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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![lobby, and took him into the consulting-room, and told him that his mother-in- law, while writing a letter, had taken suddenly ill, and fallen off her chair, and that she had been carried upstairs. Now, the moment this medical man comes into the house, his mind is prepared by the prisoner for seeing a case of sudden death from apoplexy or some other cause. But the whole of this story, as you know, of the falling off her chair and being carried upstairs, is an absolute fabrication, because we have it clear upon the evidence of others that she was per- fectly well until she went upstairs, and that she walked upstairs at nine o’clock, and that it was in her daughter’s bed-room she was taken ill. [His Lordship read Dr Paterson’s evidence with respect to his asking Dr Pritchard whether he could assign any reason for the illness. Dr Pritchard said his mother-in-law and Mrs Pritchard had been drinking bitter beer for supper, and were immediately taken sick and vomiting. Dr Paterson said there must be some other cause than that, and asked him as to the old lady’s previous health and social habits, when Dr Pritchard, by insinuation, gave him to understand that she was in the habit of drinking spirits occasionally. He told him also that his wife had been ill a long time of gastric fever, and that some days previously he had telegraphed for her mother to come and attend her.] I will not describe to you the evidence which he gives as to the appearance of Sirs Taylor, for we have already concluded that part of the case which relates to her death ; but with regard to Mrs Pritchard’s appearance on that occasion, I am particularly anxious that you should attend to this. Dr Paterson stated that, in the bed- room, he was very much struck with the appearance of Mrs Pritchard. She seemed exceedingly weak and excited. Her features were sharp and thin, and a hectic flush was on her cheek. Voice very weak, particularly like the voice of a person approaching the collapsed stage of cholera. The expression of her face was semi-imbecile. He supposed at first this was produced by recent gastric fever, of which he had been told by the prisoner, but he (Dr Paterson) could not banish the conviction that she was under the depressing influence of antimony. Now, that is all that he says as to the impression he received with regard to Mi’s Pritchard, on the first occasion of his visit on 24th February. But then he visits her again on the 2d March by the prisoner’s desire, and I shall read you his descrip- tion of that visit. [His Lordship read extracts, showing that Dr Paterson’s conviction that Mrs Pritchard was suffering from the action of antimony had been confirmed by his subsequent visits to her, and continued]—These were the first marked events in the interval between the death of Mi’s Taylor and Mrs Pritchard. There are other two very important circumstances wliich also naturally take their place in this interval—^the one is the matter of the cheese, and the other is the matter of the egg-flip. [His Lordship read the evidence of Mary Patterson and Mary Mfijeod, giving the story of the bit of cheese, and after concluding the evidence of Mary M‘Leod, he said]—That is not a satisfactoiy piece of evidence, you will see, gentlemen, from the variations that occur in the course of it; but it is obviously the same time that is spoken to by the witness, Maiy Patterson, because that is the night that they both speak of as the night that Mrs Pritchard had the cheese for herself. Now, with regard again to the egg-flip, Mary Patterson gives this account, and this episode of the egg-flip occurs just the next day, the 15th. [His Lordship here read Mary Patterson’s evidence relating to the egg- flip, and proceeded]—Now Mary M‘Leod’s evidence confirms this to this extent, that when Mary Patterson tasted the egg-flip she did say “ it had a bad taste,” or something to that effect. Also when Mary M'Leod came down at four o’clock she told her how ill she had been. The egg-flip was carried upstairs by](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b28407258_0138.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
