The Sun. — 1846-06-05 (London, England)

SUICIDE. The neighbourhood of Widegate-street, Bishopsgale, was thrown into a state of great consternation on Wednesday, by the rumour that a man named Towny, residing at No. 13, in the above street, had committed suicide, having first murdered his wife. It appears that the deceased and his wretched partner were the parents of three children, the eldest of whom, a girl about thirteen years of age, went to the lodgings occupied by her parents, a second pair back in the house in question, about fur o'clock yesterday afternoon. She knocked at the door, but receiving no answer, the girl looked through the keyhole, and saw her father in a position which led her to believe he was in a fit. Having given the alarm, the door, which was locked, was burst open, and Towny was found vile dead, suspended from the bedstead. A paper was found pinned to his coat, which contained a statement of the motives that induced the unhappy man to commit the rash act, viz., the dread of approaching. starvation. Towny carried on the business of a jobbing tailor, or " slobberer," as it is technically called, and had been out of work for a considerable period. About threequarters of an hour after the discovery of his dead body, in pushing the bedstead nearer the wall, the body of eis wife was discovered on the floor under the bed. The poor woman was also quite dead, and from the appearances presented, it was evident that she had been inhumanly strangled. Her hands were tied together, and were tightly and convulsively clasped. It is said she was given to drinking, and it is supposed that her husband, on going home about two o'clock, found her lying on the bed 'intoxicated, and he thereupon proceeded to tie her hands. The act of strangling her was not accomplished without a scuffling noise, which excited the notice of the neighbours. They called out, supposing them to be fighting, and the noise ceased, the woman being unable to offer much resistance, either from the effects of the liquor she had drunk, or, as is conjectured, from the operation of some drug which had been administered, with or without her own consent, by her husband. The ill-fated woman was at the time of her death in daily expectation of her recouchement, and it is considered remarkable that the manner of her untimely death did not bring on the pains of premature parturition. It is rumoured that Towny or his wife made application to the parochial authorities for temporary relief during the period of her confinement, and that relief was refused them unless they went into the workhouse, with which condition Towny could not bring himself to comply. The truth of this, and other rumours in connexion with this lamentable affair, will undergo full investigation at the inquest, which is expected to be held this day (Thursday). According to some reports, the wretched husband took the life of his wife with her own consent, but this is scarcely consistent with another statement which appears entitled to credit—that he has repeatedl been heard to threaten her life, and that he has on previous occasions proceeded to various acts of ill-usage. Three children are made orphans by this lamentable occurrence, which, from the circumstances of the woman's condition, the alleged refusal to give her temporary relief, and the misery which they were known to have endured during the period of the husband being out of work, has created the greatest sympathy in the neighbourhood.