Chapter XXX: Part 30

While Jack Ketch was fastening the ropes, the Rev. Mr. Mann attended Patch, and, for the last time, attempted to draw from him a confession, but with no better success. The sheriff then went to him, and entreated him to confess; but he steadfastly refused. At this time the cap was drawn upon his face, and everything prepared to launch him into eternity. Apparently displeased at being pressed so much upon the subject, he now threw himself considerably back with impatience. From the violent motion of his body, some of the spectators supposed that he meant to break his neck, as Avershaw did on Kennington-common; Mr. Ives immediately went to him and said, "My good friend, what are you about?" and they conversed together for about a minute and a half. The unfortunate prisoners were then immediately put to death by the falling of the drop.

The execution took place on the 8th of April, 1806.

The body of Patch, after hanging the usual time, was taken to the hospital of the prison, in order to be anatomised by the county surgeon. He was an athletic, broad-shouldered man, about five feet seven inches high, and to the last maintained his florid looks, which, however, were constitutional, and not the effect of any extraordinary degree of determination.

WILLIAM DUNCAN,

CONVICTED OF THE MURDER OF HIS MASTER.

This case is worthy of remark from the singular mode in which the murder of the unfortunate gentleman, the employer of the prisoner, was committed. It appears that Duncan was in the service of Mr. Chivers, a gentleman between seventy and eighty years of age, and much troubled with the gout, who resided at Clapham-common, as gardener. On the morning of the 24th of January, 1807, he was at work as usual in the garden, when his master, according to his custom, went out to him to superintend his proceedings. At about half-past 11 o'clock, the gardener suddenly ran in doors, exclaiming, "Lord, what have I done; I have struck my master, and he has fallen," and immediately left the house. The footman proceeded into the garden to discover what had happened, and found his master lying on the ground, with his face most frightfully cut. He directly procured surgical aid, when it was found that Mr. Chivers had received a wound with a spade, the end of which had entered the lower part of his nose, had broken both his jaw-bones, and had penetrated nearly to a line with his ears, so that his head was almost divided. The unfortunate gentleman died immediately afterwards, and the prisoner was subsequently secured, and committed to Horsemonger-lane gaol.

The prisoner was indicted at the ensuing assizes, when the offence having been brought home to him by the witnesses for the prosecution, he was called on for his defence. He then addressed the Court as follows:--

"I beg leave to assure your lordship that I never bore Mr. Chivers any malice whatever. On Saturday morning I had been employed in digging some ground, and with my spade in my hand I went to the green-house to give it some air, and there I left my spade. I then went for some refreshment, at eleven o'clock in the morning, as was usual, and, on going into the kitchen, I saw the footman, of whom I asked how long it was since Mr. Chivers went out. I went into the garden, and to the green-house, into which I let a little more air, and, with my spade in my hand, I looked at a vine. I saw Mr. Chivers, told him that I had finished my digging, and said I was very sorry to have left so good a place, and now to be turned off. A few words passed between Mr. Chivers and me; and the last expression he used was, 'You scoundrel, I will break your skull.' He shook his cane over me; he made an attempt to strike at me, when I, turning aside, escaped; he again endeavoured to strike, and I avoided the blow. After this he followed me up with his cane, and I then had, as I before said, a spade in my hand. I raised the spade, and to my surprise struck him.

"Immediately afterwards I went into the green-house, with the full intention of taking away my own life, but I had not sufficient courage to do it. I then went into the kitchen, and called Henry, who said 'What is the matter?' and I replied, 'Good Lord, I have struck my master, and he fell!' I went out towards Clapham, and the first persons I saw were a butler and a gardener. I went to the garden of Mr. Robert Thornton, and asked for Mr. Dixon, who is one of the gardeners. They said he was cutting a vine; but they went to him, and Mr. Dixon sent me word that I might come to him. I then informed Mr. Dixon of what had happened, and upon his advice surrendered myself into custody."

Witnesses having been called, who gave the prisoner an excellent character, the jury found him guilty, and he was sentenced to be executed on the following Monday in the usual form. He was, however, twice respited, and eventually ordered to be transported for life.

JOHN HOLLOWAY AND OWEN HAGGERTY,

EXECUTED FOR MURDER.

The fatal accident which happened on the spot and at the moment of the execution of these men, by which more than forty people lost their lives, and many more were terribly bruised, will cause their memory, as well as their crimes, to remain a dreadful warning to many generations. Their whole case was attended with singular and awful circumstances. Of their guilt many entertained doubts, which are not yet entirely removed, although no further discovery has been made respecting the horrid deed; and as lately as the year 1813, a man named Ward was indicted for the same murder, but acquitted. Their conviction rested, certainly, upon the evidence of a wretch as base as themselves, who stated himself to have been their accomplice; but the public indignation against them was excited to such a pitch, that it is scarcely to be wondered at that a jury pronounced them guilty.

On the 6th of November, 1802, Mr. John Cole Steele, who kept the Lavender Warehouse in Catharine-street, Strand, was murdered, with much barbarity, on Hounslow Heath, and his pockets rifled of their contents. The murderers escaped; and, though rewards were offered for their apprehension, no discovery was made.

Every search had been made by the officers of the police after them; several loose characters had been apprehended on suspicion, but discharged on examination; and all hopes had been given up of tracing the murderers, when a circumstance occurred, about four years afterwards, which led to the apprehension of John Holloway and Owen Haggerty.--A man of the name of Benjamin Hanfield, who had been convicted, at the Old Bailey, of grand larceny, in stealing a pair of shoes, was sentenced to seven years' transportation, and was conveyed on board a hulk at Portsmouth, to await his departure for New South Wales; but having been taken with a severe illness, and being tortured in his mind by the apparent recollection of a murder, about which he constantly raved, he said he wished to make a discovery before he died. A messenger was immediately despatched to the police magistrates at Bow-street, to communicate the circumstance, and an officer was sent to bring him before them. When he was brought on shore, they were obliged to wait several days, during which his illness would not permit his removal. On his arrival in town, he made a full disclosure of the circumstances attending the murder of Mr. Steele, and the magistrates having sent him, in custody of an officer, to Hounslow Heath, he there pointed out the fatal spot where the murder was perpetrated. As his evidence implicated Haggerty and Holloway, measures were taken to apprehend them, and, after a long search, they were taken into custody. Several private examinations of all the parties took place. Hanfield was admitted king's evidence, and the public once more cherished a hope that the murderers would meet the punishment they deserved.

Monday, February 9, 1807, being the day appointed for the final examination of the prisoners, they were brought before Mr. Moser, at Worship-street Police-office.

There was a great body of evidence adduced, none of which tended materially to criminate the prisoners, except that of Hanfield, the accomplice, who, under the promise of pardon, had turned king's evidence. The prisoners denied having any knowledge whatever of the crime laid to their charge, and heartily hoped that punishment would come to the guilty; but, the magistrates, after maturely considering the whole of the proofs adduced, thought proper to commit them for trial at the next sessions at the Old Bailey, and bound over no less than twenty-four persons to appear and give evidence on the trial.

Such was the eager curiosity of the public to know the issue of this trial, which came on February 20, before Sir Simon Le Blanc, knight, that the whole Court and area of the Old Bailey were greatly crowded.--When put to the bar, Holloway appeared to be about forty years of age, of great muscular strength, tall, and of savage, brutal, and ferocious countenance, with large thick lips, depressed nose, and high cheek bones. Haggerty was a small man, twenty-four years of age.

Evidence was then adduced to show, that Mr. Steele, besides his residence in Catherine-street, had a house and grounds at Feltham, where he cultivated lavender and distilled it for sale in London. On the 5th of November, 1802, he left Catherine-street, giving his family to understand that he should return on the following evening, and on the same night he arrived at Feltham. On the next afternoon (Saturday) he quitted Feltham at about seven o'clock, on his way back to London, but he was never seen alive by any member of his family afterwards. His continued absence creating alarm, some persons were employed to search for him, and at length his body was found lying at the bottom of a ditch, near a clump of trees, at a short distance from the barracks on Hounslow Heath. From the wounds which appeared about his person, it was evident that his death had been caused by violence, and Mr. Frogley, a surgeon, being called in, it was found that his skull was severely fractured, and that he was otherwise wounded in a most dreadful manner. It was found also that he had been robbed of any money which he might have had about him, as well as of his hat and boots: an old pair of shoes and a common felt hat being left in their stead, close to the spot where the body was found. Notwithstanding the most strenuous exertions were subsequently made by the police to discover the perpetrators of this most barbarous murder, no trace was found until the confession of the accomplice Hanfield, when Vickery, the officer, was despatched to Portsmouth to bring that person to London. On his way over Hounslow Heath, he pointed out the exact spot where the body was found, as that at which the murder was perpetrated, and in consequence of his information Holloway was apprehended at Brentford, during the election, and Haggerty was taken into custody on board the Shannon frigate, in the Channel, where he was serving as a marine. They were both taken to the police-office and confronted, but they denied all knowledge of each other, and of Hanfield, and they both gave accounts of themselves as to their condition and situation at the time of the murder, which, however, turned out to be untrue. While confined in the lock-up, attached to the office, Bishop, the officer, secreted himself in the privy adjoining, where he could hear all their conversation, and he heard them make use of expressions, which left no doubt of their being acquainted, or of their having been at Hounslow on the night of the murder.

The king's pardon, under the great seal, to Hanfield _alias_ Enfield, remitting his sentence of transportation for seven years, for a larceny of which he had been convicted, and restoring him to his competency as a witness, having then been read, that witness was called, and made the following statement on oath:--"I have known Haggerty eight or nine years, and Holloway six or seven. We were accustomed to meet at the Black Horse, and Turk's Head, public-houses, in Dyot-street. I was in their company in the month of November 1802. Holloway, just before the murder, called me out from the Turk's Head, and asked me if I had any objection to be in a good thing? I replied I had not. He said it was a '_Low Toby_' meaning it was a footpad robbery. I asked when and where, and he said he would let me know. We parted, and two days after we met again, and Saturday, the 6th of November, was appointed. I asked who was to go with us? He replied that Haggerty had agreed to make one. We all three met on the Saturday at the Black Horse, when Holloway said, 'Our business is to _sarve_ a gentleman on Hounslow Heath, who, I understand, travels that road with property.' We then drank for about three or four hours, and about the middle of the day we set off for Hounslow. We stopped at the Bell public-house, and took some porter. We proceeded from thence upon the road towards Belfont, and expressed our hope that we should get a good booty. We stopped near the eleventh mile-stone, and secreted ourselves in a clump of trees. While there, the moon got up, and Holloway said we had come too soon. After loitering about a considerable time, Holloway said he heard a footstep, and we proceeded towards Belfont. We presently saw a man coming towards us, and, on approaching him, we ordered him to stop, which he immediately did. Holloway went round him, and told him to deliver. He said we should have his money, and hoped we would not ill-use him. The deceased put his hand in his pocket, and gave Haggerty his money. I demanded his pocket-book. He replied that he had none.--Holloway insisted that he had a book, and if he did not deliver it he would knock him down. I then laid hold of his legs. Holloway stood at his head, and said if he cried out he would knock out his brains. The deceased again said he hoped we would not ill-use him. Haggerty proceeded to search him, when the deceased made some resistance, and struggled so much, that we got across the road. He cried out severely; and, as a carriage was coming up, Holloway said, with a terrible oath, 'Take care, I will silence him;' and immediately struck him several violent blows on the head and body. The deceased heaved a deep groan, and stretched himself out lifeless. I felt alarmed, and said, 'John, you have killed the man.' Holloway replied that it was a lie, for he was only stunned. I said I would stay no longer, and immediately set off towards London, leaving Holloway and Haggerty with the body. I came to Hounslow, and stopped at the end of the town for near an hour. Holloway and Haggerty then came up, and said they had done the trick, and as a token, put the deceased's hat into my hand.--The hat Holloway went down in was like a soldier's hat. I told Holloway it was a cruel piece of business, and that I was sorry I had any hand in it. We all turned down a lane, and returned to London. As we came along I asked Holloway if he had got the pocket-book. He replied it was no matter, for, as I had refused to share the danger, I should not share the booty. We came to the Black Horse in Dyot-street, had half a pint of gin, and parted. Haggerty went down in shoes, but I don't know if he came back in them. The next day I observed Holloway had a hat upon his head which was too small for him. I asked him if it was the same he got the preceding night. He said it was. We met again on the Monday, when I told Holloway that he acted imprudently in wearing the hat, as it might lead to a discovery. He put the hat into my hand, and I observed the name of Steele in it. I repeated my fears.--At night Holloway brought the hat in a handkerchief, and we went to Westminster-bridge, filled the hat with stones, and, having tied the lining over it, threw it into the Thames."

The witness, being cross-examined by the counsel for the prisoners, said he had made no other minutes of the transactions he had been detailing than what his conscience took cognisance of. It was accident that led to this disclosure. He was talking with other prisoners in Newgate of particular robberies that had taken place; and the Hounslow robbery and murder being stated amongst others, he inadvertently said, that there were only three persons who knew of that transaction. The remark was circulated and observed upon, and a rumour ran through the prison that he was about to turn "_nose_" and he was obliged to hold his tongue, lest he should be ill-used.--When at Portsmouth, on board the hulks, the compunctions of conscience came upon him, and he was obliged to dissipate his thoughts by drinking, to prevent him from divulging all he knew. He admitted that he had led a vicious life, that he had been concerned in several robberies, and had entered and deserted from several regiments. He had served in the East and West London militias, had enlisted into the ninth and fourteenth light dragoons, and had been in the army of reserve. He added that he was ashamed and sorry at what he had been, and would endeavour to mend his life in future.

Evidence, in corroboration of his statement, with regard to the hat and boots fitting Holloway, was also given by Mr. Steele's tradespeople, and the prosecution being closed, the prisoners were called upon to make their defence.

Haggerty protested that he was completely innocent of the charge, and was totally unacquainted with the witness, Hanfield. He denied ever having been at Hounslow, and endeavoured to point out some inconsistencies in the evidence which had been adduced.

Holloway declared that he was equally innocent; but admitted that he had been at Hounslow more than once; and that he might have been in the company of the prisoner Haggerty and Hanfield, although he said that he was not acquainted with either of them.

Mr. Justice Le Blanc summed up the evidence in a very clear and perspicuous manner, and the jury having retired for about a quarter of an hour, returned with a verdict of Guilty against both the prisoners.

The recorder immediately passed sentence in the most solemn and impressive manner, and the unhappy men were ordered for execution on the following Monday morning, February the 23rd, 1807.

They went from the bar reiterating protestations of their innocence, and apparently careless of the miserable and ignominious fate that awaited them.

After conviction Haggerty and Holloway conducted themselves with the most decided indifference. On Saturday, February 21, the cell-door, No. 1, in which they were both confined, was opened about half-past two. They were reading in two prayer-books by candle-light, as the cell was very dark. On Sunday, neither of them attended the condemned sermon, and several magistrates interrogated them; but they still persisted in their innocence.

During the whole of Sunday night the convicts were engaged in prayer. They never slept, but broke the awful stillness of midnight by frequent reciprocal protestations of innocence. At five they were called, dressed, and shaved, and about seven were brought into the press-yard. There was some difficulty in knocking off the irons of Haggerty, and he voluntarily assisted, though he seemed much dejected. A message was then delivered to the sheriffs, that Holloway wanted to speak with them in private. This excited very sanguine expectations of confession; but the sheriffs, on their return, intimated to the gentlemen in the press-yard, that Holloway wanted to address them publicly; and therefore requested they would form themselves into a circle, from the centre of which Holloway delivered, in the most solemn manner, the following energetic address:--"Gentlemen, I am quite innocent of this affair. I never was with Hanfield, nor do I know the spot. I will kneel and swear it." He then knelt down and imprecated curses on his head if he were guilty, and he concluded by saying, "By God, I am innocent."

Owen Haggerty first ascended the scaffold. His arms were pinioned, and the halter had been already placed round his neck: he wore a white cap, and a light olive shag great-coat: he looked downwards, and was silent. He was attended by a Roman Catholic clergyman, who read to him, and to whom the unfortunate culprit seemed to pay great attention; he made no public acknowledgment of guilt. After the executioner had tied the fatal noose, he brought up Holloway, who wore a smock frock and jacket, as it had been stated by the approver that he did at the time of the murder: he had also a white cap on, was pinioned, and had a halter round his neck: he had his hat in his hand; and mounting the scaffold, he jumped and made an awkward bow, and said, "I am innocent, innocent, by God!" He then turned round, and, bowing, made use of the same expressions, "Innocent, innocent, innocent! Gentlemen!--No verdict! No verdict! No verdict! Gentlemen. Innocent! innocent!" At this moment, and while in the act of saying something more, the executioner proceeded to do his office, by placing the cap over his face; to which he, with apparent reluctance, complied; at the same time uttering some words which were not heard. As soon as the rope was fixed round his neck, he continued quiet. He was attended in his devotions by an assistant at Rowland Hill's Chapel.

The last that mounted the scaffold was Elizabeth Godfrey. She had been a woman of the town, aged 34, and had been capitally convicted of the wilful murder of Richard Prince, in Mary-le-bone parish, on the 25th of December 1806, by giving him a mortal wound with a pocket-knife in the left eye, of which wound he languished and died. Immediately on receiving sentence, this woman's firmness and recollection seemed to fail her, and she appeared bordering upon a state of frenzy. At the place of execution she was dressed in white, with a close cap, and long sleeves, and was attended by the Rev. Mr. Ford, the Ordinary of Newgate; but her feelings appeared to be so much overpowered, that notwithstanding she bore the appearance of resignation in her countenance, her whole frame was so shaken by the terror of her situation, that she was incapable of any actual devotion.

They were all launched off together, at about a quarter after eight. It was a long time before the body of the poor female seemed to have gone through its last suffering.

The crowd which assembled to witness this execution was unparalleled, being, according to the best calculation, near 40,000; and the fatal catastrophe, which happened in consequence, will cause the day long to be remembered. By eight o'clock, not an inch of ground was unoccupied in view of the platform, and the pressure of the crowd was so great, that before the malefactors appeared, numbers of persons were crying out in vain to escape from it. The attempt only tended to increase the confusion, and several females of low stature, who had been so imprudent as to venture among the mob, were in a dismal situation: their cries were dreadful. Some, who could be no longer supported by the men, were suffered to fall, and were trampled to death, and this was also the case with several boys. In all parts there were continual cries of "Murder! murder!" particularly from the female part of the spectators and children, some of whom were seen expiring without the possibility of obtaining the least assistance, every one being employed in endeavours to preserve his own life. The most affecting scene of distress was seen at Green Arbour Lane, nearly opposite the Debtor's-door. The terrible occurrence which took place near this spot was attributed to the circumstance of two pie-men attending there to dispose of their pies, and it appears that one of them having his basket overthrown, which stood upon a sort of stool upon four legs, some of the mob, not being aware of what had happened, and at the same time being severely pressed, fell over the basket and the man, at the moment he was picking it up, together with its contents. Those who fell were never more suffered to rise, and were soon numbered with the dead.

At this fatal place a man of the name of Herrington was thrown down, who had in his hand his youngest son, a fine boy, about twelve years of age. The youth was soon trampled to death; but the father recovered, though much bruised, and was amongst the wounded in St. Bartholomew's Hospital. A woman, who was so imprudent as to bring with her a child at the breast, was one of the number killed: whilst in the act of falling, she forced the child into the arms of the man nearest to her, requesting him, for God's sake, to save its life; but the man, finding it required all his exertions to preserve himself, threw the infant from him. It was fortunately caught at a distance by another man, who, finding it difficult to ensure its safety or his own, got rid of it in a similar way. The child was then again caught by a person, who contrived to struggle with it to a cart, under which he deposited it until the danger was over, and the mob had dispersed.

In other parts, the pressure was so great that a horrible scene of confusion ensued, and seven persons lost their lives by suffocation alone. A cart which was overloaded with spectators broke down, and some of the persons falling from the vehicle, were trampled under foot and never recovered.

During the hour for which the malefactors hung, little assistance could be afforded to the unhappy sufferers; but after the bodies were cut down, and the gallows removed to the Old Bailey yard, the marshals and constables cleared the street, and then, shocking to relate, there lay near one hundred persons dead, or in a state of insensibility, strewed round the street. Twenty-seven dead bodies were taken to St. Bartholomew's Hospital; four to St. Sepulchre's church; one to the Swan on Snow-hill, one to a public-house opposite St. Andrew's church, Holborn; one, an apprentice, to his master's, Mr. Broadwood, pianoforte maker, Golden-square; a mother was seen carrying away the body of her dead boy; and the body of Mr. Harrison, a respectable gentleman, was taken to his house at Holloway. There was a sailor-boy killed opposite Newgate by suffocation: he carried a small bag, in which he had some bread and cheese, from which it was concluded that he had come some distance to witness the execution.

After the dead, dying, and wounded, were carried away, there was a cart-load of shoes, hats, petticoats, and other articles of wearing apparel, picked up. Until four o'clock in the afternoon, most of the surrounding houses contained some persons in a wounded state, who were afterwards taken away by their friends on shutters, or in hackney-coaches. The doors of St. Bartholomew's Hospital were closed against the populace, until after the bodies of the dead were stripped and washed. They were ranged round a ward on the first floor, on the women's side, and were placed on the floor with sheets over them, and their clothes put as pillows under their heads: their faces were uncovered: and a rail was placed along the centre of the room. The persons who were admitted to see the shocking spectacle went up on one side, and returned on the other. Until two o'clock in the morning, the entrances to the hospital were beset with persons anxiously seeking for their lost relatives and friends.

Seldom had such a scene of distress and misery presented itself in this metropolis. When the gates were opened, a great concourse was admitted; and when the yard was full, the gates were again closed, until the first visitors returned from the scene of woe: as soon as any of the deceased were recognised, the body was either put into a shell or the face covered over, with the name of the party written on a paper, and pinned over the body.

The next day (Tuesday) a coroner's inquest sat in St. Bartholomew's Hospital, and other places where the bodies were, on the remains of the sufferers. Several witnesses were examined with respect to the circumstances of the accident; and on Friday, when the inquest terminated, the verdict was, "That the several persons came by their death from compression and suffocation."

GEORGE ALLEN.

EXECUTED FOR THE MURDER OF HIS THREE CHILDREN.

There can be little doubt that the horrid offence committed by this wretched man was prompted by insanity; and it is surprising that a jury should have found him guilty of the crime imputed to him, without declaring this to be their opinion.

It appeared on his trial, which took place at Stafford in the month of March 1807, that on the evening of the 12th of January, he retired to rest with his wife, and that in about an hour the latter was awoke by her finding her husband sitting upright in bed, smoking a pipe. In another bed in the same room lay three of his infant children asleep, the eldest boy about ten years old, the second, a girl, about six, and another boy about three, and Mrs. Allen also had an infant at her breast. On his perceiving his wife to be awake, the prisoner demanded to know "what other man she had in the house with her;" to which she answered "that there was no man there but himself." He, however, insisted to the contrary, and jumped out of bed, and ran down stairs. His wife followed him; but he returned, and meeting her on the stairs, bade her go back. He then went to the bed where his children were, and turned down the clothes. On her endeavouring to hold him, he told her "to let him alone, or he would serve her the same sauce," and immediately attempted to cut her throat, in which he partly succeeded, and also wounded her right breast; but a handkerchief she wore about her head and neck prevented the wound from being fatal. She then extricated herself (having the babe in her arms all the time, which she preserved unhurt), and jumped, or rather fell, down stairs; but before she could well rise from the ground, one of the children (the girl) fell at her feet, with its head nearly cut off, which her wretched husband had murdered and thrown after her. The woman opened the door, and screamed out "that her husband was cutting off their children's heads;" and a neighbour shortly came to her assistance; and a light having been procured, the monster was found standing in the middle of the house-place, with a razor in his hand. He was asked what he had been doing; when he replied coolly, "Nothing yet; I have only killed three of them." On their going up stairs, a most dreadful spectacle presented itself: the head of one of the boys was very nearly severed from his body, and the bellies of both were partly cut and partly ripped open, and the bowels torn completely out and thrown on the floor. Allen made no attempt to escape, and was taken without resistance. He said that it was his intention to murder his wife and all her children, and then to have put an end to himself. He also declared that he meant to have murdered an old woman who lay bed-ridden in the same house.

An inquest was subsequently held on the bodies of the three children, before Mr. Hand, coroner, of Uttoxeter, when the miserable man confessed his guilt, but without expressing any contrition. He promised also to confess something that had lain heavily on his mind; and Mr. Hand, supposing it might relate to a crime he had before committed, caused him to be examined in the presence of other gentlemen, when he told an incoherent story of a ghost, in the shape of a horse, having about four years before enticed him into a stable, where it drew blood from him, and then flew into the sky. With respect to the murder of his children, he observed to the coroner, with apparent unconcern, that he supposed "it was as bad a case as ever he heard of."

The horrid circumstances of these murders having been fully proved, he was convicted, and suffered the final sentence of the law at Stafford, March 30th 1807.

MARTHA ALDEN.

EXECUTED FOR THE MURDER OF HER HUSBAND.

Of the numerous instances which we have already adduced, wherein women have committed that very worst of all crimes, the murder of their husbands, perhaps no case has been attended with more malice, art, and cruelty, than that of Martha Alden.

Her trial for this offence came on at the Summer Assizes for the county of Norfolk, in the year 1807.

From the evidence adduced, it appeared that the deceased was a labouring man of rather diminutive stature, and lived with the prisoner in a small cottage near Attleburgh, in Norfolk. On the night of Saturday the 13th of July, the deceased and his wife were in company with a man named Draper at the White Horse public-house, Attleburgh, drinking together, and about ten o'clock the prisoner went away, saying she should go home. At twelve o'clock Draper conducted Alden, who was slightly intoxicated, to his own door, and left him there with the prisoner. In the morning, at about three o'clock, a man named Hill was passing the prisoner's house on his way to see a relation at about ten miles off, when the prisoner accosted him, saying that "She could not think what smart young man it was going down the common." A short conversation ensued, in which the prisoner said that "she had not returned long from the town, where she had been drinking with her husband and Draper, and that her husband had then gone, she did not know where, but that she thought he had gone to a brother of his, who lived in Essex." It was remarked by Hill, "that he knew that Alden had let himself to Mr. Parson for the harvest," to which the prisoner assented, but said that she knew he would never come back, and that if he got a job he would never settle to it. Between six and seven o'clock the prisoner was met in the road by Mr. Parson, a farmer, accompanied by a young woman named Orrice, when she said that she had lost her husband, and expressing herself very unhappy about him, declared her belief that he was either murdered or drowned, and on the following morning she was again seen by the same person, when she said that she had walked above thirty miles in search of him, but could not find him. On the Monday evening the prisoner borrowed a spade from a neighbour named Leeder, with an alleged intention of mending her hedge, which had been destroyed by pigs, which had got in and rooted up her potatoes; and one having been lent to her, she went away, and was afterwards seen at work in the ditch surrounding her garden. Up to this time no traces of her husband had been discovered; but on Tuesday night Mrs. Leeder went to a pond on the common to look for some ducks, which she had missed, and having found them, she was on her way home, when she remarked something in a large pit or pond, which lay in her path. She went to the edge of the pond, and touched the object with a stick, and it sank and rose again; but although the moon shone, she could not distinguish what it was, and she went home. Her curiosity, however, having been raised, she returned to the spot on the following morning, and then she again touched the substance with a stick, on which it turned over, and to her terror, she saw two hands appear, the arms being clothed in a shirt, which was stained with blood. The alarm was immediately given, and the body being taken out, it proved to be that of the prisoner's husband. It was covered only with an old coat, with a slop or shirt over it, and the head appeared to be dreadfully mangled. The face was much chopped, and the head nearly cut off, and other injuries were inflicted, which could not have been done by the unfortunate deceased himself. The body was immediately conveyed in a cart to the house of the prisoner, who was taken into custody. On her house being examined, the bedding and bed were found to be smeared with blood, and the walls of the bed-room bore marks of their having been spattered with the same fluid, but partly washed. Two sacks, also bloody, were discovered concealed under a peat-stack, and from a dark cupboard was produced a bill-hook with which the foul deed was evidently perpetrated, and from which the blood had been only partially removed. On the garden being searched, a species of grave was found to have been dug about forty yards from the house, and at the spot where the prisoner had been seen at work, sufficiently broad and long to receive the body of the deceased, but only about eighteen inches deep. In addition, however, to these facts, the testimony of the girl Orrice, whose name had been already mentioned, was procured.

She stated that she had been acquainted with the prisoner a good while, and had frequently been at her house. On Sunday (the 19th) the prisoner asked her to go with her to her house; and when she got there, the prisoner said to her, "I have killed my husband;" and, taking her into the bed-room, showed her the body lying on the bed, quite dead, with the wounds as before described: her account of the state and appearance of the room perfectly coincided with the descriptions of the former witnesses; she also saw a hook lying on the floor all bloody: when the hook was shown to her in court, she said it was the very same she had then seen. The prisoner then produced a common corn-sack, and, at her request, the witness held it whilst the prisoner put the body into it; the prisoner then carried the body from the bed-room, through the passage and kitchen, out of the house, across the road to the ditch surrounding the garden, and left it there, after throwing some mould over it. The witness then left the prisoner, and went to Larling; and the prisoner slept that night at the witness's father's house. On the following night, between nine and ten o'clock, the witness was again in company with the prisoner, and saw her remove the body of her husband from the ditch of the garden to the pit on the common, dragging it herself along the ground in the sack; and, when arrived at the pit, the prisoner shot the body into it out of the sack, which she afterwards carried away with her: the deceased had a shirt and slop on. The prisoner said nothing to her at the time, and she went home. The next morning (Tuesday) the witness went to the prisoner's house, and assisted in cleaning it up, taking some warm water, and washing and scraping the wall next the bed. The prisoner took up some loose straw, and told the witness she would carry and throw it into Mr. Parson's ditch, because it was bloody. The prisoner bade the witness to be sure not to say a word about the matter; for, if she did, she (the witness) would certainly be hanged. Upon being questioned to that effect by the judge, this witness further stated that she had told the story to her father on the Tuesday night, and to nobody else.

On his lordship asking the prisoner what she had to say in her defence, she told an incoherent story, which, however, as far as it was at all intelligible, seemed rather to aim at making the testimony of the last witness appear contradictory and suspicious, and to implicate her in the guilt of the transaction, than to deny the general charges which had been adduced against herself.

The learned judge then summed up the evidence in a very full and able manner, and the jury returned a verdict of Guilty.

The prisoner was immediately sentenced to death. Her behaviour subsequently was becoming the awful situation in which she was placed. She confessed the justice of her conviction, and admitted that she had murdered her husband with the bill-hook. She declared, however, that it was not the result of premeditated malice, but that her husband having threatened to beat her, the thought came into her head when he lay down to go to sleep.

She was drawn on a hurdle to the place of execution on the Castle-hill, on the 31st of July 1807, and there underwent the punishment of death pursuant to her sentence.

JOHN PALMER.

EXECUTED FOR BURGLARY.

This prisoner, although at the time of his execution he was only twenty-three years of age, was, nevertheless, an old offender, and richly merited the fate which befel him.

He was indicted at the Old Bailey sessions, in September 1808, for having, on the 8th of the same month, feloniously assaulted William Waller; and for having with a certain sharp instrument, which he held in his right hand, stabbed and cut him in and upon his head, with intent in so doing to kill and murder him. In another indictment he was charged with burglariously breaking and entering the dwelling-house of Henry Kimpton, with intent to steal, and stealing therein a pair of snuffers.

The facts which were proved in evidence were, that the house in question was situated at No. 20, Manchester-square, and that, being furnished and unoccupied, Waller was placed in it, to take care of it, by Mr. Kimpton, who was an auctioneer. On the 8th of September, at about four o'clock in the afternoon, Waller went out, having previously carefully shut up the doors and windows of the house, and he did not return until near twelve o'clock at night. He then found the house, to all appearance, undisturbed; but upon his going up to the room in which he slept, which was on the garret floor, he perceived that his bed was in disorder. He was in the act of turning round to ascertain whether any person was in the adjoining apartment, when he was suddenly seized from behind by a man, whom he presently saw was the prisoner. He cried, "Lord have mercy upon me;" but the prisoner said, "Do not speak a word; lie down on the bed, that is all you have to do;" and then pushing him, threw him on his face on his bed. At this moment a second man, whom the prisoner called Joseph, made his appearance, and Waller attempting to offer some resistance, they threatened him with instant death. He, however, continued to struggle; and having at length, extricated himself from the grasp of the prisoner, he was running towards the window to give an alarm, when he was suddenly felled to the ground by a tremendous blow on the head from an iron crowbar. He managed to rise and open the window, and cry "murder," but he was again violently assailed; but then the people below having called to him to go down and open the door, he managed to escape, and run down into the passage. He was pursued by the prisoner, whom however he missed on his reaching the ground floor; and he was employed in opening the street door, when the people without, who had been alarmed by his cries, suddenly burst it in upon him, and knocked him down. At this moment the prisoner was seen to ascend the area steps, and to jump over the gate into the street, and being seized, he declared that he belonged to the house, and that they were trying to murder the man up stairs; but Waller was by this time sufficiently recovered to recognise him, and having informed the mob, which had by this time assembled, that he was the person by whom he had been so violently attacked, he was handed over to the custody of a watchman. All search after his companion having proved fruitless, the prisoner was carried to the watch-house, and then on his being searched, a phosphorus box with matches was found in his possession, and a paper bearing the following memorandum:--"No 13, Edward-street, and a house in Harley-street; No. 30, Oxford-street, and No. 20, Manchester-square---- done." A pair of snuffers, which was proved to have been taken from Mr. Kimpton's house, was also taken from him, besides a large bunch of picklock and skeleton keys.

The prisoner, when called on for his defence, denied that he was the person who had escaped from the house, and declared that having come up with the crowd upon hearing the outcry, he had picked up the snuffers and keys, which were found upon him. He said that he had served in the navy, and had only returned seven months from the Mediterranean station, where he had been a seaman on board the Lion, Captain Rolles.

His protestations of innocence were, however, vain, and the jury returned a verdict of Guilty on both indictments.

Sentence of death was subsequently passed in the usual form; and of all those prisoners who by their crimes subjected themselves to condign punishment, and who were tried at these sessions, Palmer was the only one who was ordered for execution. In the course of the time which intervened between his conviction and the termination of his career, he gave evident proofs of his wicked disposition, and of the justice with which he was selected as the object upon whom capital punishment should be inflicted.

A few weeks before his execution he formed a plan of escape, which, had it been fully carried out, would have involved him in the additional guilt of murder. Finding it necessary to procure the aid of a fellow-prisoner, he selected a fellow who was also under sentence of death, to whom he communicated his project, and he at once consented to participate in his danger, in the hope of sharing in his success. It was arranged that the plot should be put into execution on the Sunday following. Palmer and his associate having then excused themselves from attending chapel, whither the other prisoners and the principal turnkeys would have gone, on the score of illness, they were to attack the gaoler, whose duty it would be to attend upon them, and having deprived him of life and possessed themselves of his keys, they were to make the best of their way to the outer gate. Here they were aware that they should meet with another gaoler; but having overcome him by threats or by main force, they were to secure their escape to the street, where their friends would be in attendance to receive them. In order to further their design, Palmer had already furnished himself with spring saws, to remove their irons; and rope ladders had also been provided, to be used in case of any further impediment presenting itself to them, and by which they would be able to scale the walls.

So far as its arrangement, the plot had gone on with perfect success, when Palmer's companion, being conscience-stricken at the crime which was contemplated, communicated all that had been determined on to Mr. Newman, the keeper of the prison, and proper means were in consequence taken for the security of the prisoners.

Palmer finding himself thus foiled in his object, which he had entertained sanguine hopes that he should have been able to accomplish, now proceeded to apply himself to those duties which he had hitherto neglected. As the period approached for his execution, he expressed himself anxious that the time allowed him for preparation should be prolonged; but his wish being conveyed to the Government by Mr. Sheriff Hunter, it was determined that it could not be acceded to, and the law was directed to take its course.

Wednesday, 23rd of November, 1808, having been fixed for the termination of his life, on that morning his sentence was carried out. On his way to the scaffold he was attended by Dr. Ford, the ordinary of the jail, to whom he confessed the justice of his punishment. He appeared to be perfectly resigned to his fate, and expressed a hope that his death would be an example to others. In order to atone for his own errors, he made a full confession of every robbery and burglary in which he had been concerned, and gave many particulars of the practices and haunts of thieves, which subsequently proved extremely useful to the police. When on the scaffold, he attempted to address the mob; but his speech failed him, and his eyes having been covered with a silk handkerchief at his own request, the drop fell at the usual signal, and in a few minutes he ceased to live.

THOMAS SIMMONS.

EXECUTED FOR MURDER.

The offence of this miscreant was of a most horribly atrocious nature.

It appears that he was the son of poor parents, but being thought to be a likely lad, he was taken into the service of a Mr. Boreham, who lived at Hoddesden, at an early period of his life. He continued in this situation for several years; but on his reaching the age of nineteen years, he was dismissed on account of his brutal ferocity of disposition, which had displayed itself on various occasions. He had, it appears, paid his addresses to Elizabeth Harris, the servant in the house, who was many years older than he; but, by the advice of her mistress, the woman declined having anything to say to him. In consequence of this circumstance, the villain vowed vengeance against the servant and her mistress, and on the afternoon of the 20th of October, 1807, he proceeded to his late master's to satisfy his revenge in a manner most horrible and atrocious. There were at the time of his going to the house, Mr. and Mrs. Boreham and their four daughters in the building, besides a Mrs. Hummerstone and the servant, Elizabeth Harris. About a quarter past nine at night, the party sitting in the parlour was alarmed by hearing a loud noise of voices at the back part of the house, and upon listening they heard Simmons disputing with the servant, and demanding admittance. This was, however, refused, and presently afterwards the former plunged his hand, armed with a knife, through the lattice-window, and attempted to stab the girl, but without success. Mrs. Hummerstone on this went to the scullery, from which the noise proceeded, and opening the door, found that Simmons had penetrated through the farm-yard, and was within the stone-yard. On her opening the door, he suddenly rushed at her, and with his knife stabbed her in the jugular artery, and, pulling the knife forward, laid open her throat on the left side. She ran forward, as is supposed for the purpose of alarming the neighbourhood, but fell, and rose no more.

The murderer then pursued his sanguinary purpose, and rushing into the parlour, raised and brandished his bloody knife, swearing a dreadful oath, that "he would give it them all." Mrs. Warner, Mr. Boreham's eldest daughter, was the person next him; and, without allowing her time to rise from her chair, he gave her so many stabs in the jugular vein, and about her neck and breast, that she fell from her chair, covered with streams of blood, and expired. Fortunately Miss Anne Boreham had gone up stairs, directly before the commencement of this horrid business; and her sisters, Elizabeth and Sarah, terrified at the horrors they saw, ran up stairs too, for safety.