Yes, on many occasions.
What position did she occupy in the house?
The position of a lodger upstairs. She had two rooms besides a back kitchen.
And Mr. and Mrs. Thompson occupied the rest of the house as man and wife?
That is so.
Wm. Bolsover, 4, Hazel-road, Darnall, near Sheffield, said: I knew the prisoner when she was living at Darnall with Peace and her daughter. I was married to the latter at Hull on 8th January, 1878. Peace was not present. On Whit Monday I came to London, and stayed with Peace at the house in Evalina-road for eight or nine days. Peace was living with a woman who was known as Mrs. Thompson, in the name of Thompson. Mrs. Ward and the boy Willie had their meals alone, and Mr. and Mrs. Thompson in another part of the house. On the 12th October the prisoner came to my house and stated that she saw by the papers that a man whom she imagined to be her husband had been taken into custody. I took her in, and afterwards fetched her luggage from Sheffield.
Cross-examined: I have known Mr. and Mrs. Peace for some time, and believed them to be man and wife. Their daughter had, I understood, lived with them from infancy.
John P. Twibell, police inspector, Sheffield, said he assisted Philips in searching Bolsover’s house. Between the 6th of November and the 14th witness was told by the prisoner that she was married at St. George’s Church, Sheffield, in the name of Hannah Ward to Charles Peace, the year before her daughter was born. She was unable to fix the date in any other way. The witnesses of the marriage were, she said, John and Sarah Clarke, who are both dead.
This was the case for the prosecution.
Mr. Fulton submitted that there was no case to go to the jury. Peace and the prisoner had, it was evident, far many years lived together as man and wife, and their daughter was married in the name of Peace. He further pointed out that the prisoner had given minute facts in reference to her marriage, and also gave the names of the witnesses. These being dead, the onus was, he contended, upon the prosecution to make some inquiries.