Thomas Elton

174

Iris Dunne on 3rd December 2021

The Proceedings of the Old Bailey THOMAS ELTON, Killing > manslaughter, 3rd March 1862. 335. THOMAS ELTON (36), was indicted for feloniously killing and slaying John Gould; he was also charged, on the Coroner's Inquisition, with the like offence. MR. POLAND conducted the Prosecution. CHARLES SIRKITT . I live at 1, Albert-terrace, Wharf-road, Islington—I am a carman—on Friday, 21st February, about half-past 4, I was at the New Cattle-market—I saw the prisoner there—he was with a horse—I saw the deceased John Gould—he went up and spoke to the prisoner—I did not hear what was said, I was on the other side of the way—the prisoner knocked him on the nose with the end of his stick once or twice—Gould then walked away to the other side of the way—the prisoner untied his horse, which was tied up to the pens, and followed him, and said he would punch his b—head; and he called him a b—old rogue several times—Gould said he did not know as ever he rogued him or anybody else—Gould was a farrier—the prisoner up with the end of the halter that he had hold of the horse with, and tried to put it round Gould's neck, and said, "I will hang you, you old b—, I will"—Gould said he would call the policeman, and the prisoner said, "Call the policeman; there he is"—Gould said he did not want to call the policeman if he would go on and not insult him; he had given him no cause to insult him—the prisoner directly up and shoved the stick in Gould's eye, and said, "Take that you old b—, do"—the stick went into Gould's left eye, between his nose and left eye—the prisoner had hold of the stick the whole time—it was a drover's stick; a little thin ash stick—a policeman was close handy—somebody called the policeman, and Gould gave the prisoner in charge—blood flowed from the wound; it came on to his cheek, and his eye swelled up very much directly after it was done—the policeman took the prisoner into custody, and took the stick from him—this (produced) is the stick. Cross-examined by MR. RIBTON. Q. Was Gould a dealer in horses as well as a farrier? A. Not that I know of—I did not know him much; only as working down the yard where my horse was—he was not at work on this day, he was at the horse market—I had not seen him all the morning—I met him first alongside the horse—I do not know that the prisoner had purchased a horse—I saw him with a horse—it had the appearance of being recently bought—there were not persons about him jeering him about the horse, and saying it was not worth half the money he had paid for it—there were only their two selves and another man, who was standing with his back to them—I do not know what was the cause of the altercation between them—I could not hear what was said—I could not judge by their manner whether they were having angry words, I did not take that notice—Gould did not remain talking to him two minutes before he came over to me—I was rather better than the width of this court from them—when Gould came over to where I was he did not speak to me, nor I to him—the prisoner then came up; he spoke first, and called Gould a b—old rogue, and threatened to punch his head—Gould never made any answer—before he came over I saw the prisoner touch him on the nose with the stick—I thought they were only larking, because he did not hit him hard—nothing occurred beyoud what I have stated before the prisoner poked the stick in his eye—they were standing quite close together—Gould was right in front of the prisoner—he did not lift the stick as if to strike him; he deliberstly poked it in his eye—he held it in this way (thrusting it)—he was leaning on the stick before, and had the horse in his other hand; the left hand—he brought the horse across with him—it is an ordinary drover's ash stick; it has a sharpish point—it is a common point, not made sharp—Gould did not fetch the policeman; he was close by, and somebody called, him—Gould walked to the station. SAMUEL WAKEFIELD . I am a traveller and live at 2, Roman-road, Caledonian-road, Islington—on Friday, 21st February, about half-past 4 o'clock, I was in the New Cattle-market—I saw the prisoner and the deceased there—I heard the prisoner say to Gould that he would knock his b—eye out, and he immediately ran the stick into his eye—he was close to him at the time—I was standing close to the deceased—I said, "You villain, you have knocked the man's eye out," or something to that effect, and I gave him into custody—it was done with a stick similar to this. Cross-examined. Q. Were you on the left side of him? A. I was right behind him—the prisoner was standing by the near side of the horse—he had the stick in his right-hand—the horse was at his right hand—he was holding the stick and halter in his hand at the same time—he did not let go the halter when he used the stick—he lifted the stick in this way (describing it)—he did not put it in the other hand—he used both hands—I did not know the deceased at all—I did not see any of the early part of the transaction—I do not know whether there was any chaffing going on about the horse that the prisoner had purchased. MR. POLAND. Q. I believe you afterwards saw the deceased at the hospital, dead? A. Yes. JAMES BEERY . I live at 57, Upper Bemerton-street, and am guard of a railway van—I was in the Cattle-market on this Friday, and saw the prisoner and Gould there—I saw the prisoner push Gould first and then poke the stick into his eye—I was on one side of the fence and he on the other, where the horses are tied—I did not hear anything said before this was done—I had only just come up. Cross-examined. Q. Was the prisoner holding his horse? A. Yes; he had hold of the halter with his right hand—the horse was standing on his right side, and he had the halter and stick in his right-hand when he pushed him—I believe he pushed the stick into his eye with both hands, I can't be sure—I did not know either of them—they did not seem particularly angry. ALFRED PRATCHETT . I live at West-green, Tottenham, and am guard of a van—I was at the Cattle-market on Friday the 21st, and saw the prisoner and Gould there—I saw the prisoner shove the stick in Gould's eye—I did not hear anything said before that—they were talking together, but I did not hear what was said. Cross-examined. Q. Did you see the stick put into the man's eye? A. Yes; he had got the halter in his hand—he had got the halter in his left hand, and the stick in his right—I am sure of that—he raised the stick—I did not notice that in raising it, it knocked against the halter—I was about a yard away from him, facing him—the deceased was at the side of me—there was nothing between me and the prisoner to prevent my seeing—when he raised the stick he still held the halter in his lefthand—it was done in a moment. WILLIAM FAINT (Policeman). I was at the New Cattle-market on Friday the 21st—I took the prisoner into custody, and took from him this stick—Gould was bleeding from the eye at the time—the prisoner was charged with assaulting him—he said he did not do it—at the station he said he was very sorry for what he had done—after the prisoner was locked up I took Gould to the Great Northern Hospital, his wound was dressed there, and he had some lotion; I then took him to his own home at 59, Harrison-street, Gray-inn-road, when I left him there he was sensible—on the way to the station the prisoner said that he had been annoyed by some parties in the market telling him he had bought an old screw, meaning an old horse. Cross-examined. Q. Did you see any of this transaction? A. No; the prisoner had got an old horse when I took him into custody—he looked rather like a screw—there are a great many screws sold there—at times there is a good deal of chaffing going on there. WILLIAM STEVENSON . I am house-surgeon at St. Bartholomew's Hospital—on Saturday, 22d February the deceased was brought there—I examined him—he had a punctured wound in the corner of the left eyelid—I made no examination at the time as to the extent to which it penetrated—he died on Tuesday the 25th—he was not sensible when he was brought in—I made a post mortem examination—I found that the wound had penetrated altogther about four inches—the cause of death was inflammation of the brain, which had produced paralysis—the brain itself was actually wounded—I believe a stick of this description would have inflicted the wound. Cross-examined. Q. Were the parts immediately in connection with the surface of the wound in a state of inflammation? A. Not of inflammation, they were discoloured by extravasation of blood—it was impossible to tell from the external examination to what depth the wound extended—there was no doubt about it from the internal examination, because there was the track of the wound left by the instrument—it had not closed up at all—there was a track through which a probe was passed from the outside wound into the interior of the brain—the probe was not passed before the parts were opened, but afterwards—I am quite sure the probe did not cause any of it—I am able to say positively it was four inches in extent. SAMUEL JENNINGS , a smith of Woolwich, deposed to the prisoners good character, and stated that he had been at one time confined in a lunatic asylum for five weeks, owing to a depressed state of mind brought on by losses in business. GUILTY .— Six Years' Penal Servitude. https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/browse.jsp?id=def1-335-18620303&div=t18620303-335#highlight

174

Iris Dunne on 3rd December 2021

Convict Index: aged 36, year of birth about 1826 Alias Austin Palmerston Montrose Married with 1 child Convict Records: aged 36 Wife Susannah aged 37 in Birmingham Son Thomas aged 15 years Tried 3 March 1862 for Manslaughter Conditional Pardon 15 September 1866

7

Diane Jones on 29th November 2021

Convicted on 6 Mar 1862 at the Central Criminal Court London(the Old Bailey) of the manslaughter of John Gould,farrier.After an altercation at the New Cattle Market,London over the sale of a horse,Thomas let his emotions get the better of him and he stabbed John Gould in the eye with his 'drovers stick'.Gould though apparently not badly injured succumbed to the wound 2 days later.Thomas all the while admitted his guilt and expressed his apologies and was found guilty of manslaughter.Sentenced to 6 years,served a year at Portland Prison then transported on the 'Lord Dalhousie'28 Dec 1863 to The Swan River Colony.While in Australia his wife Sarah was committed to Birmingham Asylum in 1865 she died there on 30 May 1866 leaving a son Thomas aged 17,Thomas Snr received a conditional pardon on 15 Sept 1866.I have no idea if he and his son ever met again young Thomas married had a family and died in 1903,Thomas Snr ended his life in the Aston Union Workhouse,Birmingham sometime after 1911.On 1 July 1916 Reginald Maynard Elton died,Battle of Albert.1st day of the Battle of the Somme,he was Thomas'Gt Grandson....