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    efendant to the laintiff 1841Miss Smithh...

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    GATHERINGS FROM LAW AND POLICE COURTS. A...

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    The Assizes. Albert' .Itusket Turner Was...

    by the d p . In , was in Germany , where she was engaged as governess in a high family , and Mr . Koche , wlio -was stated , to be an lrisb gentleman , made her . acquaintance . Ultimately , some form of marriage , which turned out to be of no legal value , was gone through "by a person whom Mr . Roche represented to be a clergyman , and after this they lived together as man and -wife until 1845 , when Miss Smith again accepted a situation as governess in Germany ; hut Mr . Koche insisted that she should return and live with him , stating that she was his wife . They continued to live togetheruntiltheyeaxl 851 , when Mr . Roche married , and at this time he wrote a letter to a gentleman named Shepherd , in-which he requested him to break , the

    " terrible tidings to dear Margaret" as well as he could , and to spare her feelings , And at the same time stated that he would always provide for her , and that he ( Mr . Shepherd ) might at once advance her money to the extent of 507 . That sum . was accordingly given to the plaintiff , and Mr . Roche went to reside in Ireland . In 1852 , finding she could not obtain any more money from him , Miss Smith went to Ireland and saw Mr . Roche , and he then executed the agreement which was the subject of . the present action . Four children were the result of the connexion ; but at this time only two were alive ,

    and . the agreement was to the effect that , upon consideration of the plaintiff educating and providing for the two children then alive , he undertook to pay Miss Smith 50 / . per annum , by four quarterly instalments . "The defence » et up was purely technical . It was contended that no legal consideration had been proved for the annuity , and also that , as one of the children had died , it could not be enforced , the original understanding being that the money was to be paid for the support and education of tflro children . The jury eventually returned a verdict for the plaintiff for the full amount claimed , the questions of law being reserved for further consideration .

    Daniel Cummins has been found Guilty of wounding Mr . John Mulley in a third-class carriage on the ¦ Brighton -Railway , on the 28 th of March . The man first attempted to rob the prosecutor , and , on being resisted , he made a savage attack , and endeavoured to throw him cut of window . In this he would have succeeded had not Mr . Mulley been a very powerful man ; but it was only ^ Trith difficulty that he saved himself . At the Caterhain station , Cummins was given into custody , and conveyed to Croydon ; bnt he resisted so violently that it required six constables to put him into the police cell . The defence now raised was that the man was insane ; and the Judge said that the state of his mind should be ^ property- inquired after . Meanwhile , he was sentenced to six . years' penal servitude .

    A case , arising out of the deadly feuds of Protestants and Roman Catholics , was tried at Newcastle on Monday . Five men ( Protestants } , named Johnson , Sayer , Sloan , Bertram , and Cameron , had been drinking at a beer-shop in the suburbs of Newcastle on the 30 th of May , and , meeting with some Irish Catholics , there was a fight , in the course of which one John Cain was killed . The five men alluded to were now tried on a charge of manslaughter , and a verdict of G-uilty was returned against Sayer and Sloan , and of Not Guilty with respect to the rest . Sentence on the two former was postponed .

    Edward Mendeville Morton , a young man of respectable appearance , has been tried at Guildford on a charge of obtaining money by false pretences . It appeared that , for some time past , he had carried on an extensive and impudent system of swindling in various parts of the country . ' He conducted his own defence , and asserted , with respect to one of the chief witnesses against him ( a Catholic ) , that persona of that religion would tell any amount of falsehoods ; and that he had himself acquired habits of lying from having onco been a Papist himself , though he had now ceased to be one . He had endeavoured to gain his living by literature ; but the booksellers would not purchase any of his works because he had no name ; and , as he could not starve , he was compelled to resort to false pretences in order to obtain subsistence . He was found Guilty , and sentenced to twelve months' hard labour .

    The practice of policemen in acting as spies on prisoners , with a view to extracting confessions from them , was severely condemned at tho Bodmin Assizes on Tuesday by Mr . Baron Watson . Richard Raahleigh was indicted for burglary ; and it appeared that a policeman , after the mam had bean apprehended , bad gone disguised and handcuffed into his cell , and that the prisoner , thinking the officer a fellow captive , had made some statements with respect to the burglary . The jury acquitted Roshleigh , and the Judge said he hoped the magistrates would take notice of tho conduct of the policeman .

    Henry Bloomfield , a farmer , pleaded Guilty on Wednesday at Chester to the charge of having murdered his wife , Immediately ho had pleaded , ho burst into tears , and continued to cry bitterly during the wholo proceedings 3 Bus it appeared probable that he was not in a fit state of mind to plead , Mr . Justice C romp ton ordered tho pica to be struck out , and empanelled a jury to decide as to the prisoner's mental condition . They found , that ho wus insane , and unfit to plead . His lordship then ordered that he should be kept , in safe custody during her Majesty ' s pleasure . Bloonrificld , it sooma , was under tho Impression that hi )} wife lmd bcon unfaithful to him , tlmt

    he -was under the special grace of God , and that ho was bound to plead guilty , in order to be put cut of the world .

    Efendant To The Laintiff 1841miss Smithh...

    efendant to the laintiff 1841 Miss Smith 768 _____„ THE LEADER . [ No . 437 , August 7 185 *

    Gatherings From Law And Police Courts. A...

    GATHERINGS FROM LAW AND POLICE COURTS . A singular application was made to the Worshipstreet magistrate last Saturday . A woman attended with a young girl , her daughterj and said she had betn married with her consent , and that her husband had deserted her on the following day . The husband was in court , and proved to be a youth of eighteen , which was also the age of the girl . He was accompanied b }' his father , who said he was quite thunderstruck when he first heard of his son's marriage . The account given by the girl ' s mother was , that the youth had frightened her daughter into marrying him bv threatening to kill

    her if sho refused , and that he merely sought the marriage in order to spite another suitor . The boy-husband , on the other hand , said that the mother hal cajoled him into the union . The most important point at issue was as to wtether the marriage had been consummated . The bride asserted that it had been ; the husband said it had not . All parties expressed a great desire for a divorce ; and the magistrate said that if , as the husband stated , tlie marriage was simply confined to the ceremony , a divorce might be obtained , though at great expense , from the Ecclesiastical Court , as the bride anil bridegroom were both under age . The parents then lefc the court with their children .

    Harriet Scholroyk , the young woman charged with being concerned with the convict Van Popler in the commission of several * burgl iries , wa * finally examined at the Wandsworth police-office last Saturday , when she was sentenced to two months * bard labour . The magistrate abo ordered that the pawnbrokers should deliver up all the property that had been identified , as he considered they had taken it very incautiously . Henry Bunbury , the son of the late Major-General Bunbury , was charged at Guildhall , on Monday , with forging and uttering three bills of exchage for 100 / ., 501 ., and 40 ? ., with intent to defraud Mr . Hobson , a tailor , of 4 , Finsbury-place , South . The bills were ostensibly accepted by a Mr . Parkin , a solicitor .

    After tlie reception of the evidence , the accused made a long and rather singular statement . He said : — "I wish to state , relative to Mr . Parkin and Mr . Hobson , that I have a claim upon , their property ; that I hold Mr . Parkin ' s acknowledgment , in his own handwriting , of his not having paid me the sums agreed to ; that the letters I showed Mr . Hobson were not forgeries , but bon 4 Jide letters ; that every party belonging to the family , solicitor and all , have received notice from me that I have never received the sums stipulated to be paid to me ; a , nd that for that very reason I claimed a share in the estate , although Mr . Parkin and his clients did all they could to shut me out . I also - \ vish to state that , at Crane-court , Fleet-street , at the Scottish Hospital , of

    which Major Adair is the secretary , I signed various mortgages to the amount of 6000 / . and upwards , and at the end of each mortgage there was a receipt drawn out acknowledging that I had received a fair proportion of the property for that mortgage , whereas all that I received was 246 / . I -was to have 250 J . J but they kept back 51 . because they got me 502 . a day earlier than agreed upon . They then purchased my equity of redemption for 50 ^ ., which I sold on their promise to keep good faith with me , which they did not Upon the death « f my father , knowing they had not a leg to stand upon , and that I was in want of monc 3 ' , they got me to sign a . deed of confirmation of the past , for which they were tc have given me 250 / . then , and to leave the rest

    until a future day when the estate came to be wound up . I received part of that money whon I signed the deed , and , with regard to tho rest , Mr . Parkin wrote to saythat it . should be forwarded on my making application for it . I did make repeated application , and got a few pounds in ' dribs and drabs ; ' but tho balance I never got . To prove how they got my property into their hands , I wish to say that tho firm of Messrs . Gnston , Aguitar , and Balier , cement manufacturers , got mortgages from me for goods which thoy contracted debts for and never paid , leaving me liable ; audono mortgage alone , for 1500 / ., Mr . Parkin bought on bohulf of his clients for 250 / . —showing how little thoy thought of the validity of tho mortgage . " Tho prisoner was committed for trial .

    Th « old soldier who last week imposed on Mr . Combo , the magistrate , attended at tho Southwark police-office again , on Monday , to vindicate himself from tho chargo of being a swindler . Tho magistrate , however , suid that his statements did not at all alter tho case , and told him to leave tho court . A middle-aged man , of rather diminutive proportions , addressed Sir C . Crcsswcll , on Monday , in tho Court of Probate , and said he appeared aa a claimant for a portion of the property of the Duchess of York . His namo was Frederick Augustus Scars . Tho Judge : " This is not tho place for such an application . Tho court h na nothing to do with the distribution of proper tyhoM in trust . " Applicant : " I am entitled to tho properly I cluim . I av » h well acquainted with the Into Duchess of York . " The Judyc : " Vov must make your application to tho Court , of Chancery . 1 nmy us well inform you , us you u * o in court , that you must not plncurd gentlemen ' s housos ; in

    4 he event of your doing so , you will be taken int 7 tody by the police . " 'Jhe applicant , who apTear ^ T appointed with his Lordship ' s directions , then Si . An attack was made a fe , v evenings X . r ^ ruffians in St . Mary Axe on a Mr . John RUchfe i ° w » riding on horseback . They encleavou ^ a t' j £ turn off his horse , and to rob him , and it was with <™ f ? difficulty that he got away . One of the ™ oj d el ^ apprehended , and was sent by the Lord Mayor to prison with haTd labour , for twenty-one dayr . lu P ison , Mr . Beadon , the Marlboroug h-street magistrate hm been making some efforts to put dawn betting-homes t-uough he admits he is not very sanguine at ITT ' result . John Scott , the landlord of the White B Hotel , Piccadilly , has been charged xrith keonin ^ S f ^ 5 ° r leS Th 0 fP e and Reevis 4 h

    ^ , . , *** aiding him in keeping the house ; and JohnliitdwUl using the house . The police entered the hotel at varied times , and found several persons there , betting Scott the landlord , was present , and was cognisant of t £ betting j and Thorpe and Reeves were his assistants Ihrd received money upon bets . The magistrate considered the case proved with respect to Scott and Thoroa ( whom he fined 30 / . each ) and Bird ( whom he fined 10 / V lleeves he discharged . Scott said he-would get rid of the house altogether . After the conclusion of the case Mr . Beadon said he had received several anonymous letters , telling him h « would never be able to put down betting : or betting-houses ; but he . was determined nevertheless to administer the law with a firm Land .

    An individual witli a great many aliases , but whose real name appeared to be Parker , and who had traded as a merchant , came up in the Bankruptcy Court on W ednesday for his discharge . The application was opposed by Mr . Turner , on behalf of Mr . Ventom , a broker of the court- Shortly after obtaining a certificate on the occasion of his last bankruptcy ( third class after twelve months * suspension ) , Parker obtained from Mr . Ventom the discount of a 200 / . bill of exchange in the name « f James Parker . Mr . Turner submitted -that , if the bankiupt had given his real name , Mr . Ventora would not have lost his money . Mr . Oldershaw opposed for

    Messrs . Bedford , Beiry , and Co ., steel manufacturers , of Sheffield . It appeared from a protracted discussion that Messrs . Bedford and Co . trusted the bankrupt with 400 / . worth of steel oh receiving two bills of 200 / . each , respect iv . ly payable at two and th ree months . The first bill was paid . On the second bill , the bankrupt was taken in execution . Having ; remained in prison seven months , he obtained his disctarge on payment of 50 / ., and giving a new judgment for tlie remainder of the debt . In reply to questions from Mr . Commissioner Goulbum , the bankrupt said that Messrs . Bedford and Co . had given him credit without asking him a single question . lie had at one time traded in the name of Truman Parker because

    he was expecting to be joined in partnership by a gentleman of that name . The Commissioner , observing that the bankrupt could be well punished when lie came up for his certificate if he had acted fraudulently , ordered his discharge . A young man named Richard Walker was tried at the Middlesex Sessions on "Wednesday on a charge of assaulting a . Mrs . Mills , at palston . * Walker had been married oh the very day in question , and was performing some feats with a broomstick when it flew into Mrs .

    Mills ' s garden . The young man went after it ; a quarrel followed ; and Walker snatched a poker out of thn hands of Mrs . Mills , and struck Iier with it . Tlie result was a fight between tho partismis of the two skies , ami the apprehension of Walker , who was obliged to pass his wedding night in a policu cell . At the close of tliu case for the prosecution , a compromise was entered into , by which it was agreed that the accused should plead Guilty to a common assault , and lie wan then discharged on entering into recognizances to appear for judgment when called upon .

    Otto Frederick Homeyer , merchant , of Wolgast , Prussia , was brought up nt tho Mansion-house on Wednesday , for final examination , charged witli having forgeil and uttered two bills of lading , purporting to bj for one thousand live hundred quarters of wheat , value 3700 ? ., jjct ship Anna , from Wolgast ,- with intent to defriiud Messrs Tiodeinann nnd Co ., of Ncweastlc-on-Tyno . He was committed for trial . Michael Murphy , an itinerant musician with a wooden leg , has been examined nt tho Worship-street policeoffice on a charge of killing Eliza Simpson , a woman who lived with a workman at tho docks as his wlfo .

    Sho was drinking lnte at night will ) Murphy , who vim oxecssivcly intoxicated , and uoino quarrel arose between them . Tlie man then knocked tho woman down in t ' street , and kicked lior with bin wooden leg so savagely about tho head tliat , after lingering for a tiny or two , sho died . Murphy has now boon committed for trial . Kichard Kalpli , aliaa Norman , the man charged witli defrauding a Gormmi named lirocklu-n , umW oiruiimetances related in full in our last iasim , was brought up for r . i-oxaininatin on " Wednesday ; but , nutha prolocutor did not appear ( having returned to ( jurmauy ) , the u-ocuned wn » dischiinroil .

    fiio Kev . II . S . Byrth , curate of Low , ami superiiitomlcnt of a large classical ami , eonunoicial ncmlciny , who prosecuted a man named Thomas Smith , for tflwiliiitf a hirgo iinnibor of valuable book * from ¦ Alfriiil-hoilH' - ' i Hoyt , attended at thoThamos nolicu-oflicoon Wednesday

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 7, 1858, page 8, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_07081858/page/8/