MURDER OF THE REV MR. HILL IN PENTRIDGE STOCKADE.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 13, Issue 1054, 4 June 1869, Page 3

MURDER OF THE REV MR. HILL IN PENTRIDGE STOCKADE.

1 1 (Fro .1 the.^Melbourne Age.") Pentbidge stockacio was, on the 14th May, the scene oi one of the most horrible tragedies record o ( \ f or soine t i me pasfc> At about half-past! o'clock, the itey. William Hill, the Wesleyan. chaplain, in the exercise of his ministerial functions, visited the cells of the prisoners who were undergoing solitary confinement in the A division of the Pentridge Stockade, with the view of imparting religious instruction.' Among those visited .wa'sr.; James Eitson, who is undergoing a sentence for shooting at Market Inspector Einsella, in the Eastern Market, some twelve -months since. On ai riving at the cell Mr. fiill was admitted by Warder Moran, and thfc door lockod af'lerhiin in theusual manner, he and' the convict being alone together. What passed between them is conjecture, but shortly afterwards the warder heard Mr. Hill exclaim "Mercy, man," butthinkingib only a part of the rev. gentleman's discourse, he gave no further attention to it. Shortly afterwards, however, he. heard a blow, and he immediately tried to open the door, but found ifc barricaded. After a violent effort he succeeded iv forcing it open, when a terrible spectacle appeared. On the floor, weltering in a~ pool of blood, was poor Mr. Hill in his death agony, while at the further end of the cell, the murderer was standing erect, but pale, and trembling violently, still grasping in his right hand the weapon with which hehad committed the foul deed. The warder, sprang in upon Bitson, and after a brief but violent struggle, succeeded in mastering him, Immediately, on the murder'being discovered/ "double sentries were posted, the alarm bell rung, and all the prisoners brought in and locked up. The most alarming excitement pervaded the whole . establishment, and speedily communicated itself to" the village, where the reverend gentleman was well known and highly respected. . Immediately on securing the prisoner; -Div Heed, the resident surgeon, wa.B sent for, but before he arrived Mr. Hill had breathed his last;. The cell in which the murder had been committed presented a sad sight. In the middle of the floor lay the body, in a pool of blood, the back of the head, which was exposed, being literally smashed in. Not far from it lay the instrument with which the murderer had effected his design, where it had evidently been dropped in the struggle with the warder. The weapon turned out to be one of the hinges of the prisoner's bed board, which he had wrenched off by some unaccountable means. Armed with this, he had evidently- waited for some one to enter the cell, and on Mr. Hill unsuspectingly visiting himon an errand of mercy, he appears to have set upon him. and unmercifully battered, in his skull.- The words which the warder patrolling outside of the cell heard must have been tho last the unfortunate gentleman uttered. The Hey. Mr. Hill had' been in the colony for about fourteen years, and was at the time of his murder the Superintendent of the second Wesleyau Circuit, chaplain to the stockade, and acting- editor of the Wesleyan Chronicle. He was uniformly respected and beloved'by the large circle of .friends by whom Hfe Was known, his mental attainments and personal qualities securing for him a place in the affections of all with whom he came in contact. In disposition he was kindly, inoffensive and amiable, benevolent to the extent of his means, catholic in his charity, and zealous ia' the work in which he was engaged. By his untimely death he leaves four young children orphans (their mother having died some months ago), and a blank in the Christian ministry that will not be easily supplied. • -