets may be detected at a glance, the former being much smaller and lighter, with the figures larger, and the crown without the letters "V. R.' The above regulation has, it isbelieved, been adopted in consequence of a large number of persons being in the habit of using badges obtained by them from those togrwouhseom, partridges, and e re be before granted. • ' U pheasantsm aresa as concerned, there is great reason to fear that the present will prove' a most cliSastroui season. The A pouts, as soon as hatched, require.drink as well as meat f ar-as and where they are to find the• former blissful element, 'after'five weeks of continued aridity,.surpasses our means of Information. That gamekeepers are on the alert, digging holes, in the hope of turning to account lurking springs, we, are well aware ; but their efforts, upon the whole, are so fruitless; . that they remind us of the sad employment of those who let down buckets into empty wells and spend their .days in drawing no water. Theartesian well'is an invention that cannot be transported to our hills and moors ; and, is the meantime, from all we can learn, great must be the suffering among the denizens of the wild. •Blackcocks,which generally breedamoo:g marshy spats; are, of course; better off, although,. even. in their .case, supply scarcely. equals demand. Hares and rabbits, which feed early in the morning, may derive benefit from the earliest dews ; and this we sus-pact is their only resource, as few of them dare Venture Even bees, from the: intense and long-continued. drought, require at home. what they near, a running. stream. . cannot easily find abroad—artificial supplies of water— and we are aware of instances in which the tenants of a . single skep consume nearly the contents of two soupplates full daily.—Scotch Paper. SUICIDE ATTWATELOO BRlDGE.—uaroline Swaite, the unfortunate woman who flung herself from Waterloobridge on Friday morning, but who was rescued from a watery grave bythe exertions of a,waterman, died on Saturday morning in ecilligeildstital, from 'the effects- of_ the injuries she sustained on her descent from the battlements of the bridge. She was married, and resided at 43, Portpoel-lane, Gray's Inn-lane. She committed the rash act in consequence of a quarrel with her husband.
The Sun. — 1844-12-02 (London, England)

THE DOUBLE SUICIDE.—It having been reported that the bodies of the unfortunate couple would be in. !erred in one grave, on Sunday afternoon, in Beaumont Cemetery, Stepney, a large concourse of persons of both sexes assemble.l to witness the std though novel ceremony. They, however, were somewhat disappointed, as the relatives of the ill-fated young woman objected, notwithstanding her dying wish, to laying her remains with those of her deceased suitor. The parochial officers expressed a hope that the bodies should not be buried together, as such a proceeding might be calculated to give a kind of countenance to such tragedies. Accordingly, the body of the female was, on Saturday afternoon. consigned to its final resting place in Globe-fields burial-ground, Globe-road, Mile-end. The funeral was kept strictly private. Yesterday afternoon, however, the body of the young man was privately interred in Beaumont Cemetery. It has not been noticed that a box belonging to the young man was broken open, and all the letters which the poor girl had sent to him were found secured in an envelope, with the following superscription :—" Anguish and sorrow. The inclosed letters were given to me by my dear Elizabeth. Let them be a Ewing monument of my cruelties, and as a memento of grief.—(signed)—C. A. D." After a successful herring season our boats have been laid up in order to be prepared for the mackarel sleowaseosnt,swumhi,e_habaowuritligliicoilm.limTeerhnavce uamboberut ofCbhoraisttsmeasoi.ploTyelide most money made by any one boat has been 4301.—the were fifteen.  The ablest article in the Number before us of this —by far the best Irish—periodical, is a critical one, and the subject is " Eugene Sue," whose novels are just now attracting the attention of continental readers in no ordinary degree. The Reviewer, on the whole, is highly favourable to Sue, and in support of his opinion quotes some extracts from his " Mysteries of Paris," which are certainly replete with pathos and vigour, though there is a little too much of exaggeration about them. We have been struck with this observation, which does credit to the Reviewer's sense of literary propriety :—" A parent who has the misfortune to see a son abandon himself to vice and infamy, does not so deeply lament his having brought that wretched being into the world, as an intellectual creator ought to deplore the having originated one bad seductive idea; for when the vicious conversation of an individual corrupts at most those only with whom he comes in contact, vice, winged by genius, and multiplied by the Press, overspreads at once a whole continent." The "Pretended Patriarchal Inscriptions of Arabia" is rather a heavy piece of antiquarianism, which will be caviare to the general reader. The " English and the Irish Universities " is a dexterously reasoned essay, penned in a more temperate spirit than we should have expected. Our readers will, no doubt, be entertained with the following extraordinary anecdote, which we extract from " Major Lynch's Journal of a Residence among the Ghilzies in 1839 and 1840:"