REPORT Of ROYAL COMMISSION APPOINTED TO ENQUIRE INTO CERTAIN CHARGES MADE BY THOMAS BUTLER, LATE KEEPER OF THE NELSON LUNATIC ASYLUM.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 270, 14 November 1877, Page 2

REPORT Of ROYAL COMMISSION APPOINTED TO ENQUIRE INTO CERTAIN CHARGES MADE BY THOMAS BUTLER, LATE KEEPER OF THE NELSON LUNATIC ASYLUM.

. [The following report has been printed by order of the House of Representatives.] _ To his Excellency the Most Noble { the i_&_qaia : o_ , NormanbYj .P.aG.C.M.G., Governor bf New Zealand: " v j May it.please your Excellency, — i Upon the receipt of your Excellency's Commission bearing date the 28th day of* August' last, and in exercise of tbe powers which your Excellency was pleased to confer upon us thereby, we gave notice to! all j*__^i e3 interested, and we fixed the 6th day of September, 187.7,* at ll' .o'clock in' the forenoon as the day an-ibour, and the Nelson :Luaatic Asyliim as the place tor holding our enquiry. We have now the honor to submit the following report upon which we hape agreed after maturely considering the evidence. ; That Mr Butler, the late keeper of the .Asylum, D?. Boor .the medical officer, and Mrs Kenny the matron, attended at the time and place appointed. That Mr Butler expressed a wish to be represented by counsel; and a similar privilege being thereupon claimed by the medical officer and matron, we decided to allow all parties to be so represented. That we adjourned to the following day at i the Resident Magistrate's Office, when Mr j, Butler attended with his solicitor Mr Bunny, ' and the medical officer and the matron were present with their solicitor Mr Pitt.

That we have examined 15 witnesses and admitted certain documentary and otber proof. The evidence taken and the exhibits are forwarded herewith.

That the enquiry lasted several days and we have endeavored to make it as thorough and searching as possible. That it is proved that the charge " that the matron had on two occasions procured her own miscarriage " .3 destitute of truth, and there never was any reason to justify Mr Butler in suspecting anything of the sort. That the charge ■' that the medical: officer and the matron had been guilty of; improper familiarities" is a wilful aud maliciousifalsehood.

That the petitioner, Mr Butler, had whilst keeper of the Asylum on one occasion attempted improper familiarities with the matron, which were promptly resented. That, on another occasion, Mr Butler, whilst keeper of the Asylum, is proved, partly by his own admission, to have indecently assaulted the matron.

That the matron thereupon threatened to report him, and only desisted on receiving an apology, and promises of future good behaviour.

That foiled in his attempt upon the matron, and actuated, in our opinion," by a spirit of jealousy and revenge, and also by a desire to get the matron's situation for his own granddaughter, Mr Butler persecuted the matron with vague threats of bringing disgraceful charges against her, and of dismissal, unless she resigned.

That the matron refused to resign, declaring "she had done nothing to be ashamed of."

That we forwarded the bottle marked A to Dr Hector in order that the contents might be properly analysed, and Mr Skey's evidence fully sustains Dr Boor's statement, and the opinion of Dr Bligh, that it would be found to be ''belladonna liniment," without the slightest trace of " ergot." That we do not attach the slightest importance to the question of whether ergot was beihg taken by the matron or not, because it is proved by the medical evidence that it would have no effect under the circumstances in bringing about what Mr Butler Charges, and that it' would have been a very suitable and proper medicine for her to have taken in her then state of health. That as a matter of fact the matron was not taking ergot That had! ergot been found, in the belladonna liniment ifc would simply have been evidence that Mr Butler or Mr Tatton had put it there. *,-•

That bottle. A. was when fi_3t produced at once recognised by Mr .Butler, and admitted by him to contain part of the fluid be had removed from the matron's room, ahd some of the same liquid he had given Tatton to analyse. After, however, hearing the medical testimony, Mr Butler expressed a wish to qualify his former statement by stating that " the liquid was the same unless it had been tampered with by the Provincial Executive." That Mr Tatton was pressed on his first and second examinations to produce the bottle in which the liquid given him by Mr Butler had been contained, but he '; made unsatisfactory excuses. At last, on the third day he came with the bottle marked T, which he' swore positively was the bottle given him by Mr Butler in September, 1876, and the drop of liquid still left in the bottle was some of the same as was in it then. The moment Mr Tatton produced this bottle, we and others remarked a very strong smell of ether. Yet Mr Tatton persisted that this bottle'had been lying for a year unsealed aud badly corked in one of his cupboards. We believe that Mir Tatton had himself since the commencement of our enquiries fabricated this piece of evidence. Mr Butler refused to identify this bottle. :

That we have also had the contents of bottle 0 examined by Mr Skey. This is the bottle from .which the liquid given to the Provincial Government and Mr Tatton was originally taken. Its contents are proved to be the same as those of bottle A. Mr Skey' has also examined bottle T— the coutents are different to bottles A and o— confirming our opinion that Mr Tatton made up this piece; of evidence for the occasion.

Mr Tatton made such evident misstatements in other parts of his evidence, that we think him a person quite Unwa. thy of belief. That Mr Butler in his letter marked N, to which we direct special attention,', retracted and apologised for all his charges. . This •letter he subsequently withdrew. The only rea3(?p£or ijts Wftljdrawal being apparently tl*tat it njignt imupe hfc-i claim to compensation, . ' . • '•

That the evidence of Mr Butler is proved by comparing his evidence with his letters to be generally untrustworthy, and in some respects deliberately false. That on his dismissal Mr Butler received from the Provincial Government six months' pay a& compensation in lieu of notice.

That the said Thomas Butler was not " unwarrantably and unjustifiably dismissed!,", but was rightly and properly removed for knowingly making scandalously false charges and for the gross immorality; of which he is proved, partly by his own admission,' to have been guilty. ; v . , - That with, .egaud to the : allegations in his 3 " petition " that certain goods are detained fry the Government," we have no proof of this, but the law affords Mr Butler a simple and easy mode of obtaining his chattels from anyone unlawfully detaining them. Thai we are firmly of opinion that the charges made by Mr Butler are completely disproved, that the medical officer and the matron are fully exculpated, and there is not a vestige of an imputation resting upon their fair fame. We further desire to express our regret that persons of unblemished repute should have been so wantonly exposed to pain and annoyance. Given under our hands and sealed with . our seals at Wellington this 20th day of September, 1877. i ; : : (Signed) -Fred*. W; A; Skae, L.S. - ....... .v.*... ■ , Low*_her'Bkoa_v__.S.' -