JONATHAN SMITHIES, Killing > murder, 5th July 1832.

Reference Number: t18320705-4
Offence: Killing > murder
Verdict: Guilty
Punishment: Death
Related Material: Associated Records
Second Middlesex Jury, before Mr. Justice Gaselee.

1421.   JONATHAN SMITHIES was indicted for the wilful murder of   Elizabeth Towneley Twamley .

MESSRS. ADOLPHUS and PHILLIPS conducted the prosecution.

ELIZA BAKER . I lived in the prisoner's service nearly six months; I left him about two months ago, and   Sarah Smith succeeded me; I remained two or three days in the house after she came - the prisoner is a cabinet-maker , and lived at No. 398. Oxford-street; he had a workshop in Dean-street, for his business, as a cabinet-maker - there was a vault adjoining the kitchen of the house in  Oxford-street .

Q. Was there, to your knowledge, any wood or shavings kept in the kitchen? A. No, not in the kitchen, not to my knowledge; there never was while I was there - there was some kept in the vault adjoining: the kitchen is separated from the vault by a partition: I cannot say whether it is of wood or brick work; there is a kitchen door and a partition which separated the vault and wash-house from the kitchen, and the wash-house from the vault; some time before I left I purchased a penny worth of gunpowder, and used half of it to cleanse the copper flue - I put the other half into a tin flour dredger on the kitchen mantel-piece, and when I left the service it was in the same place as I had put it; I had not scattered the gunpowder about the place - I left on the Wednesday: the fire happened on the Monday morning following; I had bought the gunpowder, to the best of my recollection, about a fortnight before I left, but I am not certain - I know I left the dredger on the mantel-piece when I left, but I never opened it after I put the gunpowder in it - I observed no difference in the appearance of the box than when I placed it there; I believe I had half an ounce of gunpowder for 1d., but am not certain; there was a wine-bottle on the kitchen mantel-piece in the opposite corner to where the dredger-box was placed - I saw that some time before I left, and the prisoner told me the bottle contained torpentine; it was very seldom indeed that there was a fire in the kitchen - master used sometimes to bring home work from the cabinet-shop to dry - he used to dry it by the parlour fire; there was a ledge near the kitchen window; an old dirty tin canister used to stand there, but I do not know what it contained; I never knew the prisoner go out to shool while I was in his service - I never saw a gun there.

Cross-examined by MR. CLARKSON. Q. Is this model a correct representation of the house? A. Yes; the prisoner's wife kept a tobacconist's-shop, which was over the kitchen, and the place over the vault is Mr. Spier's, a stationer - the deceased occupied the second floor front room; a French gentleman, named Savory, lived on the first floor - Miss Twamley's rooms were over both the tobacconist's and stationer's shop; a French gentleman, named Giesmar, lived on the third floor - the prisoner and his wife slept in the lower back room; the fire place in the kitchen is against the brick wall - next to that was a copper, and next to that a large box; the staircase led up into the parlour, adjoining the shop - there was a door opening to the kitchen stairs, which led to the wash-house; that door was arched with a brick roof - there was another door leading from the wash-house into the vault; I think that back vault was arched with brick, but am not certain - the dust-hole was close to the vault door, on the left-hand- there was a coal place parted off at the further end of the vault; a person, named Davis, occupied the back room on the first floor, and to that room were some leads - Miss Twamley also occupied the back room on the second floor - they had three rooms; I slept in the back attic - Miss Twamley's rooms were not let furnished, the others were; the room, occupied by the prisoner and his wife, was furnished - not very long before I left some shavings were brought to the prisoner's house, by rather a short man; the prisoner was not at home when they came, but he came in soon after - there was but one sack of shavings; they were placed in the vault - when the prisoner came home he wished for another sack, which was brought, but his wife would not pay for them.

Q. Did he complain of their being put into the vault, and say they should have been carried to Dean-street? A. I did not hear him say so, nor that they ought to have been taken to the shop; I bought a pennyworth of gunpowder once before to clean the copper flue - to the best of my knowledge the shavings were in a sack, whether the sack was left with them I cannot be certain; I used a great part of them to light the fire - the prisoner said I ought not to have used them so fast; he was not particular in cautioning me about fire - he used to be very careful in putting the fire out at night; there was a lump of bees'-wax in the kitchen.

Q. Did your master tell you the turpentine and bees'-wax were not to be touched by you, because it was got to polish a bedstead? A. Yes, a French bedstead, in the first floor front room - he told me not to upset it; before I left he had proposed to clean out the vault below.

Q. I believe the dirt, rubbish, and wood in the vault, and the communication between that and the kitchen, kept your kitchen very untidy? A. It did - I was desirous of keeping the kitchen decent; he told me it would be of no use to clean the kitchen till he had cleaned out the vault, and I delayed it from the Friday till the Monday; I dare say that was a week before I left: the vault was not cleaned out while I was there - I did not clean the kitchen on the Monday, to the best of my recollection; Davis very frequently came home late: master generally kept early hours; he used not to set up for Davis, but used to get up to let him in latterly, as the room he slept in was so very near the door; master and Davis were not on good terms:

 Davis once had a receipt for his rent on unstamped paper- the tobacconist's shop usually closed about eleven o'clock; the prisoner attended to his business in Dean-street himself, when he had work; I do not know what veneers are - he used to bring home wood in different shapes to dry, both thick and thin; they never kept but one fire while I was there, and that was always in the parlour; the cooking was done in the parlour - they had very few joints, and they were baked.

JURY. Q. Was the work he brought home to dry finished or partly so? A. It appeared partly finished; the first gunpowder was all gone before I bought the second.

  HENRY CADDEL . I am light-porter at Mr. Applegarth's, No. 36, Oxford-street. On Monday morning, the 28th of May, about twenty minutes past six o'clock, while I was opening Mr. Applegarth's shop, which is exactly opposite the prisoner's, I heard a cry of fire and murder proceeding from the other side of the road; I saw a hand through the area grating of Mr. Smithie's house - I went over; it was the area grating under Mr. Spier's (the printer) shop; the eastern area - I saw the prisoner in the area under the printer's shop; he asked me, for God's sake, to open the grating and let him out, as the house was on fire; I endeavoured to do so, but could not get up the grating; it was solding down to the pavement - I called for assistance, and got Bolton, a Policeman, to help me; we broke the tobacconist's shop door open - it was fastened with a lock, but not bolted; we did not perceive any thing in the shop - there was no fire there, but when we got to the door, which leads to the kitchen stairs, the flames were coming up the kitchen stairs and proceeded up the stairs like wildfire, they proceeded so quick; the flames came from the bottom of the stairs, from the kitchen - I then retreated into the street; I did not see any flames on the stairs, but when I was at the front area I saw a kind-of flame through the place where Mr. Smithies was standing; it seemed to come from the part under the printer's shop, the back vault: that was when I first went to Smithies - he was at the area, (under Spier's) and in the vault I saw the fire, not in the kitchen, it was at the further part of the vault - that flame was quite distinct from that which came up the kitchen stairs; the fire from the kitchen changed its colour as it got more towards the door; the flames went right up the stairs of the house with more rapidity than before; they were not quite at the top of the stairs at first, but they proceeded right up the other stairs, right up to the top - they were coming out of the second floor and the garret windows in about ten minutes; I went into the street from the top of the kitchen stairs, and observed the females at the window; the servant was at the garret window - she jumped out of the second floor window, and was saved; I saw one young person at the second floor window, who was afterwards burnt to death - she came to the window to get herself out, but previous to that she put a little boy out; the child hung by the window ledge, but she pushed its hands away, it fell down and was caught by the people below; she then clasped her hands together, and fell back into the flames - she seemed overcome with smoke and suffocation; I did not know her before - I stopped at the fire about an hour; the prisoner came out of the tobacco-shop, which was on fire, as soon as the little boy was thrown out of the window: the flames had then communicated with the tobacco-shop; I observed that he was very much burnt on the face and hands - he said nothing that I heard; when I saw him in the area he had a greyish morning gown or coat on, and he had the same on when he came into the street.

Cross-examined by MR. BARRY. Q. How many persons were before the house when you went up? A. None, I was the first there - there is a window leading from the area to the vault under Spier's shop; the area has pretty strong iron bars - I saw his face when he called out to be got out; it did not then appear to be burnt or scorched - I should think about three minutes, and not more, elapsed from that time till we broke into the house and reached the stair head; he did not beg of me to knock at the door or break it open.

Q. Did he tell you to alarm the house, as there were five or six females in it, who might be burnt? A. No, he did not; the Policeman went half-way into the shop with me, but he went out again - I was the only person at the head of the stairs; I could not venture down the stairs because it was all on fire at the bottom part; the fire continued to burn up the staircase - the prisoner made his way up the stairs into the shop; he could not have done so without being burnt in the face - his face presented the appearance of having been considerably burnt.

Q. When standing outside the area, and the prisoner was calling out for help, you saw a flame at the back of the vault, how far back do you think the fire extended? A. I cannot say, but I suppose it was a good distance back, for I was on my knees - I should suppose it presented about a yard to my view; it appeared to be about a yard from the back of the vault - I have been down there since the fire; there is a partition between the front and back part of the vault, and a door, but the door was open- it was broad day-light.

Q. Is there a door from the kitchen to the front area, where the prisoner was? A. I do not know; there is a little archway, but there was no door when I went down; when I looked from the area I could see right along the vault under Spier's shop - I only saw a flame at the end of the vault when I was kneeling down; I saw no candle there - when the prisoner came out of the house his neckcloth was burning; I did not see a box in the kitchen when I went down.

MR. ADOLPHUS. Q. When you went into the house at first was the flames coming up the kitchen stairs? A. Yes, but not in the shop; the shop was the last place that caught fire - the flames were out at the window before the shop caught fire; I should think I was there not quite a minute before the Policeman came - he was on the other side of the way, two or three doors lower down: the prisoner was then in the area, desiring me to get him out - if I had got him out that way he would have been totally unburnt; the fire in the vault could not communicate with the kitchen, nor could fire in the kitchen with the vault - when I went down there was an arch between the kitchen and vault, but there was no door.

JURY. Q. Then, according to your observation, there were two distinct fires, one in the vault and the other one coming up the staircase? A. Yes.

  SARAH SMITH . I live at No. 7, Bryanstone-mews, west, Bryanstone-square. On the 21st of May I entered the pri

 soner's service in Oxford-street; I slept in the back attic for the first four nights - master and mistress slept in the little back room, half-way up the first flight of stairs. On the Friday and Saturday nights, before the fire, I slept with my mistress in her bed-room, and master slept in my room, the back attic - I do not know the reason for that change of beds; master and mistress were not on good terms - every time he came in they were quarrelling; they appeared on better terms on the Sunday: when I entered the service there were some old boxes or boards in the back vault.

Q. Did you observe whether there were any in the wash-house or front vault? A. In the wash-house or kitchen there were none - I occasionally lighted the fire with the shavings: I used to get them out of the back vault - on the Sunday evening before the fire I observed two sacks of shavings placed in the front vault or washhouse - the coal-bin is in the back part of the back vault; I went to it on Sunday morning, about eight o'clock - I had no light with me; I am sure at that time there were no pieces of wood in my way to it; there was nothing but shavings - about three o'clock that Sunday afternoon I left the back attic, in which I sleep, and left the prisoner in the room; I went out, and returned about twenty minutes past five o'clock - I went down into the kitchen, in a few moments after I went down to the kitchen again, and saw the prisoner in the vaults - he was clearing out the old boards and boxes, and he had put the shavings into two sacks; he had on an old pair of trousers, an old coat, and a blue handkerchief tied about his head - he had no light at that time; the door between the vault and kitchen was shut then, I am sure - there had been a fire in the kitchen all day on Sunday, till seven o'clock in the evening; it then went out - there had been no fire in the kitchen the preceding week, except on Saturday afternoon- there had not been a fire there at any other time, while I was in the service.

Q. After the fire was out on Sunday at seven o'clock, did you observe what remained in the grate? A. Dirt and cinders; there was no wood; I did not see the prisoner remove any thing into the kitchen, but I afterwards saw old boards and boxes removed out of the vault into the kitchen: they were on the copper and dresser, and on the large box, which stood between the copper and watercloset; nobody but the prisoner had been at work in the vault; I was in the kitchen for the last time at eleven o'clock; at night - I did not then observe any sack of shavings in front of the box between the copper and watercloset; if there had been one in that situation I could not have avoided seeing it: I observed over the kitchen mantel-piece a tin box - I did not meddle with it at all. On the Saturday afternoon before the fire there were two wine-bottles on that mantel-piece, one contained spirits of turpentine, and the other was empty; the turpentine was in a full sized wine-bottle, and was full - it stood on its bottom; I took it down and smelt it on the Saturday, and replaced it on its bottom, as it ought to be - it was corked; I do not recollect whether I saw it on the Sunday, but I saw it on the Saturday afternoon - I went to bed on Sunday night as near twelve o'clock as possible, and left master and mistress in their bed-room - he was then in the same dress as he had been working in in the morning; Davis had not come in when I went to bed; I had not seen him - I left a saucepan of clean water on the left hob of the kitchen grate, and the tea-kettle on the right hob, with some water in it, but not quite full - I left them so when I went to bed; there was a very strong smell of turpentine on the stairs between ten and eleven o'clock that evening, and I made a remark to my mistress about it.

Q. After you corked the turpentine bottle on Saturday, and placed it on the shelf, did it give any smell that you could smell on the stairs? A. Oh no, I am quite sure of that - when I went to bed on Sunday night I am positive there was not a particle of fire either in the kitchen or parlour grate; there had been no fire in the parlour - I was awoke about six o'clock on Monday morning, by an alarm of fire; I got into Miss Twamley's front room, and there saw the Miss Twamley who has been burnt; she was then alive, and in perfect health - I flew to the window, and jumped out into the street.

Cross-examined by MR. CLARKSON. Q. On the Sunday night you left your master and mistress in their bed-room, apparently good friends? A. Yes; there was a tin box and a dredger box on the mantel-piece - the former servant told me there was some gunpowder in the box, and cautioned me about it - I never touched it; I occasionally lighted the fire with shavings - they were loose in the vault then; when they were brought out they were in the wash-house in two sacks; I never saw the bees'-wax - when I came home at five o'clock on Sunday afternoon master had a light in the vault; he was in the further vault, where the coals are kept - there was no access for light but from the door leading from the wash-house to the kitchen: it was necessary for him to have a light to work in that vault, but in the morning he might have removed the rubbish without a candle, if the doors were open, because the front of the wash-house window faced the door - the kitchen window is under the tobacco-shop, and the wash-house window under the stationer's-shop.

Q. Could it not be done with greater facility with a light? A. Yes it could; the coals were at the further end of the vault.

Q. Supposing your master was at work on Monday morning in the back vault, and had a light, the door leading from the wash-house being open, would a person looking down the grating from the street see the light in the vault? A. He might just see the glimpse of the light in the wash-house, but not the candle from whence it came.

JURY. Q. Were the shavings brought into the house while you were there? A. No.

MR. PHILLIPS. Q. Did you ever know your master go to work in that vault in the dress in which he walked the street? A. I never knew him go down to the vault before the Sunday; he did not then wear the dress he wore in the street - I did not see him on Monday morning.

  HENRY CADDEL re-examined. Q. You say that looking through the area, through the place where the prisoner was, you saw a light - what sort of a light did it appear? A. It seemed to come along the floor; it was a light of a greater body than a candle.

MR. CLARKSON. Q. Could you see the body of any light at all? A. No, only the end of the flame; it came along the floor part of the vault - I saw the light itself; it was a lightish flame - it was not the reflection; I suppose

 the grating is about three feet wide, and should think the bars were about an inch and a half a part.

  SAMUEL DAVIS . I was apprenticed to a cabinet-maker, but now carry on the business of an auctioneer - I lodged in the first floor back room in the prisoner's house from fifteen to eighteen months, and very frequently came home at late hours; the servant occasionally let me in, and sometimes Mrs. Smithies, and on some occasions the prisoner himself. On Sunday night, the 27th of May, I came home about half-past eleven o'clock, or it might be later; the prisoner let me in - he was dressed in a Bath morning coat, a kind of grey or drab colour - I never saw him at work; I have seen him walk about in that coat - when I came in I went down stairs; the prisoner gave me a candle - I merely said I required a light to go down stairs; he gave me one, and followed me down: I was going to the water-closet, which lays to the left at the bottom of the stairs as you go down; I did not observe any thing till he desired me to be careful of the light, as there was wood and shavings there, he having been clearing out the kitchen to put some veneers and other work there, as his workshops where he worked were considerably too hot for them - I remarked that was rather an unusual thing for a workshop to be too hot for cabinet-maker's wood.

Q. Is it to the advantage of wood used in that work to be kept in a hot place? A. Decidedly so, the hotter the place the dryer it keeps - he did not reply to my observation that I remember; nothing more passed before I got to the water-closet: when I was in the water-closet he hurried me to come out, saying he wanted to come there himself, and when I came out he did not go there himself, but followed me up stairs; when I got up stairs I went to bed- I was awoke in the morning by the alarm of fire; I found my bed curtains on fire, and escaped on the leads of Mr. Spier's premises - about ten days or a fortnight before the fire the prisoner and his wife were quarrelling; he was asking her for something, which she refused to give him, and he said if she did not give him what he wanted by good means, he would have all, and she should have nothing left.

Q. Where did you go when you descended from Spier's leads? A. When I got down into the yard off the leads, Mrs. Smithies was there with me; the prisoner came there while we were both there, and I think there were several persons in the yard, who probably might hear what took place - on the prisoner's coming she said to him, "You wretch, (or you rascal, I do not remember which) you have not been in bed all night; you have set the house on fire on purpose to murder me;" the prisoner replied,"Hold your tongue you foolish woman - don't you see how I am burnt." I follow the business of an appraiser; the furniture in my room all belonged to them, except a chest of drawers; I have occasionally been in the front room first floor, and in the room they themselves lived in; I have been in the kitchen, and in the room on the staircase between the first and second floors: I should estimate the furniture in all those rooms at 60l. or 70l., that includes the room the prisoner and his wife slept in - I never saw any watches or trinkets in his possession, nor china, glass, looking-glasses, or earthenware, except a few trifling articles belonging to domestic use; every thing I observed there was of the most common kind - there were one or two common paintings; I never saw any pictures worth 30l. nor 30s. - there were the common necessary house fixtures, and a few things in the shop, belonging to the business; I should think them altogether worth from 15l. to 20l. or 25l.

Q. Was there any possibility of their being worth 100l.? A. Decidedly not; when I saw the prisoner in the morning speaking to his wife, he had the same dress on as he let me in in the night before.

Cross-examined by MR. BARRY. Q. Do you carry on business in Soho-square? A. Yes; the premises and business belong to my father - I am not a partner; I may be considered in his employ - I do not know that I am on bad terms with the prisoner: there has been occasionally a pique, owing to some expressions he used towards me, not that I used towards him - I had been in his debt for rent, but I paid him a week previous to the fire.

Q. But had you not been in arrear for rent, and been asked for it? A. I may have been repeatedly in arrear -I have been asked for it, and named a day when I would pay - I may have been asked two or three times before I have paid it.

Q. At any time have you said, you had that in your possession, if you were pressed for the payment of rent, which would ruin the prisoner? A. No, I swear that - I can tell to what you allude; I paid my rent, and asked for an acknowledgment, and the prisoner gave me one on unstamped paper for 7l.; he asked me for the money again a few days after - I told him I had an acknowledgment; his remark to me was that what I had was of no earthly use - I never said I had that in my possession which would ruin him and his wife; I told him if he persisted in demanding the money, I had that in my possession which would not benefit him, but to show my principle of honor, to convince him I had no improper motive, if he would give me a stamped receipt I would burn the other; I did not pay the 7l. again; his wife gave me a stamped receipt after that, and before her face I burnt the unstamped one; I have more than once desired time of him for rent which was due; I never threatened to ruin him and his wife by exposing the circumstance of the unstamped paper.

Q. How long did you remain in the water-closet? A Some few minutes - I cannot say how long, not longer than was necessary.

Q. Were you not there half or a quarter of an hour? A. Certainly not; I had a newspaper reading there - he did not complain when I came out that he was cold and chilled, and was going to bed; I was not there longer than I had occasion to be - I do not know Thomas Strong; I was examined before the Corner.

Q. In consequence of what any body said to you after the examination, did you say you had given your evidence in a prejudiced manner? A. They questioned me about my evidence; I said I had spoken nothing but the truth, and I was not answerable to them what evidence I gave before a person holding His Majesty's warrant; I said if there was prejudice, it was sufficient to prejudice a man to awake and find his bed-curtains on fire, and it did not matter whether a man cut your throat or burnt you, if he took your life, it was quite sufficient to prejudice any individual; I do not recollect saying I would not stir across

 the road to save the prisoner's life, nor any thing like it; I was never examined before a Court of Justice before.

Q. You say you found your curtains on fire, did you stay some little time in the room and secure some of your clothes? A. No, I got out on the leads, put my hand in again, drew a drawer out of the top chest, and threw it out of window; I cannot say whether Mrs. Smithies came out at the same window after me - I have asked her if she came out before or after me, but do not remember the answer she gave; some persons said she came out before, and some after, but I was so frightened I have no recollection whether it was before or after: I had not my senses about me sufficient to know - I had the presence of mind to get my drawer of clothes, but my senses after that immediately left me.

Q. May you not have been in that state of alarm as to be mistaken about there being actually fire in your room? A. I was awoke out of a sound sleep by my bed being actually in flames, and it was visible outside the window, for I really did not stop to look till I got out of the window, and it was that frightened me more - I never particularly noticed, but should think the large box is about four feet from the water-closet, and beyond that is the copper; as the prisoner stood at the bottom of the stairs he held a light, and told me to be careful of the light with some shavings that were at the bottom of the stairs, and to mind I did not hit myself against some wood by the door of the closet; all the people did not leave the Inquest room before I left.

MR. ADOLPHUS. Q. When you burnt the unstamped paper was any rent due by you? A. I paid some more money at the same time, and took a stamped receipt for the whole, and burnt the unstamped receipt; I slept on the night of the fire with my bed-room door wide open, as I generally do - the window in my room opens into the back yard of a workshop; it was through that I made my escape.

MR. BARRY. Q. How many rooms in the house have you been into? A. The front room first floor, which is Savory's, and the small room behind, over the prisoner's bed-room; I have never been in his bed-room, but have looked in frequently as I was passing, when the door was open.

Q. Were the fittings up of the shop mahogany? A. I think they were only painted to imitate mahogany, but will not be sure; the prisoner's wife attended to the shop.

COURT. Q. Repeat the expression his wife used to him after the fire? A. She said, "You wretch (or rascal) you have not been in bed all night; you have set fire to the house on purpose to murder me;" I am quite sure she said "on purpose to murder me" - other persons heard it as well as me; I am quite sure I stated the words "to murder me" to the Coroner - I remember stating them; when I mentioned the words at the Inquest I heard somebody start up and say, "We heard that expression as well as yourself;" Valentine heard the expression from that person - I have no doubt the Corner heard it as well as others.

MR. PHILLIPS. Q. Was Mr. Allen, the vestry-clerk, present when you gave your evidence? A. Not that I remember - I do not remember speaking to him; the conversation with the prisoner's wife was four or five minutes after I had got down from the window; I had quite recovered myself, so as accurately to remember what passed- I suppose ten minutes had elapsed.

  WILLIAM MOAKES . I am fireman to the British Fire-office, and have been so thirty-seven years. I went to this fire I think between eight and nine o'clock on the morning in question; on the Wednesday, about eleven, I got down into the kitchen, by a fireman cutting a passage through one of the joists of the shop floor - I went down alone; I did not observe any veneers about the fire-place: there was a good deal of rubbish which had come down between the copper and the fire-place - that was the ruins of the fire; it had not come as far as the fire-place; a man named Wing handed me a light, and I went through the front vault into the back vault, and against the coal-bin I saw there had been a fire made on a short piece of board; the board was nearly two feet long, and eight inches broad.

Q. Why do you suppose there had been a fire on that piece of wood? A. There was the remains of wood which had been burned - I left it there; it was near the coal-bin- the bin is made of brick and mortar, and has two boards at the bulk head, and those boards were burnt, but not much- there was a partition to the coal-bin, and that was burnt, but not much; I discovered a wine-bottle on the top of some large stone bottles - it laid down without any cork, and the bottom upwards; it was empty - I smelt it, and it appeared to have contained turpentine; I then called Wing down, and he smelt it; I sent him for some of the neighbours to come and see the place; I stopped there, without disturbing any thing, and showed them round the place with a light - I went to the kitchen fire-place; there was a kettle with water in it on one hob, and water in a saucepan on the other - there was nothing particular in the fire-place; I found a card at the end of a board on which fire had been made; there was also a few shavings and a little gunpowder - some of the gunpowder was on the card, which was a little bent, and some on the wooden bench.

Q. How was the card bent? A. Longways, and some of the gunpowder was scattered near the shavings, not a foot from them - the shavings and card were about four feet from the board on which the fire had been; I did not move the card at all - there is no fire-place nor grate in the back vault; it was impossible for fire in the kitchen grate to communicate with the board in the vault on which fire had been made; the vault is separated from the kitchen by a brick wall - I did not go towards the watercloset, but a man named Saunders did, and dug up some shavings beyond the copper - I took hold of them, and part of a sack was found; I felt the bottom of it myself - it was about two feet beyond the copper, between that and the water-closet; some of the shavings near the card appeared scorched, not as if they had been on fire, but as if there had been a flash, and they had gone out themselves; the shavings were not above a yard from the card.

Cross-examined by MR. CLARKSON. Q. The shavings that were scattered were between the copper and the water-closet? A. No, that was the sack; those shavings were in the back vault - there were a great many workmen on the premises; I left on Tuesday, and went again on Wednesday - I was not examined before the Coroner; I did not communicate to my superiors what I had discovered, only to the neighbours.

 Q. When was you first called on to give evidence? A. I was ordered by the beadle to go to Mr. Allen's office about a week after; I could not see in the vault without a light - there was no ruins of fire in the vault; it was entirely clear from ruins, and the wash-house was clear - the ruins had fallen through into the kitchen into which we dug; the back vault was arched, and all surrounded with brick.

Q. Was there a more unlikely place for a man to set fire to a house than to commence in a bricked vault? A. If he had put all the shavings and all the stuff together there he could not have set it on fire; it must have burnt itself out - it was impossible to set fire to a house there; I really believe if there had been two sacks of shavings there it would not have set the house on fire.

JURY. Q. Could a person see from the outside into the back vault? A. No; they could not have seen fire in the vault if they had laid on the pavement - they might have seen the smoke or a particular light from the area by laying their head down to the curb.

MR. CLARKSON. Q. In your judgment, was it possible for a person to see a light from the area grating, or must it have been the reflection only? A. It must have been the reflection only - they could not have seen the light; by laying down they might have seen fire, but there was no fire there to see.

COURT. Q. You have said there was the appearance of there having been fire - if a person laid down with his head on the curb-stone could he see a fire if there was one? A. He might.

MR. CLARKSON. Q. The gunpowder in the vault was not ignited? A. No - I have not got it here; I took some of it up, held it over a lamp, and it ignited - that never could have been lighted before; there could not have been any thing like a large fire in the back vault - a person laying his head on the curb, and looking through the grating and the door of the vault, if there had been a candle, might have seen the reflection of it, but not the candle - if a fire had been attempted in the vault it must have extinguished itself immediately; it could not have burnt five minutes - my notion is, that if a fire had been attempted to be made in the vault, it had failed and gone out: there was a great deal of fire in the kitchen - the back vault is quite a dark cellar, and could not be cleaned out without a light; some of the boards which had been put up to the coal-hole were partly burnt but very trifling; the boards are three or four feet long, and seven inches wide - there were two of them, one above the other: I have not brought any of the shavings which were partly scorched; there were a good many stone bottles in the vault, but it was a wine-bottle I mentioned, and I only saw one - that was the only bottle which was free from dust; the kitchen was in a heap of ruins - they were above the flooring of the shop.

Q. Then they must have been above the copper? A. Yes; I had to clear away all the ruins before I could discern any thing, and under the ruins I found some shavings- shavings would burn best loose; if stuffed into a bag they would be like a piece of timber almost, and would take twice the time to burn; I could only find one winebottle in the vault; I do not know whether the kitchen has been searched for bottles - one side of the copper was clear, and by the fire-place it was all clear when I got down through the rafters - there was no rubbish laying between the copper and the front of the street; not a soul had been clearing away the rubbish before I went - I looked at the fire-place; I believe there might be two or three sticks of what they light the fire with in the grate - I saw a few in the grate; it was such wood as is in bundles for lighting fires - I did not examine it, and cannot say whether it had been lighted.

Q. Were there six or seven pieces? A. I cannot say; I know there were three or four: it seemed as if there had been a fire in the grate, and it had gone out - the fire was not laid; the wood was not in the grate, it was at the top of the grate, by the side.

Q. Will you swear there was not wood between the bars of the fire-place? A. I do not know - I would not wish to say a word untrue; there might be two or three pieces, but I took no particular notice - to the best of my knowledge there were two or three pieces of wood in the fire-place, but not in the bars, to my knowledge; I will not swear none was in the bars - I did not go to look for it; no broken glass was found in the kitchen, to my knowledge - I saw no broken bottles among the ruins.

JURY. Q. Were the shavings in the sack? A. I only felt the sack - it was the bottom of a sack; the shavings lay on the top of it, as if they were in it, as if the sack had been burnt to the bottom with the shavings in it.

MR. PHILLIPS. Q. Were the stairs much burnt? A. They were all burnt; I cannot say whether shavings had been strewed about the stairs - the wine-bottle appeared to have been recently placed where I found it; it was quite clean - I found no door between the wash-house and back vault, nor any candle in the back vault.

EDWARD SAUNDERS. I am a fireman of the British Fire-office. On Monday, the 28th of May, I attended at the prisoner's premises in Oxford-street - I was the first of our men who got there; the house was burning rapidly -I have been a fireman twenty-nine years; it was a brick built house - it was burning in the usual way a fire does, when once it gets ahead; when it was out I got up to the one pair back room; the second floor was consumed, and had fallen on the first on a slant, and I there saw the body of a woman very much disfigured; the legs and arms were burnt, some part off, every bit of the hair was burnt, and the head very much burnt - there was nothing but a mass of burnt flesh; I should think suffocation had caused the person to fall backwards - the body was burnt to a cinder; I have no doubt that body was burnt to death - I saw the same body before the Coroner's Jury; I went down to the kitchen with two or three others on the Wednesday, and observed all the kitchen utensils and chairs, and a quantity of kitchen furniture; it was all a mass of ruins - there were rubbishing boxes and old chairs, which I turned out of one arch into the other; after taking the shovel and clearing away the ruins, as I came to furniture I chacked it into the eastern arch - I went out of the kitchen into the vault; there is a door-way, but I do not think there is a door - I went on from there up to the end of the vault; there is no door between the two vaults - when I came to the end of the vault, near the coal-hole, I observed some embers of sticks in that corner; it was pointed out to me: I went up to it, and saw a fire had been made on there - there was about a hatfull of embers, and some pieces of wood, stuck up on end, had been burnt at the bottom; that was heavy hardish wood, about a yard long, and about as

 thick as my arm; they were set up end-ways against the brick wall of the arch, some of them near the coal-hole.

Q. Did any of them lean against the wood work of the coal-hole? A. I do not think they did; they stood more by the arch - some of the wood work of the coal-hole was burnt through, burnt in two; there was about half a chaldron of coals in the bin - the pieces of wood stood up as if they had been there for a length of time; they stood separate from each other.

Q. How far from each other? A. Close together - a good many of them; there were two or three in one particular place - there might be four or five pieces of wood altogether, and there were some boxes all along the brick wall; I noticed a basket and some hay-bands; there was a bit of hay-band about the basket.

Q. Had the fire in the vault and the fire in the kitchen any communication with each other? A. Not that I could see.

Cross-examined by MR. CLARKSON. Q. You was working under Moakes? A. Yes; he did not see all that I did - he was in the vault before me, and when I was there, but not all the time I was there; I was backwards and forwards several times - I was examined before the Coroner at the first inquest.

Q. Did Moakes see the boards which were burnt in two? A. He saw it before I did; I was turning the rubbish over with a shovel to make a thoroughfare.

Q. Were you obliged to turn the rubbish over in the vault before you found the sticks? A. I turned over no rubbish in the arched vault - Monkes saw the burnt boards before me; he had a lamp handed down to him - it could not be seen without a light; it might be twelve or one o'clock in the day when I examined the vault; there appeared to have been very little burning in the vault - the boards were burnt in two, but they were not thicker than your thumb - they were small slips of wood.

Q. Did they appear to have been burnt by something which had been set fire to, or that they had been set fire to, as in the first instance you say they stood upright? A. Yes, leaning against the arch of the brick work - they were burnt at the bottom; none of those were burnt in two; that was pieces of wood which laid against a board which formed the coal-hole; they were about an inch and a half thick and about two feet long, pieces of sticks, not boards- it was I who found the bottom of the sack.

JURY. Q. Did you see a quart bottle in that place? A. Yes, and smelt it; it smelt apparently of turpentine, but it stood with its mouth downwards; I saw no other bottle there - I saw some rubbishing bottles, which generally lay in cellars; I did not examine them.

MR. ADOLPHUS. Q. Was the turpentine bottle clean or dirty outside? A. Clean; I found no glass bottles which smelt of wine - (   Joshua Ivory here produced some burnt wood) - these are the sticks which stood up on their end; here are those which were burnt in two, and here is the wood the burnt pieces rested on; that is burnt - this is about eighteen inches wide and two inches think.

COURT. Q. Did you find the bottom of the sack? A. Part of the sack I found at the very bottom of the rubbish, on the earth or floor, as I dug - the fire appeared to me to have began beyond the copper and beyond the window, because the most fire was there, near the bottom of the stairs; I found an old chair near the fire-place - I do not think that was burnt at all; the beams of the kitchen ceiling were most burnt right over the copper; they were falling down - the beams near the street were not burnt so much; the stairs were consumed - they were very near the copper; I had four or five feet of rubbish to clear away before I found the sack; there was a very small particle of shavings - they dug the sack out after I left; when I first found it it was a bit of a sack.

   HENRY ROBERT ABRAHAM . I am an architect and surveyor to the County Fire-office. I drew this plan of the premises; it is correct, according to the best of my observation - Mr. Spiers had made an insurance at our office; I went to the premises to see what damage was sustained; I examined the prisoner's premises - the first day I went was on the Tuesday or Wednesday; the rubbish had not been cleared then, and I made no examination; I went again on the Wednesday afternoon, and examined - I went into the back vault, and near the coal-bin there was this block of wood; there were several other pieces of wood in a slanting direction against the block of wood, inclining towards the coal-bin, and other pieces of wood laying in the coal-bin; one of which was this angular piece - there had been a fire made on the block, and it had burnt the ends of these pieces of wood and also caught the side of the coal-bin, which it had burnt nearly through; it had also communicated with the pieces of wood which were thrust into the coals; there were short pieces of wood thrust into the coals, laying nearly horizontally, and connecting these upright pieces, as it were, with the coal-bin - one side of the coal-bin was formed at the upper part with loose old canvas - my attention was then directed to a shelf on the east side of this vault, and on that shelf I saw about a hatful of shavings, placed conically, and on removing them I found a piece of paper, which had been greased, and upon which gunpowder had exploded - the fire had partially caught the shavings, but want of air or the blast had put it out; the powder was not quite under the shavings, but a little on one side; there was about a drachm - it was two or three inches from the shavings, and partially connected by particles of gunpowder being loose as if it had been thrown down - I observed a card, the size of a common address card, doubled into the form of a trough and gunpowder on it; about a quarter of an ounce, I should think- it was fine shooting powder; I saw an ordinary sized wine-bottle, which smelt of turpentine - it was inverted and inclining in one corner; the outside was clean.

Q. Did you observe any injury whatever done to any place in the vault, except where these combustible things were found? A. None at all - there was no door from the kitchen to the vault; there was merely the doorcase - I saw no remains of a door; there was a door hung between the vault and the wash-house; that was not burnt at all - the top part of the kitchen mantel-shelf, over the chimney-piece, was burnt a little, but the shelf was not much injured: the under part of it, next the fire-place, was not burnt - the upper part was a little burnt; I should imagine that was done from the recoil of the flames from the ceiling; the fire must have originated beyond the copper, because the shop floor, between the copper and the street, was sufficiently sound after the fire to allow a number of people to stand on it - the floor remained, but it was scorched

 underneath; a few feet beyond the copper, towards the window, it was pretty firm, but the other way it was burnt, and would not bear standing on; the copper on the north side nearest the street was not much injured; the lead work was not melted away - the sashes and frames in the kitchen window were not cracked nor injured; the lead on the other side of the copper had melted - the dresser, which stood near the window on the east side of the kitchen, was not burnt - I saw in the back vault the tin top of a tobacco-box, and a little gunpowder in it; it stood about three feet from the shavings on the shelf - the joints of the kitchen ceiling, beyond the copper, were burnt away, nearly to charcoal, and those between the copper and the street were partially burnt but sound.

Cross-examined by MR. BARRY. Q. At what time on Wednesday did you go to the premises? A. About ten o'clock; I then gave orders for the ruins to be removed, which was done in my absence - I was present when the sack was found; I do not think much had been disturbed before that.

Q. Had the ruins been near the door, going from the kitchen to the vault? A. They had dropped the ruins away to enable the firemen to get into the vault.

Q. Then the ruins had fallen so as to prevent their getting from the kitchen to the vault? A. I imagine so - there was a quantity of rubbish and water in the front vault or wash-house, not black rubbish; I have heard Moakes and Saunders examined - the wood stood against the coal-bin; I have heard them state that it stood against the wall - I was not examined before the Coroner respecting Miss Twamley's death, but respecting the death of another person; I gave evidence of the state of the premises, and took the Jury to examine them - I gave a general description of it, and should think I stated about the wood being thrust into the coals, but I will not swear that, because I took the Jury to view the premises; the vault was certainly not a likely place to succeed in setting the house on fire - I think the fire took place at the bottom of the stairs, and finding the sack and shavings there also makes me think so; I should not think a man in his senses would think of setting fire to the house in the back vault - the canvas forms the eastern side of the coal-bin; there was wood about eighteen inches high, and above that a canvas partition; the burnt wood was about eighteen inches off it. I should think - the back vault was exceedingly damp; if there had been fire enough to dry the canvas, it would have caught - there is more turpentine in wood than in canvas, and when it once gets lighted it is more likely to get ahead; the canvas would certainly have been burnt if the fire had risen to its height - the card of gunpowder was about two feet nine inches from the shavings on the shelf in the back vault.

Q. If there had been a considerable fire in the back vault, so as to be seen from the front, do not you think the gunpowder must have ignited? A. I think not, it must have been a very strong fire to consume this wood, and if it was possible, by laying down, to see any fire, that fire might have existed a long time without burning the shavings; there must have been a considerable fire to produce this effect on this wood, but that had no connexion with the gunpowder.

MR. PHILLIPS. Q. Were not some of these pieces of wood actually propping up the wood, and confining it? -A. They were; I did not go on my knees at the area, to see if I could have seen fire; I do not think it could have been the fire itself originating from this block which was seen; I think it must have been the reflection - no fire in the kitchen could have reflected in any way so as to be seen in the back part of this vault; I do not exactly swear that it must have been the reflection of fire in the vault, because I think it probable it might be the reflection of fire from the staircase - there is a brick wall between them but there is a door in it, and I think there might have been a body of fire near the door, the light of which might have reflected in the vault; if there was only fire in the kitchen, I cannot, in any way, account for the fire I found at the coal-bin; there was no connexion whatever between the two fires.

Q. If the coals about the coal-bin had ignited, from the quantity of coals, would the smoke have been very considerable, supposing an ignorant man had thought he could set them on fire? A. Very considerable, and that would increase the difficulty of getting into the house to ascertain where the fire originated, but the draft would have carried it away up the staircase; the foot of the stairs was a very likely place to set fire to the rest of the house; it was the very place to begin at to burn the house down; I pointed out to the Coroner's Jury things exactly as I found them.

COURT. Q. You think there was fire on that block, would a person kneeling down and looking from the area see a light proceeding as reflection from that fire? A. They would certainly, but they must hold their heads close to the ground; I think it very possible to see a light.

JURY. Q. Was it possible for the person to ascertain whether it was a light from a candle, or from any other substance? A. Yes; I should imagine a light from a candle would be very different; I should not suppose the light of a candle could be seen unless it was placed on the ground; I could not see from the vault into the street, unless close under the window, and then you must look up, as the area surrounds the window, with a close grating over it.

COURT. Q. Supposing the fire to have originated where you think it did, would it, in your judgment, burn the house down before the whole of the shavings might have been consumed? A. After the shop door was opened the draft coming from the street, would cool the lower part of the house, and carry the great-body of fire up the house, and during that time I should think the fire in the kitchen would slacken a little - it is quite consistent with the fire originating there; by setting fire to the shavings that part of the shavings should not be burnt.

  THOMAS PROSSER . I am inspector of the C division of the Police. On the morning of the 28th of May I was called to the house in question; I got there about twenty minutes past six o'clock - I heard some conversation between Miss Twamley and some other person, in consequence of which I directed my attention to the prisoner; I first saw him about twenty-five minutes past six - he was then in the back premises of an ironmonger's, at the back of the house; Miss Twamley was in an iron-foundry, and an elderly lady was laying down - I ascertained that the prisoner belonged to the house, and asked him if he knew in what way the fire had originated; he said he did not know - he desired me to look at his face, and said, "You see how I am burnt;" I said, "You have had a fortunate

 escape - your whiskers and eye-brows are all burnt off;" I left him to attend to other duties: in consequence of something I afterwards heard, I went to Middlesex-hospital, saw him there in bed, and asked him again if he knew in what way the fire originated, or where it originated - he said he believed it originated in the kitchen; he said he had placed some veneers near the fire-place to dry, and he supposed the fire from the grate must have communicated with the veneers - I asked if it was possible fire could fall from the grate and set fire to the veneers, without something being put to them to convey the fire, shavings or something of that kind - he said there was some shavings and dirt, which were swept up, which might have caught fire, and set the veneers on fire - I asked if there was a clothes-horse near the fire, or any linen; he said No- I then asked if he was insured; he hesitated, and said he did not know; I said it was very strange he did not know whether he was insured - he answered, "I am insured, and I am not insured, if you can make that out;" I said I did not understand him, and asked for an explanation - he then said he had insured, but had not received his policy, and did not know whether he should be considered as being insured; I asked if he had paid the premium, and said it was generally the case after thirty days if the policy was not sent to the house, to make application; I before that asked how long he had been insured - he hesitated, and said he did not exactly know; I asked if he had been insured twelve months - he said No, not twelve months, or not so long; I asked if he had been insured six months - he said, No, he did not think he had been insured so long; I said, "Can you tell me within a week or a fortnight? have you been insured three months?" he said it might be about that time, he was not certain, but he thought about six or seven weeks; I then asked for what sum he was insured - he said for about 620l. or 630l.; I asked what was his reason for getting up so early in the morning, having previously told me he got up at half-past five o'clock, for the purpose of making a fire and making himself some gruel, he not being very well - I then asked where he was at the time the fire first commenced, or howhe first found out there was a fire - he said he was in the vault, arranging something; I do not exactly recollect what, and he was alarmed by smoke coming into the vault, and made his escape afterwards through the fire - I asked the situation of the kitchen with the vault he was in; he said he had to run through the fire to make his escape - that he was obliged to come out of the vault into the kitchen, where he found a great blaze of fire, for the purpose of making his escape up the staircase.

Cross-examined by MR. CLARKSON. Q. You have not given us the date of this conversation at the hospital? A. It was on the morning of the fire, about a quarter to eight o'clock; I went there to apprehend him on suspicion - nobody sent me there to question him: I do not think I told him he need not answer my questions unless he pleased -I was dressed as an officer; he was in bed, with his face and hands covered with plasters - whether he was suffering from pain I cannot say any thing about; he might certainly be in pain, but he answered my questions very readily; he was laying in bed, undressed - a nurse was there - I did not commit to writing what he said; I recollect perfectly well all that passed - I did not tell him he need not answer me, nor that I had come to apprehend him: I told him I was an officer, for I considered that he could not see me; I was not examined before the Coroner - I communicated to some of the Jurymen what I knew; I was ordered by Mr. Allen to attend the Inquest the second day, when it was adjourned - Mr. Clele was one of the Jurymen whom I communicated with - he lives opposite the watch-house; I did not call on him - it was while the female who was burnt was laying at the watch-house; Clele and another Juryman, who lives next door but one to the watch-house, was there; I was in the Inquest room part of the time on Friday - my superintendent told me to attend; I had told him what had passed the same morning, and also Colonel Rowan - the prisoner told me he believed the fire began in the kitchen; he said he was arranging something in the vault, but I cannot tell what, or where - he did not say he had been cleaning out the vault for the purpose of its being shown to a person who was coming to take the premises.

Q. Are you sure he did not say he had been cleaning out the vault? A. I cannot say that he did; he said he had been arranging something in the vault, but what his answer was exactly I cannot say.

  CATHERINE TWAMLEY . I am the sister of the deceased; her name was   Eliza Towneley Twamley ; she lodged at the prisoner's house, with my mother and me - the furniture in our rooms was my mother's, and she had insured it along time ago, in the Phoenix office, at Charing-cross; we have not yet received the money for it - my mother was in delicate health - she could not have given the prisoner a commission to insure her goods for her without my knowledge; I saw the body of the deceased before the Coroner - it was the body of my beloved sister.

  SIMON GIESMAR . At the time of the fire I lodged in the front garret of the house - I took it furnished; I should think the furniture in it worth 15l. or 18l. - Mr. Savory, who lodged in the first floor front room, was a friend of mine; he had left a few days before the fire.

Cross-examined by MR. BARRY. Q. Was your room completely furnished? A. Yes, there was a feather bed, mabogany drawers, a mahogany table, with a drawer in it, a small looking-glass, four-post mahogany bedstead, with common sort of curtains, a straw mattress, an old carpet, four cane chairs, a japanned wash-hand stand, a very small curtain to the window, tea things, and every thing necessary for tea - I at first paid 7s. a week, and as I gave notice to leave I was to pay only 5s.; I believe the chairs were japanned; I did not notice any gold on them - there was a round table between the windows; it had no doors under it.

MR. PHILLIPS. Q. Did they agree to let you all this for 5s. a week? A. Yes; I certainly would not give 15l. for the whole - I do not know the value of furniture, but think it not worth more.

  HENRY FIELD . I am in the employ of Messrs. Blunt, Roy, and Co., who are attornies for Mr. Nichols, the freeholder of this house; I collected his rents. About March I made several applications to the prisoner for 40l., half a year's rent, but could not get it from him; he said he was short of cash - I at last applied to Mr. Oxenham to distrain, and after the distress the prisoner paid me 20l. on account, and I gave him till the 10th of April to pay the remainder; I

 received this paper from him - I applied for the other 20l. many times, personally; he did not pay, he pleaded shortness of cash, and at other times, that he was waiting to discount a hill; several applications were made to me shortly before the fire - the last was on the Saturday afternoon before the fire, and I gave him the whole of Monday to pay it, and no longer.

Cross-examined by MR. CLARKSON. Q. Was this a conversation with the prisoner? A. No; he paid 80l. per annum - the lease was originally granted to his wife; I think it was for twenty-one years - I should not think it a valuable lease at the present time, for rents have fallen lately.

  HUGH OXENHAM . I am assistant to my father, an auctioneer and appraiser, in Oxford-street. In March last I levied a distress on the prisoner's goods for 40l.; I went over the house particularly, by order of Mr. Field, to ascertain the value of the goods; the prisoner was with me; I asked him to show me the furniture in the house, and went all over with him, except the kitchen - I suppose the fair value of all the furniture I saw in the house was 100l. - that is quite a fair value - (Miss Twamleys had not then come in;) I include the fixtures and every thing in the house, except the kitchen furniture, which I did not see -I saw no library of books, no plate, watches, nor trinkets; the crockery was very triffling - the looking-glasses and china were nothing like worth 35l.; I saw a few old glazed prints, worth about 10l.: 100l. is more than I would give for fixtures and every thing.

Cross-examined by MR. BARRY. Q. Then one-tenth of that amount was the pictures? A. Yes; I am not putting an auction price to them, it is more than they would fetch under the hammer - the shop fixtures were shelving with mahogany fronts, and a mahogany top counter; I saw no wine - I did not see all the cupboards in the house; I do not recollect how many rooms I went into -I examined all the fixtures; I cannot say what he had expended in fixtures.

Q. Without reference to the valuable things, would you undertake to say they had not cost him 200l.? A. I would replace them for considerably less; 200l. would be the utmost altogether.

Q. Was not the front of the shop mahogany? A. Deal, I believe; I did not notice the window front - I had nothing to do with that, and do not know whether it was plate-glass, as that would be the landlord's fixtures.

  JAMES LEADER . I am an excise-officer, and had to survey the prisoner's stock of snuff; I went four or five times between the 12th of April and the 28th of May - we call over every thing, and put down the number of pounds - the first account I have in my book is on the 23rd of April; there were 74 lbs. of goods - that was the entire stock of snuff, tobacco, and cigars; I believe the highest cigars are bought for 25s., and the lowest at 9s. per lb.; the highest tobacco is from 5s. to 6s. a pound, and the lowest about 3s. 8d. - there were 18 lbs. of tobacco, 16 lbs. of cigars, and 30 lbs. of scented snuff; the highest price would be 6s. a pound, and 8 lbs. of Scotch snuff, at about 3s. 10d. a pound; there was a stock of tobacco-boxes and pipes, which I took no account of.

Cross-examined by MR. CLARKSON. Q. Were there jars gilt and labelled? A. Yes, and I believe there was a portion of pipes, snuff-boxes, and such things as they sell; I do not know their value - I believe the top of the counter was mahogany.

  EDWARD FLEMING BURROW . I am a clerk in the British Fire-office. A proposal was made to me on the 13th of April, for an insurance of the furniture and stock at No. 398, Oxford-street; I cannot say the prisoner is the person, but I have the proposal - I wrote down accurately the directions, and received the premium; the amount insured was 700l. - the policy has not been executed by the directions; the person who made the proposal had not come to me to know why he had not received the policy; we should send it when executed - in case of fire the party would receive his money, though he had not received his policy.

COURT. Q. You have no recollection of the personal appearance of the person who came? A. I cannot swear to the prisoner, but from the faint recollection I have of the circumstance, he is like the person; he certainly resembles him, and I should think he is the person - I believe he is the person.

Cross-examined by MR. CLARKSON. Q. Is your recollection of what took place very faint? A. It is, it was some time since; we have many applications in a month - I cannot speak with certainly to his identity.

  CHARLES JAMES WHITE . I am engineer of the British Fire-office. I saw the prisoner in the hospital on the morning of the fire, and asked if he was insured; he said he was; I asked at what office, and he said at the British.

MR. BURROW. The proposal is in the prisoner's name; I am not aware of any other proposal for insurance of property in that house - the items are 280l. on household goods. &c.; 160l. on stock and utensils in trade therein; 100l. for fixtures in the said house and shop; 35l. on china, glass, looking-glasses, and earthenware; 25l. on watches and trinkets; 30l. on pictures and prints, 70l. on household goods, &c. in the said dwelling-house, in trust for Miss Tomlin - I took these instructions partly from paper and partly from verbal directions; the person paid the premium, and I produced a receipt for it, and the money would be paid, if there was no objection to the manner the fire happened.

Cross-examined by MR. CLARKSON. Q. Do you know whether your office contributes towards the expences of this prosecution? A. I am not aware - this proposal is in the language we usually fill them up.

Q. I believe the applicant states the amount which he intends to insure, and you submit to him the amounts to which it is to be divided? A. Exactly so - china, trinkets, watches, &c. are at a different rate, and we require specific sums for them; we send a surveyor to look at the house, but not at the property - I do not know whether he goes inside the house; it is not usual to tell persons the premises will be looked at.

MR. ADOLPHUS. Q. Has the surveyor more to do than to look at the house and report to the office about the building? A. That is all; I am not aware that any claim has been made on this insurance.

COURT. Q. When a party wishes to insure for 700l. for instance, do you make the division of the amounts? A. No, it is impossible I can be aware of the value - I ask how much should be for such and such articles - we

 give the proposer a paper to divide the sums, but the paper does not state the rate of premiums.

  JAMES JAMES . I am a gun-case maker, and live in Bentick-street, St. James'; I have known the prisoner two or three years. On the Monday or Tuesday before the fire, as I was in Mr. Hopper's public-house in Berwick-street, some conversation took place about the charge which a gun I had sold would take; I produced a powder-flask from my pocket, containing powder; the prisoner was there, and within hearing - I showed them the powder, and Winchester, who I had sold the gun to, said,"Let us taste it, James;" he did so, and said "This is good;" the prisoner then asked leave to look at the powder, which he did; there was then some conversation, and he wished to know if that was better than the common; I said, "The best is the best" - on the Sunday before the fire I was in my back parlour, about one o'clock in the day, and heard a knock at the door - I heard Mrs. Clarke open the door, and thought I heard a voice I could recognize - I had been in conversation with Smithies, and it seemed like his voice; it might be his, and it might be another's; I should believe it was a voice similar to his, but I never will swear to a man without speaking to him; my idea is that it was similar to his voice, but perhaps I only met him once a month or six weeks; my thought was it was a similar voice to his.

  FRANCES CLARKE . I live at Mr. James'. On the Sunday immediately before the fire a person knocked at the door - I opened it; the person inquired for Mr. James; I called Mrs. James, and he gave her the name of Smithies, in my presence; the prisoner does not look like the person.

  LUCY JAMES . I am the wife of James James. On the Sunday before the fire Mrs. Clarke let a person in, who left the name of Smithies - I did not then recognize him as Smithies; I had never seen him before, except on one or two occasions.

  GEORGE GILES . I live in Great Chapel-street, Soho, and am a baker. Smithies called on me about a fortnight before the fire, and asked if I could inform him where he could have any shavings; I told him I would send him a sack - I sent a man, named Casey, with a sack to him, a few days after; on the Sunday before the fire (the 27th of May), Smithies called on me, about ten or eleven o'clock in the morning, and wanted the loan of a sack -I said he could have one; he called about three in the afternoon, and took it away himself - his house is two or three hundred yards from mine.

Cross-examined by MR. BARRY. Q. Did he tell you he had an order for some veneered tables? A. No, he said nothing about veneers; I have heard veneers require a sharp fire to champ and dry them - when he borrowed the sack he said he wanted to clear some rubbish out of the vault, and wanted to put some rubbish in the sack, which lay about.

  DARBY CASEY . I deal in shavings. Some time before the fire in Oxford-street I took a sack of shavings to No. 398; Mr. Giles sent me there; I shot and emptied them just at the bottom of the kitchen stairs, and they sent the girl to put them on one side; when I went up stairs I saw the prisoner, and he told me to bring another sack of shavings; I agreed that the price of the two was to be 10d. - I took the other sack to the house in about half an hour; Mrs. Smithies would not take it in - she said one was enough; this was ten or twelve days before the fire, not on a Sunday.

  EDWARD LONSDALE . I am a house-surgeon at Middlesex-hospital. I remember the prisoner being admitted there on Monday, the 28th of May, about half-past six o'clock in the morning; his hands were very much burnt, and his face also - those on the hands appeared ordinary burns - those on the face appeared peculiar; they appeared to be blue - there was a case of burning from gunpowder in the hospital in November last, and from the observation I made of this case, there was a similarity in some respects: the eye-brows and lashes were completely burnt off, and the colour was very similar to that case - each of the prisoner's knees were burnt; he wore trousers, which were not at all burnt about the knees - there was a small hole on one knee, but not a burn; there was no hole in the other knee - he wore long stockings, and neither of the stockings had any burn about the knee; the hospital is three or four hundred yards from his house.

Cross-examined by MR. CLARKSON. Q. What experience have you had in burning from gunpowder? A. I have not had much; I never saw the features of a person after an explosion, except the one in November - I have read on the subject; gunpowder will generally leave grains or marks in the face for some time after -Mr. Harris did not apply to see the prisoner in the hospital, to my knowledge - no medical man was refused admission, to my knowledge; there was not any remains of gunpowder in the prisoner's face - I cannot say the burning was produced by gunpowder; his face was generally burnt - his trousers were loose.

Q. Is it at all extraordinary for a man, ascending up a staircase, to have his face and hands burnt? A. Not without his clothes being burnt - I did not see his coat; he had not got it on when he was brought - I am not a medical student; I am the house-surgeon - I had a particular reason for inspecting his clothes, as I knew I should have to be examined at the Inquest; I was not told of the charge till after I had examined his face - I examined his clothes the day I went to the Inquest, the first of June - I was at the hospital when he came in; I saw him first in bed, but have every reason to believe the clothes were the same as he wore; they were given to the nurse, and on the first of June I asked her to fetch his clothes; she brought them, and I examined them - ointment, composed of chalk, was applied to his knees the day after he came in, but on his admission the burns on the knees were not pointed out - he was seriously burnt, and in a dangerous state for some time - he was in very severe pain on the 28th, but was worse after, owing to a fever coming on; I should think that on the 28th he was not cool and collected, so as to give a clear account to the officer; I did not know he had been there till to-day - persons get into the hospital by application to me; I have no recollection of a Policeman applying to me; I did not give the fireman permission to see him that day.

MR. ADOLPHUS. Q. If an officer comes to apprehend a man for felony, you have no means of bindering him? A. No - the prisoner showed no signs of insanity or dele

 rium, nothing but pain and its ordinary effects - no clothes were brought to him at the hospital, to my knowledge; I should think the explosion of a small quantity of gunpowder might discolour the face without leaving grains, so as to make a permanent discolouration, but I know very little about it - I should think it depends on the manner in which the explosion took place.

MR.   JOHN WILLIAM ALLEN . I am vestry-clerk of St. Anne, Westminster. The house is in that parish.

Prisoner's Defence (written.) My Lord and Gentlemen of the Jury, - I have lived at No. 398, Oxford Street, nearly three years, where I kept a tobacconist's shop, but am by trade a cabinet and chair maker, which business I carried on at No. 101, Dean-street, at the back of the above-mentioned premises, About three weeks prior to my late house in Oxford-street being burnt down, my wife found fault with purchasing fire-wood, when, at the same time, there was plenty of spare wood in the vault, which might be chopped up; on the Sunday following, being a fortnight before the fire, I set too and looked cut a quantity of wood that was in the vault, but found that much of it was too good for that purpose, and which I could use for a better account in my own business, and having a quantity of rosewood veneers in the shop, and the heat of the shop having made them crack, I resolved to clear out the vault, and deposit the veneers in it, to keep them from injury. About ten days previous to the above-mentioned time, I was in want of shavings to lay down veneers, it being necessary to prepare them by frequent heating and cooling, so as to render them fit for use, the fires for which purpose being commonly made of shavings; and as, in my small business, I did not make a quantity sufficient for my own use, I applied to a baker, (Mr. Giles,) requesting that if any one came hawking shavings to send them to me, as I wanted some; in consequence of which, Mr. Giles sent a man with some to my house in Oxford-street - I was not at home at the time, but my wife purchased a sack full of him, which by mistake was taken down stairs and put into the vault, instead of being sent round to my workshop, as I had left orders. I one morning found   Eliza Baker , my former servant, going into the vault with a lighted candle in her hand, upon which I called her back, and told her never to take a candle into that vault again so long as those shavings were there, but to put the candle upon the sink, which is opposite the door, and she could see anything she wanted to do in the vault, for if they caught light, they were red deal turpentine shavings, and would burn like wildfire, and nothing would stop them. Being in treaty for letting my shop and other apartments, part of the vault and kitchen, on the Friday before the fire; I began, on the Sunday afternoon, to clear out the vault to make it ready, so as to have its contents finally removed away early on the Monday morning (the day of the fire) into my workshop, in order that the parties who were in treaty mightview the premises on that day. Having a quantity of shavings as well as wood in the vault, I borrowed a sack and filled it, as also a bag which I had, with the wood and shavings, the more easily to remove them to my workshop where they would be useful to me; and having cleared the vault of those shavings, the wood and other things, I placed them in the kitchen to be removed away the following morning, and the dust and dirt was scraped up and put in a box for the same purpose. If I had collected the shavings for any bad purpose, I should have left them loose, and not forced and pent them up into bags, where the want of air was likely to prevent them burning, as it must be evident to every one who knows the nature of shavings, that the more they are exposed to the air, the more furiously they will burn - with respect to turpentine being found in my kitchen; I use it continually, every cabinet-maker does so, as well as bees-wax, and without both, I could not carry on my business. On the Sunday night previous to the fire, I took a calomel pill, (being unwell,) as indeed I had been the whole week, and went to bed a little before twelve o'clock which was about my usual time, as my shop was never closed until half-past eleven o'clock on a Sunday night; I was not quite undressed when Mr. Davis, one of our lodgers knocked at the door; I went to the street-door, let him in, and gave him a light; when I had so done, he asked me for my Sunday's newspaper, saying he wished to go to the watercloset - he took the newspaper, and first went up to his bed-room, and I went to the kitchen to draw some water from the boiler, to drink, which I always do at night; while I was so doing Davis came down to go to the water-closet, and using a joking expression, intimating that he should be detained a long time, went into it - I took the warm water and went up stairs into my bed-room, and waited I thought a sufficient time for him to come out; I then went down again, having occasion to go to the water-closet myself, and asked him if he was coming out, when he said, "I shall be half an hour yet" - he had the newspaper with him, and I suppose he was reading it; I went up stairs into my bed-room, being so unwell that I could not stand still and then came down again and walked about the kitchen, and he was still in the water-closet - by waiting so long, and walking about the kitchen and stairs without my shoes, I got chilled, in consequence of which, the inclination I had had to go to the water-closet ceased, and I was about returning up stairs, when Mr. Davis came out and went up stairs; I immediately followed him and went to bed, and in a short time after I became warm in bed - I was then compelled to get up and go down stairs to the water-closet - I did so, and immediately afterwards again returned to bed, which I did not leave until between five and six o'clock the next morning, being Monday the 28th of May, when feeling myself unwell, I asked my wife if she had any oatmeal in the house, for I would take some salts, and make myself some water gruel, before I began to move the things to the workshop, the greatest part of which I had already moved from out of the vault into the kitchen; I accordingly put on an old pair of trousers my waistcoat and morning coat, and a pair of slippers, went down into the kitchen, and lighted the fire - I then went into the vault for the purpose of clearing away the remainder of the things; I returned to look at the kitchen fire, and found it was gone out - I took some more shavings out of the bag, (into which I had put them overnight, and which was close by) and lighted it again, when shortly after it again went out; I then took a larger quantity of both wood and shaving, lighted it a third time, and it burnt briskly - I then again went into the vault, and remained there busy for a quarter of an hour, (having closed the kitchen door, which led to the wash-house, after me, for the purpose of causing the fire to draw, as the kitchen fire smoked when that door was left open) and when I returned to look after the fire, I found that the shavings I had let fall in drawing them from the bag, by some means or other had ignited, and the kitchen was in flames; I tried to extinguish the flames by pulling one bag from the other, and pressing them down, when some shavings coming from out of it, caused a still greater blaze- the flames were becoming too strong for me, and were ascending the stairs, and I flew to the kitchen window, as the flames were then blazing up to the ceiling, and called out, Fire! Fire! and begged of the passengers to break in the iron grating and let me out, or I should be burnt to death. At the time two persons came up, one with a hammer in his hand, and the other with a spade, and tried to break the railings, but found they were wrought iron, and would not snap -I begged of them to knock at the shop-door, or break it open and alarm the house, as there were five or six females in the house, and they might be burnt - I continued to call for them to break the railings, but the attraction of the house being on fire, I suppose, prevented them from hearing me; at the time the

 shop-door was broken in, I was in the area of the wash-house window, under the iron grating; the gust of wind that came in at the shop door, when it was burst open, forced the flames back momentarily, and the loose burning shavings were driven from the kitchen into the wash-house and vault, which I trampled upon and put out, to prevent the fire from communicating to the other loose shavings which it contained - finding that no one came to break in the railings for me to make my escape, my feelings worked upon me for my wife and lodgers; I resolved to make my escape, if possible, through the flames - I went into the coal vault to get a hat which was there, in order to protect my head from the flames, and my apron caught fire and set light to some chips that I had made that morning in chopping up some old wood for the use of the house; I then tore off my apron, ran to the sink to draw some water to throw upon it, and while the water was running, I looked into the front kitchen, and found the flames less furious, and thought there was a good opportunity for my escape; I threw the pan of water into the vault, and shut the door, knowing that nothing could take harm there - I ran through the fire into the street, whereby my hands and face were dreadfully burnt, my handkerchief was in a blaze, and my clothes very much burnt; seeing a fireman at the door, I begged of him to play in on the staircase, from the shop floor to the ceiling of the first floor, and it would put out the fire in a few minutes, as it was no where but in the staircase - I then ran about, inquiring for my wife and the lodgers, to know if they were out, in my then burnt state; some said they were all out and safe, and begged, for God's sake, I would go to the hospital, saying, "You are shockingly burnt" - I then ran round to the back of the house, which are Mr. Spier's premises; I there met my wife in a state of nakedness, and put her in Spier's workshop, and went out to assist Miss Twamley and her mother, whom I saw on the leads - I assisted the mother first, and then Miss Twamley I took in my arms as she came off the leads; I then made every inquiry for my servant and others, and was told they were all out and safe - I begged of the people at the top of the pawnbroker's house, to throw something into the back attic window, to see if the servant was out of it, when they answered me they were all out and safe; finding my agony increasing, and numbers of persons persuading me so to do, I consented to go to the Middlesex-hospital, thinking it would only he necessary to have some application to the burns; I put my coat on my wife, and left her waiting at the cook-shop, in Dean-street, till I came back, but the injuries I had sustained were of so serious a nature, that it was necessary I should remain at the hospital; I was put to bed, and there remained a fortnight and a day, when I was removed to Newgate in a very weak state, and many sores not healed. It has been asserted that angry expressions were used by my wife towards me when we met; so far from it, seeing her in a state of nakedness, I immediately said to Mr. Davis,"Pray, Davis, lend her a pair of your trousers, which you have in your hand, and I will put my coat upon her," which I did; in clearing out the vault, I had scraped up as well and as clean as possible, all the dirt that was there. All these matters have been magnified and made subjects of accusation against me, and God knows I am ignorant why they should be so, for I have no enmity or ill-will to any person - I had no motive for setting fire to the house, for I verily believed at the time I was not insured; I now am ignorant whether I am legally so or not - I had paid some money at the insurance office to effect an insurance, partly for Mrs. Twamley's furniture, which I had agreed to do, and partly for my own, but I had not given the full particulars for the policy to be filled, nor was any policy ever delivered to me, but even if it had, I could not have benefitted, as my goods and fixtures were of value considerably greater than the amount of the insurance; and in which I had not included the interest I have in the lease of the house, which, at a rent of 80l. per annum for twenty-one years, is, in Oxford-street, worth a considerable sum - besides which, it was my intention to have let the shop and upper apartments, including the coal vault and use of the kitchen; and for the purpose of the person who was in treaty seeing them to the best advantage, I was preparing to clear, clean, and make them look as well as possible, although it was Sunday, and although I was very unwell at the time; the shop, as a tobacconist's, was a good established shop, and doing a good trade, and the sum I should have obtained for good-will would have been considerable. If I had had the diabolical intention of setting fire to my house, I should hardly have entered into treaty to let part of it, and then abandoned that opportunity of making money; I have concealed no property - I am wretched and friendless, scarcely being able to find means for my defence; had gain been my object I should not now have been thus destitute. - But, my Lord and Gentlemen of the Jury, I will not offer any argument. I will rest upon the facts, and leave the matter to your judgment and impartiality. Certain expressions have been attributed to my wife, as used to me in an angry tone, charging me with setting fire to the house for the purpose of destroying her. - Gentlemen, it is not only untrue, but I begged of Mr. Davis to lend her a pair of trousers from the clothes he had preserved, which he did, and I took off the coat from my own back, and placed it on my wife. I am unfortunately, not permitted by law to call my wife to prove this: if I were, she would state that all she said, was, "Oh, Smithies, what a dreadful fire this is," to which I replied, "Aye, see how I am burnt" - and she could also prove the property I possessed, and that I was in bed the whole night, so that which, I am informed, will most prejudice me is, that which by law I have not the power of answering by her evidence.

  THOMAS BAYLIS . I am a baker, and live in Stephen-street, Tottenham-court-road. The prisoner called at my house a few days before the fire, and stated that he was inclined to dispose of his shop - he asked if I knew any one who would take it; I said I thought I knew a person it would suit, and named Mrs. Cobb, an acquaintance of mine - he said, respecting the vault, it was in a very untidy state (this was on Saturday), and although to-morrow was the Lord's-day, he must do it on Sunday, as he was to meet Mrs. Cobb the following day; this was the Saturday before the fire - I had spoken to Mrs. Cobb a few days before; I think it was on the Friday immediately before the fire or Thursday, that he told me he wanted to get rid of the shop, and I informed Mrs. Cobb - I saw the prisoner on Saturday evening, about half-past nine o'clock, by appointment, and told him I had seen Mrs. Cobb that afternoon, that I had seen her on Friday also; the prisoner said on Saturday night, that he would clear out the vault, which was in a very untidy state, and would meet me on Monday morning, at ten o'clock, to know from Mrs. Cobb what time it would be convenient for her to go over the premises; the prisoner complained that Saturday night of ill-health, and looked ill; he said he should go home, and go to bed directly.

MR. PHILLIPS. Q. Did he seem very ill on Saturday night? A. He complained of his head a good deal, and appeared ill and low - I had not gone on any commission for him that Saturday night, except Mrs. Cobb's, not that I recollect; I do not know that gentleman (Mr. Field) -I never saw him before, to my knowledge; I cannot swear to the gentleman.

Q. He is clerk to Messrs. Blunt, Roy and Co., the agents, did you see him? A. I saw him about a week be

 fore; I did not call on him that Saturday night, that I know of; I cannot swear whether I did or not - I called to get time for payment of the rent, but cannot swear whether it was that Saturday night or not; I swear the prisoner told me it was for the purpose of having the place tidy for to show to Mrs. Cobb that he was clearing out the vault; he never told me it was to have a cool place for his veneers - I first spoke to Mrs. Cobb about the place about Friday, I believe, but cannot be positive it was not Thursday, and it was on Thursday or Friday the prisoner told me he wished to let the shop; I have known him about two months - I heard of the fire on the Monday morning, about eight o'clock, and heard there was an Inquest to be held that morning, before it took place; I did not go to give evidence - I was down there, but was not called; I went, expecting to be called - I did not send in my name; I did not attend the second Inquest - I do not know why; I heard the result of the first Inquest - I did not go to the second, because I was not asked; I have known Mrs. Cobb three or four months - I first became acquainted with her by calling at her lodgings in Ely-court, with a friend of mine of the name of Curtis; he introduced me to her - he merely asked me to call there with him; it was for no purpose - I saw her again a week or a fortnight after this - I think I met her in Holborn; I walked a few steps with her, and then parted - I suppose I have been to her apartments half a dozen times since; I think I have drank tea there about half a dozen times - I never dined there; I was not particularly intimate with her - she is married; her husband was not there - he is in an asylum, being insane- Curtis has drank tea with me at her apartments about three times; he is a baker - I did not often visit the prisoner: I visited at his house a week or ten days before the fire, and was in the little parlour - I was never down stairs; I saw Mr. and Mrs. Smithies when I called - the servant was in the shop; I think her name is Eliza -Smithies was ill on the Saturday night; I did not call next day to ask how he was.

Q. Who did you first tell this story to about getting a person to take the shop? A. I told Mr. Curtis and one Langdon, a carver and gilder; I do not know that I mentioned it to any body else - I do not recollect stating it to any body who wrote it down; Curtis gave me a subpoena to attend here - I went to Mr. Davidson, the solicitor, to give my evidence, and he took it down, but I thought you asked me whether I put it down respecting Smithies' shop being to let; I misunderstood you respecting the evidence - I was about an hour with the solicitor.

Q. Do you mean to say that you had totally forgotten that? A. Certainly not, it was a misunderstanding; he took down my evidence at his office up a court in the Strand, near Temple-bar; I went there with Mrs. Smithies about a fortnight ago - I went at her request for him to take down my evidence.

MR. BARRY. Q. Did you go to Davidson's as the attorney of Smithies? A. Yes, Mrs. Smithies said he was her solicitor; she is in attendance here.

  SUSANNAH COBB . I am the wife of Benjamin Cobb - he is at Miles' asylum, at Hoxton. I was acquainted with Baylis before the fire in Oxford-street; I had heard from him that Mr. Smithies' shop was to let - this was on the Thursday previous to the fire; he at first told me there was the shop and the parlour adjoining to let, and on the Friday Baylis asked if I required a sleeping-room; I was to have the use of the kitchen, if I wished to wash at home, or clean my knives, and also a place where I could put my coals; I went on Saturday morning to look at the premises, but Smithies was not at home, and I did not see them - I went on Saturday to ascertain what it would cost to take the stock and fixtures, not the goodwill, that was not named; I saw Baylis on Saturday, after I had been to the house; an appointment was made for me to see the premises at eleven o'clock on the following Monday - I never saw the prisoner till I saw him in Court to-day; after the fire I heard of an Inquest being held; I was fetched to the second Inquest on the female, in case my evidence should be required - that was on a Wednesday; I think it was an adjourned inquest, and was held at the Golden Lion, in Dean-street; I saw Samuel Davis - the witnesses were in a back parlour: Davis came into that room after I had understood he had been examined; Mrs. Smithies was there and her daughter, and eight or nine other persons, Curtis, Baylis, and Mr. Blackford - Mrs. Smithies' feelings appeared very much wounded, and she was very agitated; I do not know whether she was examined before the Coroner; when Davis came out of the Inquest room; his conduct was violent in the extreme - he said, among other things, that he would not go across the road if it were to save Smithies' life; he asked Mrs. Smithies whether she or himself got out of the back room window first - she said,"You, Sir;" after that he resumed his observation about Smithies, and the persons left the room in consequence of his observations, which were very unnatural on the part of any gentleman.

MR. ADOLPHUS. Q. How long has your husband been in his present unfortunate situation? A. Twelve months- we lived together till then, in White-street, Cripplegate, and kept a house there; he was a solicitor - I went from there to Kirby-street, Hatton-garden, and from there to Ely-court, Holborn - I have lived there since Christmas, at the house of an intimate acquaintance; the last time my husband practised as a solicitor was in 1814; I was a respectable servant when he married me: I have known Baylis four or five months - he was introduced by Curtis, the godfather of my friend's child, Mr. Marven: Curtis casually brought Baylis with him - we did not become particularly intimate; he called occasionally, and had drank tea with us about three times - he heard me say I intended to take a little shop and open as a tobacconist, and he came down to me in Ely-court on the Friday; he did not tell me the probable value of the fixtures - I did not understand the tobacconists' trade, but fancied I should like it better than any other; I had applied to nobody else about such a business - I had just got it in agitation, and named it in Baylis' presence, about a fortnight or three weeks before: he said if he heard of any thing likely to suit me he would let me know - I may have seen him a dozen times within four or five months; he has looked in when he passed - I have met him in the street, but not by appointment: I saw him once or twice in Holborn before the fire - I met him on my return from Smithies' shop on Saturday, coming up Holborn; I had

 taken nobody with me to Smithies', to look at the shop and fixtures - I am not a judge of such things: I only went to see if it was to be let - I asked Mrs. Smithies if it was to be let; I did not see the prisoner near the premises - Baylis and Curtis had come to my place together about twice; I do not know whether Curtis knew of my intention to take a shop - I became acquainted with Curtis about September.

Q. By whose desire did you attend the Inquest? A. Baylis came to ask me to attend, in case I should be required.

JURY. Q. Was any price stated at which you were to take the premises? A. No price was fixed; I was to ascertain the price, nothing was said about the good-will - my friends were to advance me some money; all the information Baylis gave me was that it was to be let - I saw Mrs. Smithies on Saturday morning.

  WILLIAM JAMES DALEY . I am not related to the prisoner, but am his wife's son-in-law - I am a dyer, and live at No. 4, Bloomsbury-court, High Holborn. I knew the house in Oxford-street, and very frequently went over it; I knew the cock-loft which was at the top of the house, between the attics and the tiles - I never saw any furniture there, for I never saw into it; I have been into every other place in the house; it was furnished very well indeed - it was very good furniture indeed, as good as I have seen in most houses; that was the case from the top to the bottom - the shop was beautifully fitted up with mahogany shelves and counter, and cigar-boxes, and all fancy work about the glass-cases, &c.; the furniture was a middling pattern - it had been some years in wear, and some was new; I had an opportunity of observing the stock in the shop.

Q. What do you suppose to be a fair estimate of the furniture, stock, and every thing in the house? A. I should consider, from what I have seen at other places, it would not be less than 800l., setting it at the lowest - that is all I have seen in the house; I was in the back room on the third floor - there was a mahogany chest of drawers there worth about 5l.; there was a bed and bedstead - I suppose the value of the furniture in that room to be 30l. or 40l., as far as I can recollect, and that in the front room third floor, I should think near 50l.; it was fitted up much more handsome - it is some time since I was in the back room first floor; I recollect a bed and bedstead there, and some chairs - I suppose them to be worth 30l. or 40l., or more; the front room first floor was the most expensively fitted up in the house - I should suppose the furniture there to be worth upwards of 100l.; when I was last in the room behind the shop, there was a chest of drawers, looking-glasses, china, pictures, and other things, and if the drawers were there I should think the value about 20l.; the kitchen, wash-house, and vault contained mostly kitchen utensils, every thing proper for a respectable house, such as dishes, kettles, and dressers - there seemed a great quantity of plates and dishes - I have not noticed glass particularly; there were wine bottles and such like - I should think there could not be less than 50l. value in the kitchen and vault; I think the fixtures in the house were of not less value than 150l., including them all: the value I put is what it would cost to replace them - there were pictures and prints framed and glazed; I am not much of a judge of pictures, and could not give you the value - Mrs. Smithies used to have three watches - I have seen a gold chain about her neck frequently, and bracelets on her hands - I never saw the prisoner with a watch.

Q. Had you an opportunity lately of seeing the stock in trade? A. Yes; as far as I could understand, I should think it could not be worth less than 100l., including the snuff-boxes, cigars, and tubes; there were some very valuable hookahs - one large hookah I always understood to be very expensive; they ask as much as five or ten guineas, I believe, for some of them.

Q. In your judgment, was 630l. an exorbitant sum for the owner to insure? A. Far different; it was beneath the value of the property on the premises.

MR. PHILLIPS. Q. Did you happen to be in the front attic? A. Yes; that was handsomely fitted up, fit for the reception of a gentleman - I do not particularly remember it; I can only describe the generality of the things; I do not recollet a pier-glass there - there was a dressing-glass; I should think the furniture of that room could not be worth much less than 50l. at the time I saw it; Mr. Giesmar lived in it - I should think 7s. or 8s. a week a fair rent for it; 5s. would be far below the value - I am not an appraiser; I have bought articles - I have bought articles and re-sold them - I am a dyer: I never kept an appraiser's shop.

Q. When did you first tender yourself as a witness? A. As soon as I felt convinced what property was on the premises; that was about a week after the fire, when I came to recollect what was there, I recollected the different articles - that is the way I made up my mind as to the value.

Q. Then, without consulting any body, you set to, to value the things? A. No, I do not mean to say it was without consulting - because it was talked about before other people; my wife talked about it - I had no necessity to try to recollect the value; I recollected it without trial - I suppose I have been over the rooms a dozen or twenty times, but not in the front attic; I will swear I had been there more than once - the last time I was there was when my child lay dead in Mr. Smithie's back attic last August twelve months; I cannot tell what change may have taken place in the furniture since that - I was not very intimate with Mr. or Mrs. Smithies; I will not swear that I have dined there within the last twelve months - I have drank tea there; I was in the first floor front room about three months ago - I will not swear I have been there more than twice within twelve months; I noticed the furniture so as to estimate the value - my wife showed them to me, and said, "Look what a beautiful thing this is, and how beautiful that is;" my wife is somewhere about the Court - we did not come here together; I have not been on friendly terms with Mr. Smithies - I was not at all friendly with him at the time of the fire; I had not quarrelled with him lately, I had about twelve months ago; I have visited at his house since, but we had not made up the quarrel; I had drank ten there once or or twice, but not with him alone; he was present once.

Q. Did you ever express an opinion as to how the house took fire? A. I certainly did at one time, at the time it was burning.

Q. According to your observation, was there always both of stock, furniture, pictures, plate, and other articles of

 comfort and an appearance of wealth? A. I know nothing about plate; there was every appearance of respectability and comfort - I never knew of any want of money on the part of his wife; as to him I do not know - his wife always had a purse to pull out full of gold.

Q. Should you not be surprised to hear of a distress being in the house on this valuable furniture for 20l.? A. Yes, the distress was for a debt which Mr. Smithies was bound for - a debt of a man named Garnet, whom he was bail for; as far as I could understand, it was for 60l.; three of them were bail for 20l. each - this was a month or six weeks before the fire; I knew nothing of any other distress; what I am speaking of is Smithies being at the lock-up house - he was there for about a fortnight: I never knew of a distress at the suit of Mr. Nichols for rent - that would have surprised me much; I have known the prisoner about a year and a half, and his wife about five years.

Q. If she always had this money at her command, did you observe any thing to give you reason to suppose why she did not pay 20l. to get him out of the lock-up house? A. It was an unjust debt; she did not pay it - it has never been paid; it was rather a false imprisonment - for which he was to have brought an action.

MR. BARRY. Q. He never paid it? A. No; it was a bad bill or something - I speak to the value of the furniture to the best of my judgment; my wife pointed out the articles one after the other, to admire them - I never saw Mr. Smithies without money.

  JOSEPH LANGDON . I am a carver, and live in Great Chapel-street, Oxford-street. I have been acquainted with the prisoner the last four or five years, and was on friendly terms with him - I remember the fire in Oxford-street; I had seen the prisoner every day the week before that I have no doubt - he had been complaining two or three times, and on the Saturday evening before the fire he called at the Sun in Noel-street, and said he thought he should go home and taken calomel pill, as he felt himself unwell, which is a thing I have heard him make use of before; he had not said any thing on the subject of salts.

  JAMES HENRY CURTIS . I am a baker, and live in Oxford-street. I know Mr. Baylis, and have seen Mrs. Cobb three or four times; I knew the prisoner as a neighbour -I called on him the Sunday evening before the fire, about seven o'clock, at his own house; I asked if he would take a walk along with me - he said he was not well; he said he had been cleaning up the kitchen, cellar, and so forth: he had a dirty blue handkerchief tied round his head - he said he was going to take five or six drops of calomel and a dose of salts in the morning; I did not know exactly the term he had on his premises.

Q. Supposing he had a term of eighteen or twenty years, at 80l. a year, what is the value of it? A. I never went over the whole of the house - but if I were about to take such a house in that situation; I would not mind giving 200l. or 300l. premium for it.

MR. ADOLPHUS. Q. You are a baker; were you ever any other trade? A. I was a plumber, at Oxford -I left there, and came to be a baker in London, about two years ago - I never was over the the whole of the prisoner's house; I should say it was worth 80l. a year, according to the rent of my own house - I have been in the shop, the parlour, and the first floor - I should consider it worth one hundred guineas a year, if you were not obliged to purchase the lease - I have been a baker the whole two years I have been in London; I have lived in Moor-street, Soho, the shop I have now - I have not been a plumber and glazier at Horselydown; I do not know Horselydown; I purchased a shop and premises in Tooley-street, but I was laid up for ten days with the influenza, and was obliged to give it up - I was not six weeks there; I did not carry on the business of a plumber and glazier there - my son-in-law did - it was carried on in my name; after I got better, I carried on the business of a baker in Moor-street, but I had a rheumatic fever, and did nothing for thirteen weeks - I certainly was not much acquainted with Mrs. Cobb; I might see her three or four times - I saw her at Mr. and Mrs. Marven's carver and gilder, in Ely-court; I called there, I think, some time before last Christmas, and I saw her in the house - I was going out one day with Mr. Baylis, and I took him in to inquire after a child; he is a baker, and lives in Store-street, Tottenham-court-road - I have known him fourteen years; I knew him in Oxford-street - his father was a master baker, and served me with bread; I am not related to Marven's family - I stood godfather to the child; I never have been with Baylis at Mrs. Cobb's above two or three times - I have gone there, and they have asked me to have tea; Baylis went with me once or twice, but not always - I was never consulted about Mrs. Cobb taking a tobacconist's shop; I never knew Smithies' shop was to let - he called in at times as he went by, but never spoke to me about his shop; he called two or three days before the fire - I did not see him; I was not consulted about the value of the fixtures - I was told by Field about a distress being in the house, and I understood he was locked up in Newman-street about ten days; Mrs. Smithies called on me to give bail, but I did not -Smithies desired me to call on Field, to ask him to wait a few days for the rent; I think it was on the Friday week before the fire, or on a Monday - I knew it was on a market day; I went to Field, and told him I understood that Smithies had got a very good bill, but I did not make money of it to pay the rent; I never had it in my possession - I saw it; I went down to the Lion, in Dean-street, to see if my evidence would be required, and when I got there, I saw a solicitor, Mr. Blackford - he said if I was wanted, he would call me up; I do not know whose solicitor he was - I suppose he attended for Mrs. Smithies.

  RALPH HARRIES . I am an apothecary, and carry on business in Tottenham-court-road. I have known the prisoner about three months; I remember his being in Middlesex-hospital with the burns he received - I applied at the hospital to see him, but was told I could not; I have been accustomed to treat patients under the effects of injuries occasioned by explosions of gunpowder, and have always found we could not get rid of the marks of the gunpowder, more or less, they would appear on the skin - we could not get rid of the blueness; there is not the least appearance in the prisoner's features to warrant an opinion that he has been burnt by an explosion of gunpowder; I have resided in the neighbourhood of mines, and had great experience of such injuries - they always present themselves between the skin and flesh; I cannot see any such effects on the prisoner.

 MR. ADOLPHUS. Q. Might not a small quantity have discoloured the skin, and be washed off? A. I have never seen a case where the skin has been broken, but it has always remained; if the skin was not broken, I suppose it would come off - where the skin was burnt to a wound, I always found more or less blueness remain; particles of gunpowder are deposited under the skin - if it got in in the form of gunpowder it would show; if the powder gets into a blister, more or less, it will be seen when it gets well.

MR. LONSDALE re-examined. Q. The skin was not ruptured? A. It blistered during the afternoon; I applied lime-water and linseed oil to it.

Q. Did the skin come entirely off his face? A. In most parts it did.

MR. HARRIS. From the description given by Mr. Lonsdale, if the burns had been from gunpowder, there would have been the remains of gunpowder in his face, more or less; I see none.

MR. LONSDALE. When he came to the hospital, his face was discoloured; it was a grey blue colour - the lotion and ointments I used were not calculated to make it blister, but it did blister, and then the skin came off, and the blueness was gone.

  THOMAS STRONG . I am a journeyman pianoforte-maker, and live in Buckingham-place, Fitzroy-square. I was in a room at the Golden Lion, where the inquest was held, with Mrs. Smithies; Davis said, in my presence, that he would not cross the street to save the prisoner's life - I told him I thought he had given his evidence in a very prejudiced manner.

MR. PHILLIPS. Q. Were you in the room when Davis gave his evidence? A. Yes, by his side; the Jury had the same opportunity of judging of his evidence as I had- they were on their oaths, and so was he.

HENRY CADDEL re-examined. Q. Did you observe, when you looked through the area, whether the prisoner had an apron on? A. He had no apron on then, I am positive - I am quite positive of that; this was when I leaned down, and saw the fire in the back vault; when he desired me to open the grating, and let him out - he had no hat on.

His Lordship here commenced summing up the evidence, during which, at the prisoner's suggestion, the following witnesses were re-examined:

Prisoner. Smith knows that on Sunday evening there was a door between the wash-house and the vault, and she knows the fire will not burn unless that door is shut.

  ELIZA BAKER . There was a door opposite the kitchen fire-place, between the kitchen and the front vault, or wash-house; it was necessary to shut that door in order to make the kitchen fire burn; it was usually kept open, unless there was a fire there - there might have been a fire once or twice in the kitchen while I was there, and then the door was shut or the fire would not burn.

SARAH SMITH. There was a fire in the kitchen on Saturday and Sunday, and on both those occasions the door opposite the fire, between the wash-house and kitchen, was shut on account of its smoking; it was always kept open during the rest of the time I was there; I do not know whether the fire would burn without its being shut, but master wished it shut, as it always smoked if it was not.

Prisoner. I wish Baker called, to prove that Davis said he would ruin me.

  ELIZA BAKER . I heard Davis say something about ruining master; I cannot exactly say what it was - I was on the threshold of Mr. Smithies's parlour door, and Davis swore, as true as God was in heaven, he would ruin them about that unstamped paper if they did not mind what they were about.

Q. Did he say, if they pressed him again for the money the unstampt receipt was given for, he would ruin them? A. I do not recollect anything about that; there were words - mistress generally asked him for money; I cannot say whether at that time she asked him for any.

Prisoner. In consequence of his troubel, and the quantity of water he wanted up stairs, he was refused attention, and told to go about his business - he said if he did not have what he required he would ruin me about the unstamped paper. Witness. He was refused some warm water, and it was soon after that he said he should stay there to suit his own pleasure - I never heard them tell him to go; I have heard them ask him for money repeatedly - I never heard the money demanded twice over; I have heard master or mistress say that his hill was 11l. - I never heard Davis say it was demanded twice over.

Prisoner. There were two closets in Miss Twamley's room and three grates of mine; all the fixtures in the house were mine - there were two pier-tables.

MISS TWAMLEY. There was nothing in our room belonging to the prisoner - there were no pier-tables; there were two cupboards belonging to the house - the fixtures belonged to the house; they were not ours - the prisoner never saw my mother till I rushed out of the house that morning, with her in my arms on the leads - she could not, at any time, have given him authority to insure for her.

Prisoner. The mother did not take the rooms; it was her and her sister - there was another lady, whom I do not see, and who I understand is the one that was burnt; a more amiable creature never lived in the world, and I told her, to induce them to come to lodge with me, that I would insure for them as I was about insuring.

  HENRY FIELD . The witness Baylis called on me on the Saturday immediately before the fire, between three and four o'clock, and I informed him I would give the prisoner the whole of Monday to pay the rent.

  THOMAS BAYLIS . I communicated to the prisoner, on Saturday evening, that Mr. Field would give him the whole of Monday to pay the rent.

Prisoner. Q. Did I ask you on Saturday to call on Field? A. I do not know on what day I called, but I told the prisoner that Field would give him the whole of Monday, but would not wait an hour longer.

Prisoner to   HENRY FIELD . Q. Was not the distress you put in for half a year's rent, which was hanging back, and which all the row thought we ought not to pay, as the premises were not finished in proper time? A. So far from that I allowed his wife, before he married her, 5l. for any loss they might have been at in drying the premises; that was in 1829 - the prisoner said, a year and a half ago, they thought they had no right to pay the half-year's rent; I said it was useless to talk to me on

 the subject, that Nichols' address was either at Bunting, in Surrey, or at Richmond, and I left the address a year and a half ago.

Prisoner to MR. OXENHAM. Q. When you first came in with the distress, did I not take you up to the first floor? A. You did - I made no inventory, but I looked over the house to see the value of the goods; I said I supposed you would settle it that day - there were bedsteads, bedding, and common sort of articles; in the second floor there were two rosewood loo-tables, quite new.

Q. Was there not in the back room a reclining-chair, that I told you was worth 200l., and that I was applying to get a patent for it? A. No, I saw no such chair; I thought there was sufficient in the house to pay the 40l.; there was a French sofa-bedstead in the front room first floor, and some painted chairs - there was not a set of dining-tables; there was a Pembroke table, and an old sofa.

JURY. Q. Supposing all the property you saw had been agreed to be taken at a fair valuation, what would have been the value, in your estimation? A. A hundred pounds would have been a fair value between a person coming in and another going out; it would have fetched about 60l. by the hammer.

Prisoner. Q. Do you think there were six chests of drawers in the house? A. I cannot exactly tell now.

Q. Was not every room full of furniture, so that you could hardly get into them? A. No, the second floor was very empty; I cannot tell the number of beds - I made the valuation in the usual way; the beds were very small, worth, I should say, 5l. or 6l.; they were three feet six inches French bedsteads.

Prisoner. I shall not ask him any more questions -I do not think him old enough to be a judge of his business; Baker can prove I was never about the house without an apron on.

  ELIZA BAKER . He usually had an apron on when about the house.

Prisoner. Q. Was it not almost impossible to tell from the area wheather a man had an apron on; the bars are so narrow I could not get my hand between them. -Witness. I cannot say, I do not know the width, and never tried.

Prisoner. For me to be in the area I must be crumpled up, and was it possible to be seen in the area whether I had an apron on - it is only sixteen inches wide; I had nothing to fear from a distress, I had a 30l. bill in my pocket, and Curtis not getting it discounted at the market as he thought he should have done; my wife gave me two 10l. notes on the Sunday, and said, "Take this and pay a quarter;" I said, "It is of no use to-day, I will see Field to-morrow;" the copper was loaded up with wood and boxes, and the boxes came out too far for me to set the shavings apart - one bag laid flat on the other, not standing upright; they laid down, and the ends came halfway over the copper, and it was there I  drew the shavings out at the end next the fire-place.

[July 6.] GUILTY - DEATH . Aged 35.

The following description of the plan of the basement story of the house in question, as produced in Court, may tend to render the evidence more plain.

The front of the house was towards the north - the kitchen occupied the whole of the western side; the stairs, watercloset, and copper being at the back or southern end of it - the eastern side consisted in front of a vault (called by some witnesses a wash-house), and at the back of which was another vault, separated from the front by a wooden partition, and in this vault was the coal-bin; the shelf on which was the card with gunpowder, shavings, &c. and in one corner the turpentine-bottle inverted - both vaults were separated from the kitchen by a brick wall, there being a door-way in the said wall between the front vault and kitchen, and another between the front and back vaults.

First Middlesex Jury, before Mr. Justice Gaselee.