Mary Murch

135

C H on 29th February 2024

Old Bailey Online MARY MURCH. Miscellaneous; kidnapping. 8th September 1831 Text type Trial account Defendants MARY MURCH Offences Miscellaneous > Kidnapping Session Date 8th September 1831 Reference Number t18310908-185 Verdicts Guilty Punishments Transportation NEW COURT. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14. Fourth Middlesex Jury, before Mr. Common Sergeant. 1712. MARY MURCH was indicted for that she, on the 16th of August , maliciously and feloniously, by force and fraud, did take and carry away a certain male child , named Thomas Fall , about the age of three months, with intent to deprive Henry Fall and Sarah his wife , the parents, of the possession of the same child . WILLIAM ATFIELD. I am an officer of Worship-street. On the 18th of August the prisoner came to the office with a child in her arms - she had a man with her; the child appeared to be three or four months old - in consequence of what the prisoner said, an officer was sent to make inquiries. MARY ANN FALL . I am ten years of age, and am the daughter of Henry Fall, who lives at No. 4, Somer's-court, Back-hill. On Tuesday, the 16th of August, I had my little brother on my arms in Back-hill - he is three months old, and his name is Thomas; I saw the prisoner about half-past five o'clock; she said, "Little girl, I will give you a penny if you will show me where Saffron-hill is;" when we got there, she said, "I will give you fivepence more, which will make sixpence, if you will go to Smithfield for me, and fetch a gentleman named Jackson from No. 17 or 18, to come to me directly" - she said she would mind the child till I came back; I gave her the child, and went to Smithfield - I could not find Mr. Jackson, but I saw a lad at No. 16, who said his father, Mr. Jackson, lived at No. 19, and he would tell him to come the next morning, at ten o'clock - I went back, on hearing that; the prisoner had told me that her name was Johnson, and that was the name I mentioned to the boy; when I got back I could not find the prisoner, and I did not see her again till she was at Hatton-garden, three days after - she had told me, when I left her, that she would sit down at the step of a door in Peter-street till I returned - I came back in about half an hour; I should not have been so long, if I could have found the gentleman I went for - she gave no reason why she did not go herself to Smithfield; I went all about the street, and could not find her - I then went home; this is the child- when she took it of me, it had on a white frock, a linen shirt, a new flannel petticoat, a white petticoat, a calico binder, and a cross-bar muslin cap - when I found it again, it was dressed much worse. Cross-examined by MR. BODKIN. Q. The prisoner was quite a stranger? A. Yes; I was some distance from home when I saw her, but I told her, I lived on Back-hill - I went with her to Saffron-hill, and carried the child myself; she did not say she was ill; she did not look ill then - I might have got back in a quarter of an hour, if I had found the gentleman and made haste; she might have said, "Go in the name of Johnson, and tell Mr. Jackson to come here;" she did not tell the particular number, she said No. 17 or 18 - there are a great many people about the place where I left the prisoner, and a great many turnings; a person might be lost sight of in a moment - she had sent me to get change for a shilling before I went to Smithfield; she held the child at that time, and when I came back she was still there with it - Saffron-hill is the nearest way from Back-hill, to Smithfield. SARAH FALL . I am the wife of Henry Fall; we live in Somer's-court. I gave this child to my daughter, on the 16th of August; it then had on a linen shirt, a muslin frock, a calico petticoat, a cap, and a calico roller - I did not see it again till at the office, on the Friday after wards, when my husband had it; a man who I understood to be the husband of the prisoner, came and told me about the child, and I sent my husband for it - it was then dressed quite differently to what it was when I sent it out; the child was ill when it returned, and has been so ever since - I do not think it had been ill-used. HENRY FALL. In consequence of information, on the 19th of August, I got my child from the nurse at Shoreditch workhouse. Cross-examined. Q.Did you get information from the prisoner's husband? A. Yes; I had bills stuck up about the street - he came to me; when I went home to breakfast, I found him in my room. CORDELIA WALTERS . I am the wife of Edward Walters, of No. 44, Marylebone-lane, Manchester-square. The prisoner lived with me, with a person who I believe is her husband; they have lived there since January last- I remember the prisoner being brought to my house one day, but I do not recollect when; I believe it was two days before she was taken up - she was treated like a woman in labour; I gave her some brandy and water, and what I thought necessary - she said she had been delivered of a child, and I saw the eyes and nose of a child, which was covered with flannel, and was under her arm; I sent for a midwife the next morning - when I saw the child afterwards, it appeared to be a male, and about two month's old. Cross-examined. Q.You are not a nurse? A. No; I have had children of my own - the prisoner before that appeared to be in a state of pregnancy, and I had let her have any thing about my shop - I could not see the size of the child when it was first brought in, but I desired it to be wrapped up and put on the hearth, while we attended to her, and got her to bed - I did not take notice of the child that night, I was so flurried; we went to dress it the next night, between seven and eight o'clock, and then I saw what it was - I certainly did not see enough of the child the first night to be able to state that it was the same I saw the next night; I cannot state whether the prisoner appeared to be pregnant after this, as she left my house so soon afterwards - I had signed for a box of linen for her. CHARLOTTE CONSTABLE . I am a midwife, and live in James-street, Manchester-square. I was called to visit the prisoner on the 17th of August - I asked how she came to go so far from home, being so near her confinement; she did not make any answer, but said she had been delivered in St. Giles' by a medical man; I did not undress the child at that time, but I did in the evening - I saw it was a child of some months old, and demanded the letter of her that she had taken from the Queen's-hospital for me to attend her - she said she had been taken ill in St. Giles', and was senseless for three hours on the ground, then she took a coach, and came home, and that some one must have changed the child. Cross-examined. Q. How long had she had this letter for you to attend her? A. I should think two months - she had prepared to be confined; it is the custom at the Queen's-hospital, if any medical man attends one of their patients, that they pay him, and I asked who had attended her. WILLIAM ATFIELD . The prisoner came to Worship-street office on the 18th of August - she brought this child in her arms; her husband was with her; she said she was walking down Old-street-road that afternoon, and at the end of Pitfield-street she met a woman with this child, who asked her to be so kind as to hold it while she went on an errand to a shop up Pitfield-street; that she had taken the child, and waited three hours, but the woman never came back - the overseer of Shoreditch happened to be there, and he sent the child to the workhouse. CHARLES WICKS . I am a porter, and live on Back-hill. On Tuesday, the 16th of August, I came up Saffronhill, and saw the prisoner there - I saw a little girl with the child; the prisoner sent her to a public-house for change for 1s.: I then heard her ask if she would go on an errand for her - the girl said Yes, and she said she wanted her to go as far as Smithfield; when they got to the corner of Peter-street the prisoner said, "My dear. I will take the child for you while you go, as I am in a great hurry;" the girl said No, she would take the child with her - the prisoner said, "No, you know me, you need not be afraid of me; I live in Peter-street, my name is Johnson;" she took the child out of the girl's arms. Prisoner's Defence. The reason I changed the child's clothes was that they were so dirty, and I could not take it out as it was - I have friends to produce them; I had not taken off the roller. GUILTY on the 2nd and 4th Counts. Aged 23. Transported for Seven Years .

338

Penny-Lyn Beale on 1st September 2020

New South Wales, Australia, Convict Indents, 1788-1842. Mary Murch No; 192 - 32. 45 Age; 23 Est birth Year; 1809 Read & Write. Married Religion: Protestant Native Place: Surrey Calling; Dressmaking Date of Trial: Middlesex Goal Delivery. 6 September 1831 Offence; Child Stealing Sentence; 7 years Height; 4 ft. 9 1/2 Complexion: Fair Hair: Brown Eyes; Hazel Grey Noted against his name; Died in the Female Factory Hospital Parramatta 23 Nov 1837 ------------------------------------ New South Wales, Australia, St. John's Parramatta, Burials, 1790-1986 Name: Mary Murch. No 504 Age: 26. Birth Year: abt 1811 Burial Date: 25 Nov 1837 Burial Place: Parramatta, Cumberland, New South Wales, Australia By whom the ceremony was preformed; Henry HBobard? Curate