THEoffence of which this young man was convicted, at the time of its commission subjected its perpetrator to capital punishment. The particular case is not remarkable for any peculiarity, but it is fit that it should be mentioned in connexion with the observations made in allusion to the conduct of the learned recorder of the city of London, with reference to his neglect of the highly important duties entrusted to him. In the case of Hunton, who was convicted of forgery, it will be seen that the recorder, by a delay in conveying the result of his report upon the cases of capital felons to his majesty, suffered several wretched prisoners to remain in suspense as to their fate for many hours longer than was necessary. In the present instance, he actually signed a warrant for the execution of the convict, although at the privy council it had been determined that the life of the unhappy wretch should be spared.
Cox was a postman in the service of the General Post Office, and in the instance in which he was charged with abstracting a letter from those entrusted to him for delivery, and appropriating its contents to his own use, it appeared that on the 18th of March 1833, a Mr. Foreman, of No. 101, Grafton-street, Dublin, had sent a letter containing a 10l.bank note, addressed to his brother, Mr. H. Foreman, in Queen-street, Clerkenwell, which, however, never reached its destination. Inquiry being made at the post-office, Cox was found to have signed a book in the ordinary way as having received the letter, and it was subsequently ascertained that he had paid the same note to Mr. Lott, a publican in Lambeth, who had given him change for it. There were reasons to believe that Cox had been guilty of other offences of a similar character, and he was taken into custody.
At the ensuing sessions at the Old Bailey, held in the month of May 1833, the prisoner was tried and convicted of the offence imputed to him, and, on the 20th of the month he received sentence of death, in obedience to the requisites of the act of parliament.
At this time it was the practice of the recorder of London to report to his majesty in council the cases of the various prisoners in custody upon whom sentence of death had been passed. The case of Cox was reported, with others, as usual, and upon the return of the learned recorder to London, he caused it to be made known to the prisoner, that his execution was directed to take place. The unhappy wretch had looked forward with confidence to the result of the exertions of his friends in his favour, and received this intelligence with deep dismay. He was told to prepare fordeath, and the reverend ordinary of the jail proceeded to pay to him those attentions usually expected at his hands.
A blunder of a most extraordinary nature, however, was soon discovered to have been made. This discovery is thus described in a newspaper of Sunday, the 23rd of June:—
“On Thursday morning, Sir Thomas Denman, lord chief justice of the King’s Bench, on casting his eyes on a newspaper, saw the paragraph representing the fact that Job Cox was ordered for execution on Tuesday. His lordship thought the statement had been published from false information, and he adverted to the circumstance in the presence of one of the under-sheriffs, as of a very mischievous nature. The under-sheriff, in some surprise, observed to his lordship that the paragraph was correct—that the recorder’s warrant had been received on Wednesday evening, at half-past six o’clock, at Newgate—that the intelligence had been communicated to the unfortunate culprit—and that notices had been sent to the sheriffs and the other officials. ‘What (said Sir Thomas Denman), Cox ordered for execution! Impossible! I was myself one of the privy council present when the report was made, and I know that no warrant for the execution of any one was ordered. Cox was ordered to be placed in solitary confinement, and to be kept to hard labour, previously to his being transported for life, to which penalty the judgment to die was commuted.’
“The under-sheriff repeated the extraordinary information to his lordship, who instantly requested that he would forthwith apply at the secretary of state’s office, when he would be re-assured of the fact, and receive an order in contradiction of the learned recorder’s warrant. It is needless to say, that the under-sheriff, who was very glad to be the bearer of such good tidings to a poor unhappy fellow-creature, very speedily executed his mission. He found that the correction of Sir Thomas Denman was accurate, according to Mr. Capper’s books, in which the allotted punishment was regularly entered; and Lord Melbourne, immediately upon being informed of the mistake under which they laboured at Newgate, sent thither an authority to countermand the warrant with the black seal, signed ‘Newman Knowlys.’ Cox had just twenty-two hours previously been told, in the usual solemn way, to prepare for death; and as he had calculated largely and correctly upon the merciful character of the administration, he received the awful news as if he had been struck to the earth with lightning. The mistake, upon being mentioned to him, it is unnecessary to state, gave full relief to his heart.”
Mr. Knowlys, who at this time filled the office of recorder, was immediately called upon to explain to the Common Hall of the City of London the circumstances attending the very remarkable error into which he had fallen, but having heard from him whatever excuse he had to urge, on Monday 24th of June, they came to the following resolutions:—
“Resolved unanimously, That this Common Hall has learnt with feelings of the deepest horror and regret, that the life of Job Cox, a convict under sentence of death in Newgate, had well-nigh been sacrificed by the act of the recorder of London, in sending down a warrant for his execution, notwithstanding his majesty in privy council had, in the gracious exercise of his royal prerogative of mercy, been pleased to commute his sentence for an inferior punishment.
“Resolved unanimously, That the mildest and most charitable constructionwhich this Common Hall can put upon this conduct of the recorder is, that it was the result of some mental infirmity incident to his advanced age; but contemplating with alarm the dreadful consequences which, though happily averted in the present instance, may possibly ensue from such an infirmity in that important public functionary, this Common Hall feels it an imperative duty to record the solemn expression of its opinion, that the recorder ought forthwith to retire from an office, the vitally important duties of which he is, from whatever cause, incompetent to discharge.”
The recorder, who was present, was received with deep groans. The resolutions of the Common Hall were followed by a Resolution of the Court of Aldermen, announcing the receipt of a communication from the recorder, that from his advanced age, ill-health, and debility consequent upon a late very severe fit of illness, he had felt himself bound, after serving the city for more than forty-seven years, upwards of thirty as common-serjeant and recorder, to resign the office of recorder.
The Hon. C. Ewan Law, son of the late Lord Ellenborough, was subsequently elected to fill the office which Mr. Knowlys had occupied, and the duties of which he has ably discharged up to the present period.
The useless form of reporting the cases of felons sentenced to death has since been removed, and the capital penalty in cases of letter-stealing has also been taken away, and the less severe punishment of transportation substituted for it.
THISaffair, which produced much bitterness of feeling between the people and the Metropolitan Police, occurred on Monday the 13th of May 1833. For some time before, the streets of London had been placarded with bills announcing the intention of certain parties to hold a meeting in a place called the Calthorpe Estate, at the back of the Cold Bath Fields Prison, its professed object being to adopt measures preparatory to a National Convention being held; and in consequence, a government proclamation was issued, declaring a meeting for that purpose to be illegal, and warning all persons to abstain from attending it or taking any part in its proceedings.
This proclamation, there is little doubt, tended in a very material degree to produce the very evil which it was intended to repress. The intention to hold the meeting was little known, for the party by which it was called was an obscure though violent political sect; but the effect of the government notification was to excite the curiosity of many who were driven to the spot, to which otherwise they would have had no attraction, for the purpose of witnessing whatever might take place. Precautions were taken by the government to secure the public peace, which, had they been adopted in a proper spirit, would have been most praiseworthy. The very consequence, however, of the extensive preparations which were made, was to attract fresh curiosity, and to draw new observers to the scene of the proposed meeting.
The assemblage was appointed to take place at two o’clock; but long before that hour several hundreds of persons had collected upon the spot indicated as the place of convocation. Groups of idlers were to be observeddispersed in different directions, among which women and children were intermingled to a very considerable extent; and there were not wanting among them the partisans of the disaffected, to amuse them with declamations on the sufferings of the people, and the necessity of their taking strong measures to obtain redress.
The police force of the metropolis, in the meantime, were to be seen marching from all quarters of town towards the scene of action. Between two and three thousand men were placed on duty, all of whom were distributed at certain appointed places of rendezvous, under the orders of their superintendants and inspectors, while Viscount Melbourne, the Home Secretary, and Messrs. Rowan and Mayne, the commissioners of police, with a considerable number of police magistrates, sat as a species of council to direct their future movements, at the White Hart tavern, in Gray’s Inn-lane. The formidable appearance of the police on their march created new food for curiosity, and they were followed by hundreds of persons anxious to ascertain the inducement for such an assemblage; and the numbers of the mob collected were thus every moment increased.
At one o’clock between six and seven hundred persons had assembled; and this crowd, comparatively insignificant considering the parade which had been made, kept gradually swelling until three, when a van was driven up at the end of Calthorpe-street, which a young man named Lee, who was afterwards taken into custody, mounted, together with three or four other shabby-looking persons. At almost the very moment of the van taking its station, however, the driver appeared to become alarmed, and, notwithstanding the entreaties of Lee and his companions, drove off. Mr. Lee and the others were in consequence compelled to quit their intended rostrum, and to adopt one somewhat less convenient, namely, a paling which stood on the spot. Lee was soon raised upon this new pulpit, and after a few prefatory remarks, he proposed that Mr. Mee should take the chair. It had been stated that, “The National Union of the Working Classes,” a society of men bound together for the purpose of procuring the achievement of certain political objects, would attend the meeting; and their committee was known to be assembled at a neighbouring public-house, called “The Union,” engaged in arranging the programme of the proceedings of the day. Mr. Mee was recognised as an active member of the Union, and he was immediately elected by acclamation as chairman.
Mr. Mee then got upon the paling, and after thanking the meeting for the honour which they had conferred upon him, proceeded to address them upon the objects with which they had been called together. He declared that he was thankful to the ministry for having given the meeting an air of importance, which, but for their proceedings it would have wanted; but the question which they had to consider was, whether, as they had met under such disadvantages as surrounded them they should go on, or whether they should adjourn to a more favourable opportunity? (Cries of “No, no! go on!”) He was, he said, but a working man with a family, and if they were not prepared to give his family one-tenth of their earnings they should not cry “go on.” He might fall a martyr in the cause, and in that case, he should expect his family to be supported. (Cries of “Yes! yes!”)
The “Union,” which had been expected every moment, and for which an anxious look-out was maintained, at this time appeared in sight. The procession,into which it was formed, consisted of about one hundred and fifty persons, and they carried among them eight banners. The most conspicuous of these was one which bore the motto, “Liberty or Death,” with a skull and cross-bones on a black ground with a red border: others bore mottoes of “Holy Alliance of the Working Classes;” “Equal Rights and Equal Justice;” while there were also to be seen among them a tri-coloured flag, the flag of the American republic, and a pole bearing at its head the Cap of Liberty. The procession with these ensigns walked in good order to the spot at which the speakers had assembled; but they had scarcely taken up their position, when a body of police marched into Calthorpe-street with the greatest order and precision. Their formidable appearance seemed to make a momentary impression on the mob, but a person pointing to the flag bearing the motto, “Liberty or Death,” cried out, “Men, be firm!” and shouts of “Go on! go on!” instantly resounded from all sides. The police had now reached the middle of the street, the crowd clearing the way for them to advance; and staves in hand they pressed forward to a man who was still addressing the mob. As they advanced near what may be termed the platform, however, they met with much resistance; a conflict ensued, and under circumstances respecting which the evidence was of the most contradictory nature, one policeman, named Robert Cully, No. 95 of the C division, received a mortal wound from a dagger and died instantly; and two others, Serjeant Brooks of the C division, and constable Redwood of the C division, were wounded, with the same or a similar instrument.
In the course of the afternoon a great number of persons were taken into custody, who had been observed to be active in the proceedings of the day, and all the flags were captured; and by six o’clock the whole of the mob had been dispersed, and quiet was restored.
Pursuant to the instructions of Viscount Melbourne, the prisoners who had been secured were taken to Bow-street on the same evening to be examined before Sir F. A. Roe, the chief magistrate. The whole street was filled with persons interested in the fate of the prisoners, and the proceedings excited a vast degree of interest. The result of the examinations taken on that night was the remand of a person named Robert Tilly, on suspicion of having been concerned in the murder of Cully, a charge, however, which subsequently proved unfounded; and of a man named Fursey, on the charge of stabbing Redwood and Brooks; while a great number of others were held to bail, or fined for the various offences of assault, or rioting, preferred against them.
On Thursday, Fursey was fully committed on the capital charge of stabbing Redwood and Brooks; and on the next day, a true bill was returned against him by the Grand Jury.
On Wednesday, May the 15th, an inquest was held before Mr. Stirling, the coroner for Middlesex, on the body of Cully. The investigation lasted for several days, and the inquest-room and the neighbourhood of the house where the jury sat, were crowded by persons interested in the proceedings. A great number of witnesses were examined, many of whom declared, that the police had acted towards the people with unwarrantable harshness, striking and beating them with their truncheons; making no distinction between active parties in the meeting and defenceless women, but conducting themselves with equal and undue severity towards all; and that theyhad been guilty of this misconduct without any provocation being offered. On the other hand, it was sworn, that the mob were violent, and that many of them were armed with formidable weapons. Truncheons loaded with lead were used by them in striking the police, and the pikes upon which their banners were mounted were headed with iron, in obedience to instructions published by Colonel Maceroni, which were contained in a book called “Defensive Instructions for the People.” It was admitted, however, that there was no disposition to riot among the people until the arrival of the police; that neither the riot act nor the government proclamation was read; and further it was proved, that the deceased had struck the man who wounded him before the wound was given. In reference to this part of the case, indeed, there was considerable contradiction in the evidence, for one witness distinctly swore that the deceased was speaking to her, and desiring her to go home, when a man suddenly rushed from the mob and stabbed him; and grave and important doubts appeared to exist as to the proper result to be arrived at. At the conclusion of the inquest on Monday, May the 20th, the jury returned the following verdict:—“We find a verdict ofJustifiable Homicideon these grounds: that no riot act was read, nor any proclamation advising the people to disperse; that the government did not take the proper precautions to prevent the meeting from assembling, and that the conduct of the police was ferocious, brutal, and unprovoked by the people; and we moreover express our anxious hope that the government will in future take better precautions to prevent the recurrence of such disgraceful transactions in the metropolis.”
The announcement of this finding was received with immense cheering among the people assembled, but not without remonstrance on the part of the coroner. He urged the jury to reconsider their decision, but with obstinate pertinacity they refused to alter the determination to which they had arrived.
The verdict was, however, declared by the law officers of the crown to be at variance with law, and with the evidence on which it was founded; and on Thursday, May the 30th, upon the motion of the attorney-general in the Court of King’s Bench, the inquisition was quashed.
On Thursday, July the 4th, the trial of George Fursey took place at the Old Bailey. He was indicted for having riotously and tumultuously assembled at Cold Bath Fields, on the 13th of May, with five hundred others, and with having assaulted and wounded Sergeant Brooks, and Redwood, the constable, with intent to murder them.
The evidence by which it was sought to bring home the charge to the prisoner was first the positive declarations of Brooks and Redwood, that the prisoner was the man who had stabbed them, and secondly, the allegation by a man named Hayles, a constable, that after the prisoner had been apprehended, he was conveyed to a stable, where he and Tilley were confined together. They lay down on some straw; and when they had been removed to a lock-up house, the witness found on the spot where they had lain, a loaded pistol and a powder-flask, which Tilley had acknowledged belonged to him, and also a short dagger apparently made out of a foil blade, which was alleged by Redwood and Brooks to be exactly similar to that with which they had been stabbed, and which besides was found to correspond in shape with the wounds which they had received. Here, as well as before the coroner’s jury, there was much contradictory evidenceas to the conduct of the police. Many witnesses were called for the defence who described their demeanour as having been extremely violent, and who said that they saw them strike many persons whose proceedings had not rendered such a course justifiable. The trial lasted until two o’clock in the morning, the defence being conducted by Messrs. C. Phillips and Clarkson; and Mr. Justice Gazelee having summed up, the jury pronounced the prisoner “Not Guilty.” This determination was received with loud demonstrations of applause by the people assembled within and outside the court, which the judges and officers in vain attempted to repress.
Much ill-feeling was produced by this unfortunate affair towards the police and the government. The police at their establishment had been exceedingly unpopular, from the military constitution of the force; but their usefulness had now begun to counterbalance the feeling which had so unfavourably prevailed. Their conduct at the Calthorpe-street riot did much to make them hateful to the lower orders, who were unable to draw the distinction between the intemperance of a few, and the usefulness of the main body. The conduct of the mob can be justified only by the attack which it is clear was made upon them; but the act of murder, and the attempt made to kill or disable Brooks and Redwood, are offences which appear to have been quite unwarranted by the circumstances which preceded them.
Fursey, after his trial, recovered 40l.damages against the proprietor of “The Morning Chronicle” newspaper, for publishing a libel, imputing to him the murder of Cully. Tilley, whose name has been mentioned, was liberated on bail, on Fursey’s acquittal taking place, the charge against him, as has been already said, being found to be without foundation.
THEcircumstances of the apprehension of this fellow are so singular that they deserve to be recorded.
On the 8th of February 1834, he was indicted at the Surrey sessions for entering the house of a poor widow woman at Cheddington, in the county of Surrey, and stealing therefrom all the little property she was possessed of in the world. The trial of the prisoner excited a considerable degree of interest. On the day mentioned in the indictment, the prosecutrix having occasion to go to the next village, locked up her cottage, leaving nobody at home. On her return, in a few hours afterwards, she was alarmed, on her approach, to see a man in the act of leaving the cottage, carrying a large bundle in his arms. The man, on perceiving her, made a precipitate retreat towards a wood in the vicinity of the place, and was soon out of sight. The widow remained almost motionless through fright while this was passing, when, at length, she walked towards her cottage door, which was open, and on entering the dwelling, she found that it had been ransacked of every thing of a portable nature that it contained. Her distress on this discovery was excessive; and in her anguish of mind, she rushed out of the cottage into the road, uttering loud lamentations. At this critical moment a pack of hounds, in full cry after a fox, happened to be passingthat way, followed by Colonel Wyndham, Colonel Vandeleur, and several gentlemen of the county. The moment the sportsmen beheld the widow they made a dead stop to inquire the cause of her sorrow, leaving the dogs unattended in their pursuit after reynard. In a few broken sentences, which were rendered almost inaudible by grief, she told what had occurred, and, pointing to the wood, said that she saw the thief disappear a short time before in the thicket. Colonel Wyndham immediately suggested that the wood should be beat up, to try if the thief had not taken cover there—a proposition which met with the unequivocal approbation of the whole of the sportsmen. Arrangements were then made for securing the thief if he had taken refuge in the wood, which was surrounded in such a manner as to render escape impracticable, while Colonel Vandeleur, accompanied by the two whippers-in, entered the thicket for the purpose of beating up for the game they had in view. The whippers-in had not proceeded far when they discovered the prisoner squatted in the bushes, and the bundle containing the whole of the widow’s little property close beside him. He was led from his place of concealment in triumph by Colonel Vandeleur; while shouts rent the air from those who were stationed on the outskirts of the wood, and who had placed themselves under the command of Colonel Wyndham, to cut off the retreat, in case one should have been attempted. The prisoner was then conveyed to the widow’s house; and when the bundle containing her all was produced, she manifested the greatest joy, giving utterance to expressions of thanks to the gentlemen through whose exertions in her behalf her property had been restored, and the thief secured. In the course of the examination of the various articles taken by the prisoner on the occasion, the widow complained, in doleful accents, that she missed the wedding-ring of her poor dear first husband. Colonel Vandeleur, on hearing this, undertook the office of constable, and immediately proceeded to “rub down” (search) the accused, when, to the delight of the widow’s eyes, he discovered the ring wrapped up in paper, in which it had remained for years, concealed in the prisoner’s waistcoat pocket.
Colonel Wyndham and Colonel Vandeleur gave their evidence on the trial, and both those gallant officers said that the loss of their day’s sport after the fox was fully compensated in being instrumental to the apprehension of the robber of the widow’s little property.
The jury found the prisoner “Guilty;” and the chairman, after commenting on the aggravated circumstances under which the robbery was committed, sentenced him to be transported for life.
The prisoner was a stout, hardy fellow, but was unknown in the neighbourhood of the scene of his offence.
INthe instance of the riot in Calthorpe-street, reference has been made to a combination or union of the working classes, confederated for the purpose of securing certain political objects. The system of “Unions,” which was commenced in the metropolis, and the larger towns of the kingdom, was not, however, confined exclusively to those thickly populated districts, nor were the objects of these societies limited to those which were merely of a political nature. In various parts of the country associations were formed with a view of maintaining the prices of labour, and with other objects more especially connected with the social welfare of the community.
The case of the Dorchester labourers is one which has attracted a vast degree of general observation and attention. The evil effects of the system may be collected from the following statement of the charges preferred against them, at the Dorchester assizes, on the 17th of March, 1834, and of the facts which were proved in evidence upon their trial.
The names of the prisoners were—James Lovelace, George Lovelace, Thomas Stanfield, John Stanfield, James Hammet, and James Brine, and they were indicted for “administering and causing to be administered, and aiding and assisting, and being present at, and consenting to administer, a certain unlawful oath and engagement, purporting to bind the person taking the same not to inform or give evidence against any associate or other person charged with any unlawful combination, and not to reveal or discover any such unlawful combination, or any illegal act done or to be done, and not to discover any illegal oath which might be taken.”—Mr. Gambier stated that the charge against the prisoners was, that on a certain day in December, they, all together, or one of them, administered an unlawful oath to a person of the name of Legg, for the purpose of binding the party to whom it was administered not to disclose any illegal combination which had been formed, and not to inform or give evidence against any person associated with them, and not to reveal any unlawful oath which might be taken. The first part of the charge was, that the purport of the oath was to bind the party to obey the orders of a body of men not lawfully constituted. The indictment was framed on an Act of the 37th George III., cap. 123, and his lordship would be aware that the preamble of that act related to seditious meetings, but the enacting part was of a more general nature, including confederacies not formed merely for seditious purposes, but for any illegal purpose whatever; and his lordship would be aware, that there was an authority which had decided that the enacting part of the statute was not restrained by the preamble, but extended to all societies the object of which was unlawful. One clause of the act related to oaths administered for the purpose of binding a party not to reveal an unlawful combination. The allegation in the indictment was, that the prisoners administered an illegal oath to certain persons, binding them not to disclose an illegal confederacy. It would be for them to see whether the facts bore out the conclusion to which he had come, that a combination formed underthe circumstances that would be stated, was a combination which the law had pronounced to be illegal, and would depend on this—whether any member was required to take any oath of this description, or any oath which the law did not require or authorise. He should, therefore, show that the combination was illegal—that it was the practice of the association to administer oaths, and that they were administered, and that the members were bound to obey the commands of men not legally constituted, and that they were bound to secrecy. With regard to the form of the oath and the mode of administering it, it was proper he should call his lordship’s attention to the 5th section of the 37th George III., cap. 123, which provided that any engagement in the nature of an oath should be deemed an oath within the meaning of the act in whatever form or manner the same should be administered.
The learned counsel then proceeded to state the facts of the case to the jury, and to call his witnesses, from whose evidence it appeared that the prisoners were agricultural labourers, and that on the day stated in the indictment Legg and others were conducted to the house of Thomas Stanfield, at Tollpuddle, and after waiting a short time, were blindfolded and taken into a room, when certain papers were read over to them while on their knees; on the bandage being taken from their eyes, they saw the figure of a skeleton, with the words “Remember your end,” written over it. They were then sworn to obey the rules and regulations of the society, and not to divulge its secrets or proceedings. They were to pay a shilling on entrance, and a penny a week afterwards, to support the men who were out of work (those who had struck) till their masters raised their wages. The defendants were all present, and Lovelace wore a dress like a surplice. The general laws of the society were produced and read to the jury, from which it was collected that the society was to be called “The Friendly Society of Agricultural Labourers.” Regular officers and periods of meeting were appointed, and the mode of making collections pointed out. The twentieth and twenty-first rules were as follows:—“That if any master attempts to reduce the wages of his workmen, if they are members of this order they shall instantly communicate the same to the corresponding secretary, in order that they may receive the support of the grand lodge; and in the mean time they shall use their utmost endeavours to finish the work they may have in hand, if any, and shall assist each other so that they may all leave the place together, and with as much promptitude as possible.”—“That if any member of this society renders himself obnoxious to his employer solely on account of taking an active part in the affairs of this order, and if guilty of no violation or insult to his master, and shall be discharged from his employment solely in consequence thereof, either before or after the turn-out, then the whole body of men at that place shall instantly leave the place, and no member of this society shall be allowed to take work at that place until such member be reinstated in his situation.”
After the counsel for the defendants had addressed the court and the jury, contending that no offence had been proved, the judge summed up, enforcing on the jury that they must satisfy themselves as to the illegality of the oath which Legg had taken, and which had been administered to other members of the society. The precise formality of the oath, his lordship observed, was not under inquiry; but the Act of Parliament referredto an oath fixing an obligation on a party to whom it is administered. To sustain and prove this charge, the jury must be satisfied that the oath administered to Legg was to bind him not to divulge the secrets of the society; if so, it came within the meaning of the act. It was also a question whether the dress of James Lovelace, which resembled a clergyman’s surplice, was not intended to give a degree of solemnity and additional force to the proceedings. The representation of a skeleton seemed also to have been intended to strike awe on the minds of the persons to whom the oath was administered. In taking the oath, if they were satisfied that it was intended as an obligation on the conscience of the person taking it, it clearly came within the meaning of the act. His lordship proceeded to remark on the rules of the society, which spoke of the violation of an obligation, evidently referring to the oath which was administered by the prisoners; and that such violation would be deemed by the society a crime. His lordship also read from a book belonging to the society the names of several persons (the prisoners among others), who had contributed to its funds; leaving the jury to draw their conclusions from these facts, and the whole chain of evidence which had been repeated to them.—The jury, after about five minutes’ consultation, found all the prisoners “Guilty,” and they were sentenced to be transported for seven years.
In pursuance of this sentence the prisoners were subsequently conveyed to New South Wales by the Surrey transport ship, the offence of which they had been convicted being deemed to be of a nature so heinous, as not to be expiated by an imprisonment in this country. This proceeding by the political supporters of the system of unions, was looked upon as one which was exceedingly harsh and unjustifiable under the circumstances of the case, and loud and repeated remonstrances were made, both within and without the walls of parliament, against it. For a considerable time the government declared its unwillingness to interfere to direct any amelioration in the punishment directed to be inflicted upon the offenders; but at length, however, they yielded to the constant exertions of the friends of the prisoners, and granted a free pardon to them all.
At the commencement of the year 1838, those who had chosen to return to England were landed at Plymouth—several of them, however, having preferred to remain in the colony to which they had been transported. An attempt was made to excite great sympathy in their behalf, and a species of public entry was made by them into London; but the whole affair turned out a failure, and the good sense of the general order of people was found to have induced a feeling not altogether in accordance with a supposition that these men had been martyrs.
THISperson, at the date of his trial, was a youth who had just attained the age of fifteen years only. He appeared to have been well brought up, and to have received a good education; but no effort could induce him to divulge the residence of his parents, or of any person with whom he was connected, or indeed to give any account of himself. He was a stout, well-madelad, and appeared to possess a degree of strength beyond his years. His offence undoubtedly is one of a most extraordinary description.
He was indicted at the Launceston assizes on Tuesday, the 1st of April 1834, for having assaulted Grace Brenn, with intent to commit a rape.
The prosecutrix appeared in court to give evidence. She was apparently in a state of extreme suffering. She stated herself to be a widow with two children, and to be thirty-one years of age. Her appearance denoted her to be of a delicate constitution, and gained for her much sympathy. Her evidence was to the following effect:—
She occupied a small cottage at a place called Botusfleming, near Launceston, which consisted of only three rooms—a front and back kitchen, and an upper apartment, to which access was had by a staircase leading from the latter. On the evening of Tuesday, the 11th of March, she was on the point of retiring to rest, at half-past nine o’clock, when she heard a knock at the door. She demanded who was there, and some one from without answered, “A boy—a lad,” and said that he had lost his way. She was induced, by his representations of his distress, to open the door, and then, on her seeing him, she recognised him as having called at her house three weeks before to enquire his way to Corgreen. On his being admitted he at once assumed an authoritative air, locked the door and pocketed the key, and declared his intention to stop there that night. He called for tea and bread and butter, which were supplied by the witness, who was in a dreadful state of alarm, and then demanded that a bed should be brought for his use into the sitting-room. This, after some remonstrance, she consented to do, and then she retired to her own room, where, retaining all her clothes but her gown upon her person, she lay down by the side of her little boy. Unable to sleep, after a while she was alarmed to hear the prisoner suddenly ascend the stairs, and immediately afterwards he rushed into her room, to the side of the bed where her little girl lay. He took up the girl and flung her to the bottom of the bed, and in a moment threw himself across the bed, and laid hold of witness by the head. She exclaimed, “Good God, what have I done?” and got his hands off her head, and continued screeching. [Here followed evidence of the brutality of the prisoner, developing a series of the most shocking expressions and brutish attempts on the witness. Thrice he thrust a handkerchief in her mouth, to prevent her cries; repeatedly knocked her down across the bed and on the floor; the witness stating explicitly acts, the evidence of which was conclusive of the attempt, and all but accomplishment of his diabolical purpose. The prisoner had nothing on but his shirt at the time of the attack]. The witness at length succeeded in gaining the staircase, down which she rushed, when the prisoner, leaning over the rail of the stair-head, laid hold of her hair, by which he attempted to pull her up stairs again. Her hair gave way, and she fell through the staircase-door, at the bottom of the stairs. She got up and tried the front door, but the key was taken away. The prisoner had by this time also come down stairs, and he repeated the violence of which he had before been guilty. He swore that he had razors and pistols with him and would murder her, and he attacked her with the most brutal ferocity with a fire-shovel, with which he wounded her many times on the head and face. “All his aim now was,” said the witness, “to murder me. He said he passed by the door a few nights ago, with three more of the gang. I said,‘Spare me my life for the sake of my dear little fatherless children.’ He said, ‘Will you promise me never to split, or to divulge, or to make it known?’ I said, ‘No, sir, I never will.’ He said, ‘I must put you upon your oath; if you divulge, and I am taken up and punished, the others will soon do for you; are you agreeable?’ I said, ‘Yes; anything to save my life.’ He said he should be put to death himself by his gang. He said he never went through but one such case before, and then his life was a narrow escape to him, or something to that effect. I fell upon my knees, and he said the words over that I was to say. I cannot recollect them exactly, but the last were ‘Holy Ghost.’ I then thought he was going to spare my life. There was blood upon the floor. He said to me, ‘You must wash yourself.’ I said ‘Yes, sir.’ He said, ‘You must, for you are all over blood.’ I said, ‘I will get some water,’ and I took a basin, but he said he would get the water. He went out and returned immediately; I said I would wash up the blood from the floor, as when Mr. Fitzgerald’s groom came to the stable close by he might notice it. Prisoner had thrown away the water with which I had washed; I took the basin out to the pump, and lifted the handle once or twice, and then ran away to William Summerfield’s; the prisoner was brought there by William Summerfield and Mr. Fitzgerald’s servant; they asked me if that was the person; I exclaimed, he was the rogue. The prisoner then fell on his knees; he said, ‘My dear ma’am, if you’ll forgive me, I’ll never do the like again.’ Before I left my house, he ordered me up stairs whilst he dressed himself; he ordered me down, and I came; he took the candle and said, ‘I fear I have injured you too much to spare your life.’ ” Here the witness described her desperate condition, the dreadful effects of the assault. One tooth had been knocked down her throat, another broken off in the jaw, which was much swollen, her head had been cut with the shovel, her limbs much bruised by the fall over the stairs. Other hurts were also described of a nature not to be put in print.
The prosecutrix was cross-examined by counsel for the prisoner, but no part of her sad recital was invalidated.
Counsel addressed the jury on behalf of the prisoner, endeavouring to show that the youth for a time must have been possessed of a demon, or that the whole account of the prosecutrix was exaggerated, as it appeared more like a tale of fancy than an exposition of facts.
His lordship charged the jury, who, without much hesitation, returned a verdict of “Guilty,” with a recommendation to mercy.
The learned judge, in delivering the sentence of two years’ imprisonment and hard labour, explained that the prisoner owed his life to the courageous conduct of the prosecutrix. Had she not resisted to the life, and had he accomplished his guilty and brutal purpose, nothing could have saved him from an ignominious death.
ASyet we have presented our readers with no instance of the conviction of a prisoner for the offence of maiming cattle. The case of James Page is worthy of observation.
He was indicted at the Bedford assizes on Wednesday, the 16th of July 1834, for maliciously and feloniously wounding three cows and a mare, the property of Mr. William George, a farmer at Houghton Conquest, on the previous 1st of May. The prisoner was a pauper of the parish of which the prosecutor was overseer; and, having applied for relief, was set to break stones on the roads. This employment seemed to produce an ill feeling in his mind towards Mr. George, and he was heard to express his dissatisfaction. On the night of the 30th of April, Mr. George’s cattle were placed in a particular field in his farm in good health and condition, but in the morning, at four o’clock, three fine cows and a mare were found to have been hamstrung, and so severely injured as to render it necessary that they should all be killed. The evidence by which this offence was brought home to the prisoner consisted of the repetition of observations made by him, subsequent to the 1st of May, in reference to the act, and the testimony of one Chappell, to whom the prisoner had proposed that he should accompany him to execute his base purpose.
The prisoner was found “Guilty,” and sentenced to be transported for life.
ONMonday, the 12th of May 1834, Mr. Gee, a respectable solicitor at Bishop’s Stortford, appeared before the magistrates at Lambeth-street police office, to prefer a complaint of a most extraordinary description.
It appeared from his statement that he had been professionally retained for the estate of a gentleman named Canning, deceased, who at his death had bequeathed a life-interest in a sum of 2000l.to his widow, the principal of which, at her death, was directed to descend to his three children. Mr. Gee’s occupation had been, under the direction of the executors of Mr. Canning’s will, to invest in good securities the amount thus bequeathed, with a view to as good a rate of interest being procured upon it as was possible. A sum of 1200l.had been already invested, and 800l.only remained in his possession, which he had deposited in the hands of his bankers, Messrs. Gibson and Co., of Saffron Walden, for security. A few days before, he had received a letter signed “W. Heath,” the writer of which professed his desire to have a personal communication with him in London, upon the subject of certain landed property which was for sale in the neighbourhood of Bishop’s Stortford. He returned an answer, announcing his intention to visit London on that day (the 12th of May), and expressing his willingness to meet Mr. Heath in the coffee-room of the Bull Inn, Aldgate, at ten o’clock in the morning. Having received nonegative reply, he accordingly proceeded to the Bull Inn at the appointed hour, and found a young man in the garb of a sailor waiting to see him. He presented him with a letter in the same handwriting as that which had been before delivered to him, and signed with the same name, in which he was requested to accompany the bearer in a coach, which had been prepared, to the residence of the writer, who was too ill to attend the appointment which had been made, an assurance being given of a desire to afford every assistance to Mr. Gee with a view to the saving of his time. On his reading the letter he had no hesitation in complying with the wish which was expressed, and the messenger having conducted him to a coach, he immediately entered it and was driven off. The carriage proceeded along the Commercial-road, and at length drew up at the house No. 27, York-street West.
On his quitting the vehicle and entering the house, a person met him in the passage, who told him that his brother was in the kitchen at his breakfast, but suggested that he would not, perhaps, have any objection to go there to him. The door was at this moment closed and the coach driven off, and, as he was about to descend the stairs, he was suddenly seized by the man who had delivered the letter to him, and who had followed him into the house, by the man who had accosted him in the passage, and by a third person, who made his appearance from below. Alarmed at this proceeding, he made considerable resistance; but, in spite of all his exertions, he was carried into the back kitchen, and from thence into a species of cupboard, or den, where he was instantly placed upon a seat and securely fastened. A chain, fixed to staples at his back, passed round his chest, under his arms, and was padlocked on the left side; and his feet being secured with cords, were so tightly bound to rings in the floor, as to prevent the possibility of his moving them. Having been thus confined, one of the party addressed him, and representing himself as the brother of Mrs. Canning, demanded that he should immediately give him a check for the 800l.of her money which he had in his possession, as well as an order, upon the presentment of which he might procure the delivery to him of the bond for 1200l.invested for her benefit and that of her children. Now for the first time informed of the object of his assailants, he remonstrated with them upon the illegality of their proceeding, and entreated them to release him. They answered, that they were quite aware that what they had done was contrary to law, but that they were resolved to brave the consequences, and that not only would they retain him in his present situation until he had complied with the demand which they had made, but until they had actually obtained the money and the deed.
They were then about to leave him, and lock him in the horrible den in which he had been confined, where he would be left in utter darkness, when, on reflection, he became apprehensive that, if he made any attempt to give an alarm or to procure assistance they might return and murder him, and calling them back he notified, that he was willing to comply with their demands. Pen, ink, and paper, were, in consequence, brought, and he wrote a check on his bankers for 800l., and a letter directed to Mr. Bell, at Newport, Essex, requesting the delivery of the deed in his possession to the bearer, for the inspection of Mrs. Canning.
The person, who had described himself as Mrs. Canning’s brother, on receiving these documents immediately quitted the house, and being left bythe other men also, the door of his cage standing open, he began to meditate upon the possibility of his escape. For three hours he found every effort which he made unavailing; but at length he succeeded, by a violent exertion, in shifting the iron chain which encompassed his chest a little upwards, and in freeing his body from it. Thus at liberty he was able to reach his feet, and he soon liberated his legs from the cords by which they were confined. His only remaining effort now was to quit the house; and stealthily making his way out of the back-kitchen into the garden, he succeeded in eluding the vigilance of the two remaining men, who were at dinner in the front kitchen, and escaped over the garden-wall into an adjoining street. He instantly despatched messengers to Mr. Bell, and to Messrs. Gibson’s bank, with instructions not to obey the orders which he had signed, and then made the best of his way to the police-office to describe the treatment to which he had been subjected.
Mr. Walker, the magistrate, immediately afforded Mr. Gee every assistance in his power, and despatched Lea and Shelswell, two active officers of the establishment, to York-street, in order that they might apprehend the parties concerned in this most extraordinary conspiracy. On their reaching the house, however, they found that it had been already vacated, and that it was closed. An entry was soon forced, and then they discovered that the house had evidently been taken solely for the purpose of effecting the outrage which had recently been committed in it. It was devoid of any furniture, with the exception of a few chairs in the kitchen, and a blind to the window of the same room. The den, in which Mr. Gee had been confined, was situated in the back-kitchen; it was partitioned off from the room with boards of an immense thickness and strength. Its dimensions were about five feet by three, and outside the immediate walls of the cell, and within another exterior partition, a large quantity of earth had been placed, so as effectually to prevent any sounds emitted within from escaping or being heard in any of the neighbouring houses. The interior of the cell resembled a privy in its structure, although it had evidently been built expressly for the purpose for which it had been used. There was a seat at an elevation of about two feet from the ground, and at the back, about a foot above the seat, was securely fixed a strong bar of wood to which the chain with which Mr. Gee had been confined was still suspended, in the same state as that in which he had left it. On the floor there was also another bar of wood securely fixed; and attached to this were two swivels, through which a large quantity of sash line, which had been employed in binding the feet of Mr. Gee, passed. On inquiries being made in the neighbourhood, it was learned that the occupants of the house had only entered upon its possession on the previous Saturday; and that immediately after Mr. Gee had escaped, two men were seen in the garden anxiously looking right and left, as if in search of some person, and that on their being asked what they wanted, they declared that they were in pursuit of a thief who had escaped. They were observed to leave the house immediately afterwards.
The subsequent investigation of this singular affair induced a belief, that the person who had represented himself to Mr. Gee as the brother of Mrs. Canning, was a man named Edwards, who was blind, and who had taken the house of Mr. Wych the landlord. It was ascertained that Edwards was in the habit of visiting Mrs. Canning at her residence at No. 4, Providence-row; and after a short interval he was observed to quit that house, and was taken into custody. The apprehension of Peter Lecasser, his wife, Mary Lecasser, and Jeremiah Weedon, soon after took place, as they were about to enter the house in York-street; and the prisoners were on Tuesday morning taking before the magistrates. Mrs. Lecasser, it then appeared, was the sister of Edwards, and her husband and Weedon had been employed by him to assist him in his attack upon Mr. Gee. Edwards, it was proved, had admitted when he was taken into custody, that he had been the prime mover in this conspiracy; that he had tried by all legal means to get the money from Mr. Gee, and that having failed, he had determined upon procuring it at all hazards.
While the prisoners were under examination, a singular fact developed itself. The Rev. D. Mathias, rector of the parish of Whitechapel, recognised Edwards as having been recently married by him in the name of Heath, to a female named Elizabeth Jenkins, who, however, from the description given of Mrs. Canning, he was now induced to believe was that person. Edwards, upon being questioned, hesitated to admit the truth of this assertion, but made no attempt to deny that the statement made by Mr. Gee was correct. He made every effort to exculpate his fellow-defendants, declaring that they had been employed by him, and that he alone was to blame. Weedon, who was a smith by trade, had built the cell, and both he and Lecasser had acted entirely under his orders. He said, that he was acquainted with Mrs. Canning, and that he had become known to her about two years before, from his being recommended to her to tune her piano, an occupation which he followed for his own support.
On Wednesday the prisoners were again brought up, and on this occasion Mrs. Canning was in attendance. The three men were distinctly identified by Mr. Gee, as the parties by whom he had been assaulted; and Mrs. Canning was also recognised by Mr. Mathias, as the person whom he had united to the prisoner Edwards. This fact was, however, denied by Mrs. Canning; but after some questions had been put to her she fainted in the office, and her sister then admitted that the declaration of the clergyman was true. A reason for her denial of the fact was suggested in the circumstance, that her interest in the property left by her deceased husband terminated with her widowhood.
On the following Tuesday, the 19th of May, the prisoners, except Mrs. Lecasser, who was discharged, were fully committed to take their trial at the next Old Bailey Sessions. Their committal was made out under the provisions of statute 7 & 8 Geo. IV. c. 29, c. 6, which enacts, “That if any person rob another person of any chattel, money, or valuable security, every such offender being convicted thereof, shall suffer death as a felon. And if any person shall steal any such property from the person of another, or shall assault any other person with intent to rob him, or shall with menaces or by force, demand any such property of any other person, with intent to steal the same, every such offender shall be guilty of felony; and being convicted thereof, shall be liable, at the discretion of the court, to be transported beyond the seas for life, or for any term not less than seven years; or to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding four years; and, if male, to be once or twice publicly whipped (if the court shall think fit) in addition to such punishment.”
At the Old Bailey Sessions on Monday the 12th of July, Edwards,Weedon, and Lecasser, were put upon their trial. Mr. Lee having stated the case for the prosecution, it was argued by Mr. Phillips, on behalf of the prisoners, that the indictment which charged them with felony could not be sustained. The allegation was, that the prisoners intended to take the security for 800l.“from the person” of Mr. Gee, which was inconsistent with the fact. The case was on this objection stopped by Mr. Justice Patteson, who declared that the prosecution could not be sustained, and a verdict of acquittal was, in consequence, returned.
The prisoners were then indicted for demanding from Mr. Gee, with threats and menaces, a legal security for 1200l.; and also, an order for the payment of 100l., with a view to steal the same. Mr. Adolphus having opened the case, the Court declared that this indictment was also open to objection. The prisoners were alleged to have demanded the security “with a view to” obtain it. They had actually obtained it, as it appeared, and they must be acquitted. Mr. Gee, besides, never had possession of the papers giving up the security, and as there could be no robbery where there was no possession, the indictment could not be sustained.
The prisoners were then declared “Not Guilty;” but a bill of indictment having been already found against them at the Middlesex Sessions, together with Mrs. Canning, for an assault, they were all held to bail to answer that charge.
On Friday, the 1st of August, the whole of the parties were put upon their trial at the Middlesex Sessions. The case occupied the Court until ten o’clock at night, when it terminated in a verdict of acquittal as regarded Mrs. Canning, and of guilty of the offence of conspiracy against Edwards and Weedon, and of guilty of an assault against Lecasser.
Edwards was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment in Newgate; Weedon to twelve months’ imprisonment in the House of Correction; and Lecasser to six months’ imprisonment in the same jail.
THISremarkable murder was committed on the 3rd of January, 1831, although the strong arm of the law did not reach its guilty perpetrators until August 1834. The case is worthy of note, not only from the length of time which intervened between the murder, and the time when the murderers were discovered, but also from a remarkable dispute having arisen with regard to the execution of the criminals, and the consequent delay of the sentence passed upon them.
The murder, as we have stated, occurred at the beginning of the year 1831, a period when there was much discontent exhibited by the labouring population of England, engaged in agricultural and in manufacturing pursuits. At Ashton, and many other places in the neighbourhood of Manchester, which were thickly inhabited by cotton-spinners, and other persons employed in the various factories of that district, the feeling of distaste towards the masters was almost universal; and “unions” were formed amongst the men, who were bound by the terms of the compact into which they entered, to work only at certain prices for their labour,which they desired to dictate to their masters, and to hold commune with no man who presumed to labour for smaller wages than those they chose to accept. Although there can be no doubt that in this case the murder which was committed by Moseley, Garside, and their companions, arose out of the prevailing system of combination amongst the workmen, it would be hard from such a fact to draw an inference, condemnatory of the whole system, and of all parties to it. Mr. Thomas Ashton, the victim of the murder, was the younger son of a master cotton-spinner at Hyde. It is remarkable that at this place little discontent was shown by the workmen, who were employed at the usual wages; but the master-spinners of Ashton justified their refusal to raise the wages of their men, upon this circumstance; and as this was known to have excited dissatisfaction among the workmen at the latter place, little doubts were entertained that they were the persons to whom the diabolical act would be traced.
The circumstances attending the murder were these:—Mr. Ashton had taken tea at his father’s house at an early hour on the evening in question, and had gone to visit a newly-erected factory, about a third of a mile distant. He quitted the factory at half-past six o’clock, and his murdered remains were found on the road leading towards his father’s house at eight o’clock. He had been killed by a shot through the heart; and the appearance of the body showed that the assassin must have stood close to him at the time of the murder. On his left side in front was one large wound, evidently produced by the discharge of slugs from a pistol, which had entered his body so immediately after their quitting the muzzle of the weapon as not to have had time to separate, as would have been the case had they been discharged at him from a distance. In his back were two wounds, a small distance asunder, which showed that the slugs had diverged in the body of the murdered man, and had thus passed out at his back. This event excited universal astonishment at Hyde, as well from the amiability of character of the unfortunate deceased, as from the absence of all apparent cause for the sanguinary deed; and rewards from the friends of Mr. Ashton, and from the government, amounting to 2000l.were immediately offered for the apprehension of the murderers, and for the evidence of any accomplice who had not actually fired the fatal shot.
Officers were despatched in all directions to endeavour to secure the offenders, but years passed ere the real authors of the diabolical crime were discovered. William Moseley, a convict in Chester jail, in the month of April 1834, disclosed the leading circumstances of the murder; and Garside and Joseph Moseley, the brother of the prisoner, its leading perpetrators, were shortly afterwards apprehended at Oldham.
On Thursday, August the 7th 1834, the prisoners were put upon their trial at the Chester assizes. William Moseley was the principal witness, but his evidence was corroborated in many important particulars. He stated that the murder had been committed at the instance of a man named Samuel Scholfield, a unionist, who gave as a reason for it, the unjust measure of wages paid by Mr. Ashton. The subject was broached by this person to them all; and for the trifling sum of ten pounds, they undertook to carry out the diabolical plot. In pursuance of the agreement, they all met near the mill belonging to Mr. Ashton, called the Woodley Mill; and stationing themselves in a quiet position, they awaited the coming of their victim. Shortly before seven o’clock, his approach was observed; andGarside rising and advancing to him, shot him dead before he had time to utter a word, or to offer the smallest resistance to the cowardly attack made upon him. The three murderers instantly ran off, without waiting to remove the body from the middle of the road where it lay; and as we have already said, at eight o’clock it was discovered. The price of the murder was paid on the same night, the three murderers and Scholfield going on their knees, and swearing to each other, that “they wished God would strike them dead if they ever told.” The oath was strictly obeyed until William Moseley, being imprisoned in Chester jail for some other crime, disclosed all he knew of the transaction. The witness was subjected to a severe cross-examination, in which he admitted that his reputation was stained by a long list of the blackest crimes. His testimony, however, received so great confirmation from the statements of other witnesses, that a verdict of “Guilty” was returned against both prisoners, and they were ordered for execution on the morning of the following Saturday.
A difficulty, however, now arose upon the subject of the proper officer, by whom this sentence was to be carried into execution. The sheriff of the County Palatine, and the sheriff of the city of Chester, each refused to perform this painful duty, upon the ground that the other was the officer to whose lot it fell. The wretched prisoners remained up to Saturday morning in suspense as to the period of their execution; and on that day Mr. Justice Parke granted a respite until the 18th of the same month, in order that the difficulty might be settled.
This delay, the cause of which was intimated to the convicts, enabled the proper officers to hold communications with them upon the subject of the offence of which they had been convicted. Both admitted their participation in the murder, but denied that Scholfield was at all implicated in the affair. Garside declared that if an offer which he had made to become a witness had been accepted, the whole truth would have been arrived at; but, as it was, they had got nothing but a parcel of lies, and he should say “note” (nothing).
On the day after the trial, William Moseley was carried to Stockport, and there, upon the information which he had given, Scholfield was taken into custody. He, however, denied the truth of the assertions which had been made of his guilt, but he was detained in custody.
On Saturday the 16th of August, the prisoners were further respited until the 18th of September; and from that date they were again respited until the commencement of Michaelmas Term, in the following November, should enable the Court of King’s Bench to determine the question in dispute between the sheriffs.
On Thursday the 6th of November, the Attorney-General moved for acertiorari, to bring the conviction into that court, and also for writs of habeas corpus, to bring up the persons of the prisoners, with a view to the question being discussed. The learned gentleman explained the objections made by the two sheriffs. Previously to the passing of the Statute 11 Geo. IV., all complaints in the County Palatine of Chester were tried by the Chief Justice of Chester, and rules of court were made for the execution of such prisoners as were condemned to death, which orders were carried into effect by the sheriff of the city of Chester. By the act in question, the court by which this authority was exercised, was abolished, and in its stead assizes, under commissions of oyer and terminer, wereordered to be held in Chester, as in other counties. By the sixteenth section, however, it was provided, “that nothing therein contained should affect the duties or obligations to be performed by the magistrates and citizens of Chester.” In the present case, the sheriff of the city of Chester refused to execute the sentence on the prisoners, alleging that his jurisdiction in such respects extended only to the Palatine Court, which had been abolished, and that if there was any such obligation, it rested on the mayor and citizens, and not upon the sheriff. Under these circumstances, the learned judge had felt it to be his duty to respite the prisoners from time to time, and indictments had been preferred against both sheriffs, which, however, had been ignored.Ex officioinformations would be filed against them by him (the Attorney-General) for their neglect of their duty; but as much time must elapse before the questions involved in those informations could be legally discussed, he was compelled to come to the court, with a view to the carrying into effect the sentence of the law upon the prisoners, an object which was of the highest importance. It would be in the power of the court to order the prisoners to be executed by either of the disputing sheriffs; by the sheriffs of Middlesex, or Surrey; or by their own marshal. Several cases were then cited, in which the court had interfered with regard to the execution of offenders, and the writs were granted.
On Tuesday the 11th of November, and Thursday the 13th, the prisoners were brought before the Court of King’s Bench. Mr. Dunn, on behalf of Garside, contended that the court could not award sentence against that prisoner, because he had made a statement to the authorities of Cheshire with regard to the circumstances of the murder, which, by the proclamation which had been issued, offering a reward of 2000l.and a pardon, to any accomplice of the actual murderer, entitled him to be liberated. This fact having been pleaded by the learned gentleman, on behalf of his client, in obedience to the direction of the court, the Attorney-General was heard on the other side. He contended that the jury had distinctly found that Garside had fired the fatal shot; and that even taking the statement of the prisoner to be correct, he was not therefore entitled to his pardon.
Lord Denman held this good ground of demurrer to the plea, and execution having been prayed, the court awarded that it should be done by the marshal, assisted by the sheriff of Surrey.
The prisoners were then conveyed to the King’s Bench prison, to await their death. A petition was prepared by Mr. Dunn, on behalf of Garside, setting forth the same facts which were urged by the learned gentleman in court, but it was declared to be of no avail; and on Tuesday the 25th of November, the wretched convicts expiated their foul offence on the top of Horsemonger-lane jail.
Garside had, during the latter portion of his imprisonment, striven to shift the guilt of firing the pistol upon the witness, Joseph Moseley, and it was not until the very moment of his being turned off, that he retracted this allegation. His conduct, as well as that of his fellow prisoner, during the whole period of their confinement, had been remarkable for its extreme coolness; and on the morning of their execution, their demeanor was in no way altered.
At nine o’clock in the morning the prisoners mounted the scaffold, Garside being first, and they were immediately turned off; Garside’s last wordsbeing, “All the statements that I have made at different times since my conviction are false.”
At the Assizes for the County of Chester, held in the month of April, 1835, a bill of indictment was preferred against Scholfield, but it was ignored; and he was, in consequence, set at liberty.