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Leader (1850-1860), 22nd December 1855, Edition 2 of 2, Page 5

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      Poison Of " The Turf." An Inquest, Exten...

      note to Mr . Palmer , requesting his attendance ; but an answer was returned that he . was ill in bed . The jury brought in a verdict of Wilful Murder against Mr . . / Palmer , and a warrant was made out , committing him to the- county gaol . Mr ,, Bainford , in' the course of his examination , said : — " I have attended other patients for Mr . Palmer . I attended Mrs . Palmer some days before her decease ; also two children and a gentleman from London , who was on a visit at Mr . Palmer ' s house , and who did not live many hours after I was called in . The whole of those patients died . " The annexed is from the Globe : — " We understand that circumstances have transpired tending to establish other charges against " William . Palmer , the surgeon , who has been committed to Stafford Gaol on a charge of poisoning Mr . Cook . It is said that Palmer insured his wife ' s life for £ 13 , 000 . She died shortly afterwards , and , upon the usual probate being produced , the money was duly paid by the office . He then induced his brother , Walter Palmer , to insure his life for a similar sum , and afterwards obtained the transfer of it on an alleged debt of £ 400 , which William Palmer stated was due to him by his brother . Palmer made every endeavour to further insure this life ; but , in consequence of an anonymous , letter from Stafford , it was declined . The brother has since died , and the usual demand was made for the money . The large amount , and the previous death of Palmer's wife , having excited the suspicion of the numerous insurance offices concerned , they deemed it prudent to place the matter in Inspector Field ' s ( late of the detective police ) Private Inquiry-office . Mr . Field , with his assistant , Mr . Simpson , proceeded at once to Stafford and the Isle of Man , and , after the most searching investigation , extending over a period of upwards of six weeks , reported to the various insurance offices certain startling revelations , which induced the offices to form a ' defence fund , ' for the purpose of mutual resistance to these attempts . Mr . Field , having gathered certain information that Palmer had endeavoured to effect an insurance for £ 25 , 000 upon the life of ' a gentleman , ' whom Palmer reported to live ' on his estate ' near a village in Staffordshire , proceeded there , and found that other persons in high position had conspired with Palmer falsely to represent the standing in life of the individual , who was , in fact , no other person than Palmer ' s occasional groom , renting a bedroom at two shillings a-week . "

      December 22, 1855.] The Leader 1217 ^ — ...

      December 22 , 1855 . ] THE LEADER 1217 ^ — — ——~— - ^

      Our Civilisation. James Wabeham Has Been...

      OUR CIVILISATION . James Wabeham has been found guilty at York of the manslaughter of his brother , between whom and himself a bad feeling had for some time siibsisted . He was sentenced to transportation for life . — A penalty of transportation for twenty years has been awarded to Patrick Connolly for the manslaughter of Ambrose Dunlevy . The crime arose out of a drunken quarrel at a public-house in Liverpool . — Edward Lewis and John Hayward have been sentenced to fifteen years' transportation for a murderous assault on Mr . William Burton , a farmer , on whose preserves he found them one night engaged in setting nets . — George Drary , a young man , charged with forging and uttering a banker ' s cheque , has been found guilty , at the Hereford Assizes , and condemned to four years ' penal servitude . Business-like BuRGiiARS .-William Renton and John Clarke were found guilty at York of a burglary in the house of Mr . John Haines , at Knowstrop , near Leeds . Mr . Haines was in bed when the two men entered the room , and one , threatening him . with a bludgeon , advised him to " be steady . " Being asked what he wanted , he replied , " Your money—where is it ? " Mr . Haines said , "In my trousers pocket . If you reach them to me , I'll give it to you . The trousers accordingly wore handed over and the money ( about ten or twelve shillings ) was counted out . Renton then said , " Now , no noise . " To which Mr . Haines replied , " Not a word ; depart in peace . ' The men then withdrew backwards iu order that they might aee whether Mr . Haines gave any alarm or not ; but , aa soon as they vroro gone , he roused some of the other inmates of the house . TUe prisoners ( agamst whom a previous committal was proved ) were sentenced to transportation for life . A Clerical Despot . —The Rev . T . Wells , rector of Portsmouth , has disgusted his parishioners by a most disgraceful act of spite and tyranny . Mr . Lewis Oldrieve , juu ., had a child to bo christened a few months ago , and , instead of taking it to the Ehtablishod Church , he had the ceremony performed at the Wealeyan chapel at Salcombo . The child died lost week , and the parents proposed to have it buried in the church-yard of Mr . Wells ' s church , lhe mourners were obliged to wait upwards of halt an hour for the arrival <* f the clergyman , and then his reverence was sought for , aud found in the rectory . Another half-hour passed , and Mr . Wells who had by that time arrived , having been told , in answer to an inquiry , that the child was christened at the Wealeyan chapel , rejoined , "I shall not bury it . The child ' s grandfather , who had been churchwarden

      M ^^ i ^ Mi ^^ i ^ l ^^^^ BIBHK ^ MaHi ^ K ^ H ^ i ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ [ for many years , said to the clergyman , "Ifyowwill not bury the child , / will ; " upon which Mr . Welle exclaimed , in an excited tone , " If you do , I will have it removed ; for there it shall not remain . " Mr . Oldrieve , sen ., replied that , if he attempted to remove the body , he would take away Mr . Wells's gown . Ultimately , he commanded the undertaker to lower the body , and pronounced the words—" Earth to earth , ashes to ashes , dust to dust , " —and , looking at the clergyman , added , " And that is what you and I must soon come to . " On the mourners retiring , the clergyman told the sexton to cease filling in the grave ; but the elder Mr . Oldrieve again interfered , and caused the work to be finished . Mr . Wells subsequently performed the burial service in the presence of his clerk . —If these allegations be not capable of denial , the conduct of Mr . Wells should undoubtedly lead to the loss of his gown . The Hereford Mubder . — The eight navvies charged with the murder of Priscilla Morgan , a woman of bad character , at Hereford , on the 30 th of last September , under circumstances detailed at the time in these columns , have been acquitted at the Hereford Assizes . Much satisfaction at the result was expressed in court . Forgery by a Birmingham Tradesman . —Thomas Henry Taylor , an upholsterer and cabinet-maker at Birmingham , was charged at the police-office with uttering a forged bill , purporting to be accepted by Mr . Simpson Hanbury , of the Iron and Copper Tube Company , Smethwick . Upon the fraud being discovered Mr . Taylor was taxed with its commission ; and he acknowledged his guilt , offering to make an equal division of his property among his creditors , and placing all he possessed under the Court of Bankruptcy . He was committed for trial . A Victim to Judicial Haste . —Great sympathy is being excited in Doncaster , Sheffield , and Leeds for Mr . John Jackson , a pawnbroker , who was tried and convicted in a very summary manner , at the last West Riding sessions , held at Sheffield , and sentenced by the chairman , Mr . Wilson Overend , to twelve months' imprisonment , with hard labour , in the House of Correction , at Wakefield , on a charge of having feloniously received a diamond ring , knowing it to have been stolen . It appears that Mr . Jackson voluntarily attended the sessions , in company with his wife , who was summoned as a witness ; that , while there , an indictment was found against him , and he was arrested , bail being refused ; that he was put upon his trial next day , a convicted thief being the principal witness against him ; that the decision of the jury was accelerated by an intimation from the chairman that they would be locked up all night if they did not agree to a verdict within a given time ; and that the sentence was passed by the chairman without consulting his brother magistrates , and was received with unequivocal murmurs of disapprobation in a crowded court Meetings reprobating this act of oppression have been held at Sheffield and Leeds , and the local journals have commented with great indignation on the conduct of the chairman . Another Female Impostor . — A rival to Alice Grey has turned up at Canterbury . She has appeared under various names—Mary Eliza Smith , Matilda Tremaine , or Mary Eliza Chippendale . She appears to be about thirty years of age . She is well versed in the arts of deception , possessing perfect command of her countenance , and rarely betraying the slightest emotion . Her plan is to obtain , by some tale of distress , a footing in a family for a time , where she secures food and lodging during her stay , and decamps on being detected , but seldom without carrying off some article of easy conveyance . In this way it is believed she has been living for the last two or three years in different parts of England . At one time she represented herself as coming from Liverpool , and being the daughter or nioco of a largo navy agent there ; that , although not quite convinced , she was leaving the Protestant religion , but was desirous of solving her remaining doubts . At another time she stated that her father was a medical man residing in the vicinity of Dover , a member of the Baptist chapel there ; that he wanted her to jqin that denomination , to which she was opposed , but that she rather wished to turn Roman Catholic , and was then m search of a convent , having succeeded in getting out of her father's house at night , though in doing ho she unfortunately fell into tho waterbutt . In the early part of last year , she obtained accent , to a cottage at Upper Harbledowu , about three miles from Canterbury , and remained there some time , her first introduction being an appeal to the cottagers for shelter and protection , as a man had rudely assaultedJ . er . She alHo visited tho Catholic pi-lent of the district , from whom she obtained aid , and a note for Dr . Grant , of London . Her last statement and the one upon which she has boon apprehended , is of an entirely different character . bl » o is now an heiress in search of her grandmamma . In this character she called on a small shopkeeper , named Eppa , residing at OBiiringo , near FavcrBharn , at whoso expense « l . o wUXivoyed to Canterbury where she was recognised by n police superintendent as an old customer ,

      L and was accordingly taken before a magistrate , by i whom she was remanded for a week , i Fraud by a Police Superintendent . —Mr . James , Buglass , the late superintendent of police at South i Shields , is at present in custody charged with defrauding the Watch Committee of the corporation . He had been instructed to receive the fines and fees , due to the Town Council from persons fined under , the by-laws , and many of these sums to a veiy large amount , he had misappropriated . Mr . Nash and Loud Ernest Vane Tempest . — Mr . Nash has brought an action against Lord Ernest Vane Tempest , arising out of the ' celebrated fracas on the 21 st of last September . The action was for trespass in breaking and entering the Windsor Theatre . ' Mr . James ( who was for the plaintiff ) admitted in his opening statement that Mr . Nash had allowed Lord Ernest Vane to go behind the scenes for the purpose of " paying his addresses" to one of the actresses ; and Mr . N " , in his cross-examination , made some awkward confessions . He said : — " Mr . Webber one night threatened to complain to the magistrates of the way in which I conducted my theatre . I took the usual quantity of refreshment . I was not drunk . I was three nights incapacitated by drink from going on the stage . I don ' t remember my mother getting hold of the drink I sent for , and throwing it away . She was my treasurer , and took the money at the door . My father is an attorney , and brings this action . My mother was my check-taker , knowing that I had a parcel of thieves about me . Some of my performers were thieves . My mother may have thrown away my drink one niglit . I did not threaten to pull her out of the box where she was sitting , in consequence . " Miss Emily Stewart , the young lady into whose dressing-room his Lordship intruded , gave the following additional particulars of the scene : — " Only the dresser and myself were in the room . I remonstrated with his Lordship , and begged him to leave the room . He said he would , only on one condition—that was , that I would go to supper with him at the barracks . I said , ' Not on any condition . ' I then left the room , and went to Mr . Rogerson , the stage manager . Mr . Rogerson came , and begged him to leave the room . He then said ho would if I would promise him on my soul to go to supper with him . I said , ' On no account . ' He then refused to leave the dressing-room . " The Attornoy-General , in defence , said that the damages inflicted were confined to the breaking open of the door ; pointed to tho fact that the gas was not , as originally stated , put out ; and contended that there had been groat exaggeration . The jury gave a verdict in favour of Mr . Na sh damages , £ 25 . . Marrying both Brothers . —A private in tne yotn has been tried at Winchester for ranking a false statement with respect to the name of a woman whom he had married . The wedding had taken place at Cansbrook , and it was then stated that the woman was a spinster named Lucy Bowmer ; but it turned out that she was tho wife of the prisoner ' s brother . * ranc *? Hudson , the man now charged with the offence , had been staying with his brother in Derbyshire , and had concluded his visit by running away with the brothel's wife Tho wife , who admitted the fact of bigamy , was examined , and said her first husband used her so ill that she was obliged to leave him . Upon the , clergyman being asked to produce the certificate , ho said " In point of fact , wo don ' t like these certificates , and therefore we always burn them . " The Judge , in summing up , observed that he thought no mischief had been done to anyone , but that there must be an example to prevent other people doing , likewisethat is to say doing no mischief . Tho man was , therefore , sentenced to « ix months' imprisonment ; and tho woman to a-similar punishment , for the ^ Tfalse Character . —A middle aged man , named John Truncheon , has been fined £ 20 ( with three months' imprisonment in default ) for obtaining a situation as groom by means of a false character . He threw himself on the mercy of tho magistrate and it did mi appear that ho had behaved dishonestly after ° A F ^^ TURNTEY ^^ Jainos Moss , a convicted felon , haabcei committed for trial , charged with obtaining a quantity of wearing apparel from Caroline Scoouh , by Renting UmsSf a « . turnkey « f t ^ JJ ^ JJ « , hir , h Mi-h Scoonus husband wan thon lying , an « gs & sEgsass Spencer ^ ft ** * " - | TY . _ a gentlemiun wns recentl y Juvenjlk DBi'HAV j « . ' " j , | K ton Wheu a girf , walking near the I hf »¦« £ «* V « ' Hayi « . Hir % o about twelve years old , accosto ' ^ » „„ ,, „ , youwant a sweotlieaj t ^ i » 8 ^ , , jim aside , and Hoine worna 8 « rf | ll jUhinan , with stones , which sheMil •¦ | ftnd Btruck and named B » ™» ° j £ " " , S . iun until ho was rescued ggS & SSSe *

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 22, 1855, page 5, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_22121855/page/5/