Q. Were any of the prisoners at the house you was at?
Fogden. No, not one. At the Forest of Bere there were, I believe, all the five prisoners. We met together at a lone place there; we stayed there till the Hawkhurst men came to us; then there were thirty of us in number. The prisoners Kingsmill and Fairall were with the Hawkhurst gang, and were part of that gang.
Q. Were you all armed?
Fogden. To the best of my knowledge we were all armed.
Q. For what purpose did you meet there?
Fogden. We were going to fetch away the tea that had been taken from us by Captain Johnson, and lodged in the custom-house at Poole.
Q. How did you take it?
Fogden. By force; went from thence to Lindhurst; we got there in the night, just as it was light. We stayed there till near night again; then in the night we went to Poole, and went to the backside of the town, and left our horses in a little lane. I never was atPoole before this or since; I believe we left our horses about a quarter of a mile out of town. We left them in care of two men, Perrin and Lilliwhite. Then we went and broke open the custom-house. I saw the door broken open with two iron bars.
A Representation of yeSmuggler’s breaking open yeKing’sCustom-house atPoole.
A Representation of yeSmuggler’s breaking open yeKing’sCustom-house atPoole.
Q. Where did you get them?
Fogden. I cannot tell.
Q. Where did you find the tea lodged?
Fogden. It was in the top of the warehouse.
Q. Were any of the prisoners at the bar concerned in it?
Fogden. They were there, and did assist as the rest, except the two that held the horses. We brought the horses to a place near, and then carried the tea to them. It was a very narrow lane where we stopped first, and we brought the horses up to a more open place for loading.
Q. Did the prisoners at the bar help you load?
Fogden. Yes, all of them.
Q. Did you put an equal quantity on each horse?
Fogden. We distributed it as near as we could. There was our little horse that carried the arms had not so much as the other horses had on them. Every horse there was loaded with tea; from thence we went to a little town called Fordingbridge; at the next place we stopped, we weighed the tea with two pair of steelyards; for we thought it was not equal, some was scattered out of some of the bags. Then we divided it as equally as we could; they were quartern bags, each prisoner had five bags.
Q. When did you see Lilliwhite first?
Fogden. In the forest; I never saw him before.
Q. Was he there before or after you?
Fogden. I cannot tell.
Q. Did you hear any threats, if any should discover this affair what should be done to them?
Fogden. No, Sir.
Q. Had Lilliwhite arms when left with the horses?
Fogden. I believe he had not.
Q. Was Lilliwhite ever with you a-smuggling before?
Fogden. No, never as I know of.
Q. Was Glover ever with you a-smuggling before?
Fogden. No, never as I know of.
The counsel for the King resting their proof here, the prisoners were severally called upon to make their defence, when Kingsmill and Fairall said they had nothing to say, only that they knew nothing of the matter.
Perrin, having retained counsel for him, called the following persons to his character.
John Guy. I have known Perrin almost twenty years. He is a carpenter, and always bore a very good character among his neighbours. I never heard he neglected his business.
Q. Did you ever hear he was a smuggler?
Guy. I have known him these fifteen or sixteen years, and he always bore a very good character. I never heard in my life of his neglecting his business and going a-smuggling.
Q. Did you never hear he was a smuggler?
Guy. No, never, but by hearsay, as folks talk.
Richard Glover’s defence: I was forced into it by my brother-in-law, Edmund Richards, who threatened to shoot me if I would not go along with him.
William Tapling. I have known Richard Glover twenty years; I never heard before this unhappy affair that he was a smuggler; I believe he never was before. I know his brother-in-law Richards, and that Gloverwas about two months with him. Richards is a notorious wicked, swearing man, and reputed a great smuggler; I cannot help thinking he was the occasion of Glover’s acting in this.
Henry Hounsel. I have known Glover a child; he was a sober young lad; I never knew him otherwise, nor did I ever hear him swear an oath in my life.
Q. Did you never hear he was a smuggler?
Hounsel. Never before this. He lived with his father till the year 1744. His father dying, he followed his business till August, 1747. He went in the beginning of June to that wicked brother’s house, and was there about two months. He went after that to live servant with the Rev. Mr. Blagden. After that he got into Deptford yard, and there he continued ever since, till taken up, articled to a shipwright. This affair was at the time he was at his brother-in-law’s house.
John Grasswell. I have known Glover these twelve years and upwards; I believe he never was guilty of smuggling before this; his character is exceedingly good. I never knew him frequent bad company, or guilty of drinking or swearing an oath.
Woodruff Drinkwater. I have known Glover ever since he was born; I never heard he was reputed a smuggler either before or since, exclusive of this time; his temper is not formed for it at all, far from it; after his father died he was left joint executor with his mother (left in narrow circumstances); he often came to me on any little occasion for five or ten guineas; he always kept his word; after his mother married again, there was some difference in his family; he went into the country, and I was very sorry for him at his going to Richards’s house, and I cannot think he was voluntary in this rash action.
Mr. Edmonds. I have known Glover ever since the 9th of April last; he came to me and was entered into his Majesty’s yard at Deptford the day following; he bore a good character before, and during the time he has been with me he has behaved very well and sober; he obtained a good character of all that knew him; I have had as good an opinion of him as any man I know; he was with me till the day he was taken.
Mr. Dearing. I live in the parish where this young man was born. I go there for the summer season; I have known him about eighteen years; being informed of this bad thing, it made me come to London on purpose to say what I knew of him; we in the country had great reason to believe that bad man Richards had corrupted him; he was a well-behaved lad before this happened; his uncle came to me, and the young man came and begged of his uncle, that he would see out for some business for him, in some way or other, adding that he could not bear to live with Richards; I had just hired a servant, or I had taken him; just after this bad affair happened, and he was unfortunately drawn into it.
The Rev. Mr. Blagden. I live at Slindon, in Sussex. The prisoner Glover was my servant; I knew him and his family before; he behaved exceedingly well with me as any could, and if he were discharged from this I would readily take him again; he attended on religious service, public and private, constant; I never heard an ill word or an oath from his mouth, or anything vulgar.
Thomas Lilliwhite’s defence: I was down in the country, and a person desired me to take a ride with him; I agreed upon it, not knowing where they were going; I had no firearms, nor was any way concerned.
Fra. Wheeler. I have known Lilliwhite about sixyears; he always bore a very good character; was a worthy young fellow, and brought up in the farming under his father, who was a man in very good circumstances; he minded his father’s business very diligently; I have known him refuse going out upon parties of pleasure, because he has had business of his father’s to do; he married since this affair happened to a woman of fortune; I never heard him charged with any such crime as this before.
Sir Cecil Bishop. The prisoner married my housekeeper’s daughter; had not he been a man of good character, I should not have been consenting to the match, which I was; she brought him a good fortune; he is a deserving young man, and I cannot think he would be guilty of such a crime knowingly.
The evidence being all finished, Sir Thomas Abney summed up the whole in a very impartial manner; taking notice that in the case of Lilliwhite, if they thought the evidence that had been given against him was not quite full, as to his going voluntarily with them, and that he was not armed with firearms, they might acquit him.
The jury went out of court, and in about a quarter of an hour returned into court, and gave their verdict as follows, viz.:—
Thomas Kingsmill, William Fairall, and Richard Perrin, Guilty. Death.
Thomas Lilliwhite, Acquitted.
Richard Glover, Guilty, but recommended to mercy.
Thomas Lilliwhite was immediately discharged out of court as soon as he was acquitted; and the other four received sentence of death the same day, together with the other four criminals who had been tried and convicted of divers felonies and robberies.
While under sentence of death, they all four, viz., Kingsmill, Fairall, Perrin, and Glover, behaved much better than they had done before; and particularly Glover and Perrin were composed and resigned, and constantly prayed and sung psalms most of the night time; but Kingsmill and Fairall were not so penitent as Glover and Perrin.
As for Kingsmill and Fairhall, they were reckoned two of the most audacious wicked fellows amongst the smugglers; and indeed their behaviour while under condemnation, plainly shewed it.
The day they were brought to Newgate by Habeas Corpus, from the county gaol for Surrey, Fairall behaved very bold after declaring he did not value being hanged; and said, “Let’s have a pipe and some tobacco, and a bottle of wine, for as I am not to live long, I am determined to live well the short time I have to be in this world.” He also behaved very insolently at his trial; or more properly ignorantly, laughing all the time at the witnesses while they were giving their evidence; and when taken notice of by the court, and reprimanded for his bad behaviour, it had no effect on him, for he continued his idle impudent smiles, even when the jury brought him in Guilty.
At the time when he received sentence of death, when Mr. Recorder, who passed the same on him, and the rest of the criminals, said these words, “and the Lord have mercy on your souls,” he boldly replied, “If the Lord has not more mercy on our souls than the jury had on our bodies, I do not know what will become of them.”
On Thursday, the 20th of April, 1749, the report of these four criminals was made to his Majesty by Richard Adams, Esq., Recorder, when Kingsmill,Fairall, and Perrin were ordered for execution at Tyburn, on Wednesday, the 26th of the same month; and his Majesty was pleased to grant his most gracious pardon to Glover, several favourable circumstances appearing in his favour; and the court and jury having, after his trial, recommended him to his Majesty for mercy.
After the death warrant came down, Kingsmill and Fairall began to consider their unhappy circumstances more than they had done before, and always attending divine service at chapel, and prayed very devoutly, but retained their former behaviour of boldness and intrepidity, shewing no fear, and frequently saying they did not think they had been guilty of any crime in smuggling, or in breaking open Poole custom-house, as the property of the goods they went for was not Captain Johnson’s or anybody else’s, but of the persons who sent their money over to Guernsey for them.
Perrin, who was ordered only to be hanged and afterwards buried, and Kingsmill and Fairall being ordered to be hung in chains, Perrin was saying to them that he lamented their case: when Fairall replied smilingly, in the presence of many people, “We shall be hanging in the sweet air, when you are rotting in your grave.”
The evening before their execution, after they came down from chapel, their friends came to take leave of them; and Fairall smoked his pipe very heartily, and drank freely; but being ordered to go into his cell to be locked up, said, “Why in such a hurry, cannot you let me stay a little longer and drink with my friends; I shall not be able to drink with them to-morrow night.”
I shall next proceed to give the little account of thesecriminals as given by the ordinary of Newgate; and afterwards conclude this book with a relation of some of the most notorious actions committed by them, and which have been communicated by their confederates.
Thomas Kingsmill, alias Staymaker, aged 28, was born at Goodhurst, in Kent, a young fellow of enterprising spirit, and for some years past employed by the chiefs of the smugglers, the moneyed men or merchants, as they are usually amongst themselves called, in any dangerous exploits. As his character in general among his countrymen was that of a bold, resolute man, undaunted, and fit for the wicked purposes of smuggling, and never intimidated, in case of any suspicion of betraying their secrets, ready to oppose King’s officers in their duty, and being concerned in rescues of any sort or kind, so he wanted not business, but was made a companion for the greatest of them all, and was always at that service when wanted and called upon.
He would own nothing of himself, and was scarce to be persuaded that he had done anything amiss by following the bad practices of smuggling.
He acknowledged he was present at the breaking open of the custom-house, and that he had a share of the tea; and said what was sworn at the trial was all truth; but that they must be bad men to turn evidence to take away other people’s lives.
William Fairall, alias Shepherd, aged 25, was born at Horsendown Green, in Kent, bred to no business, but inured to smuggling from his infancy, and acquainted with most of the evil practices which have been used in those parts for some years past. In this behaviour he seemed equally as well qualified for the work as was Kingsmill, and it is generally believed that they were both concerned together in most of their undertakings.Fairall at his trial seemed to shew the utmost daringness and unconcern; even shewing tokens of threats to a witness, as he was giving his evidence to the court, and standing all the while in the bar with a smile or rather a sneer upon his countenance. He came also to the gang with Kingsmill to the Forest of Bere, and was one of the forwardest and most busy amongst the company. Yet he would not own any one thing against himself that he had done amiss, for which his life should be at stake. However, his own countrymen were glad when he was removed from among them, because he was known to be a desperate fellow, and no man could be safe who Fairall should once think had offended him.
Richard Perrin, alias Pain, alias Carpenter, aged 36, was born near Chichester, in Sussex; being bred a carpenter, was looked upon as a good workman, and had pretty business till the use of his right hand being in a great measure taken away by being subject to the rheumatism, he thought proper to leave that trade, and take to smuggling. He was esteemed a very honest man, and was therefore often entrusted by others to go over the water to buy goods, and for himself; he traded in that way for brandy and tea. And he was the man that went over for this very cargo of goods that was rescued from Poole Custom-house.
Having talked to the prisoners several times, each by himself, and also when they were altogether, neither of them all three would own anything; but said they knew best what they had done, and for what was amiss they would seek God’s forgiveness, and continued thus to declare to the last.
Having now given the ordinary of Newgate’s short account of these criminals, I shall proceed to give someaccount of such of their wicked actions as have come to our knowledge.
About two years since William Fairall was apprehended as a smuggler in Sussex, and being carried before James Butler, Esq., near Lewes, was ordered by that gentleman to be brought to London, in order to be tried for the same. They brought him quite safe to an inn in the Borough overnight, in order to carry him before Justice Hammond the next morning, but he found means to escape from the guards; and seeing a horse stand in Blackman Street, he got upon it and rode away, though in the presence of several people.
He made the best of his way into Sussex, to his gang, who were surprised at seeing him, knowing he was carried to London under a strong guard but three days before; but he soon informed them how he got away, and his lucky chance of stealing the horse.
They were no sooner met than he declared vengeance against Mr. Butler, and proposed many ways to be revenged. First to destroy all the deer in his park, and all his trees, which was readily agreed to; but Fairall, Kingsmill and John Mills, executed on Slindon Common, and many more of them, declared that would not satisfy them; and accordingly they proposed to set fire to his seat, one of the finest in the county of Sussex, and burn him in it; but this most wicked proposal was objected to by three of the gang, namely, Thomas Winter, alias the Coachman, one Stephens and one Slaughter, commonly called Captain Slaughter, who protested against setting the house on fire or killing the gentleman; and great disputes arose among them, and they parted at that time without putting any of their villainous proposals into execution; but Fairall, Kingsmill and some more of the gang were determinednot to let their resentment drop, and accordingly they got each a brace of pistols, and determined to go and waylay him near his own park wall and shoot him. Accordingly they went into the neighbourhood, when they heard Mr. Butler was gone to Horsham, and that he was expected home that night, upon which they laid ready to execute their wicked design. But Mr. Butler, by some accident, happening not to come home that night, they were heard to say to each other, “D—n him, he will not come home to-night, let us be gone about our business”; and so they went away angry at their disappointment, swearing they would watch for a month together but they would have him.
This affair coming to Mr. Butler’s knowledge, care was taken to apprehend them if they came again, and they, being acquainted therewith, did not care to go a second time without a number; but no one would join except John Mills and Jackson, who was condemned at Chichester for the murders of Galley and Chater, as not caring to run into so much danger; and they not thinking themselves strong enough, being only four, the whole design was laid aside.
On their being disappointed in their revenge against Mr. Butler, they were all much chagrined, and Fairall said, “D—n him, an opportunity may happen some time,” that they might make an example of Mr. Butler, and all others that shall dare presume to obstruct them.
Thomas Winter, and several others of the smugglers, whose lives had been saved by turning evidence, said that Fairall and Kingsmill had been the occasion of carrying several officers of the customs and excise abroad from their families, for having been busy in detecting the smugglers, and seizing their contraband goods.
Fairall and Kingsmill were both concerned with the gang in Kent, viz., Diprose, Priggs and Bartlett, in all the robberies they committed; but as an account of those has been given before, we think it needless to make a repetition.
The morning of their execution they behaved very bold, shewing no signs of fear of death, and about nine o’clock, Fairall and Kingsmill were put into one cart, and Perrin in a mourning coach, and conveyed to Tyburn under a strong guard of soldiers, both horse and foot.
At the tree they joined in prayers very devoutly with the rest of the unhappy criminals who were executed with them, which being ended, and a psalm sung, they were turned off crying to the Lord to receive their souls.
The body of Perrin was delivered to his friends to be buried; and those of Fairall and Kingsmill were carried to a smith’s shop in Fetter-lane, near Holborn, where they were put into chains, and afterwards put into two wooden cases made on purpose, and conveyed by some of the guards and the sheriff’s officers for the county of Middlesex to Newcross turnpike in the county of Kent; where they were received by the officers to the sheriff of that county, who conveyed them to the places where they were ordered to be hung up, viz., Fairhall on Horsendown Green, and Kingsmill on Gowdhurstgore, at both which places they had lived.
Richard Glover, who had received his Majesty’s pardon, was discharged out of Newgate on Wednesday, the 3rd of May, 1749.
We can with pleasure inform our readers, that notorious wicked fellow, Edmund Richards (so often named in this work, as being concerned in the murderof Galley and Chater, and also in forcing Richard Glover to go with him and the rest of the gang to break open Poole custom-house) is taken, and in safe custody in Winchester gaol, so there is no doubt but he will meet with a just reward for all his cruel and enormous crimes, at the next assizes for the county of Sussex, to which county gaol he will be removed by Habeas Corpus.