Saturday 15 Jun 1844 (p. 3, col. 1) MURDER OF A WIFE BY HER HUSBAND.-The circumstances of a lady of great respectability, and of extreme beauty, the wife of a surgeon in Westmorland, and the sister of a clergyman at Arlington, in Essex, having died suddenly on the morning of Saturday last, from the effects of prussic acid, and the apprehension of her husband on the serious charge of being accessory to her death, has caused the greatest consternation and excitement in the neighbourhood of Tracey-street, Stepney, London, in which the lamentable affair occurred. Mr. BAKER, the coroner, was engaged on Monday and Tuesday in the investigation as to the cause of the lady's death, and at seven o'clock on the evening of the latter day the coroner again adjourned the inquest. The name of the deceased lady is Rachael BELANEY, about twenty-one years of age. Her fine figure, extreme beauty, and personal charms were the theme of every tongue, and procured for her the appellation of the "Rose of the North;" and it appeared she had innumerable suitors to her hand, but, about sixteen months ago, bestowed it upon her present husband, Mr. BELANEY, a young surgeon, of a very respectable family, to whom she was most devotedly attached. It appeared also that the unfortunate lady was enceinte, and near upon the period of her confinement. Mr. and Mrs. BELANEY arrived in town from Westmorland on Tuesday week, and took lodgings for a short period at the house of Mrs. HIPPINGSTALL, situate near the Fountain public-house, in Tracey-street, Stepney. They were both strangers to London. The lady possessed some property in her own right, but, we believe, not to any great extent. Her husband is at present out of practice as a surgeon, but possesses some small property in some lime-kilns in a remote part of Westmorland. The case was heard before the magistrates at the Thames Police Office, on Wednesday, and medical evidence having been heard, the prisoner was remanded for a week. The prisoner's statement to one of the medical gentlemen who made the post mortem examination was as follows:- "I have been in the habit of taking three drops of prussic acid. On Saturday morning I was about to take that quantity, and, in endeavouring to remove the glass stopper from the bottle, I experienced some difficulty in doing so, and with the handle of a tooth-brush I used some little force, and the neck of the bottle containing the prussic acid broke off. Some of it was spilled, and being anxious to be careful with the remainder, and not having another bottle, I put it into a tumbler, and placed it on the drawers on the other side of the room, and shortly afterwards proceeded into the front room, to proceed with the writing of a letter to my friends in the country. I heard a scream soon afterwards proceed from the bed-room. I immediately went into the bed-room, and found my wife in convulsions. My wife said, 'Oh, dear me, I have taken some of the strong drink out of the tumbler-give me some cold water.' I then called the landlady immediately."