The Sun. — 1834-10-14 (London, England)

ATTEIIIPT TO POISON TWO CHILDREN,  AND SUICIDE OF THE MOTHER.  Considerable excitement was produced in the town of St. Alban's on Sunday, by the report that Mrs. James Smailes, residing in Chequers-street, had administered arsenic to two of her children, one a girl about seven years old, and the other 14 months, and had also taken a quantity of the deleterious poison herself. The rumour was unhappily too true ; and it appears that she bad effected her purpose in the absence of her husband and son at morning chapel. Medical assistance was subsequently called in, and the usual antidotes administered. These were successful as regarded the children, but failed in removing the deadly effects cf the poison from the mother, who expired in great agony at halt:past seven o'clock. An inquest was held the following mornir°r at the New Court House, before T. W. Blagg, Esq., Coroner for the Borough, and a respectable Jury. The evidence of Mr. J. Coales and Mr. P. Kingston, surgeons, was to the same effect ; viz., that at half-past one o'clock the preceding day they had been called in, and found deceased in great excitement from pain ; that after same time she admitted having given arsenic to the children, and bad also taken some herself ; that she at first refused to have any thing done for her, but afterwards consented, and then willingly took an emetic, which produced much vomiting, but she said it was too late to do her good ; and that she died between seven and eight o'clock ; she said she had committed the act from -poverty 1 and distress, and thought it best not to leave the children behind her : she had written a letter to her husband, and had given him a reason : she was perfectly collected, and there was not the least symptom of insanity about her. Mr. G. Bates, who was well acquainted with the family, said the deceased generally appeared cheerful, and never complained of distress.—Mr. T. Bradshaw lodged in the house, and had observed the deceased to be very dejected during the past week.—Mr. J. Smailes, the husband sworn : He first discovered that the deceased was unwell at dinner time (soon after he and his son Henry returned from chapel), as she could not cat anything ; the baby was sick, and on examining the ejected matter, he found a white powder ; he also saw two sea-spoons on the mantel-piece with some white powder, and tins excited his suspicion ; on questioning her, she refused to answer, but the little girl, who was continually squeezing her throat, said " mother had given her some sugared bread and butter :" he immediately sent for the medical gentlemen : to all his inquiries she only said, " Oh Smailes !" but afterwards gave him a paper, and said lie might thank Mrs. Bradshaw for what she had done. He could assign no cause for her dejection, except that he had not been so successful in his trade the preceding week as in same others : Mrs. Bradshaw and deceased frequently quarrelled : three months since his bed bad been seized for rent,  which had much influence on her spirits at the time, and she cried frequently, but he did not perceive any despondency lately. They always lived on the best terms. He here produced the paper given him by deceased, of which the following is a copy ;—" You have no one to thank but Mrs. Bradshaw ; she told Henry that I went  to London, and slept with Mr. ---, the officer, but you know better than that ; but I wish you would see him and her face to face ; and she wrote to her son George, and  said that he had been great with me. Take care of my dear son, and do not listen to what any of the Bradsliaws say about him, for they hate him, for I have heard them say so. Let him go to Mrs. Wood's as often as you can.— For Mr. Smailes." On his further examination, he said he never suspected the deceased of any impropriety of conduct. John Lewis, apprentice to Mr. Attwood, chemist, said the deceased on Saturday night, called and asked for a pennyworth more of the same stuff to poison rats, which he had sold her some time since ; that he gave her a quarter of an ounce of arsenic, andwrote on the envelope " Poison." (Here it should be observed, that about a fortnight ago, her husband had found a paper of arsenic under her bed, and said it was very shocking for her to purchase such stuff: she cried, but said nothing. This occurred in the presence of Mr. Bates, who testified to its truth, and she had purchased it at Mr. Attwood's.) The Jury, after considerable deliberation, returned a verdict of Felo de se, and the body, on the Coroner's warrant, was buried without funeral rites, at eleven o'clock at night, in the Abbey church-yard, in the presence of an immense concourse of spectators. The two children are still living, though the infant continues in such a weakly state, that doubts are entertained whether its life can be saved.--Essex County Herald.