The Sun. — 1859-05-27 (London, England)

MURDER OF A CHILD AND SUICIDE OF THE MOTHER.  On Wednesday an inquisition before the county coroner for the Manchester district (Mr. W. S. Rutter) disclosed the particulars of the murder of a child by its mother, and then her own self-destruction, under circumstances of a melancholy character. The sad event took place in the small village of Hollyhurst, in the township of Pilkington, between Whitefield and Radcliffe, about six miles north-west of Manchester. The deceased, Sarah Kay, aged 22 years, lived with her husband, Samuel Kay, in one of a row of four or five small cottages. She had been previously married to a man named Smith, a Mormon, who went to the Salt Lake Valley, and died there. After his death, and about 18 months ago, she was married to Kay, a young man, who is a power-loom tackler, and both he and the deceased worked at the cotton factory of Mr. Buckley, about five minutes' walk from the cottage. She had a little girl (by her former husband) named Mary Alice Smith, a little under fire years of age, and both appear to have been fond of the child, which lived with them, and went to school while they laboured at the mill. Three weeks ago, on Sunday, the husband was away from home until 10 o'clock at night, and some report was officiously spread, which reached the wife the following day, to the effect that her husband had been improperly in the company of her cousin. This led to a quarrel between his wife and himself, he denying that there was the least truth in the report. The deceased appears to have been of a sensitive disposition, and was not satisfied with her husband's explanation. The occurrence preyed upon her mind, and, unfortunately, on Monday last, at noon, the unpleasantness was revived. As they were leaving the factory for dinr.er, they met a woman who complained of the deceased having spoken disrespectfully of the person alluded to. No sooner had they entered the cottage, than the deceased began to reproach her husband with not having kept at home on the Sunday referred to. Angry words ensued, and the quarrel was heard by a next-door neighbour (Mrs. Butterworth), but all she could distinguish was the husband saying, " Get thy dinner and go to thy work." The deceased, from her voice, appeared to be much exasperated. The dinner, previously cooked, had been placed in the oven to warm, and he rapidly partook of what he chose, then returned the remainder to the oven for his wife and child, and went to the mill alone. The deceased remained in the house nearly half an hour, during which she appears to have determined upon the horrid tragedy of sacrificing her own life and that of her child. The poor little creature was innocently- gathering flowers in an adjoining field with another girl belonging to Mrs. Devonport, a neighbour. The deceased asked Mrs. Devonport where the'cbildren were, and in telling her, Mrs. Devonport noticed that she was agitated, and that her face was flushed, and that she spoke in a short and hurried manner. Having returned with the children, the unhappy woman sent her own child to Mrs. Butterworth s to borrow a razor the direction given to the child,Hearing having once before lent the instrument tQ the 4 eceasva fox the purpose of cutting her ec24si Mrs. Butterworth g4l.° the little unsuspecting victim what proved to be the instrument of its own and its mother's destruction, The little girl followed her  mother into the house with the razor, and the door was closed and locked. The cottage has two bed rooms, one of them very small, and to this the frenzied mother took the child, and perpetrated the fearful deed. Th© bodies lay side by side, within half a yard of each other, the mother's face being towards that of the child, and their blood commingling in one pool between them, in which lay the open razor. The frightful gash in the throat of each showed the excited energy with which the weapon had been used; and there can be little doubt, from the position of the bodies, and the blood not being spurted in any direction, that both were in a sitting posture upon the floor when the mother despatched the child (which was to the left side of her), and then, as it fell backward repeated the fatal stroke upon herself, and let drop the razor between them.  Nothing was known of what had occurred, even by the immediate neighbours, who supposed that, notwithstanding the quarrel, the deceased had gone to her work as usual. Shortly after six o'clock the husband came home, and finding the door fast, knocked loudly. Mrs. Butterworth told him that his wife had not come from the factory yet. He replied that she had not been there since noon. A fearful thought immediately flashed upon her mind, and she exclaimed, " Oh dear, the child fetched a razor from me." The husband anticipated the dread result. A neighbour, Henry Hayes, procured a ladder, and on looking through the bedroom windom, announced that both mother and daughter were lying dead. Shortly afterwards another man, John Howard, got through the win: dow, and going down stairs, unlocked the door, and a surgeon went upstairs and saw the bodies, which were then cold.  The inquest was held at the Bay Horse, Chapelfield, on Wednesday afternoon, when the facts above narrated were adduced in evidence. The husband, we regret to state, evinced even less concern in the matter than either of the witnesies. He admitted that jealousy on the part of his wife had led to what had happened, but averred that there was no ground for it. He said that if ever a quarrel occurred she originated it ; that her temper was irritable ; that nine months ago, after some words with her brother, she went to a lodge of water, with the intention (as she afterwards stated) of drowning herself, but was prevented by seeing a man sitting upon the bank. The jury, after a brief deliberation, returned a verdict concerning the death of the child of wilful murder, that being the offence for which the mother would have been tried had she been living. The verdict upon the mother was, " Destroyed herself whilst labouring under temporary insanity ;" and the jury expressed their reprobation of the conduct of the persons who had spread the scandalous report by which the poor woman had been distressed.