Mr. Ward. When was Bromfield ironed?
Cartwright. Littleton ironed him, while
Acton was gone for the surgeon, and put him
into the hole.

Mr. Ward. Where was he ironed?
Cartwright. He was carried first into the
lodge and ironed, and then put into the hole.
Mr. Ward. Where is the hole?
Cartwright. On the common side.

Mr. Ward. Did you see George Carew there?

Cartwright. I don't know whether he followed him down.

Mr. Ward. Did Carew go along with Littleton, when he put him into the hole? Cartwright, I can't say, whether he did or

pot.

Joseph Wood, a surgeon, sworn. Acton. Please to ask him, my lord, if I came to fetch him.

Mr. Baron Carter. What say you to that? Wood. Acton came to me, and desired me to go along with him; which I did, and found a person stabbed in the breast. The next day I went to the person who had wounded him, and Jasked him how he could be so barbarous,

Mr. Baron Carter. That is not material. What state of health did Bromfield seem to be in ?

Acton. How do you know?

Jones. I am a surgeon; I took notice of him continually.

Acton. How did I behave myself to captain Bromfield?

Jones. You were kind to him at all times. Acton. Please to ask, my lord, how I behaved myself to the prisoners in general.

Jones. Acton would never suffer any thing of hardship.

Acton. Have you seen any acts of friendship?

Jones. Both your pocket and your table have been made use of.

Mr. Baron Carter. Did you see captain Bromfield put in the hole?

Jones. I saw nobody put in the hole.

Mr. Ward. Did not you see Bromfield in the hole?

Jones. I never saw him in the hole.

Mr. Harding. I beg leave to make an observation.

Mr. Baron Carter. You can't observe; I don't think you have used me well before. A gentleman that is a young counsel, should open no more than the record.

Mr. Harding. I opened no more than the fact.

Mr. Baron Carter. Gentlemen of the jury, the prisoner at the bar stands indicted for the murder of John Bromfield. The Indictment sets forth,

You are to consider, whether you have suffiWood. Bromfield seemed to be pretty well in cient evidence, to induce you to believe him

health.

Acton. Where did you see Bromfield?
Wood. In the lodge.

guilty of this fact. Whatever is opened by the counsel, that is not proved to you, is to have no weight with you. It is set forth, that Acton. Did you say any thing to him? he was beat, and that the marks and strokes Wood. I said, I find you are ironed: I think were upon him. I don't observe by the eviyou deserve it; and he said, that Darby order-dence, that any stroke was given to the man ed him to be ironed, and he was glad Acton went for a surgeon.

Mr. Ward. What time did you see Bromfield?

Wood. The next morning, about nine o'clock.

Mr. Ward. Where did you see him?
Wood. In the yard.

Mr. Ward. How long did you stay there? Wood. I staid there a trifling time, about half an hour, and left him there.

Lewis Jones sworn.

Acton. I desire, my lord, he may give an account of what he knows as to captain Bromfield.

Jones. Bromfield came in April from the master's side to the common side, and was put in irons by John Littleton.

Acton. Please to ask what state of health he was in.

Jones. Bromfield was in a sad state of health, he fell sick of the gaol distemper, he had the jaundice on him.

Acton. What did he die of?
Jones. A fever.

at all.

Gentlemen, let the consequence be what it will, evidence is to determine every man's fate.

The Indictment sets forth, that Darby was keeper of the gaol on the 15th of July, and that Bromfield died the second.

The fact is charged preceding to that time; the fact is laid in April, and all this is laid to be in the space of five days.

Wheeler is the first evidence for the king; he says, that Acton was turnkey, and servant to Darby; that he knew Bromfield; that he lodged in the nursery, and coming down the stairs, there was a hatch upon the stairs, and Perkins kept the key; that he and the captain quarrelled, and that they went into the chandler's-shop, and quarrelled further, and then Bromfield stabbed him with a pen-knife, and thereupon dropt the knife, He was carried from thence to the pound and carried from thence away to the lodge, and was refractory; but he did not hear Acton order any thing.

He says, gentlemen, that he saw fetters on him, when he came out of the hole the next morning; and that he was turned from the master's to the common side; that his body

was all over black, and turned so after his decease. He says, that it was not in streaks, but one continued blackness.

The second witness, Hugh Martin, says, that he knew captain Bromfield: that he was his bedfellow; that he saw the captain in the chandler's shop, and Perkins refused him a favour, and Bromfield stabbed him; that he did not see Acton there, but saw him in the yard, and saw him go to the court-house. That he saw Bromfield on the common side with fetters on, and saw him in the hole, but saw no beating; that he continued in there all night, and the hole is a little place, has no floor, and is damp; that there is no place to let in the air and light, but the key-hole and crevice. He says, that he saw Bromfield in George's ward in irons; that it was three weeks or a month before he died; that he wanted necessaries, and that he was apt to judge he died of the jaundice.

On the 1st of March, 1725, Saunders says, that Bromfield became a prisoner; that Nichols and Littleton brought Bromfield along; and that he saw him ironed by Acton's orders. This is the only witness that says Acton ordered it. That Bromfield, he believes, was in the hole three days, it might be a little longer; that the hole was under a pair of stairs, there was no light, nothing in it, but a piece of a chair that a woman set her greens on: that Bromfield could not stand upright, that he dared not lie down, because it was so wet; that King and Broinfield spoke to Acton to take the irons off, but he could not do it without Darby's order. It was his opinion that Bromfield was well, and that the hard usage was the occasion of his death. That he saw his body after he was dead, and it was of several colours. He was asked, if he saw any sign of a stroke on his body, and he said that it was all of a colour. He says that Bromfield told him, that the usage of the hole, and the fetters, were the occasion of his death, the night before he died. So that what he said is evidence, and ought to have its weight; such cruelty should not have

been continued.

Martha Johnson; she says, that she saw Bromfield come out of the hole in irons.

So that there is but one witness that says he was put there by Acton's order; and the prisoner insists, that he did not order him there; and if he did, he did not die by duress, but by the jaundice.

George Carew, the first witness for the prisoner, says, he was there; and Acton went for

a surgeon, and Littleton came from the lodge, and took Bromfield there, and iroued him, and put him into George's ward, but that Acton gave no directions; that he was in there three or four hours, and that he saw him well the next day, and that he walked about the yard. That he fell ill of the jaundice, and his face was black and yellow a week before he died. Be was asked by the king's counsel, if he was a healthful man? And he said, he was not. He says, that Acton was gone before Littleton came; so that in his opinion, Acton did nothing; and says, that Bromfield died of the jaundice.

The second witness for the prisoner says, that he saw Acton run out of the court into the pound, and Acton said he would go for a surgeon. That Littleton ironed him, and put him into the hole, and it was all done before Acton came from the surgeon. He was there before Littleton came, and said, he would go and fetch a surgeon. He says, that Bromfield was in the hole six hours; that he locked him up every night, and he looked upon him to be a weak man.

Wood says, that he saw Bromfield the next day, and talked with him about irons; and he said he was ironed by the direction of Mr. Darby; and that Acton was always very kind to him.

Jones says, that Littleton ironed Bromfield; and that it was in April, and he died in June. He says, that he was a surgeon, and that Acton was always very kind to the deceased.

Gentlemen, in the first place you are to con sider, whether the man was put into the hole by the direction of Acton; and in the next place, if it was done by Acton, and this was not the occasion of his death, you will acquit him as to that. But if you believe Acton ordered him into his hole, and that it was the occasion of bis death, he was guilty of duress; but that will be contrary, four witnesses to one.

The Jury agreed upon their Verdict imme. diately, without going out of Court.

Cl. of Arr. Gentlemen, are you all agreed in your verdict?

Omnes. Yes.

Cl. of Arr. Who shall say for you?
Omnes. Our Foreman.

Cl. of Arr. Hold up thy hand. (Which be
did.) Look upon the prisoner; how say you;
Is he Guilty of the murder and felony whereof
he stands indicted, or Not Guilty? -
Foreman. Not Guilty.

!

484. The Trial of WILLIAM ACTON, for the Murder of Robert Newton, before Mr. Baron Carter, at the Assizes held at Kingston-upon-Thames, for the County of Surrey, August 2: S GEORGE II. A. D. 1729.*

Saturday, August 2, 1729.

Tulman. Newton and Hartness lay in the Park when they were prisoners in the MarshalThe said William Acton having been before sea; and they broke out, and afterwards were arraigned for the murder of Robert New-retaken, and committed to the prison again; ton, the Counsel proceeded as follows: Mr. Harding. My Lord, and you Gentlemen of the Jury, I am of counsel for the king. This is an indictment against William Acton for the murder of Robert Newton. The indictment sets forth

Mr. Marsh. My lord, and you gentlemen of the jury, this is an indictment against the prisouer at the bar, William Acton, for the murder of one Robert Newton. It sets forth that Darby was principal gaoler, and Acton under

and Acton put them in irons. Newton fell sick, and languished for some time, and died. Mr. Ward. Who had the care of the pri soners then?

Tudman. Mr. Darby was head man, and Acton was under him.

Mr. Ward. Was Newton ironed?

Tudman. I went to see him in the lodge; he was ironed there, and then sent to the Strong

Room.

Mr. Ward. How long were the irons continued on?

evidence.

Mr. Ward. Did you hear any verbal order given by sir John Darnell for his releasement?

Tudman. No.

Mr. Ward. How long did Newton lie in the
Strong Room?

Tudman. I can't guess at the time.
Mr. Ward. What was done after the irons
were put on?-Tudman. I cannot say.
Mr. Ward. Where did he die?
Tudman. He died in the sick ward.

him. Newton and Hartness were chums or Tudman. Till he petitioned sir John Darnell, ward-mates; and whilst they were there, one Mr. Strange. If he petitioned sir John Darof them attempted to escape; they were pre-nell, and there was any order, they ought to vented in that; and Acton clapped on Newton produce it in writing, and prove it. It might very severe shackles, and he was ordered into be a parole order, and that may be given in a place called the Strong Room, a place, we think to satisfy you, was a room not at all fit to put persons into. We say it is a very bad place, and a very dangerous place to the health; there this Newton was confined for a considerable time; there he was locked up, and the key kept by an inferior officer of the gaol. And Acton was so very sensible he was in a declining way, that purely for his own safety, he first ordered him out of that place into the lodge, then carried him into the sick ward. He continued there some time, and complained of this hardship, this imprisonment, and the hardship put upon him by Acton; and that that rogue of a man was his murderer: For that he had applied to the judge of the court, and he was pleased to make an order, after being very angry with what Acton had done, to release him out of his hardship; but he, notwithstanding, disobeyed that order. Therefore, if we call our witnesses to shew he contracted by this usage an illness of which he languished and died, it will remain on the prisoner to shew what he died of, and that he died of some other distemper; and then you will judge of the

I saw

him four or five days before he died.
Mr. Ward.
Strong Room?

What sort of a place is the

Tudman. The Strong Room is built of wood, and is a very strong place to keep prisoners in like a shed.

Mr. Ward. Is there not a common sewer runs under it ?

it,

Tudman. The common sewer is pretty near
within twenty or thirty yards.

Mr. Ward. Who was he ironed by?
Tudman. I saw him ironed by Darby.
Mr. Ward. Was Acton head-turnkey!
Tudman. Yes.

Mr. Marsh. Was there any coroner's inquest sat upon him after he was dead?

Tudman. There was not.

Mr. Harding. Was there any place to let