The old woman, therefore, took the body out of the box, and cut it to pieces, thinking it more eafy to difpofe of it in parts than whole: the endeavoured to cut off the head, but could not; fhe therefore tied up the head and body in a piece of brown cloth, which was part of the bed furniture, and the limbs in another piece of the fame, except the hand which had loft a finger, that being fo remarkable as to make particular caution neceffary.

This was on the 5th of Decem. ber, the depth of winter, when the nights were dark and long; and all being thus far in readinefs, the children were fent to bed: the old woman then fetched down the hand which wanted the finger, and burnt it, but her fear was fo little mixed with remorse or pity, that he curfed the unhappy creature the had murdered becaufe her bones were fo long in confuming, and comforted herself at the fame time, by faying, that the fire told no tales: fhe would have burnt the reft of the body, but was afraid of alarming the neighbourhood by the fmell; the therefore, the fame night, took the two bundles, and carried them to the great gully hole in Chick-lane, where the kennel water runs into the common fhore, whence it falls into the Thames. When The came thither, fhe took them out of the cloths, and endeavoured to throw them piece meal over the wall, behind which the commonfhore is open, but could not; the therefore threw them down in the mud, and water before before the grate, and returned home.

About twelve o'clock the fame night, the mangled body was feen where Metyard had left it, by two watchmen, who gave notice of it

to the conftable, who went immediately to the overfeer of the parish, St. Andrew's, Holbourn, and defired he would come and remove it: the overfeer went with the conftable and watchmen to the place, and all the parts of the body being collected, except the hand, it was carried to the workhoufe; the next day Mr. Umfreville, the coroner, was acquainted with it, who directed the parts to be put together and wafhed, which being done, he came, and having taken a view of it, he gave an order for its burial, with out fummoning any jury, probably fuppofing it had been in the hands of lome furgeon.

Thus was the child murdered, and the body difpofed of without raifing any fufpicion; no enquiry was made or apprehended, and the murderers were in the hands only of each other.

They had, however, always lived upon very ill terms, and though the daughter was between 19 and 20 years old, the mother ufed fre quently to beat her; the daughter, hoping to terrify her mother into better behaviour, would, when thus provoked. threaten to accufe her of the murder, and make herself an evidence to prove it, fuppofing that the mother's teftimony would not then be admitted against her: this rendered their animofities more bitter; fometimes the urged the mother to let her go to fervice, and fometimes declared fhe would drown herself. The mother always oppofed her going to fervice, because the found her affiftance neceffary in her business, and confidered her talk about drowning herself, as the mere unmeaning ravings of paffion, which, as foon as the pallion fubfided, were thought of no more.

Thus they continued to hate, to reproach and to torment each other, till about two years after the child had been dead; when one Mr. Rooker, who appears to have been a dealer in tea, took a lodging in their house.

Rooker observed, that the daughter was very ill treated by the mother, who ftill continued to beat her, and, after lodging with them about three months, he took a house the upper end of Hill-ftreet, Berkeleysquare; and, when he went away, he took the daughter in mere compaffion as a fervant.

The old woman, upon the daughter's leaving her, became quite outrageous; she went almost every day to Rooker's and abused both him and the girl in the most opprobrious terms, and with fuch clamour and vehemence as frequently to breed a riot about the door; this however, in compaffion to the girl, he endured patiently at firft, hoping time would put an end to it. It was not long before a little place fell to him at Ealing, and he immediately quitted his houfe in town, and went to live there, taking the girl with him; but the mother, neither foftened by time, nor difcouraged by distance, followed her thither, and continued her abuse with yet more malice and vociferation. When orders were given to refuse her admittance, he forced her way in, and, at other times, behaved in fuch a manner before the hoafe, that to let her in was thought the leaft evil of the two. Rooker was loaded with reproaches, and the girl was often cruelly beaten. It is probable that fhe would have been killed if aflist. ance had not been at hand, for the was once found forced up into a corner by the mother, who having

torn off her cap and handkerchief, and greatly bruifed and scratched her face, had laid hold of a pointed knife, which the was aiming at her breaft. This continued till the oth of June laft, and, it had been observed that in the height of their quarrels, many doubtful and myfterious expreffions were used that intimated fome fecret of importance between them.

The mother used to call Rooker, "The old perfume tea dog," and the daughter would reply, Mother, remember you are the perfumer, alluding to her having kept the child's body in a box till it could not be endured: at other times the daughter, when provoked, would fay, You are the Chick-lane ghost; remember the gully-bole in Chicklane.

Thefe obfcure hints made Rooker uneasy; and one day, after the mother was gone, he urged the girl fo preffingly to tell what they meant, that, with many tears and great reluctance, fhe gave him an account of the murder, begging, at the fame time, that it might be a fecret.

As by this account the girl did not appear to be any otherways culpable than by concealing the mother's crime, and as Mr. Rooker fuppofed alfo that the fact could not be proved without her evidence, he immediately wrote an account of what he had learnt, to the officers of the parish of TottenhamHigh-Crofs, by whom the deceafed had been put out an apprentice, that a profecution against the mother might be commenced.

In confequence of this letter, the parish officers applied to Sir John Fielding, at whofe house they were met by Rooker and the daughter,

and

and proper perfons were fent to bring the mother and her apprentices before the juftice. The mother was foon brought, with Dowley and Hinchman, two of the girls who lived with her when the murder was committed: the daughter's examination was taken, which contained a very full, direct, and clear charge against the mother, who was therefore committed to New Prifon; the girls were fent for further examination to the workhouse of St. George, Hanover-fquare, and the daughter was difmiffed but the mother and the apprentices being examined a fecond and third time, fome evidence came out which affected the daughter, who was therefore committed to the Gatehoufe on the 5th of July.

Bills of indictment were foon af ter found against both mother, and daughter, and the evidence of the girls was thought fufficient to convict them both.

On the 16th of July they were brought to their trial at the feffions house in the Old Bailey, when the two girls depofed, that the deceafed was tied up and cruelly beaten by the daughter, and kept without victuals, till fhe died, by the joint confent of both daughter and mother. Mr. Rooker depofed, that the daughter related the circumftances of the murder to him as the had related them in her examination, and told him, that the mutilated hand was burnt, and the reft of the body thrown into the gully hole in Chick-lane. The conftable proved that all the corps, except the hand, was found there; and Rooker alfo depofed, that the children who lived with her, when he lived in her houfe, were ill treated.

The mother, in her defence, alledged, that the deceased was fickly, and was therefore kept apart from the reft; that he had a fit, from which the was recovered by hartshorn drops, and that soon after she The daughter gave a

ran away.

long and circumftantial account of the whole tranfaction, but imputed all the guilt to the mother. She faid, that the night before the child died, the entreated her mother to fend her fome victuals, which the refufed with many oaths and execrations; that he, the daughter, did not tye her, nor know the was tyed the laft morning; that the generally gave the children victuals by ftealth, for which her mother, when the difcovered it, ufed to upbraid and to beat her; that after Nanny died, fhe urged the mother to have the body buried, which the mother refufed, calling her fool, and faying, That the body, upon view, would fhew that the child had been ftarved; that the mother urged her to affift in cutting it to pieces, which fhe refufed; and used to threaten if ever she spoke of it, that fhe would fwear firft and become an evidence against her; she alfo denied that she ever beat the children, and declared that she had fuffered much from the mother's cruelty, because she would not be the inftrument of it against them.

If this, however, had been true, the girls, on whofe teftimony fhe was convicted, would have had no motive to depofe against her; they neceffarily would have loved her in proportion as they hated the old woman; aud as they could have no intereft in accufing her, neither could they have had any inclina

tion.

They

They were, after a long trial, both convicted, and received fentence of death; but even after this there continued fo bitter an animofity between them, that it was neceffary to confine them apart.

Both denied the charge conftantly and invariably, but with this difference; the mother declared the child was not ftarved, and the daughter declared the mother ftarved her; fo that though the daughter accufed the mother, the mother did not accufe the danghter. The daughter alfo pleaded pregnancy, but a jury of matrons declared the was not preg

The daughter perfifted to the laft in declaring herself innocent of all but concealing the murder, which the extenuated by faying, She thought it was her duty. What could I do, fays fhe, it was my mother! She alto folemnly declared, that he had no criminal connection with any man, particularly with Mr. Rooker, whom the yet always mentioned rather as a friend than a matter; and that though he pleaded pregnancy, it was only done as an expedient to gain a fhort refpite, not knowing that a jury would determine the fact imme

Some account of a remarkable forgery committed by John aud Jofeph Kello.

J

OHN KELLO was 26 years old,

and Jofeph 24; John came over in partnership with a gentleman from Virginia about three years ago, as his brother Jofeph fwore at his trial; but it does not appear that this partnership produced him more than one remittance of 300 l. in three years. From his coming over to his being apprehended he lived in Bloomsbury, and Joseph was, during the fame time, clerk to Mr. Charles More of Aldermanbury, and swore that for the last year and a half, fupported not only himfelf but his brother John, though, when queftioned by John at the trial, it appeared that he had received above 30 guineas of him to pay his debts.

Jofeph had before ferved an apprenticeship to Mr. John Howell a Blackwell-hall factor, and during that apprenticeship he became acquainted with Mr. Jofeph Cotton, who was alfo then apprentice to a packer, and ufed to be fent by his mafter to affift Kello.

Mr. Cotton coming into bufinefs for himfelf, fill continued his

ac

acquaintance with Kello, who ufed to be continually backwards and forwards at his houfe in Aldermanbury, where Kello also lived.

Mr. Cotton, at this time, did a good deal of bufinefs for Mr. Partridge in the prefling and packing way, was converfant in his other branches of bufinefs, and greatly trufted by him, fo that Kello had great opportunities of becoming acquainted with Mr. Partridge's affairs, but did not know him perfonally.

The two brothers being neceffitous, conceived a defign of obtaining money by forgery above a year ago, but could not determine in whofe name to practise the fraud. Jofeph's acquaintance with Mr.Partridge's affairs, by Mr. Cotton's means, at length determined them to practise it on him.

With this view Jofeph took an opportunity to take a draft of Mr. Partridge's from a file in his counting-house, and from this draft he forged another, in the following words:

To Meff. Amyand, Staples, and Mercer. Auguft 28, 1762. Pay to Bearer a thousand Pounds. £1000. W. Partridge. He had before forged feveral others, all for a thousand pounds, but the refemblance was not thought fo great as in this.

The 28th of Auguft, the day of the date of the note, was Saturday, and Jofeph Kello had learnt of Mr. Cotton, that Mr. Partridge would, on that day, go to Harlow, and in his way dine at Woodford. He and his brother John, therefore, determining that this was an opportunity not to be loft, went together to the Red-lion alehoufe in Moor fields, where John Kello wrote the follow

When the body of the letter was written by John, who, it fhould feem, had, by fome means, learni alfo to imitate Mr. Partridge's hand, Jofeph counterfeited the name to it, and dated it; they then inclofed in it the draught for 10ce 1. and, to give it colour, a forged bill of exchange for 3501. fuppofed to be from a clothier, in favour of Mr. Partridge.

The letters, with the draft and bill, were then put into a cover, which they directed to Mr. Cotton, at Mr. Elliot's, in Aldermanbury; and as they cou'd procure no wax at the ale-houfe, they went to a ftationer's in White-chapel, where they bought a flick, and where they alfo borrowed the use of a seal, and fealed up their packet.

It was now about five o'clock, and the bufinefs being thus far difpatched, Jofeph Kello went immediately to Mr. Cotton, whom he found at his ware houfe, contiguous to Mr. Partridge's houfe; and foon after his brother John, with whom he had left the letter, fent it from the change by a porter, as directed.

When Cotton received the letter, Jofeph Kello was with him he afked the porter whence he brought it, who answered, from a gentleman

who