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
THOMAS TAVERNOR, the waterman at the stand in the Old Bailey, proved,
that he was directed by two men to call out the last witness from
the Watering-house: they said, they wanted to hire his cab. Witness,
however, could not identify the man, as the night was dark.
Mr. MINSHULL asked, if the men were carrying anything, and whether the
witness saw the coach in which they drove off?
The WITNESS replied, that the men were not carrying anything when he
saw them, and he did not see in what manner they left the place, for he
went away as soon as he had called the witness Seagrove.
GEORGE GISSING, a boy about fifteen, proved that he was the son of
a publican, who lived in Birdcage-walk, Bethnal-green. On Friday
evening, between six and seven o'clock, he was standing at his father's
door, when he saw a yellow-bodied chariot stop at the corner of Nova
Scotia-gardens. The prisoners, Bishop, May, and Williams, jumped out of
it, and the two former went up Nova Scotia gardens; they were dressed
in smock-frocks, and May had a pipe in his mouth. Williams, who had on
a light fustian jacket, remained leaning against the fore-wheel of the
chariot, in conversation with the coachman. Bishop and May returned in
a short time, carrying a sack containing something heavy. May had the
sack on his back, and Bishop was holding it up behind; the sack was
placed in the chariot, and after the prisoners had taken their places,
it drove off through Crabtree-row, in the direction of Shoreditch
Church.
THOMAS TRADER, another boy about the same age as the last witness, gave
similar evidence, having seen everything which Gissing had witnessed.
Mrs. Cannell, who was also present, told witness that something strange
was going forward, and she told him to go down the gardens and watch
the motions of the two men (May and Bishop), but witness declined to do
so.
ANN CANNELL corroborated the statement of the last witness, and added,
that she saw two men jump out of the coach. They both wore dark
smock-frocks, and one of them had a pipe in his mouth. (The witness was
here directed to look well at the prisoners Bishop and May, and after
doing so, she declared that she could not identify them as the two men
whom she had so seen.) The last witness stood by, and she (witness)
said to him, 'This looks strange; see where they are going so quick.'
The lad replied, 'I am sure I won't go after them, for if I did, they
would not mind giving me a topper.' The coachman never got off his box
until the men returned, and this circumstance excited her suspicions
the more.
JOHN CHAPMAN, having been sworn, stated that he was porter at Guy's
Hospital. At seven o'clock on the evening of Friday, the 4th instant,
the two prisoners, Bishop and May, drove to the Hospital in a
hackney-coach or chariot. They came to his (witness') lodge, and he let
them in. They had a sack with them, which the shorter man (Bishop)
carried. Witness did not know what the sack contained: they went
towards the dissecting-room.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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