EXTRAORDINARY SUICIDE.
An inquiry has been held at Tottenham, respecting the death of Mr.' Gabriel Tregear, a civil engineer. The following letter, signed by him and his wife, was found after his death. From it will be gathered his statement as to the cause he had for committing suicide :— ! Fellow countrymen, — JVe,, have, drawn up the statement that you might know, why we havje agreed to die together, and the villainy .that drove
us to do it. We were married on the 6th of July v last j and--we met for the first time only a year ago. We slept together the first three months, and, nothing disturbed our happiness ; but then we toot the house in Bedford-terrace, and as we had only a very small income, to increase our means we let rooms. One of those lodgers was Mr.- Cowon, bandmaster and secretary to the London Irish 'Volunteers. In February, 'I received. a valentine, intimating that my wife tiad an adulterous intercourse with Mr. Cowen. J. gave Mr. Cowen notice, and ho removed to Mr. Rod's house next 'door,, giving out as his reason for putting up so near, that'he did it to show his contempt' for the' slander in question. I noticed that after this my wife's health failed, and four weeks ago I sent her down,to lodgings in a highly respectable place, three minutes' walk from my sister's 'at -Home-cottage, Tottenham. I received a letter from my sister, saying that she had discovered a letter written in slang termo to my wife, and she said I ought to put a" stop to 1 any , such clandestine correspondence. I suspected Cowen, and I called at Mr. Rod's, but Cowen was not in. I said to Rod I had got tho letter, but Rod repudiated the imputation on Cowen, and said that he suspected some one; that it was the same s person that sent the 'valentine, and ■ that, he would j pledge his honor that Cowon,' was 'not the man he suspected, whose ;name' lie 'could not give. ■■ He 7 said Cowen alwaye- spoke of my wife with respect 1 and esteem, and'as a father would of a- daughter, s But on Thursday, I received a letter, stopped by 3 my ordera.at the post-office, addressed to my wife, 3 at Tottenham, cautiqniiig her riot to leave her - letters' 1 about, as she was watched and one of them was found. The letter was signed " A Well^ i wisher;" but as Mr. Rod was the only one that I J had mentioned the affair to,* I knew at once that . the caution came from Rod's house. I had an interview with my wife, and she admitted the ? intrigue. She was my adored idol. I had only seen her first 12 months ago and I could not survive the blow. I had for her an undying love. i. She implored pardon, and I forgave her. I took laudanum. She called my sister, and I was forced , to take an emetic. Let me say that my wife was i only six months past 16 years of age when^ we married, and she was then pure as a babe. Now, ! I call on you, fellow-countrymen, to root out from : society' the man who infamously prostituted her to his' lust. He is 43 years of age, and is married, but is not living with luV wife. He committed a l-ape on my wife's . person, and then by threats compelled her to keep the dreadful secret, and so . made her subservient to him, and by threats frightened her into secresy. Her health was dragged down by the state of her mind. All you that have daughters, sisters, or wives, punish, tliis wretch. I cannot wish for life. .We cannot lire, and two young and shattered hearts we dedicate ourselves to deaths. [He. has letters which she wrote to him, but they were written to him because he made her do so by frightening her with the secret.] My love was so great that I never would spare any expense for my wife. I cannot now bear that she should be made an exhibition of to .punish that man. I hope you will all punish that diabolical wretch, who has crushed two young hearts in the spring of their life.— Geoeghana Tbegeab. Gabkiel Tregear. The first witness examined was his wife, Mrs. Tregear. She said she was 17 years of age, and had been married 10 months. She says she went to London with her husband, and bought laudanum at several shops, and also took some, and was ill ; but his sister caused them to take an emetic, which saved their lives. While Mrs. Tregrear was lodging at Tottenham her husband came over to Tottenham to his sister's, and from her lodging Mrs. Tregear went to see him. He was greatly excited at the. time, and Mrs. Wheaton, his sister, induced his wife to leave him, as she was sure he would be better with her away from liim. He then remained ill in bed for two days without seeing her ; but on the night of the second day, at a quarter past 10, her landlady let him in after his wife had gone to bed. "He came into my bedroom," says Mrs. Tregear, " and shut the door. He stood for a quarter of an hour without saying a word. He laid flowers on the table, and he put there also the first letter he ever received from me. He placed several portraits on the table. His sister came into the room and wanted him to leave. He ordered her out, saying he wished to speak to me. She' stood with her husband outside the door. My husband looked ... very strange, , and I asked his sister to gome in again. He again ordered her out, and she left, saying, 'If anything happens to him you shall be given-into custody.' He then walked roiind to the opposite side of the bed. He pointed to the flowers he had brought, aiid said that he had plucked them at Hampstead that day, at the house where he had met me. He pointed to his hat, on which there was a hatband, and asked me 'Do you know what that means ? ' I said I did not. .He said he had seen my papa that day. . (Her father had died before they were married, and he was aware of that.) He said he had waited long before he saw him, and .that then he told him to go and see her. He said my papa told him he - was married again. I do not recollect that he said anything else. I was terrified, and went to j : call Mrs. Wheaton, who was outside. He said 'I will blow out my brains.' I ran to the door and called ' Sarah,' but heard an explosion, and saw him fall on the bed. I found he had shot himselt through the head." — Dr. May gave evidence to the effect that he died an hour afterwards from the pistol shot wound. — Mrs. Wheaton, in her evidence, said that her brother had not exactly forgiven his wife, but he was so fond of her that he said to her, " I will die, Georgiana, in your sight." She treated him with the greatest pride and callousness. They had agreed to take poison together, but she had evidently no intention of doing so.— The coroner said it would been truly diabolical if the wife had accompanied her husband up to London to purchase poison under an agreement to take it with him, when she had no intention that it should be fatal to more than one. — Mrs. Tregear repeated that she did take the poison with her husband.— The coroner having summed tip, the jury returned a verdict, " That deceased clied from a pistol shot, _ inflicted by lais oirn right hand while in a state of insanity, into which he had been driven by the infidelity and heartless conduct of his wife." — It was. stated that the unhappy lady was the daughter of parents that died seven years ago. She was then brought up in the family of an eminent surgeon practising in Hamp- ' ,B'tead, at whose death,, two years ago, she Svas left with no other protector than his' aged widow. Mr. Cowen writes to a contemporary, declaring that the imputation which. has been cast upon him in the above statement is utterly and entirely destitute of foundation in fact and in truth. "I ' emphatically and : solemnly, deny that any act of ; familiarity or criminahty 1 ever happened between Mrs. Tregear and myself. I never addressed to \ her any letter, anonymous or otherwise, nor did I ever receive any letter from . her. I can only say .that if .I. had," had the, least intimation that a charge would havo been made against me at the inquest, I should most assuredly have attended, ■ and on oath; and in the - presence of 'my i accusers, have repudiated it. This I ani ; ready to do if such an opportunity should be afforded to me." Mrs. Tregear has also written to the same effect. She says : — " The real facts are these. Being very young and entirely under the I control of my late ..husband, to whose wishes I '' havo ever bowed/ and lately, 'since his mind has 1 shown traces of infirmity have unquestioned done whatever he has required me. lat Iris request, or , rather demand, signed the letter read at tho inquest without knowing anything j whatever of its contents, and solemnly affirm that tho terrible charges therein are wholly untrue and only tho hallucinations of an unsound mind, inflamed by jealousy fannedTjyJdesigning people, whose wretched plots.have endedl,in..,.my_ ..husband committing the fearful tragedy'and depriving me of my" only protector" and support." In a letter which Mrs. Wheaton has likewise addressed to the journals • she says,':— : " lf t Mr. r /2owen wishes to^ have., the - matter more fully investigated,' we are' propared - with ample proofs' (in addition ,to the statement made at the inquest) to establish the charge of improper intimacy with • Mrs. Tregear, .brought 1 againstj him my late :brpther-in-law, Mr. G. 1 Tregear, but which we did not consider it neces--1 Bary to produce at the inquest." — Home News.
Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ST18640802.2.13.3
Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka
Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 27, 2 August 1864, Page 3
Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,711EXTRAORDINARY SUICIDE. Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 27, 2 August 1864, Page 3
Using this item
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
No known copyright (New Zealand)
To the best of the National Library of New Zealand’s knowledge, under New Zealand law, there is no copyright in this item in New Zealand.
You can copy this item, share it, and post it on a blog or website. It can be modified, remixed and built upon. It can be used commercially. If reproducing this item, it is helpful to include the source.
For further information please refer to the Copyright guide.