§ DR. BOWRINGwished to ask the Attorney General whether the property of Tawell, who was executed for murder, and respecting which an official inquiry had lately taken place, would, instead of escheating to the Crown be restored to his widow?
The ATTORNEY GENERALwas obliged to his hon. Friend for giving him an opportunity of explaining to the House how much the public had been misled by the reports which had appeared in the newspapers on the subject of the late inquiry into the property of Tawell. The House was aware that the usual practice had been to grant on the part of the Crown the property of persons whose property had fallen to the Crown in consequence of their conviction for felony, to those parties who would otherwise have been their natural heirs. In the particular case before them, a petition had been presented, as usual, by Mrs. Tawell, praying for inquiry, in order that the property might become vested in the Crown in favour of herself and her children. He had accordingly signed the fiat; and he was astonished to see the charges made subsequently in the newspapers, after the fiat had been issued at Mrs. Tawell's own request.