MAORILAND CAUSES CELEBRES.

NZ Truth, Issue 70, 20 October 1906, Page 7

MAORILAND CAUSES CELEBRES.

The first criminal trial of any note m the South Island of New Zealand was that of CAPTAIN WILLIAM ANDREW JARVEY, for the murder of his wife by strychninepoisoning. The case presented many difficult features. The wife had been dead and buried some three months before a suspicion of foul play arose. The whole of New Zealand m 1865 did not contain an analyst who could be entrusted with the analysis of the contents of the stomach, if we may judge from the fact that the contents were forwarded to the Victorian Government Analyst, Dr. John Macadam, for treatment. A motive was, at first, wanted, but vague hints as to a woman m a "large bonnet and cloak" took shape m the course of the trial, and one Margaret Little was brought forward for identification. Captain Jarvey and his wife and family lived, m 1862, at Huon, Tasmania, but m the April of 1864 he brought his people to Dunedin, where they lived m Cumberland-street, subsequently removing to the suburb of Cavefaham, a picture of whioh, at tho time of the murder, is here given. The 7 captain' was master of the steamer Titania," owned by Mr. 0. V. Robinson, wha lived at Bell 3BQII, and who bought the steamer iin Tasmania a : couple of years previously. 'Jffv. ; Robinson was not a seafaring man, he being an auctioneer, i . Captain Jarvey, his, wife, and. five children, lived at Caversham,! to the out side world, m perfect harinofay. . ". Th,etjß was some evidence afterwards of trouble m the family over this woman m the "large bonnet and cloak," and the ■ eldest daughter gave evidence that on more than one occasion her father I "TOOK LIBERTIES WITH HER." To what extent, howerer, was not disclosed. Two of the children died after the family had settled m New Zealand, and it was broadly hinted that they had died from the effects of poisoning. But if Miss Little were the motive for getting rid of the wife, she could scarcely be the motive for getting rid of the two children. Nothing, however, came of the suspicion. On the night of September 25, i 564, .. the whole family sat down to tea. The ./wife, complained of the bitterness of the beverage, and point blank charged her. husband with being a poisoner. She was carried Upstairs, put to bed, and died that night; She had had occasional fits, and as she was FAR ADVANCED IN PREGNANCY,,, the doctor — good, easy man — after , a very superficial examination) gave a certificate, that she had sucoumbed m a fit. 'There. was no post mortem examination, no coronial inquiry, and Mrs. Jarvey was interred ih the usual manner, m the Church of England ! section of the South Dunedin cemetery. ! * * ♦ ; When the woman was nearly three months dead — that is, m the month of December— the eldest daughter, , . ELIZABETH ANN JARVEY/ ;.;;•.: talked about the incidents at the tea-table, the woman with the large bonnet, and cloak, and other matters, which set the neighbors ' thinking, and made the police active. The body was exhumed m the presence of Captain Jarvey, but, strange to saj, the sexton brought up the wrong coffin, and it was Captain Jarvey who pointed out the error. The local surgeons made a post mortem examination, as far as they could; the stomach, liver, and other parts were placed ih new jars, sealed, and then placed m tin cases, which were soldered' up m the presence of . the police and medical authorities. The cases were then entrusted to the care of a constable, with the Hibernian name of Maloney, who conveyed them to Melbourne, keeping them under his sleeping bunk on the steamer, and never losing sight cf them until he handed the tin cases over to Dr. Macadam at his laboratory on Eastern Hill, and at the doctor's request opened them. Maloney had seen the material portions placed m the jars, saw them sealed up, and then soldered m the tin cases, and was able to swear that the contents handed by him to the analyst were those obtained from the Dunedin surgeons. * * •''... ... . The results of Dr. Macadam's analysie brought Captain Jarvey to the bar of the Supreme Court at Dunedin, on Wednesday, March 15, 1865, the specific charge - being the wilful murder of his wife CATHERINE JANE HARVEY with malice aforethought, on September 26, 1864, at Caversham, near Dunedin, and by poison. • « * Mr. Justice Chapman presided; and for the Crown there appeared, the usual prosecutor, Mr. Joseph Howorth, Mr. James Prendergast (who became Chief Justice m 1875), and Mr. H. Howorth. For the accused, Captain Jarvey, appeared Mr. James Smith, who had been m large practice m Melbourne as a solicitor, principal partner m the firm of Smith and Willan. Mr. Smith was a Creole, a very kindly man, clever m his profession, WITH A VERY PRETTY WIPE, w"ho was run after a good deal by certain "poodles" m Melbourne society m the early sixties, notably, an army captain, who married afterwards a "pile of Melbourne money," and who now, or until very recently, held general's rank m the British Army. Mr. Smith lived at South Yarra, but soon after the discovery of gold m Otago he sold off his household goods, and tuck- , ing his pretty wife under his arm, left for Dunedin, where he immediately took a first place at the Bar, *. ' « * The whole weight of the defence fell on Mr. Smith's shoulders. On the eight days over which the trial extended the Court was densely crowded with an anxious and excited gathering. # * ♦ The jury was composed of the following :— John Daniels, of Albury-street, auctioneer, who was chosen foreman; James Hawkins, of Maitl&nd-sfcreet, etoreman ; Samuel ,Scblessinger, surgeon, of George-street; William Henny, of Russell-street, carpenter; George Hawkins, of Cambray-lane, carpenter; George Hill, of Herriott Row. storeman; Robert Hagan, of George-street, shoemaker; Francis W. Falconer, of George-street, saddler; Donald Henderson, of Great Kingstreot, ironmonger; Joseph Haig, of Georgestreet, bootcloser; Elisha Stokes, of Georgestreet, tailor; and Robert Stevenson, of King-street, storekeeper. Only one juror was challenged, James Hare, of Maitlandstreet, gardener, who was told to "stand aside" by the Crown. # * * The Crown Prosecutor stated <thu case, and availed himself of the usual privileges of a CROWN ADVOCATE to put various theories before the jury. Especially was he anxious to get m his theory I about the woman m the "large hat and ' cloak," but Mr. Smith— or Little Smith— as we called him m Melbourne m the fiftieswas alert nnd took every care that nothing to the prejudice of his client should get m, unless it was strictly evidence, and m most of his objections, the Judge was with him. * * * It was not the first time that MR. JUSTICE CHAPMAN and Mr. James Smith had met. Mr. Cbap-

CAPTAIN JARVEY. - ■»■ Wife Murder by Poison. - ■■ ♦ — — • THE FIRST DUNEDIN EXECUTION.

(BY "MARK MEDDLE.")

man had a varied and versatile career. A native of Kennington, born m 1803, his first occupation was that of a clerk m a bank; then he became clerk to a bill-broker. At 20 years of age he went to Canada, and entered into commercial life m Quebec Soon afterwards he started a newspaper m Montreal, the first "daily" m Canada. He returned to England m 1835 aa a delegate from Canada m certain political matters. While m England- he contributed to magazines and newspapers, and wrote special articles for the "Encyclopaedia Brjtannica." He joined the , Wakefields m their colonisation projects,, and m 1843 came to Wellington as a Judge of the Supreme Court. In 1852 he became Colonial Secretary m Van Diemen's Land, but lost his office because he could not fall m with Governor Denison's views on transportation. Denison was for, Chapman against,' the IMPORTATION OF CRIMINALS. He returned to .England, and was offered a West .Indian Goj-eirnorship, which was refused;-; ' H.o . theriricaiaii^to Victoria (1855), and eritered-the Legislature m the following year. In March, 1857/ j&e became AttorneyGeneral m the first O'Bhannassy Government, and while m office prosecuted the amrderers of /Tom Price, the InspectorGeneral of Penal Establishments. Mr. Chapman was- again Attorney-General m 1858, and waß law lectaidr at the University. .In 1862-63 he was an Acting Judge of j the. Supreme Court, while Sir Redmond .Barry was on leave m Europe. He was the first .to introduce and carry m any Legislature a bill for the purpose of establishing the ballot system m Parliamentary elections. In 1864 he was reappointed a Supreme Court Judge m New Zealand. While m Melbourne he had a large practice, and doubtless met Mr. Smith often. * • * . The Crown called A CLOUD OF WITNESSES, some of whom Mr. Justice Chapman Baid could have been dispensed with, had Dr. Macadam been called earlier. The first witness was the eldest daughter of the accused, wtio'gave m detail the particulars of the tea on. the 26th September, and certain exclamations made by her mother, to which the -father did not reply. The girl swore that after the mother complained of pains after the, tea, the father gave brandy, which made her worse. Dr. Hardy and Dr. Worrall gave evidence as to the appearance of the corpse, but having no idea of poison. Mrs. Agnes Lumb, wife of a shipping agent resident at Cavereham, and Sarah Sly, wife of James Sly, a storekeeper at the same place, also gave evidence of the appearance of the body after death. J. E. Coyle, a surveyor, produced plans of the wooden house at Caversham where the Jarveya livedi Dr. Worrall (of Dublin and New York) and' Dr. Hardy gave evidence of irritation on the part of Jarvey when his wife had died, and now declared that his irritation might have been from fear of the discovery of "something." : ..... * * . '• Evidence was given that Jarvey had ADVERTISED FOR A HOUSEKEEPER, that Miss Little answered the advertisement and got the situation, and the daughter gave evidence that her father went into Miss Little's room. ' This is the woman "of the large bonnet and cloak" theory. Several witnesses proved to seeing Jarvey and Miss Little together prior to the acceptance of the billet as housekeeper and during the lifetime of Mrs. Jarvey. Miss Little was housekeeper at the time of the trial. * * * ' ' Perhaps the most damaging witnsss was Bernard Isaacs, a partner m the firm of Luke and Co., chemists, Prince-street, Dunedin> who said that Captain Jarvey was a customer of his firm. That on the 25tl September— the day previous to Mrs. Jar vey's death—he had called m at th© shop an* got two quinine powders for his wife, j cough mixture for himself, and some crude opium. The captain said that his stcamei was infested with rats, and he wished to get rid of them; he could not smoke tiaem out, as "smoking" dictated the insurance policy. He asked for some strychnine, and Isaacs gave him a drachm of . corrosive sublimate mixed: with half a drachm of strychnine. Tnejpowders, coUgh' mixture, and the opium were charged to Jarvey's account, . but he would not allow the strychnine concoction to be entered m the bock, and paid fcr it. But Isaacs noted the sale all the same. Then » clerk- named Henton from Youngman and Co., wholenalo druggists, proved that his firm had solo! strychnine to Isaacs. It was a wonder they did not bring the manufacturer to prove the sale to Youngman, but the Crown said that m such a case they had to be microscopic. Engineers, stewards, and other officers were called to prove that the "Tifcania" had rats, but they had not heard of any attempt on Jarvey's part to poison them, and the owner of the vessel* deposed that Jarvey had never .included the cost of the poison m his accounts. ■ _ ■. John Macadam, M.D., analytical chemist for Victoria, and lecturer on chemistry at the Melbourne University, gave his analysis of the jars brought him by Constable Maloney, and said he found strychnine. The doctor was subjected .to a lengthy' cross-examination by Mr. Smith, who appeared to have made himself acquainted with every case of poisoning "m the books" and with EVERY AUTHORITY ON POISONS. Dr. Macadam' ; also deposed that, having heard the evidence of Miss Jarvey as to the symptoms attending her mother's death, he was fully of. opinion that the cause of death was strychnine poisoning. The doctor explained that he had been assisted m his analysis .by his assistant John Drumraond Kirkland, a fully qualified man. * ' .» * While m Dunedin and during the trial Dr. Macadam lectured, and it came out that he had some conversation with Dr. Hector, Dr. Eccles, and Mr. Moss., That conversation Mr. Smith asked the doctor about. "Had he stated m the presence of these three gentlemen that if the present trial failed, he would dig up the . bodies of the two children and analyse them. Had he stated that if this trial proved abortive and he had to come up again, he would bring his assistant Mr. Kirkland, who was a thoroughly qualified man with him, to support his (the doctor's) case." Dr. Macadam denied that he spoke m this fashion, though there had been a conversation about the children, Mr. Kirkland, and another, analysis, * • # DR. JOHN MACADAM was a well-known figure m Melbourne ta political and scientific circles. He was honorary secretary to the Royal Society under whose auspices the Burke and Wills Exploration Expedition was sent to the Gulf of Carpentaria, and bore most of the odium attached to the "bungling" of the expedition. On the day when the bones of Burke and Wills were given public burial, Macadam walked as chief mourner behind the hearse. ' In the evening there was a big meeting m St. George Hall, at which I was present, when the work of the committee was reviewed. Sir Henry Barkler, the

Governor, was m the chair, and called Upon Dr. Macadam to give details of the committee's work* On presenting liimself Ilia, doctor was met with a storm of hiasea, hootings, and other manifestations of displeasure. He was frequently interrupted m the «burs 9of a long speech, bub btforV.lia had don©, his logic, his plain statement of fact, and the manner m which he 'handled the newspapers who were opposed t« him, the committee and the expedition generally, won over the audience, and fchose-wbo hooted and hissed him at the start, cheered him (o the echo at the finish. Dr. Macadam represented Castlemaine m the Legislative Assembly, and m 1861 was Posfemaster-Gene-rai iv the Government of Richard Hesler, that known as "Tho People's Ministry." Mr. Smith did not call any witnesses, but he addressed the jury. for six hours, and those who knew the quiet, reserved, little family and nisi prius solicitor m Melbourne were astonished at the masterly defence set up for Captain Jarvey. During his speech tho children of the prisoner, including tha baby (who had to be removed, as -he "crowed" too much at the court chandelier), were brought into court and seated near dock. Mr. Smith felt confident that a verdict of acquittal would be the result. "And, gentlemen, having brought m a verdict, of not gililty, as I think it will be your duty, you will return to your happy homes conscious that you have done your duty m tha face of strong public prejudice, and that you' have saved the father of these children from a felon's doom." Mr. Justice Chapman took eight hours and a half to charge the jury, which he did with care, and without the slightest appearance of bias. The jury, which during the trial had been housed at the Shamrock He* tel, were locked up for the night, and m the morning were discharged without a yerdiot. Captain Jarvey was again placed on trial. In the meantime death claimed Dr. Mao* adam, and Mr. Kirkland, who assisted at the analysis, was the chief witness for tha Crown. Even had Macadam lived he Would have brought Kirkland over to give evidence. On this trial Jarvey was found guilty and duly hanged, being, I believe, the first criminal executed m Dunedin. '