npedrazzini/19thc_murder_suicide_news huggingface dataset:
The Sun. — 1835-03-24 (London, England)

CROWN COURT. Hugh Fawcett, aged 21, a young man of genteel exterior, was indicted for the wilful murder of William Smith, at Liverpool. On the 9th of November the prisoner went early in the morning to a tavern kept by a person named M'Lean, and appeared as if he had just come off a voyage. He seemed unwell, and ate nothing, remaining in the house a couple of days, and in bed the chief Dart of that time. On Sunday, the 9th, he went out, and returned with two individuals, for whom and himself tea was prepared ; not satisfied, however, with what was provided, some herrings were required, and the female waiter was ordered to go out for some. Whilst she was preparing to do so, Smith, who was sitting in the house, said he would go too, and go with the girl on his way home. Accordingly they were setting forth, when the prisoner attempted to stop the girl, but she slipped from him and went out. She and Smith, however, had not proceeded far when they were overtaken by the prisoner, who, seizing the deceased by the collar, ordered him in an authoritative manner, to "go back, it would be batter for him." The deceased said it would not, and the injunction was repeated with a similar effect; whereupon (the girl having previously observed something which she mistook for a knife in the prisoner's hand) Fawcett stepped before him and merely observing that " If one won't do another will," he levelled a pistol at the deceased, fired, and Smith fell. He died shortly afterwards. The prisoner fled, but was followed and taken in a cellar hole hard by, into which he had crept. This was the whole transaction, and the defence set up was that of insanity. Most respectable medical and clerical testimony was adduced to show that the prisoner, whose family moved in the first society in Dublin, and who himself was educated at Trinity College, has for the last three or four years been labouring under confirmed mania. Under these circumstances the Jury at once acquitted the prisoner, on the ground of insanity. James Smith, aged 25, was indicted for the murder of his wife, Elizabeth Smith, at Hulme, in the parish of Manchester. The prisoner was a private in the Royal Artillery. On Sunday, the 24th of August, the troop being then stationed in Hulme barrack, and the prisoner and his wife residing in a room adjacent, the prisoner came home somewhat intoxicated, and conducted himself rather violently, and in such a way as to frighten his wife. At length he took his carbine, and loaded it, with the intention, as his wife supposed, of committing suicide; and she ran into the street, crying " Murder 1" to give the alarm. She had a child in her arms at the time. She was returning into the House, when, having one foot on the threshold, the report of fire-arms was heard, and the 'female fell dead. The prisoner remained in the house, and to the constable confessed that he had shot her. The Jury acquitted him of the charge of murder, but found him guilty of Manslaughter. He was sentenced to transportation for life.
The Sun. — 1835-09-16 (London, England)

RECENT ARRIVALS AT 1312NITON.—The Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, the Earl and Countess Somers, Lord SkelTnersdale, Lord Liddlesdale, Mr. Justice Perrin, Hon. Mrs. Hopwood, Sir Robert Clifton, Dowager Lady Bromley and Miss Bromley, Lady and Mrs. Sherbrooke, Lieutenant-General Sir Evan Lloyd, the Lady Trimleston and Miss Lloyd, Mr. Walker, M.P., Mr. Daniel O'Connell, M.P., and family, Captain Higgins and Mr. Lynch, Mr. and Mrs. Crookenden, nd Mr. Crookenden, jun., &c.  A very singular instance of suicide occurred oo Sunday afternoon in presence of several persons at Gravesend, w.ho had arrived by the steamers. A respectable looking young man, whose name is said to be Birch, who dined at the Ordinary of the New Inn, was asked by the waiter, who stood at the door, as is customary, for the reckoning, in common with others, on which the individual took a penknife from his pocket, and saying, " I will pay it this way," inflicted a deep and fatal wound suddenly, on his own throat, to the great horror of all the persons present. An inquest was yesterday held upon the body, when the jury returned a verdict of Temporary insanity. PET RIF A CTlONS.—Remarkable instances of this transformation have been found in different parts of the world, not only of vegetable, but even of animal substances. When the foundations of the city of Quebec, in Canada, were dug up, a petrified savage was found among the last beds to which they proceeded. Although there was no idea of the time at which this man had been buried under the ruins, it is however true that his quiver and arrows were still preserved. In digging a lead mine in Derbyshire in 1744, a human skeleton was found among stags' horns. it is impossible to say how many ages this carcass had laid there. In 1695, the entire skeleton of a crocodile was found in the mines of that county. At the beginning of the last century, John Munte, curate of Slmgosp, Scania, and several of his parishioners, wishing to procure turf from a drained marshy soil, found some feet below ground an entire cart, with the skeleton of the horses and carter. It is .i:?.Tesimed that there had formerly been a lake in that plaee, anti the carter attempting to pass over on the ice had by that ineaeo probably perished Edinburgh Corant,
The Sun. — 1835-09-21 (London, England)

SUICIDE BY A CHILD.—On Monday an inquest was held at Banbury, on the body of a girl aged 12 years, named Ann Thorneycraft, who had committed suicide by taking arsenic,. which she had purchased fbr that purpose. It appeared that she was naturally a kind and amiably-disposed child, but having been slightly corrected for having taken some money of her aunt's, with whom she lived, and given it to her school-fellows, she took it so to heart that she deliberately went to a chemist's shop with a piece of paper, on which was written " 2d. of arsenic," and presented it to the shopman.—He asked her whom it was for, she said for her aunt, and was immediately supplied with it ; the written paper precluded all suspicion on the matter. —Verdict, " Felo de se."-Bath Herald.  On Tuesday, immediately after the al-rival of their Majesties at the Chateau of Eu, they received the authorities of the town, those of Dieppe and Treport, the Prefect of the Department, the officers of the National Guards; and the troops, after having passed them in review in the court of the Palace, and many public functionaries and persons of distinction. After the reception the Royal family went in carriages to Treport, attended by their suite. In the carriage of their Majesties was M. Duchatel. They were received with enthusiastic• welcome, not only by the authorities, but the whole population of the town. At 2 o'clock the King, Mademoiselle Adelaide, the Princess Clementine, and the Duke d'Aumale embarked in the Royal yacht the Princess Amciie, and took an excursion on the sea, attended by the Rodcur cutter of six guns. At half-past three the Royal party landed again, and at four had returned to the chateau. After a grand dinner of eighty-five covers, their Majesties received the ladies of the neighbOurhood. On Wednesday morning the Minister of the Finances, M. Hamann, arrived with his son-in-law, M. de Germiny, and was immediately received by his Majesty. After breakfast, the King, accompanied by the Ministers of Commerce and the Finances, and Messrs. Cailleux, Fontaine, and Vatout, visited all the apartments of the chateau, for the first time since the completion of the magnificent galleries formed under his own direction. At 12 o'clock their Majesties and Mademoiselle Adelaide, accompanied by the Ministers and their suite, went to inspect the mills for making sea biscuit of Mr. Packham, an Englishman, erected on a part of the King's domain, and which have converted a barren spot into a productive property. On retiring, his Majesty left a liberal donation for the workmen. He afterwards passed an  hour in surveying the park, and then returned to the •chateau to- reci.4vo deputat:ous from tho National Guards of several of the surrounding communes. At six o'clock there was another grand dinner of eighty covers, after which their Majesties continued with the company till nine o'clock, when they retired.—Messager of Friday.
The Sun. — 1835-02-20 (London, England)

MARYLEB ONE. ATTEMPTED SUICIDE IN A STATION-DOUSE.—Yes:terday, Mary Anti Turner and Elizabeth Hayley, who described themselves as " unfortunate girls," were brought before Mr. Hosxuss, charged with the following disorderly conduct : It appeared from the evidence that, on the previous night, as police constable 123 S was on duty, he heard a great disturbance in the Hampstead-road, and on going to the spot found the prisoners, who were both intoxicated, in the act of deciding a quarrel by a pugilistic contest, surrounaed by a mob of low characters, and divested of their bonnets, caps, and shawls ; the prisoner Turner was the more violent of the two, and before the disgraceful scene was put an end to, silo bad actually torn out a considerable portion,:of her antagonist's hair by the roots ; they were ultimately conveyed away to the station-house in Albany-street, but had not been confined there above an hour, before one of the constables present detected Turner in the very act of tying. round her throat a silk handkerchief, one end of which wad securely fastened to the iron window-bar of the ca. She at length became more calm, and promised not to repeat the attempt ; the constable then closed the boor, and shortly afterwards fancied that he heard a kind of gurgling noise, which again led him to the.place or, her confinement, on entering which, he discovered br,r suspendedfrom the same place by her garters, quite • Ijiack in the face, and apparently in the agonies of deg‘'„ pocket a clasp-kn;`,,, with which he cut down the unhappy he immediately drew from his and dissolute vered, ana expressed the greatest sorrow and contrition for who, after the lapse of some time, recothe _attempt she had made upon her Mr. HOSKINS having ascertained that the prisoners had not been charged with misconduct at any former period, discharged them both with a suitable admonition, at the same time telling them, that for a second offence they would be sent, to the House of Correction.
The Sun. — 1835-10-20 (London, England)

THE SILK TRADE.—Yesterday the East India Company's quarterly sale of Bengal raw silk commenced at the India House, and was very fully attended by the manufacturers and others engaged in the trade. The sale began with much animation, the recent activity which has prevailed at Manchester, Macclesfield, and other places, where the silk manufacture is carried on, having considerably reduced the stocks on hand. The Company's declaration of Bengal raw silks amounted to 2,000 bales, and up to the close of yesterday's sale 572 bales were bought by or on behalf of the manufacturers, and at prices, on the lowest estimate, full 10 per cent. higher than the same qualities realized at the last sale. The whole quantity put up to-day was taken, not a single bale having been rejected. The declaration will be got through, it is expected, by Wednesday next, there being no China or private trade silks announced.  By advices from Chili, we learn that the National Congress was about establishing four classes of gold money, viz., doubloons, half-doubloons, quarter-doubloons, and crowns. The gold mark was valued at 8i doubloons, each being worth 16 piastres. There was also to be six lasses of silver money, viz., piastres, or eight real pieces, four real pieces, two real pieces, reals, half-reals, quarter-reals or silver marks. The silver mark was valued at 8- piastres each, worth 272 maravades. There were to be two classes of copper money, viz., the centavos and the half-centavos. Only 30,000 piastres of this money was to be put in immediate circulation.  A melancholy suicide was committed on Wednesday week, by Thomas Decey Colton, Esq., at Curwed Woods, near Burton, a magistrate of the county of Westmoreland. The deceased bad long shown symptoms of mental aberration, and proper precautions had been taken ; but unfortunately having got possession of a razor, he retired to his room, which he locked, and was immediately followed, but before the door could be forced, he had terminated his existence by cutting his throat. An inquest was held before Richard Wilson, Esq. Verdict, " Temporary insanity."— Carlisle Journal.
The Sun. — 1835-03-25 (London, England)

THE FUNDS.—C BRITISI  ,USING PRICES. FUNDS, India Stock Ditto Bonds "0 pin South Sea Stock Ditto Old Annuities Ditto New Annuities Ex. Bills, lO 44/.... Ditto sfo' 39 pm Ditto 500/ 39 pm. Bank Stock for Act. India Stock for Opg. 250 Consols for Opg.  Bank Stock 3 per Cent Red. 924 3 per Cent Cons 9l 13, per Cent. 3Y4 per Cent Red New 34 per Cent 9934 4 per Cent. Assented  Dissented —  Long Annuities to expire 1860 17% Oct. 1859 17% Jan. 1860 l7 FOREIGN kUNDS.  Austrian, 5 per cent Belgian, 5 per cent IO2N Brazilian Bonds Buenos Ayres; 6 per cent Chilian, 6 per cent 4t Columbian, 6 per cent ...... 37 Ditto, I 824 39%  Portuguese lends, 5 per cent 9311, Ditto, New Ditto 94.4 Prussian. 5 per cent. Russian Bonds, 5 per cent. —lO9 Ditto. Metallic Spanish, 5 per cent 64N Ditto, 1tt.23  . Danish Greek Bonds, 1825, 5 per cent — I Exchange Nlexican, 5 per cent , 18:23.... : French, 3 per cent. —f. —c Ditto, 18.25, 6 per cent 43 Dutch, 2, per cent Peruvian, 6 per cent.  It is stated that two thousand divorces are annually granted in the United States. A canal, from Hamburg to Lubeck, it is calculated, can be constructed in two years, at a cost not exceeding two millions marks, by which course Russia, in her foreign relations, may save 200 miles. The authorities in Spain have improved their post, reduced the postage on newspapers, and established regulations similar to our own as respects letters. On the 12th inst., a captain of the Paris gend'armerie, aged 78, terminated his life by leaping into the Meuse. This is the second suicide of the same sort succeeding each other at an interval of only a day or two. A glut, and consequent depreciation, in prices in European merchandise has taken place.—Moniteur de Commerce, March 19. Sixty thieves of Gaucher's gang were apprehended a few days ago at Paris.
The Sun. — 1835-10-08 (London, England)

EXTRAORDINARY DISMISSAL OF A CORONER'S JURY.—Yesterday an inquest was held at the Waterman's Arms, Brentford, before Mr. Stirling, on view of the body of Jesse Jones, aged 63, who committed suicide in Brentford cage, having been locked up there on a charge of vagrancy. The deceased had called at the house of a in Brentford to solicit charity, when he conducted himself in so outrageous and threatening a manner towards a servant girl, that she gave him in charge of a policeman, who conducted him to the cage. About half an hour after his confinement, a person entering the cage, found him suspended by the neck, quite dead. After hearing the evidence a very long discussion took place between the coroner and jury as to the state of deceased's mind at the time he committed the act ; at the expiration of six hours from the commencement of the inquest, during which much recrimination took place, ten of the jury were for insanity, and three for felo de se, and there being no prospect of their agreeing, the coroner dismissed the jury, desiring the constable to summon another at two o'clock this day (Thursday). Wonders will never cease, and miracles are not vet out of fashion, especially at Chewton Mendip where (it is gravely affirmed by the Bath Herald " on authority!") 30 or 40 of the good people, all wearing heads on their shoulders, have been favoured with a wonderful manifestation. Thus the story runs :—On Sunday evening se'nnight, between 6 and 7 o'clock, there was seen at Chewton Mendip a most extraordinary and unaccountable phenomenon in the heavens. It was the appearance of a regiment of horse, with swords drawn, every trooper being distinctly visible, and the whole performing their evolutions as in the field of battle ; both horses and soldiers appearing perfectly black. The sight lasted a considerable time, and was witnessed, with no small degree of consternation and dismay, by not less than 30 or 40 individuals ; ono of whom, named Tyte, gamekeeper to Anthony Blagrave, Esq., of Harptree-court, instantly descended the hill into Chewton, under considerable agitation of feelings. A woman also of the village was so terrified by the spectacle, that she has not recovered from the fright to the present moment, and is really seriously indisposed. There are many recorded examples of similar sights, from Josephus down to the year 1745, when, previous to the great rebellion, celestial phenomena of the same character was said to have been seen in Scotland by wondering multitudes of all classes of people.
The Sun. — 1835-03-12 (London, England)

TETBURY.—Considerable excitement prevailed in this town last week, in consequence of R. Butler having taken a considerable quantity of laudanum. Every effort was made to counteract its effect, but without success. He died that night. An inquest was held before G. H. Ball, Esq., coroner. Verdict, Felo de se.--The unfortunate man was buried between nine and twelve o'clock in the night of Friday, pursuant to the directions of the recent Act. He has left a widow and four infant children.  We give the following singular series of accidents from a French Paper.—About fifteen years ago, a girl was placed at a school in the village of Semur : she was the delight of her instructors, and the pride of her parents. She was no ordinary girl. Mentally as well as personally, the was superior to all her cotemporaries. Another pupil in the same school took up in jest a pistol which unfortunately had been loaded, and aimed at her beautiful friend—the charge took effect, but not fatally. Ten years after this accident, epilepsy first showed itself in occasional attacks, the result, it is supposed, of the fright just mentioned. This, however, did not prevent a young man who loved her with singular devotion from marrying her. She became a wife and a mother. A few days ago, this young and interesting lady, whilst sitting with her infant at her breast, convulsively fell into the fire with her helpless offspring. On the husband's return, he found his wife and child actually on the burning coals—the mother dead, yet still holding in her grasp the infant alive, though dreadfully burned. The head and breast of the mother were literally consumed by the fire, and exhibited an appalling and singular spectacle of mutilated humanity. The infant died in- few hours after, and the next day one grave contained the mother and her infant. The whole faubourg attended the funeral. The town of Caylus has been made the theatre of an event of unparalleled horror. An inhabitant received an injury of the bead. Doctor Prestat was called in, when it was found necessary to perform the operation of trepanning, and it was accordingly performed, as his friends affirm, with equal skill and success. A day or two afterwards the young surgeon called upon his patient, who no sooner saw him than he seized a knife which he had, it is ascertained, previously sharpened for the purpose, rushed furiously at him, plunged the knife in his body, and savagely ripped up his abdomen. The doctor died on the spot. Whether this murder arose from delirium, occasioned by the excessive pain under which the patient was suffering, or from some other cause, is yet undetermined. It seems, howeref, that the crime was premeditated ; from several knives he selected the sharpest, which he carefully concealed under his pillow until the doctor's arrival.—French Paper.
The Sun. — 1835-02-14 (London, England)

GRICE.  EXTRAORDINARY ELOPEMENT.—On Saturday last there appeared in the different journals, under the head of " Attempted Suicide and Murder," the particulars of a desperate attempt made by William Childs, a policeman, belonging to the K division of police, on the day before, to stab himself with a knife, in the kitchen of a lady named Appleton, residing on Stepney-green ; and also with attempting to stab his wife. It appeared that on the morning of Friday, Childs, after coming off duty, was watched by his wife into the kitchen of Mrs. Appleton, whither she followed him ; and on calling him to an account for his reason for going there, it was alleged that he had been paying his addresses ?or some time before to the servant-maid as a single man ; and on being charged with his conduct, he took up a table-knife, and attempted to stab himself in the right side. The point of the knife coming against one of his ribs, warded it off, and the wound was quite harmless. It was soon discovered that the servant was not the object of Child's attention, for, on the day following, Miss Appleton, a young lady, it is said, of considerable personal attractions, and who is entitled, when of age, to considerable property, eloped from the house of her mother, and has not since been heard of by her friends. Shortly after leaving her home, she called at the residence of Childs, expressed the greatest sorrow for what had occurred, and saying that, as she was the cause of it, she would make reparation to hirn (Childs) and his wife, by getting him a situation in the country. house of her uncle, who was a wealthy merchant in the City--and,, with the view of introducing him (Childs) to her uncle, she requested him to accomyany her. To this the wife asse-Ated, and both went away, and have not since been heard of, Serjeans Dally has been employed by the friends of tie lady to discover the retreat of the fugitives, but as yet ins is matte_ cessful.—Morning Advertiser.