Stockton Herald, South Durham and Cleveland Advertiser. — 1889-03-30 (Stockton-on-Tees, Cleveland, England)

TERRIBLE TRAGEDY.  SUPPOSED TRIPLE MURDER & SUICIDE. What it is feared will turn out to be a ease of triple murder au d suicide has taken place at Tfaltwhistle. It appears that on Suuday night a labourer named John Nicholson, residing at Fairhill, Ilaltwhist'e, went to vi4it some iriends about a mile from his house, au I left his wife, twed thirty, aud four children, aged even years, four YCILN, two and a-half years, and Pix mouths respectively. together with a niece of his wife's, wan wee staying with them. About six o'clock Mrs Nicholson dressed her eldest child, a boy, and scot him a.ll her niece off to - -  e-hapell where service commenced at half-pt six. Some little time after that the woman was seen leaving her home carrying the youneeat child, the other two walking alongside of her, anci going in the direction of a burn which joins the River Tyne about threequarters of a mile farther down. Although Mrs Nicholson had been an inmate of the Comity Lunatic Asylum for nearly two year., and fvm whence she was discharged a little over four years ago, it Was not snepected that she had any intention of either destroying her own life or taking those of her offspring. consequently her movernemts excited no alarm on the part of 'those who witnessed them. What transpired after the woman let her home is uncertain, bat in the light of what was subsequently ascertained it would appear that the unfortnuate woman had made straight for the burn mentioned above, and which at the time was running very fell owing to very heavy rains on Saturday and Sunday. In several places just alment that pact of the burn are a number of dams for forcing the water into the sluices connected with some woollen mills, and from what was afterwards seen it is conjectured that Mrs Nicholson had gone to one of these darns just above the gas works, and lring in a northerly direction from her home. What took place there can only be surmised, but it is unfortunately only too true that at least one if not the whole four of them have been drowned. When the niece and son left the chapel after service it appears they had not gone Mrsicht home, consequently the absence of the others was not noticed till some time after, when the husband of the missing woman returned from vis:tine his friends, witch Was some time about nine o'clock. Not finding his wife and children at boine he at once made enquiries as to their whereabouts, and as his efforts were fruitless, he sought the aesistance of Police-Inspector Spence, who soon had search parties out and through the whole of Senday night *very likely place where it was supposed that Mrs Nicholson might have _gone to was visited, but all to DO purpose. When daylight broke on Monday morning efforts were made towards ascertaining whether there we sufficient grounds to believe that the unfortunate woman hal entered the burn, and on closely examining the hankie traces of someone having entered one of the dams alluded to were tom], but none showing the retreat of the individual were discernible. On the strength of this discovery grappling instruments were procured, and the burn was dragged. For some time these efforts were unsuccessful, but towards eleven o'clock the body of the youngest child was found in another dam farther down the burn, and also the hat of the four-year-ad boy. fin 'Tuesday a signalman found the body of the little boy in the Tyne near Blacken Colliery. The mother wad Oita child are still missing.