A complete report of the trial of Dr. E. W. Pritchard, for the alleged poisoning of his wife and mother-in-law. Reprinted, by special permission, from the 'Scotsman' / Carefully revised by an eminent lawyer.
- Eminent lawyer
- Date:
- 1865
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: A complete report of the trial of Dr. E. W. Pritchard, for the alleged poisoning of his wife and mother-in-law. Reprinted, by special permission, from the 'Scotsman' / Carefully revised by an eminent lawyer. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.
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![was brouglit in, still less is it proved that the tapioca was in his hands. It was left on the table for some time, Mary M'Leod could not say for what time—“not so much as an hour;” hut more precise than that she could not be. And, therefore, there is certainly no direct contact between the prisoner and this parcel of tapioca, which undoubtedly was poisoned, and which produced the symptoms upon Mrs Taylor that might have been expected from the action of the antimony which was in it. This was upon the 13th, and upon the 16th there was a change of servants. Catherine Lattimer went away, and Mary Patterson came in her place, and from that time onwards you have a description by Mary Patterson of what she saw of the illness of Mrs Pritchard, the details of which, I think, I may dispense with reading, because they correspond with what has been already brought under your notice in the evidence of Catherine Lattimer; and so far as I have read it, of Mary M‘Leod. But I in the meantime abstain, for reasons which even now may be apparent to you, from referring much to the evidence of Mary M'Leod. From the 13th to the 25th of February—that is a period of twelve days—there is no occurrence of any very remarkable kind to which I think it necessary to call special attention. I therefore now go on to the period which is marked by the death of Mrs Taylor. She was taken ill, as you are aware, upon the evening of the 24th ; and here we have the evidence of Mary Patterson, a very reliable and good witness, according to my estimate of her, but you will judge for yourself how far that opinion is justified by what you saw. [His Lordship here read from the evidence of Mary Patterson as to the illness of Mrs Pritchard on the 24th.] Now, in like manner, Mary M'Leod gave her account of the matter. [His Lordship read Mary M‘Leod’s evidence on this point.] Then Mrs Taylor’s body was removed. You will recollect that Jessie Nabb, the woman that was sent for, as Mary Patterson tells us, for the purpose of dressing and stretching the body of Mrs Taylor, gave almost the same account as she does of what took place between them and the prisoner when he came into the room after Mrs Taylor’s death, and after the finding of the bottle. And to that scene I beg now to recall your attention, as it is given by Mary Patterson. She says—“ When the bottle was found he expressed great sur- prise that she should have taken so much of its contents within so short a time.” Now he was quite aware, as you will see from the evidence, that the old lady was in the habit of taking a great quantity ; and you will consider whether the surprise was real or feigned. That is but a very small point, how- ever, in reference to this matter. His expression in regard to it seemed to me to be much more strong. He expressed surprise at her having sent “ a girl like that for it ”—that is to say, sent Mary M'Leod—to the apothecary for a bottle of Batley’s Solution. I cannot see that there is anything so very startling in that. Did he mean to suggest that in consequence of such a messenger being sent for it, there might be some mistake as to the contents of the bottle ? Why, what was it ? “ To send a girl like that for it ”—what was the harm of sending the girl—an intelligent servant girl ? What was wanted was Batley’s Solution, because it was what Mrs Taylor wanted—what she was accustomed to take. But still he thought that was a very serious matter. And he thought, further, that it was one of those things that it would not do to have spoken of as having occurred in his house—a man of his profession. You will consider what is the true beaiing and import of all these statements of the prisoner. He then says further to these girls that Dr Paterson, when he had been there before Mrs Taylor’s death, had pronounced that she was paralysed upon the left side. That is not so. Dr Paterson had never said that. But is it not strange that he](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b28407258_0135.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
