The history of the London Burkers: Containing a faithful and authentic account of the horrid acts of the noted Resurrectionists, Bishop, Williams, May, etc., etc., and their trial and condemnation at the Old Bailey for the wilful murder of Carlo Ferrari, with the criminals' confessions after trial. Including also the life, character, and behaviour of the atrocious Eliza Ross, the murderer of Mrs. Walsh, etc., etc.Anonymous
History
The history of the London Burkers: Containing a faithful and authentic account of the horrid acts of the noted Resurrectionists, Bishop, Williams, May, etc., etc., and their trial and condemnation at the Old Bailey for the wilful murder of Carlo Ferrari, with the criminals' confessions after trial. Including also the life, character, and behaviour of the atrocious Eliza Ross, the murderer of Mrs. Walsh, etc., etc.
Anonymous
Bishop, John, -1831; May, James, -1832; Ross, Eliza, 1793 or 1794-1832; Trials (Murder) -- England -- London; Williams, Thomas, -1831
Now, would the evidence of the tortoise have been admitted in any
court of justice whatever? It was well known that the Italian boy
carried a tortoise; Mr. Thomas hears of a tortoise being in Middle
Row, Holborn--hurries to take possession of it--produces it before
the jury--and calls a Frenchman to depose that it is _very like_ the
tortoise which the Italian boy carried about with him. We believe that
all tortoises are alike, and that it would not be so easy to prove the
identity of any individual of the species, as has been evinced in the
proof of the identity of Carlo Ferrari. If Mr. Thomas had received
a letter, stating that a tortoise was in either of the two great
Zoological Gardens, and it is just as probable that the tortoise of
Carlo Ferrari should have fallen into the possession of the proprietors
of those establishments, as into that of the woman in Middle
Row,--would Mr. Thomas have so far committed himself, as to repair to
the Gardens, and bring the animal away with him? It is by no means an
uncommon thing to see a tortoise exposed for sale in Leadenhall Market,
and Mr. Thomas had it not in his power to produce an iota of proof,
that the tortoise which the woman purchased in that market, was the
identical one of Carlo Ferrari, but simply that _it was very like it_.
It is true, that the configurations of the shell of the tortoise are
not always similar; but on that point no proof is produced that the
tortoise of Carlo Ferrari, and of the woman in Middle Row, resembled
each other; and, therefore, we cannot forbear expressing our regret,
that any recourse should have been had to such a flimsy evidence, and
which would have been immediately rejected by the judge appointed to
try the criminals.
Mr. Thomas, in continuation of the statement, said, that since the
deceased had been brought to the Station House, he had had no less than
eight applications to see the body by parents, who had, within a very
short space of time, lost their sons, who were generally described as
boys about the age of thirteen or fourteen. The parents could in no
way account for their absence, and they all appeared in the greatest
distress of mind. One of the boys so lost was deaf and dumb.
The coroner and the jury expressed their greatest surprise at the
statement, and Mr. Cribb, the foreman of the jury, observed, that he
had no doubt whatever of the fact, for he had himself seen the parents
of two boys who had disappeared, call at the Station House on Sunday
morning, in order to see the body of the deceased.
A juryman said, that the fact stated by Mr. Thomas afforded the
strongest possible reason for pursuing the present inquiry to the
utmost.
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