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Freemans Journal 27 October 1818, kindly submitted by Louise.
For a week past the water in the well of the "Duke of York" public house
at Brompton, Kent has been affected with so nauseous smell and taste
that it became unfit to use.
The servant, when drawing, found something hindered the bucket from
filling; the impediment was supposed to be the lid of the well which
had fallen in, and which was also thought to have communicated the
offensive qualities to the water.
The girl, however, lately thought that she perceived something like a
body and on moving the rope backwards and forwards to fill the bucket,
she found pieces of skin and animal substance adhering to it when it was
drawn up; and within the last few days the smell at the mouth of the
well had become so exceedingly offensive that no one would go near it.
On Saturday morning the circumstance having become a matter of
conversation among some soldiers who were drinking at the "Duke of York,"
one of them offered for a trifling reward, to go down the well, which
is of great depth, and clear it of its impurity. He was accordingly
lowered down, but before he arrived at the bottom he was almost
overpowered by the foetid effluvia and called out to the men who were
lowering him to stop. Having waited a few seconds and recovered himself
he proceeded until the bucket touched the water, when leaning over its
side he, with infinite horror and dismay, discovered a naked human
body floating on its back. To be certain, he took hold of the hair,
and when the body rolled over, and the hair and scalp became detached
from the skull and remained in his hand. Terrified in the extreme, and
almost reduced to insensibility at the horrid sight, he called to the
men on the brink of the well to draw him up.
One of his comrades then went down with a sheet, and having folded it
round the dead body, it was drawn up; the soldier, however, nearly
fell a sacrifice to his exertions, he was so affected by the foul air,
that he lost his senses just as he came within reach of his bystanders,
who caught hold of him, and prevented him falling headlong into the
well. The body proved to be that of a woman about 37 years old, named
Donnelly, the wife of a soldier lately discharged from the 98th
regiment. She was far advanced in pregnancy, and being completely naked, it was immediately suspected that she had been murdered.
A coroner's jury was summonsed and an inquisition taken at 12 o'clock
on Saturday last which continued investigating this mysterious affair
until 7 at night, when the evidence taken was read by the Coroner, and
the jury not agreeing unanimously in their verdict, an adjournment
took place till 1 o'clock on Monday; fresh evidence having been
obtained, they continued their investigation until 5 o'clock in the
evening. The following particulars came out:- In the early part of September the 98th to which the husband of the
deceased belonged arrived from Halifax. Donnelly was then quartered at
the "Duke of York" at Brompton accompanied by his wife and two children,
and was lodged in a room at the back of the house, the window of which
is about 5 feet from the well in which the deceased person was found. The
unfortunate woman was about 12 years older than Donnelly; she was very
much attached to him; but was extremely jealous, and frequently
evinced that passion when he casually spoke to another female; their
quarrels consequently were frequent, and at times particularly violent. On the night of 17th September, they quarrelled, and from violent
words proceeded to blows, their conduct became desperate; Donnelly
forced his wife towards the well and threatened to throw her into it;
her screams brought persons to her assistance, and she was released
from his violent efforts to force her towards the wells mouth. The whole of that night however, she lay in the open air, with her
head resting on the stone steps leading into the public house, where
she was found next morning, with her clothes wet through with dew and
rain. She was advised to go to her apartment and change her apparel,
which she did after some time, and in the course of the day she became
reconciled to her husband. On the following Saturday night she was in
the clubroom at the "Duke of York" in apparent health and spirits, after
that time she was not seen by anyone in the house. On Sunday morning 20th September, Donnelly came down from his apartment
and sat in the tap room with his two children, but without his wife;
inquiries were made after her, and he said that she had on the preceding night on a visit to her friends; he did not know when she
would return; that she had taken £3 with her to defray her expenses. To
other inquiries he said that she was gone off with another man. A female who went into his apartment on the day after Donnellys wife
disappeared stated that she found everything in the room in the greatest
disorder; the clothes of the deceased were scattered about in all
directions and she observed marks of blood on the bed linen. Yet with
all these strong evidences of guilt together with his violent conduct
towards the deceased on the Thursday preceding, no suspicion appears to
have been of the murder until Saturday last, after the body had been
lying in the well for more than a month. Donnelly remained at the "Duke of York" after the deceased was missing for
more than a fortnight and frequently conversed about his absent wife
without betraying the least emotion or confusion at the time. He said
she was gone off with a fellow and would not trouble him again, and
since that period he has cohabited with another woman. The coroner summed up the evidence to the jury; he was glad they
adjourned, because more evidence of great importance had been adduced
and from that, and the evidence taken on the first day they assembled,
he had no doubt that they would be able to come to a satisfactory
conclusion upon the subject. The jury, without hesitation, returned a verdict of Wilful Murder
against William Donnelly, the husband of the deceased, and a warrant
has since been issued for his apprehension and committal to the County
Gaol. |
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