The trial of [William Palmer] for the Rugeley poisonings.

Date:
1856
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The trial of [William Palmer] for the Rugeley poisonings. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    mhia entire innocence.—I have the honour to be, sir, your obedient servant, Bacon’s Hotel, June 5. Jnq. Smith. PALMER IN STAFFORD GAOL. THE PRISONER PALMER.—-STAFFORD, JUNE 6. Fanner very seldom alludes to his trial, and when he does so he appears principally to complain of the summing! up of the Lord Chief Justice. Since the prtoner’s return to Stafford gaol under the warrant :©f execution, Major Fulford has received some hundreds of letters, from all parts of the country, in reference to the prisoner. Many of them, no >daubt, are from well-intentioned persons, and en¬ closing tracts and religious pamphlets. There has :>aiso been a great deal of poetry enclosed in letters, all written with the view of bringing him to a con¬ sideration of his position. The governor of the prison was requested to hand these papers to the prisoner, and to acknowledge the receipt of them ; and it appears that in consequence of his not having done so some complaints have been made to the post-office authorities, upon the supposition that the letters have miscarried. Major Fulford has re¬ ceived a number of other letters in reference to the prisoner, and some of them are of a very extra¬ ordinary character. The following is a copy of -one received on Thursday. It was dated from Stafford, and addressed to Major Fulford :■—“Sir : Let me acquaint you that it is the intention of Palmer’s relatives to get something conveyed to him to destroy himself, and it is believed that his son will be the instrument for so doing. Should that not be accomplished, he will try throwing himself off the gallows. I believe his friends rely upon him ‘squaring’ one or more of his keepers.” This was signed “An Inhabitant of Rugeley,” and posted at this town for fear of its being known. Another communication of a curious kind has also been received from a man at Newport, who ex- presses an anxious desire to be allowed to act as the executioner, and who states that he shall be “proud” of being the executioner of Palmer. The prisoner is never left a moment alone. Two of the principal warders of the prison are engagedin watch¬ ing him alternately day and night.—Evening Star. palmer’s DEMEANOUR.-STAFFORD, JUNE 6. Since he has been brought back to Stafford no cue has seen him—of course with the exception of M^jor Fulford, the governor, and the Rev. ±1. J. Goodacre, the chaplain—but his three brothers and his .sister. He has not ever been seen by Mr. ■> Smith, his attorney. According to the provisions ,of the Gaol Act every prisoner under sentence of ideath is ordered to be placed in some secure con- fffiDtement, apart from all other prisoners, and no one 1 is : alio wed to see him except by an order of the .‘Visiting justices. This rule has been most strictly enforced, and with the exception of those above mentioned, no person has been admitted to see the prisoner except Mr. Wright, a gentleman who, from philantropic motives, visits the different prisons, and who has a special order from the Secretary of State to visit every prison in the country. Ever since the prisoner has been in the gaol since his conviction, he has presented the same cold and un¬ moved appearance that has characterised him throughout the whole of the proceedings. He has paid very little attention to the exhortations of the worthy chaplain of the gaol; and, although he seemed to be ai little moved by the conversation of Mr. Wright, it was very evident that the effect soon wore away, and he speedily resumed his cal¬ lous and indifferent appearance. Since his return he has never once visited the chapel. He devotes a good deal of his time to reading the religious books that are provided for him, and also the Holy Scriptures, in his cell. Palmer very seldom alludes to his trial. He has stated that he entertained the belief that he should be acquitted all the time the jury were engaged in deliberation. Palmer himself did not desire to have the case removed out of the county of Stafford, but he consented upon the representation that he would have a better cbance of acquittal if the case was tried in London.— Abridged from the Daily News. WILLIAM PALMER AND HIS BROTHERS. The three brothers of the convict—Mr. George Palmer, the solicitor; Mr Joseph Palmer, formerly** of Liverpool; and the Rev. Thomas Palmer—had an interview with him on Saturday last. It may here be stated, that his relatives are permitted to see him one at a time only. His brothers were con¬ siderably affected, as might naturally be expected; but Palmer himself remained, to all appearance, unmoved. A paragraph which appeared in a Lon¬ don contemporary, professing to give an account of this interview, though it is preceded by the assertion that “ its truth and authority cannot be doubted,” is, with but a slight exception, a simple fabrication. The prisoner had some conversation with his brother George, and asked his opinion respecting the probability of a reprieve being ob¬ tained. Mr. George Palmer, in reply to his bro¬ ther’s question, made some remarks to the effect that after the manner in which Lord Campbell had summed up, and his learned brothers concurred, there was no hope of a reprieve being granted. During the conversation the prisoner said to his brother, “George, Cook was not poisoned with strychnine.” On Monday, the Rev. Thomas Palmer again visited the convict, and presented him with a printed sermon which he wished him to read. The rev. gentleman did not, stay longer than a few minutes, as the prisoner requested him to return to his mother at Rugeley by the twelve o’clock train. On Wednesday, Mr. George Palmer, the Rev. Thomas Palmer, and his youngest sister. Miss