murder having been committed being undoubted, every means was taken to
secure the discovery of its perpetrators. The magistrates, with this
view, directed that the head should be washed clean, and the hair
combed; after which it was put on a pole in the churchyard of St.
Margaret, Westminster, that an opportunity might be afforded for its
being viewed by the public[4]. Thousands went to witness this
extraordinary spectacle; and there were not wanting those among the
crowd, who expressed their belief among themselves, that the head
belonged to Hayes. Their suspicions were mentioned by some of them to
Billings, but he ridiculed the notion, and declared that Hayes was well,
and was gone out of town only for a few days. When the head had been
exhibited during four days, it was deemed expedient that measures should
be taken to preserve it; and Mr. Westbrook, a chemist, in consequence,
received directions to put it into spirits. Mrs. Hayes soon afterwards
changed her lodgings, and took the woman Springate with her, paying the
rent which she owed, Wood and Billings also accompanying her; and her
chief occupation now was that of collecting the debts due to her
husband; by means of which she continued to supply her diabolical
assistants with money and clothes. Amongst the incredible numbers of
people who resorted to see the head was a poor woman from Kingsland,
whose husband had been absent from the very time that the murder was
perpetrated. After a minute survey of the head, she believed it to be
that of her husband, though she could not be absolutely positive, but
her suspicions were so strong, that strict search was made after the
body, on a presumption that the clothes might help her to ascertain it.
Meanwhile, Mr. Hayes not being visible for a considerable time, his
friends could not help making inquiry after him; and a Mr. Ashby, in
particular, who had been on the most friendly terms with him, called on
Mrs. Hayes, and demanded what had become of her husband? Catherine
pretended to account for his absence by communicating the following
intelligence, as a matter that must be kept profoundly secret:--"Some
time ago," said she, "he happened to have a dispute with a man, and from
words they came to blows, so that Mr. Hayes killed him. The wife of the
deceased made up the affair, on Mr. Hayes's promising to pay her a
certain annual allowance; but he not being able to make it good, she
threatened to inform against him, on which he has absconded." This story
was, however, by no means satisfactory to Mr. Ashby, who asked her if
the head that had been exposed on the pole was that of the man who had
been killed by her husband? She readily answered in the negative, adding
that the party had been buried entire; and that the widow had her
husband's bond for the payment of fifteen pounds a year. Ashby inquired
to what part of the world Mr. Hayes was gone; and she said to Portugal,
in company with some gentlemen; but she had yet received no letter from
him. The whole of this detail seeming highly improbable to Mr. Ashby,
he went to Mr. Longmore, a gentleman nearly related to Hayes; and it was
agreed between them that Mr. Longmore should call on Catherine, and have
some conversation with her upon the same subject. Her story to this
gentleman differed in its details from that which she had related to Mr.
Ashby; and Mr. Eaton, also a friend of Mr. Hayes, being consulted, they
determined first to examine the head, and then, if their suspicions were
confirmed, to communicate their belief to the magistrates. Having
accordingly minutely examined the head, and come to the conclusion that
it must be that of their friend Hayes, they proceeded to Mr. Lambert, a
magistrate, who immediately issued warrants for the apprehension of Mrs.
Hayes and Mrs. Springate, as well as of Wood and Billings, and proceeded
to execute them personally. Going accordingly to the house in which they
all lived, they informed the landlord of their business, and went
immediately to the door of Mrs. Hayes' room. On the magistrate's
rapping, the woman asked, "Who is there?" and he commanded her to open
the door directly, or it should be broken open. To this she replied,
that she would open it as soon as she had put on her clothes; and she
did so in little more than a minute, when the justice ordered the
parties present to take her into custody. At this time Billings was
sitting on the side of the bed, bare-legged. Some of the parties
remaining below, to secure the prisoners, Mr. Longmore went up stairs
with the justice, and took Mrs. Springate into custody; and they were
all conducted together to the house of Mr. Lambert. This magistrate
having examined the prisoners separately for a considerable time, and
all of them positively persisting in their ignorance of anything
respecting the murder, they were severally committed for re-examination
on the following day, before Mr. Lambert and other magistrates. Mrs.
Springate was sent to the Gate-house, Billings to New Prison, and Mrs.
Hayes to Tothill-fields Bridewell. When the peace-officers, attended by
Longmore, went the next day to fetch up Catherine to her examination,
she earnestly desired to see the head; and it being thought prudent to
grant her request, she was carried to the surgeon's; and no sooner was
the head shown to her than she exclaimed, "Oh, it is my dear husband's
head! It is my dear husband's head!" She now took the glass in her arms,
and shed many tears while she embraced it. Mr. Westbrook told her that
he would take the head out of the glass, that she might have a more
perfect view of it, and be certain that it was the same; and the surgeon
doing as he had said, she seemed to be greatly affected, and having
kissed it several times, she begged to be indulged with a lock of the
hair; and on Mr. Westbrook expressing his apprehension that she had had
too much of his _blood_ already, she fell into a fit. On her recovery
she was conducted to Mr. Lambert's, to take her examination with the
other parties.
It is somewhat remarkable that it was on the morning of this day that
the body was discovered. As a gentleman and his servant were crossing
the fields at Marylebone, they observed something lying in a ditch, and,
on going nearer to it, they perceived that it was some parts of a human
body. Assistance being procured, the whole of the body was found except
the head; and information of the circumstance was conveyed to Mr.
Lambert at the very moment at which he was examining the prisoners. The
suspicions which already existed were strengthened by this circumstance,
and Mrs. Hayes was committed to Newgate for trial; the committal of
Billings and Mrs. Springate, however, being deferred until the
apprehension of Wood.
The latter soon after coming into town and riding up to Mrs. Hayes'
lodgings, was directed to go to the house of Mr. Longmore, where he was
told he would find Mrs. Hayes; but the brother of Longmore standing at
the door, he immediately seized him, and caused him to be carried before
Mr. Lambert. He underwent an examination; but, refusing to make any
confession, he was sent to Tothill-fields' Bridewell. On his arrival at
the prison he was informed that the body had been found: and, not
doubting but that the whole affair would come to light, he begged that
he might be carried back to the justice's house. This being made known
to Mr. Lambert, the prisoner was brought up, and he then acknowledged
the particulars of the murder, and signed his confession. This wretched
man owned that since the perpetration of the crime he had been terrified
at the sight of every one he met, that he had not experienced a moment's
peace, and that his mind had been distracted with the most violent
agitation.
His commitment to Newgate was immediately made out, and he was conducted
to that prison under the escort of eight soldiers, with fixed bayonets,
whose whole efforts were necessary to protect him from the violence of
the mob. A Mr. Mercer visiting Mrs. Hayes in prison, she begged him to
go to Billings and urge him to confess the whole truth, as no advantage,
she said, could be expected to arise from a denial of that which was too
clearly proved to admit of denial; and he being carried before Justice
Lambert again, gave an account precisely concurring with that of Wood.
Mrs. Springate, whose innocence was now distinctly proved, was set at
liberty.
At the trial Wood and Billings confessed themselves guilty of the crime
alleged against them; but Mrs. Hayes, flattering herself that as she had
said nothing, she had a chance of escape, put herself upon her trial;
but the jury found her guilty. The prisoners being afterwards brought to
the bar to receive sentence, Mrs. Hayes entreated that she might not be
burned, according to the then law of petty treason, alleging that she
was not guilty, as she did not strike the fatal blow; but she was
informed by the court that the sentence awarded by the law could not be
dispensed with.
After conviction the behaviour of Wood was uncommonly penitent and
devout; but while in the condemned hold he was seized with a violent
fever, and, being attended by a clergyman to assist him in his
devotions, he said he was ready to suffer death, under every mark of
ignominy, as some atonement for the atrocious crime he had committed;
but he died in prison, and thus defeated the final execution of the law.
Billings behaved with apparent sincerity, acknowledging the justice of
his sentence, and saying that no punishment could be commensurate with
the crime of which he had been guilty. The behaviour of Mrs. Hayes was
somewhat similar to her former conduct. Having an intention to destroy
herself, she procured a phial of strong poison, which was casually
tasted by a woman who was confined with her, and her design thereby
discovered and frustrated. On the day of her death she received the
sacrament, and was drawn on a sledge to the place of execution. Billings
was executed in the usual manner, and hung in chains, not far from the
pond in which Mr. Hayes's body was found, in Marylebone Fields; but when
the wretched woman had finished her devotions, in pursuance of her
sentence an iron chain put round her body, with which she was fixed to
a stake near the gallows. On those occasions, when women were burned for
petty treason, it was customary to strangle them, by means of a rope
passed round the neck, and pulled by the executioner, so that they were
dead before the flames reached the body. But this woman was literally
burned alive; for the executioner letting go the rope sooner than usual,
in consequence of the flames reaching his hands, the fire burned
fiercely round her, and the spectators beheld her pushing away the
faggots, while she rent the air with her cries and lamentations. Other
faggots were instantly thrown on her; but she survived amidst the flames
for a considerable time, and her body was not perfectly reduced to ashes
in less than three hours[5]. These malefactors suffered at Tyburn, May
9, 1726.
MARGARET DIXON.
EXECUTED FOR MURDER.
The case of this criminal is more remarkable for her resuscitation after
her execution, than for the circumstances attending the offence of which
she was convicted.
The culprit was the daughter of poor parents living at Musselburgh,
about five miles from Edinburgh, a place almost entirely inhabited by
fishermen and persons employed in the manufacture of salt. When she
reached the age of womanhood, she was married, but her husband, who was
a fisherman, being impressed, he was carried off to sea. Deprived of her
lawful protector, she formed an illicit connexion with another man; and
it was for the murder of the offspring of this acquaintance that she was
eventually sentenced to undergo the severest penalty of the law. It
appears that she was remarked to be pregnant, and was accused by her
neighbours of the fact, but she steadily denied her guilt. At length the
body of a newly-born infant was found near the place of her residence,
and as there was no way of accounting for its existence, except that
suggested by the pregnancy of Mrs. Dixon, she was taken into custody,
and being tried was found guilty and ordered for execution.
After her condemnation she behaved in the most penitent manner,
confessed that she had been guilty of many sins, and even owned that she
had departed from the line of duty to her husband; but she constantly
and steadily denied that she had murdered her child, or had even formed
an idea of so horrid a crime. She owned that the fear of being exposed
to the ridicule of her neighbours had tempted her to deny that she was
pregnant; and she said that, being suddenly seized with the pains of
child-birth, she was unable to procure the assistance of her neighbours;
and that a state of insensibility ensued, so that it was impossible she
should know what became of the infant.
At the place of execution she persisted in her protestations of
innocence, and Jack Ketch having performed his office, the body hung the
usual time, and was then cut down and delivered to the friends of the
deceased. By them it was put into a coffin, and sent in a cart to be
buried at her native place; but the weather being sultry, the persons
who had it in their care stopped to drink at a village called
Peppermill, about two miles from Edinburgh. While they were refreshing
themselves, one of them perceived the lid of the coffin move, and
uncovering it, the woman sat upright, to the infinite alarm of the
spectators. The mystery being soon explained; a fellow, who was present,
had sufficient sagacity to bleed her; and in the course of the ensuing
day she was sufficiently recovered to be able to walk home to her old
residence at Musselburgh.
By the Scottish law, not only was she released by the execution from the
consequences of the crime of which she had been found guilty, but from
the bonds of matrimony also; but her husband having by this time
returned from sea, he was publicly re-married to his old wife, within a
few days after she had been hanged. A suit was subsequently brought by
the Lord Advocate against the sheriff for omitting to perform his
office; but as it turned out that the escape of the convict was not
owing to any neglect on his part, but to some peculiar formation of the
neck of the woman, the prosecution was abandoned.
The date of this transaction was the month of November, 1728; and the
subject of this most remarkable escape was living in the year 1753, when
it is due to her to state that she still persisted in her declarations
of innocence.
JOHN GOW AND OTHERS.
EXECUTED FOR PIRACY.
The principal in this list of offenders was named John Gow, and was a
native of one of the Orkney Islands. Having chosen a seafaring life, he
was appointed second mate of a vessel going to Santa Cruz. Some
complaints having been made before the vessel quitted port, of the
insufficiency of the provisions given to the men, the captain took
little notice of them; and it was not until he had quitted the shore
some days, that he learned, too late, the mistake of which he had been
guilty. The feelings of discontent which had been already exhibited were
soon fanned into a flame, and at length it became necessary for the
captain, chief mate, and surgeon to arm themselves. Gow, whose duties as
second mate also included those of gunner, was ordered to clean the
small-arms necessary for this purpose; but being a party to a
conspiracy, which existed among his shipmates to seize the vessel, he
communicated the order to his fellows, and it was determined to put
their project into execution forthwith. Between nine and ten o'clock at
night, the signal was given, and the conspirators going to the cabins of
the chief mate, surgeon, and supercargo, cut their throats while they
were asleep. The captain ran on deck to ascertain the cause of a noise
which he heard, and was immediately seized, and, although he made a
desperate resistance, was despatched in as short a time as his
unfortunate brother officers had been. The bodies of the murdered men
were then thrown overboard, and Gow was selected as the new captain.
Assembling his associates on deck, their determination to commence
pirates was soon formed; and some of the seamen who had hesitated to
become parties to the diabolical murders of their officers, were forced
to join the crew in their piratical proceedings on pain of death. A
fellow named Williams, of a most brutal disposition, was chosen as
lieutenant; and the name of the vessel, which had been the George
Galley, was changed to the more bloody one of Revenge. Having mounted
several guns, they steered towards Spain and Portugal, in expectation of
making a capture of wine, in a supply of which they were greatly
deficient. They soon made prize of an English vessel laden with fish,
bound from Newfoundland to Cadiz; but having no use for the cargo, they
took out the captain and four men, and sunk the ship.
One of the seamen whom they took from the captured vessel was named
James Belvin, a man admirably calculated for their purpose, as he was by
nature cruel, and by practice hardened in that cruelty; and being
willing to turn pirate, he was thought a valuable acquisition to the
crew, as several of the others appeared to act from motives of fear
rather than of inclination.
The next vessel taken by the pirates was a Scotch ship bound to Italy
with pickled herrings; but this cargo, like the former, being of no use
to them, they sunk the vessel, having first taken out the men, arms,
ammunition, and stores.
After having cruised about for a considerable time without any further
successes, their supply of water ran so short, that they felt it
absolutely necessary to procure a fresh stock. They sailed, therefore,
to a Portuguese settlement; and, on their arrival, they sent some
presents to the governor, intimating their wants. The governor treating
the messengers with civility, proceeded on board the vessel, and he was
there received by the pirates with every mark of respect and attention.
The boat, which had been sent for supplies, however, not returning, the
captain began to suspect that his men were not safe, and threatened to
murder his visitors unless his demands were complied with. The governor
was terrified at this threat; but soon procured his liberty by assenting
to the wishes of his entertainer. They afterwards made several prizes,
in one of which they sent away the Scotch captain and his crew; but
shortly afterwards meeting with a French vessel of superior power, the
captain refused to give chase to or to engage it. Williams, the
lieutenant, upbraided him for what he termed his cowardice, and a
violent quarrel taking place, the lieutenant endeavoured to shoot his
captain. The crew agreeing in opinion with the latter as to the
impropriety of fighting against a force so superior to their own,
Williams was soon secured, and placed among the other prisoners. The
French vessel was permitted to continue on her way; and soon afterwards
meeting with a ship bound for Bristol, they robbed her of her stores and
ammunition, and putting their prisoners and Williams on board of her,
the latter of whom they directed to be given up to the British
authorities, they allowed her to proceed on her voyage.
As soon as she had left them, Gow and his crew began to reflect on their
situation. They were apprehensive that as soon as intelligence of their
proceedings reached Portugal, some ships would be sent in pursuit of
them; and they called a kind of council, in which every one gave his
opinion.
Gow proposed to sail to the Isles of Orkney, on the north of Scotland,
where he said, they might dispose of their effects, and retire and live
on the produce; and in order to induce his people to comply with this
proposal, he represented that they were much in want of water, and
provisions of every kind; that their danger would be great if they
continued longer on the high seas; and, above all, that it was highly
necessary for them to repair their ship, which they could not do with
any degree of safety in a southern port.
Convinced by these arguments, they proceeded northwards, and soon
reached the Orkney Islands; and entering one of the bays there they
proceeded, as well as they were able, to refit the ship. This step was,
however, fatal to their enterprise; for one of their companions, who had
unwillingly joined in the piratical proceedings of the crew, escaped,
and gave information of all that had occurred. Ten others followed his
example, and seized the long-boat; but reaching Edinburgh, they were
confined on suspicion of being pirates.
Notwithstanding these alarming circumstances, Gow was so careless of his
own safety, that he did not put immediately to sea, but resolved to
plunder the houses of the gentlemen on the coast, to furnish himself
with fresh provisions.
In pursuance of this resolution, he sent his boatswain and ten armed men
to the house of Mr. Honeyman, high-sheriff of the county; and the master
being absent, the servants opened the door without suspicion. Nine of
the gang went into the house to search for treasure, while the tenth was
left to guard the door. Mrs. Honeyman, running to the door, saw the man
who stood guard there, whom she asked what could be the meaning of the
outrage; to which he replied, that they were pirates, and had come
thither only to ransack the house. Recollecting that she had a
considerable quantity of gold in a bag, she returned and put it in her
lap, and ran by the man at the door, who had no idea but that the wish
to preserve her life occasioned her haste. The boatswain missing this
part of the expected treasure, declared that he would destroy the family
writings; but this being overheard by Miss Honeyman, she threw the
writings out of the window, and, jumping out after them, escaped unhurt
and carried them off. In the interim the pirates seized the linen,
plate, and other valuable articles, and then walked in triumph to their
boat, compelling one of the servants to play before them on the
bagpipes. They afterwards carried off two women whom they met; and
detaining them on board during two days, so ill-treated them, that one
expired soon after they had put them on shore.
This atrocious offence was no sooner committed than they sailed to
Calf-Sound, with an intention of robbing the house of Mr. Fea, who had
been an old school-fellow with Gow. This house was the rather pitched
upon, as Gow supposed that Mr. Fea could not have yet heard of the
transactions at Mr. Honeyman's; but in this he was mistaken, although
Fea could not oppose him, on account of the indisposition of his wife.
Mr. Fea's house was situated near the sea-shore; he had only six
servants at home when the pirates appeared off the coast; and these were
by no means equal to sustain a contest. It may not be improper to
remark, that the tide runs so high among these islands, and beats with
such force against the rocks, that the navigation is frequently attended
with great danger. Gow, who had not boats to assist him in an emergency,
and was unskilled in the navigation of these seas, made a blunder in
turning into the bay of Calf-Sound; for, standing too near the point of
a small island called the Calf, the vessel was in the utmost danger of
being run on shore. Having cast his anchor too near the shore, so that
the wind could not bring him off, he sent a boat with a letter to Mr.
Fea, requesting that he would lend him another boat, to assist him in
heaving off the ship, by carrying out an anchor; and assuring him that
he would not do the least injury to any individual.
As Gow's messenger did not see Mr. Fea's boat, the latter gave him an
evasive answer; and on the approach of night ordered his servants to
sink his own boat, and hide the sails and rigging. While they were
obeying this order five of the pirates came on shore in the boat, and
proceeded, doubly armed, towards the house. Mr. Fea advanced towards
them with an assurance of friendship, and begged they would not enter
the house, for that his wife was exceedingly ill; and the sight of them
might probably deprive her of life. The boatswain replied that they had
no design to terrify Mrs. Fea, or any other person; but that the most
rigorous treatment must be expected if the use of the boat was denied
them. Mr. Fea represented how dangerous it would be for him to assist
them, on account of the reports circulated to their discredit; but he
offered to entertain them at an adjacent ale-house; and they accepted
the invitation, as they observed that he had no company. In the mean
while, Mr. Fea ordered his servants to call him hastily out of the
company; and these orders being exactly complied with, when he had left
the pirates, he directed six men, well armed, to station themselves
behind a hedge; and that if they observed him to come alone with the
boatswain, instantly to seize his companion; but if he came with all the
five desperadoes, he would walk forward, so as to give them an
opportunity of firing at them without their wounding him.
He then returned to the company, whom he invited to his house, on the
promise of their behaving peaceably, and said he would make them
heartily welcome. They expressed a readiness to attend him, in the hope
of getting the boat; but he told them he would rather have the
boatswain's company first, and would afterwards send for his companions.
This being agreed to, the boatswain set forward with two brace of
pistols, and walking with Mr. Fea till they came to the hedge where the
men were concealed, that gentleman seized him by the collar, while the
others took him into custody before he had time to make any defence. The
boatswain called aloud for his men; but Mr. Fea forcing a handkerchief
into his mouth, bound him hand and foot, and then left one of his own
people to guard him, while he and the rest went back to the
public-house.
There being two doors to the house, they went some to the one, and some
to the other; and rushing in at once made prisoners of the other four
men before they had time to have recourse to their arms for defence. The
pirates being thus in custody, were sent to an adjacent village, and
separately confined; and in the interim Mr. Fea sent messengers round
the island to acquaint the inhabitants with what had been done; to
desire them to haul their boats on the beach, that the pirates should
not swim to and steal them; and to request that no person would venture
to row within reach of the pirates' guns.
The vessel now got into a position of still greater difficulty, and in
order to get it out to sea some assistance was absolutely requisite.
Gow's greatest efforts were therefore made to induce Mr. Fea to render
him some aid; and the latter, by holding out promises of assistance,
eventually succeeded in getting the whole of the piratical crew on
shore, and in securing them. They were subsequently conveyed to London,
where, on their being examined, five of them were admitted as witnesses,
while the rest were committed for trial, along with their old associate
Williams, who had been conveyed to England by the master of the Bristol
ship. Gow, Williams, and six others, were convicted and received
sentence of death; while the remainder, who appeared to have been the
victims, rather than the companions of the others, escaped.
The behaviour of Gow from his first commitment was reserved and morose.
He considered himself as an assured victim to the justice of the laws,
nor entertained any hope of being admitted an evidence, as Mr. Fea had
hinted to him that he might be. When brought to trial he refused to
plead, in consequence of which he was sentenced to be pressed to death
in the usual manner. When the officer, however, was about to inflict
this punishment, he begged to be taken back to the bar, and having there
pleaded Not Guilty, he was convicted on the same evidence as his
accomplices.
Gow, Williams, and six others, were hanged at Execution Dock, on the
11th of August, 1729.
COLONEL FRANCIS CHARTERIS.
CONVICTED OF RAPE.
The name of Charteris will long be remembered with loathing and
detestation, as having belonged to a villain, whose profligacy, at the
time at which he lived, rendered him an object of universal disgust and
hatred.
The execrable subject of this narrative was born at Amisfield, in
Scotland, where he was heir to an estate which his ancestors had
possessed above four hundred years. He was related to many of the first
families among the nobility of the north; and having received a liberal
education, he selected the profession of arms, as that of which he
desired to become a member. He served first under the Duke of
Marlborough, when he successively held the ranks of ensign in a foot
regiment, and cornet of dragoons; but being a most expert gamester, and
of a disposition uncommonly avaricious, he made his knowledge of
gambling subservient to his love of money; and while the army was in
winter-quarters, he stripped many of his brother-officers of all their
property by his skill at cards and dice. His villany, however, did not
end there, for when he had defrauded his companions of all they
possessed, he would lend them their own money back, at a usurious rate
of interest, taking an assignment of their commissions as security for
the payment of the debts.