Circumstantial evidence. The extraordinary case of Eliza Fenning, who was executed in 1815, for attempting to poison the family of Orlibar Turner, by mixing arsenic in yeast dumplings. With a statement of facts, since developed tending to prove her innoce

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THE EXTRAORDINARY CASE

WHO WAS EXECUTED IN 1S15,

For Atte?npting to Poison the Family of Orlibar Turner, by Mixing
Arsenic in. Yeast Dumplings.

WITH

A STATEMENT OF FACTS,

SINCE DEVELOPKD, TENDING TO PROVE

HEH INNOCENCE OP THE CRIME.

LONDON :

PUBLISHED BY COWIE AND STRANGE, PATERNOSTER ROW;
PURKESS, WARDOUR STREET, SOHO ;

AND SOLD BY ALL VENDERS OF PAMPHLETS.

[Price ONE PENNY.]

CASE OF ELIZA PENNING.

The Trial and Execution of Eliza
Penning-, in 1815, for an attempt to
poison the family of Mr. Turner, the
Law-stationer, will be in the recol-
lection of most of our readers. The
event excited great attention and
interest at the time, on account of
the conviction having- taken place on
circumstantial evidence only, and the
powerful asseverations of innocence
on the part of the unhappy woman,
np to the very moment of her death.
At that time a large portion of the
public thought her wrongfully con-
demned, and some of the newspapers
espoused her cause very warmly ;
but, after a patient and impartial
trial, and a subsequent investigation
before the privy council, the evidence
was considered too strong to leave a
doubt of her guilt; and she was ex-
ecuted. Years passed away without
there appearing any reason to doubt
the justice of the verdict ; but fresh
interest lias been lately given to the
subject, by a report that has been
circulated, charging another with the
dreadful deed ; and it is, therefore,
thought that a reprint of the trial
will be acceptable, as the first of a
series of extraordinary Convictions
on Circumstantial Evidence, intend-
ed to be given in the Universal Pam-
phleteer.

On Thursday, March 80, 1816,
Eliza Fenning underwent an ex-
amination at the Public Office, Hat-
ton Garden, charged with attempting
to poison the family of Mr. Turner,
Law-stationer, No. 68, Chancery
Lane, on the 2lst day of that month.

Orlibar Tiirney^ deposed, that on
Tuesday, the 21st of M arch, he dined
at his house in Chancery Lane, with

his son and daughter-in-law ; they
had some yeast dumplings, with
rump-steaks and potatoes. They
had nearly dined, when Mrs. Char-
lotte Turner retired to her room
above stairs, and upon inquiry they
found her complaining of violent
sickness. Robert Turner and him-
self were soon afterwards taken very
ill, and vomited dreadfully. The
apprentice, Roger Gadsden, went
into the kitchen, and, seeing the
remnant of the dumplings, was de-
sirous of eating a part of them, but
the prisoner, Eliza Fenning, endea-
voured to dissuade him from it, by-
saying they were cold and heavy,
and would do him no good : he how-
ever did eat a small portion of them,
and was afterwards seized with
violent vomitings also. The prisoner
made no inquiry, nor did she do any
thing to assist, but partook after-
wards of the same dumplings, al-
though she had had her dinner before,
and was in consequence seized with
similar vomiting. Having suspicion,
he endeavoured to iind arsenic in the
house, but failed in so doing. A
quantity of arsenic had for many
months been deposited in a drawer
in the office, tied up in wrappers,
and written on '* arsenic, deadly
poison," which had been missed about
three weeks. This was kept to be
occasionally used to destroy mice, in
the office drawers, where parchments
and papers of consequence were
deposited. Witness went into the
kitchen, where seeing a brown dish
or pan, in which the dumplings had
been mixed, with water in it, he
immediately examined it, and dis-
covered, at the bottom of the dish, a
powder, which appeared to have

CASE OF ELIZA PENNING.

3

separated from the dough, which had
remained in the dish. He took the
dish, with its contents, and kept it
for the examination of Mr. Marshall
and Mr. Ogilvy, two medical gen-
tlemen. Tiie prisoner admitted that
no one but herself made the said
dumplings.

Jo/miWar,s/i«/Z, a surgeon, deposed,
that he was called to the family of
Mr. Turner on the above day. He
found the prisoner, Eliza Penning,
lying on the stairs, apparently in
great agony, and was informed she
had vomited much. Witness was
satisfied from the symptoms he saw
in Mr. and Mrs. Robert Turner, Mr.
Orlibar Turner, the prisoner Eliza
Fenning, and the apprentice, that
they were affected by poison. He
had examined the dish and its con-
tents, and found a quantity of arse-
nic at the bottom of it.

Charlotte Turner, the wife of
Robert Turner, deposed, that the
prisoner had lived with her about
six weeks as cook. About three
weeks ago witness had some dispute
with the prisoner, on account of
some indelicacy in her conduct, and
gave her warning to quit, but after-
wards took compassion on her, and
changed her mind. The prisoner
had frequently, within the last fort-
night, teazed her to let her make
some dumplings for dinner, adding
" you cannot believe how well I
can make them." Monday, the 20th,
she told witness that the brewer had
brought some yeast, which she or-
dered witliout witness's desiring her.
Witness, in consequence, ordered
her to make the dumplings she had
been so long talking of, for next
day's dinner. Witness saw the
dough after she had mixed it up, and
firmly believed the deleterious in-
gredients were then mixed in it,
from its appearance being flat,
black, and heavy.

Sarah Peer, the housemaid, de-
posed, that she had lived eleven

months in Mr. Turner's family; she
recollected hearing the prisoner say,
after her mistress gave her warning,
that she should never like them any
more.

Upon tliis evidence, Eliza Fenning
was committed for trial, to the Old
Bailey; and on Tuesday, April 11,
she was tried before Sir John Sil-
vester, the Recorder. The follow-
ing is a correct abstract of the evi-
dence : —

Charlotte Turner sworn. — I am
the wife of Robert Gregson Turner ;
his father, Mr. Orlibar Turner, is
his partner : he lives at Lambeth.
The prisoner came into my service
aboutsevenweeks before the accident.

Q. After she came into your ser-
vice, had you occasion to reprove
her ? — A. I had, about three weeks
after she came.

Q. What was the reason that you
reproved her? — A. I observed her
one night go into the young men's
room partly undressed. I said it
was very indecent of her to go into
the young men's room undressed.

Q. What age were the young
men ? — A. About seventeen or eigh-
teen years old.

Q. What was her conduct after
that for the remaining month ? — A.
I observed her fail in the respect
that she before paid me, and she ap-
peared extremely sullen.

Q. Did she, after this, say any-
thing to you on the subject of yeast
dumplings ? — A. She did : a fort-
night before the transaction, she re-
quested me to let her make some
yeast dumplings, saying she was a
capital hand. That request was
very frequently made. On Mon-
day, the 20th of March, she came
into the dining-room, and said the
brewer had brought some yeast.

Q. Had you given any order to
the brewer to bring any yeast ? — A.
Oh, no. I told her I did not wish
to trouble the man — that was not the
way I had them made : I generally

CASE OF ELIZA FENNING,

had the dough of the baker, which
saved the cook a good deal of trou-
ble, and was always considered
best ; but, as the man had brought
a little yeast, on the next day she
might make some. On Tuesday
morning, the 21st, I went, as usual,
into the kitclien. I told her she
might make some, but, before she
made tlie dumplings, to make a
beef-steak pie for the dinner of the
young men ; and, as she would
have to leave the kitchen to get the
steaks, I did not wish her to do so
after the dumplings were made. I
told her I wished them to be mixed
with milk and water ; she said she
would do them as I desired her.
This was about half-past eleven :
she carried the pie to the baker's
before the kneading of the dough
commenced. I told her, I wished
her not to knead the dough, that
she might carry the pie to the ba-
ker's. She carried the pie to the
baker's at near twelve ; I went into
the kitchen after she had been to
the baker's ; I gave directions about
making the dough ; I said, 1 sup-
pose there is no occasion for my
stopping ; she said, — oh, no, she
knew very well how to do it ; then
I went up stairs ; in about half an
hour I went into the kitchen again ;
I then found the dough made ; it
was set before the fire to rise.

Q. What other servant have you ?
— A. Another maid ; her name is
Sarah Peer ; at the time that the
dough was made, I had given Sarah
Peer orders to go into the bed-room
to repair a counterpane. I am cer-
tain that during the time the dough
was made no person was in the kit-
chen but the prisoner ; this was about
half-past twelve ; we dine at three,
the young men at two. From half-
past twelve till three I was in the
kitchen two or three times, until the
dough was made up into dumplings.
Q. Where was the dough? — A. It
remained in a pan before the fire to

rise ; I observed it never did rise.
I took off the cloth, and looked at
it. My observation was, it had not
risen, and it was in a very singular
position,in which position it remained
until it was divided into dumplings.
It was not put into the pan as I have
seen dough ; its shape was singular ;
it retained that shape till the last ; I
am confident it never was meddled
with after it had been put there.

Q. Who sat down to dinner with
you ? — A. Mr. Orlibar Turner
and my husband. I helped Mr.
Orlibar Turner and my husband to
some dumpling, and took a small
piece myself. In a few minutes I
found myself affected in the stomach ;
Idid not eat a quarter of a dumpling;
I felt myself very faint, and an ex-
treme burning pain, which increased
every minute.

Jury. You eat nothing else ? —
A. I eat a bit of beef-steak that the
prisoner had cooked. When I went
up-stairs I perceived my sickness
had increased, and my head w^as
swollen extremely. 1 retched very
violently ; I wondered none of the
family came up to my assistance ; I
was half an hour alone. When I
came down, I found my husband's
father and my husband very bad.

Orlibar Turner sworn. Q. Did
you eat of the dumplings? — A. I did.
I was taken ill in less than three
minutes afterwards ; the effect was
so violent, that I had hardly time to
get into the yard before my dinner
came up. I felt considerable heat
across my stomach and chest, and
pain.

Q. Did the prisoner give any of
you anjr assistance while you were
sick ? — A. None in the least.

Q. Did you observe whether the
prisoner cat any dumplings ? — A. I
did not; I had suspicion of arsenic ;
I made a search the next morning ;
I found a brown dish or a pan that
the dumplings had been mixed in ;
there appeared to be the leavings of

CASE OF EUZA FENNING.

the dumplings in it ; I put some water
into tlie pan, and stirred it up with a
spoon, with a view to form' a liquid of
the whole. Upon the pan being set
down for half a minute, and my taking
it up slowly, in a slanting direction, I
discovered a white powder at the bot-
tom ; I showed it to several persons in
the house ; I kept it in my custody, and
showed it to Mr. Marshall, when he
came ; no person had access to it.

Q. Had you any arsenic? — A. Yes:
I kept it in a drawer in the office ; any
person might have access to it.

Q. Do you happen to know whether
the prisoner can read ? — A. I believe
she can read and write.

Q. (To Mrs. Turner.) Is that so ?—
A. She can read and write very well.

Q. (To Mr. Turner.) Was that drawer
locked or orn n ? - A It always re-
inaioed open.

Q. Who lit the fire in that office, do
you know ? — A'. It was the prisoner's
duty to do so ; she might properly re-
sort to that drawer for paper to light
her fire. I saw the paper of arsenic in
that drawer on the 7th of March, but
never after that time ; I heard of its
being missed about a fortnight before
the 21st of March. I observed that
the knives and forks we had to eat the
dumplings with were black ; there was
no vinegar at all in the sauce. I have
two of them in my pocket to show.
(Witness produced two of the knives.)
On the next day I asked the prisoner
how she came to introduce any ingre-
dients into the dumplings that were so
prejudicial to us. She replied that it
was not in the dumplings, but that it
was in the milk that Sarah Peer brought
in. 1 had several discourses with her
on that day upon this subject ; during
the whole of which, she persisted that
it was the milk, as before described.
That milk had been used for the sauce
only : the prisoner made the dumplings
with the refuse of the milk that had
been left at breakfast. I asked the pri-
soner if any person but herself had
mixed or had anything to do with the
dumplings ; she expressly said, no.

Mr. Alley. Q. In the conversation
you had with the prisoner, did you tell
her that you had missed the poison? —
A. I did not.

Roger Gadsden sworn. — I am an ap-
prentice to Mr. Turner. Q, Do you re-
member seeing in the office a paper with
" arsenic, deadly poison," written upon
it ? — A. I do, sir : the last day I saw
it was on Tuesday, the 7th of March.
I missed it in a day or two afterwards ;
I mentioned in the office that I had
missed it. On Tuesday, the 2l3t of
March, I went into the kitchen between
three and four in the afternoon ; I had
dined at two ; I observed there a plate
on the table with a dumpling and a
half; I took a knife and fork up, and
was going to cut it to eat it ; the pri-
soner exclaimed, " Gadsden, do not eat
that, — it is cold and heavy, it will do
you no good." I ate a piece about as
big as a walnut ; there was a small
quantity of sauce in the boat ; I put a
bit of bread in it, sopped it up, and
eat it. I was taken ill about ten mi-
nutes afterwards, but not so ill as to
vomit. In consequence of the distress
the family were in, I was sent off to
Mrs. Turner, the mother ; I was very
sick going and coming back ; I thought
I should die.

Q. Who made the fire in the office ?
— A. The prisoner ; nobody could get
into the office until I did ; any person
might go into the office in the day ; at
night it was locked ; loose paper was
kept in the drawer where the arsenic
was kept.

Margaret Turner sworn. — Upon this
melancholy occasion I was sent for ;
when I arrived, I found my husband,
son, and daughter, extremely ill, and
soon after I came the prisoner was
sick and vomiting ; I exclaimed, " Oh
these devilish dumplings," supposing
they had done the mischief; she said,
" Not the dumplings, but the milk,
ma'am ;" I asked her what milk she
meant ; she said the halfpenny-worth
of milk that Sally had fetched to make
the sauce.

Q. Did she say who had made the
sauce ? — A. Yes : my daughter. I
said that cannot be, — it could not be
the sauce ; she said, — " Yes : Gadsden
had but a very little bit of the dump-
ling, not bigger than a nut ; but he had
licked up three parts of a boat of sauce
with a bit of bread, and had been ill in
consequence."

CASE OF ELIZA FENNING.

Q. (To Mrs. Turner.) Was any of
the sauce made with the milk that
Sarah fetched?— A. It was ; I mixed
it, and left it for Eliza to make.

Robert Cregson Turner sworn. — Q.
Did you partake of the dumplings 1 —
A. Yes; I did.

Q. Did you eat any of the sauce ? —
A. None whatever. I was taken ill
soon after dinner ; I was extremely
sick, exactly as my father and wife
were.

Sarah Peer sivorn. — Q. Do you re-
member the circumstance of warning
being given to the prisoner, some time
after she came ?— A. I do, sir : after
that I heard her say she should not
like Mr. and Mrs. Robert Turner.

Q. On the morning of the 21st of
March, did you go for any milk?— A.
Yes ; that was after two, after I had
had my dinner ; I eat beef-steak pie for
my dinner; I never eat any of the
dumplings ; the same flour was used
for.the crust of the pie as for the dump-
lings.

Q. Had you any concern whatever
in making the dough for the dumplings ?
— A. No, sir; nor the sauce; I was
not in the kitchen when the dough was
made; I had permission of my mistress
, to go out that afternoon ; when I had
taken the dumplings up I went di-
rectly.

William Thisselton sivorn.— 1 took
the prisoner into custody on the 23d of
March. I asked her whether she sus-
pected there was anything in the flour.
She said, she had made a beef-steak
pie that day with the same flour she
had used for the dumplings ; she said she
thought it was in the yeast, — she saw
a red sediment at the bottom of the
yeast after she had used it.

Mr. Marshall, the surgeon, deposed to
the fact of arsenic having been mixed
in the dough.

The prisoner then delivered the fol-
lowing defence ;— My lord, I am truly
innocent of all the charge, as God is my
witness ; I am innocent, indeed I am ;
I liked my place, I was very comfort-
able : as to my master saying I did not
assist him, I was too ill. I had no
concern with the drawer at all ; when
I wanted a piece of paper, I always
asked for it.

Court. (To Roger Gadsden.) You
say the prisoner used to light the office
fire? — A. She used. I and my fellow
apprentice have seen her go to that
drawer many times.

'She prisoner called four witnesses,
who gave her a good character.

The Recorder having summed up the
evidence, the jury returned a verdict of
-Guilty.

THE EXECUTION.

On Wednesday, July 26th, Eliza
Penning was executed, pursuant to her
sentence, before the debtors' door, at
Newgate. The morning was wet,
gloomy, and disagreeable ; but the un-
favourable state of the weather did not
prevent the accumulation of an im*
mense crowd at an early hour.

She was neatly dressed in a white
muslin gown, a handsome worked cap,
and laced boots.

A few minutes before she ascended
the scaffold, the Rev. Mr. Cotton, the
ordinary of Newgate, asked her whe-
ther she had any communication to
make ; she paused for a moment, and
then said, with firmness and strong em-
phasis, " Before the just and Almighty
God, and by the faith of the holy sa-
crament I have taken, I am innocent
of the oifence with which I am charg-
ed." She afterwards said, in an indis-
tinct tone of voice, what seemed to the
by-standers to be, — " That the truth of
the business would be disclosed in the
course of the day." The Rev. Mr.
Cotton, anxious to learn, precisely,
what she uttered, requested her to re-
peat her words. She then said, — *' I
am innocent, and I hope, in God, the
truth may be disclosed in the course of
the day."

About a quarter before eight o'clock
she ascended the platform with the
same uniform firmness she had main-
tained throughout. She conducted
herself with great propriety, and seem-
ed perfectly resigned to her fate. On
being asked in this sad and awful mo-
ment to confess her crime, she unhe-
sitatingly declared, as she had done
throughout her confinement, in the
most solemn manner, her perfect inno-
cence. She also expressed her perfect

CASE OF ELIZA FENNIN,G.

resignation, and her confidence of en-
tering the kingdom of Heaven. This
she repeated while the executioner was
preparing for the final event. The ne-
cessary preparations being made, at
about tvFenfy minutes before nine the
signal was given that all was ready,
and she was launched into eternity, 'i'he
last words of Eliza Penning, on being
addressed' by her religious attendant,
were — " I knov«' ray situation, and may
I never enter the kingdom of Heaven,
to which I feel confident I am going, if
I am not innocent."'

The Recorder, we understand, held
a consultation with the Lord Chancel-
lor and the Secretary for the Home De-
partment, on Tuesday, on the subject,
in consequence of a representation
from some gentlemen who had investi-
gated the case in Newgate ; but the
evidence exhibited on the trial was
deemed too conclusive to admit of
mercy being extended to her.

Within the last few weeks, a para-
graph has appeared in many of the
newspapers, staling that the son of Mr.
Turner had died lately in a hospital,
after confessing that he had mixed the
poison in the food prepared by Eliza
Penning, and was consequently guilty
of the offence for which she suifered.
Upon this statement, the Examiner
newspaper of June 14, 1829, remarks —
" We saw the paragraph alluded to,
but know not whether its statement be
correct. We think it very likely,
because this we do know, that a son of
the prosecutor. Turner, did on one
occasion betray symptoms of insanity
in the ;shop of Messrs. Corbyn, Hol-
born, where he went to purchase arse-
nic, and was refused by a gentleman
of the establishment. This was not
long previous to the affair of the al-
leged attempt to poison by Eliza
Penning ; and when the unfortunate
girl was so strangely found guilty by
the jury, the gentleman alluded to
thought it his duty to submit Mr. Tur-
ner's situation and conduct to the con-
sideration of the Recorder Silvester.
That man, however, had made up his
mind, and nothing could move him.
We took considerable pains at the

time to obtain all the 'testimony ad-
duced, and our firm conviction was,
that there was not sufficient evidence
to convict. Arsenic was kept in the
house, and some of it certainly found
its way into the flour that Eliza Pen-
ning had made into a pudding. Of
this she partook, as well as Mrs. Tur-
ner and the children, and was ex-
tremely ill in consequence. She had
occasionally quarrelled with her mis-
tress upon common matters, but there
appeared no cause for anything like a
feeling of revenge, such as so deadly
an attempt as that to poison a whole
family would indicate."

Letters written by Eliza Fenning after
her Trial.

To Lord SidmoiUh.
Newgate, 27th June, 1815.
My Lord, — With deference 1 most
humlDly beg leave to address your
lordship ; at the same time, am en-
tirely at a loss how I dare venture
such a presumption ; but your lord-
ship's well-known goodness and mercy,
which has repeatedly been extended
to many misej.'able creatures under ca-
lamities like myself, encourages me,
with all submission, to state my real
situation to your lordship. I most
humbly beg leave to inform your
lordship, that I am tinder the awful
sentence of death, on suspicion of
poisoning IMr. Turner's family, which
heinous crime I never was guilty of,
I most solemnly declare to a just God,
whom I must meet, and my blessed
Redeemer, at the great and grand
tribunal, when the seciets of all hearts
will be known. Innocence induces
me to solicit a fuller examination. I
am the only child of ten, and to be
taken off for such an ignominious crime
strikes me and my dear parents with
horror. I, therefore, most humbly beg
leave to solicit your lordship's merciful
interference in my behalf to spare my
life, and my parents, with me, will be
ever bound to pray for you.
I remain.
With due submission,
Your poor, but innocent servant,
Eliza Penning.

8

CASE OF ELIZA PENNING,

To Mr. Turner, her Master.

Honoured Sir,— With due submis-
sion I most earnestly entreat of you to
sign my petition, to save my life,
which is forfeited for what I am not
guilty of. Honoured sir, I do here
most solemnly declare I never meant
to injure you or any of your family;
picture to yourself the distressed mind
of my dear parents, to see their only
child suffer such an ignominious death ;
but innocent lam. May the blessed God
give my ever dear parents strength to
bear the dreadful affliction to see their
only child suffer; but may you never
feel the pangs of a broken heart, which
your unfortunate servant endures. —
Prayers for you and your family.

Eliza Penning.

P.S. If your goodness will comply
with my request, I shall be bound to
pray for you.

It appears that Mr. Turner did not
sign the petition.

To her Parents.

Felons'' Side, Newgate,
July 21, 1815.

' Dear and affectionate Parents,

With heart-rending sighs and
tears, I, for the last and ever last time,
write these solemn lines to you, hoping
and trusting the Almighty will give you
strength and fortitude to bear the dis-
tressing, awful, and dreadful scene
that is about to take place. Believe
me, cruel and pitiable is my unfortunate
and aflfecting situation, but God's will
be done, and with humble resignation
I must bear my untimely fate. But
what a pleasing consolation within this
tortured breast to suffer innocently.
Dear parents I do solemnly declare,
was I never to enter the heavenly man-
sion of heavenly rest,— I am murdered,
— dear father and mother, believe I am

your only child that speak the senti-
ments of a broken heart ; do not let me
distress your breaking hearts. I wish
to comfort you, dearest of parents : be
happy, pray take comfort, let me en-
treat of you to be reconciled, and I
will be happy in heaven with my dear
sisters and brothers, and meet you bye
and bye. Pray read the blessed Bible
and turn your hearts, and live religious
and holy lives, and there we shall be
where sorrow and trouble will be no
more. I grieve more to think I had an
opportunity once and did not make use
of it, yet there is time to pray to my
Heavenly Father to forgive me all my
sins and offences in my life past. It is
only the passage of death that I have to
go through, and I hope and trust in
God that will soon be over. Oh, my
blessed and beloved parents,think what
are my present distressing feelings, to
part from you who gave me my being,
and nourished me at that breast, and
was my sole comfort," and nursed me
in helpless and infant years, and
was always a direction to me in the
sacred path of virtue, which I have
strictly kept; it will be one sin less
to answer for, as a spotless frame
will be acceptable in the eyes of God ;
I mention this as I let you know I
have not done amiss. — Oh, dear pa-
rents, what an affecting scene to part
from you, which must be endured by
the laws of justice, but justice has not
been shown at the bar. Man judges
man, but God will judge us at the last,
who knows the secrets of all hearts,
and they who swore my life away will
never enter with me into rest. God
bless you both, and may you live happy.
Adieu, from your injured and unhappy
child. Keep these few lines in remem-
brance of me, as this is all the comfort
I can afford with my imperfect prayers.
Adieu, dear parents, — God bless you
both. Eliza Penning.

Aged 21 Years.

THE END.

G.H. Davidson, Printer, Ireland Yard, Doctors' Commons.

COUNTWAY LIBRARY OF MEDICINE

HV

E3 F36
1829

RARE BOOKS DEPARTMENT