government of the island, the British naval commander on the station,
and Colonel Fullarton. This was, as might naturally have been expected,
and as certainly was designed by one of the parties, the origin of
disputes and the source of anarchy. It is well known that Fullarton, on
his return to England, preferred charges against Picton, which were
taken into consideration by the Privy Council, and gave rise to a
prosecution that lasted for several years. No pains were spared to sully
his character, to ruin his fortunes, and to render him an object of
public indignation. A little strumpet, by name Louisa Calderon, who
cohabited with a petty tradesman in the capital of Trinidad, let another
paramour into his house (of which she had the charge) during his
absence, who robbed him, with her knowledge and privity, of all he was
worth in the world. The girl was taken before the regular judges of the
place; who, in the course of their investigation, ascertained the fact
that she was privy to the robbery, and therefore sentenced her, in
conformity with the laws of Spain, then prevalent in the island, to
undergo the punishment of the _picket_ (the same as is adopted in our
own regiments of horse); but, as it was necessary that this sentence
should receive the governor's confirmation before it could be carried
into effect, a paper, stating the necessity of it, was sent to the
government-house, and the governor, by his signature, conveyed his
assent to the judges. The girl was accordingly picketed, when she
acknowledged the facts above stated, and discovered her accomplice. That
the life of this girl was forfeited by the laws of every civilised
country is a fact that will not admit of dispute; yet clemency was here
extended to her, and she was released, having suffered only the
punishment above stated; which was so slight, that she walked a
considerable distance to the prison, without the least appearance of
suffering, immediately after it was inflicted. But what was the return
for the lenity of the governor? He was accused by Colonel Fullarton of
having put this girl (whom he had never even _seen_) to the _torture_,
contrary to law; and the caricaturists of England were enlisted in the
service of persecution. After a trial which seemed to have no end, after
an expense of _seven thousand pounds_, which must have completed his
ruin, had not his venerable uncle, General Picton, defrayed the whole
costs of the suit, while the expenses of his prosecutor were all paid
_by the government_, his honour and justice were established on the
firmest basis, and to the perfect satisfaction of every upright mind."
RICHARD PATCH.
EXECUTED FOR THE MURDER OF MR. BLIGHT.
The case of this offender is one of those which fully prove, that the
most wicked caution, the most deliberately planned scheme, or the most
artful preparatory measures to attach suspicion to some other than the
real cause, or to make it fall upon the guiltless, will never conceal
murder.
Richard Patch was born in the year 1770, at the village of Heavytree,
Devonshire, within two miles of Exeter, and his family had a name
somewhat respectable among the yeomen of the county. The grandfather of
Patch had a freehold estate in land, of the value of fifty pounds per
annum, in a neighbouring village. His father, according to the custom of
many of the petty farmers who reside on the sea-coast in the distant
counties, was a smuggler, and he was noted for a fierceness and an
unusual degree of intrepidity; but as the life of a smuggler is variable
in its scenes, so he was doomed to change his bold deeds and his
unlawful proceedings for a quiet sojourn in the New Gaol at Exeter,
where he was sentenced to be imprisoned for twelve months, on a
conviction obtained at the instance of the officers of Excise. At the
termination of the period of his imprisonment, he was engaged by the
keeper of the prison as a gaoler, and he continued to occupy that post
until the period of his death. He left several children, of whom our
hero was the eldest. He had been bound apprentice to a butcher at
Ebmere, a small village, the most notorious in the county for the
immorality of its inhabitants, and it is exceedingly probable that his
mind was early inured to thoughts of evil deeds. Upon his father's
decease, he quitted his service as a butcher, and taking possession of
the property, to which, as the eldest son, he was entitled, he became a
farmer. His efforts, however, in this line were attended with no
success, and he was soon obliged to mortgage the property which he
possessed for more than one-half its value.
Some years were afterwards passed at Ebmere, when an accident drove him
from his home. From motives which it is unnecessary to examine, he had
quarrelled with the rector of his parish, and, in order to be revenged,
he removed the produce of his farm from his land, without setting out
the tenths for the rector; or, in other words, he refused to pay the
tithes. The consequence was a lawsuit, and an immediate action in the
Exchequer. Patch, shuddering at the expense of the litigation, and the
certain result which awaited him, and already somewhat embarrassed in
his circumstances, quitted Devonshire, in the spring of the year 1803.
Upon his coming to London, he immediately presented himself at Mr.
Blight's, with whom his sister, at that time, lived as a menial servant;
together with a brother of his who was brought up a baker, but, for some
reasons which it is unnecessary to enter into, was now in the service of
Mr. Blight, as a kind of overseer or superintendant in the shipping
business.
Mr. Blight, it appears, had formerly been a West India merchant, and had
failed; upon which he engaged in the ship-breaking business, and was at
this time carrying it on with great success.
Patch had not long entered the service of Mr. Blight, when, from
jealousy or some uneasiness, his brother quitted it. He had been
disappointed in endeavouring to set up for himself in the business of a
baker to which he was bred; and this mortification, aggravated by the
conduct of his brother Richard, excited such a disgust in his mind, that
he immediately went to sea, sailed to the West Indies, where he soon
died a victim to the yellow fever.
The thoughts of a partnership with his employer ere long struck our
hero, and he was induced to look upon the scheme with some anticipations
of its realisation, hoping to be able to purchase a share of the
business with the proceeds of his estate in Devonshire. He, in
consequence, proceeded into that county, and having disposed of his
land, he cleared off all its encumbrances, and received a sum of 350_l._
as the surplus, after the payment of all expenses. On his return to
London at the close of the year 1804, he made his desire known to his
employer, and he paid over to him a sum of 250_l._ as a portion of the
purchase-money, and deposited the remainder in the hands of a banker.
The exact nature of the agreement made does not appear, but whatever the
negotiations may have been, they were suddenly stopped by the murder of
Mr. Blight, who was mortally wounded, while sitting in his own house, by
a pistol discharged by an unseen hand, on the 23rd September 1805. The
extraordinary nature of the murder, and the still more singular method
of its perpetration attracted universal attention, and a minute
investigation of all the circumstances having taken place before Mr.
Graham a magistrate, suspicion fell upon Patch, and he was committed to
prison.
His trial came on at the Surrey assizes, continued by adjournment to
Horsemonger-lane, in the Borough, on Saturday, 5th April 1806. In the
mean time the interest produced in reference to the case was of the most
extraordinary nature.
By five o'clock in the morning of the trial, a vast concourse of the
populace had assembled, and on the opening of the Court it was with the
utmost difficulty that the law-officers and others could obtain an
entrance. The Dukes of Sussex, Cumberland, and Orleans; Lords
Portsmouth, Grantley, Cranley, Montford, William Russel, Deerhurst, and
G. Seymour; Sir John Frederick, Sir John Shelley, Sir Thomas Turton, Sir
William Clayton, Sir J. Mawby; Count Woronzow, the Russian ambassador,
and his secretary, were present. The magistrates had made every
accommodation that the Court would admit of: and a box was fitted up for
the royal family.
The prisoner was conducted into court soon after nine o'clock, and took
his station at the bar, attended by two or three friends. He was
genteelly dressed in black, and perfect composure marked his countenance
and manner. Precisely at ten o'clock, the Lord Chief Baron Macdonald
took his seat on the bench; and to the indictment the prisoner pleaded,
in an audible voice, "Not guilty."
He peremptorily challenged three jurors; after which a jury was sworn,
and the indictment read.
The first witness called was Mr. Richard Frost, a publican, who kept the
Dog and Duck. The first part of his testimony related merely to the fact
of the death of Mr. Blight. He stated, that on the morning of the 23rd
of September last, he was sent for by the prisoner, in consequence of
the deceased having been killed by a pistol-shot: he went, and found him
leaning on his hands and wounded.
Mr. Astley Cooper said he was called in to the assistance of Mr. Blight.
Upon examining him he found he had received a wound near the navel, and
another in the groin. He observed that they were gun-shot wounds; and as
the body of the deceased was considerably inflated, he pronounced them
mortal: he observed the bowels coming through the wounds. The next
morning, at seven o'clock, Patch came to him, said the deceased was in
extreme pain, and wished to know whether anything could be done for him.
The witness told him he feared there could not; but he rose and went to
him, and found him in a very swollen state. He promised to return in the
afternoon with a physician. He went to town, and came back with Dr.
Barrington; but Mr. Blight had been dead about three quarters of an
hour. He had not the smallest doubt that the wounds were the occasion of
his death.
Richard Frost was again called up to speak to the firing of the gun. He
stated that on Thursday, the 19th, "there was a report of the firing of
a gun at Mr. Blight's house;" he went out to ascertain the cause, but
did not perceive any person coming from the premises; and he was in a
situation in which, had the person who fired it attempted to make his
escape, he must have observed him; it was about eight o'clock in the
evening, and it was dark; but he was near enough to have seen any one
run away, or climb the wall.
Miss Ann Davis and Miss Martha Davis, sisters, who happened to be
walking by the premises in a different direction from the last witness,
stated, that they also saw the flash, and heard the report of a gun, and
must have seen any person attempting to escape; but all was quiet, and
they concluded that the gun was fired by some one on the premises.
After this head of evidence, to establish that the gun fired on the
Thursday preceding the death of Mr. Blight, was not by any stranger, but
by the prisoner, witnesses were called to relate the circumstances which
occurred on the 23rd.
Mr. Michael Wright stated that he was going past Mr. Blight's house a
little after eight, when he heard the report of a pistol in the house;
and having become acquainted by the rumour of the former attempt, he was
induced to go up to the house with a view to offer his assistance. He
knocked for some time and was not admitted; but insisting on having the
door opened, Patch made his appearance, and began informing him what a
dreadful accident had happened. The witness was impatient at hearing
this story; he thought that some means should be rather adopted to
pursue the murderer, and recommended Patch to commission him to apply
to Bow-street, as an inquiry taking place instantly after the
assassination would most probably be attended with success. Patch seemed
reluctant, and thought that no good effect could result from it. The
witness therefore went away.
Hester Kitchener's evidence applied to the two days. She stated that on
the 19th she had been ordered by the prisoner to shut up the shutters of
the house earlier than usual. Her master and mistress were then at
Margate. At eight o'clock the prisoner sent her out for some oysters;
and as she returned, she heard the report of a gun, but she did not see
any one. When she saw Patch, he cried, "Oh, Hester, I have been shot
at!" She rejoined, "Lord forbid!" They then looked for the ball, which
she found. The witness continued to state that her master returned to
town on the Monday morning; that in the evening he and the prisoner
drank tea together in the back parlour, and afterwards had some grog.
Her master was fatigued, heavy, and sleepy with his journey and the
liquor; and Patch came down in a hurry to her in the kitchen, and
complaining of a pain in his bowels, wanted a light to go into the yard.
She gave it to him, as also a key of the counting-house, through which
it was necessary he should pass. She heard him enter the back place and
slam the door after him, and immediately after, she heard the report of
a pistol. Her master ran down into the kitchen, exclaiming, "Oh, Hester,
I am a dead man!" and supported himself upon the dresser. She ran up to
shut the door; and as she was half-way down the passage, on her return,
she heard Patch knocking violently for admittance. He asked what was the
matter; she told him; on which he went down and offered his assistance.
He asked the deceased if he knew of any one who could owe him a grudge?
Mr. Blight answered, "No, as he was not at enmity with any man in the
world."
Mr. Christopher Morgan said that he was passing by when the fatal shot
was fired; he went to the house, and saw Mr. Blight lying in a wounded
situation, and recommended Mr. Patch, in the first instance, to search
the premises all over. Patch told him to go and search an old ship that
was off the wharf, as he had reason to think that the perpetrator might
have escaped there; for he heard a noise in that direction on the night
when the gun was previously fired; and he went, but found that the ship
was lying at the distance of sixteen feet from the wharf; that it was
low water: that from the top of the wharf to the mud was ten feet; that
the soil was soft mud, and that any one who might attempt to escape that
way must have been up to his middle. Besides, the mud did not bear the
appearance of any one having passed through it; and he was, therefore,
perfectly convinced that no one escaped over the wharf towards the
water.
Six other persons, who happened to be in different directions leading
from Mr. Blight's house to the public roads, most distinctly proved,
that when the shot was fired which killed Mr. Blight, everything was
quiet on the outside of the premises; that there was no appearance of
any person attempting to escape; and if there had been, that there was
no possibility of his eluding observation.
The next series of evidence went to show that the prisoner was carrying
on a system of delusion and fraud against the deceased, in respect to
certain pecuniary transactions between them. It was proved by Mrs.
Blight, the deceased's widow, that her husband, who had fallen into
some embarrassments, had, in order to mask his property, made a nominal
assignment of it to Patch; but the assignment was not to be carried into
effect, unless the trustees of his creditors should, as he apprehended,
become importunate. This confidential assignment Patch wished to convert
into an absolute sale, for consideration given on his part; but Mrs.
Blight declared that he had never paid her husband any money, excepting
two hundred and fifty pounds, part of one thousand two hundred and fifty
pounds, the consideration for a share of his business.
The next branch of evidence referred to the stockings which the prisoner
had on the night that Mr. Blight lost his life. It was proved that he
generally wore boots; but the witnesses' memory enabled them to say that
he had white stockings on during the evening of the 23rd. Mr. Stafford,
of the police-office, stated that, on examining the bed-room of Mr.
Patch, they were folded up like a clean pair, but that, on opening them,
the soles appeared dirty, as if a person had walked in them without
shoes: the inference from this was, that the prisoner had taken off his
shoes in order that he might walk out of the necessary without being
heard by the maid.
The last important fact was the discovery of the ramrod of a pistol in
the privy, and the proof that that place had not recently been visited
by any person suffering under a bowel complaint. This, and a vast
variety of circumstantial evidence, concluded the case on the part of
the crown.
The prisoner being called upon for his defence, delivered in a long and
elaborate address, supposed to have been written by his counsel, which
he requested might be read by the officer of the court: it began by
thanking the learned judge for moving his trial from a place where
prejudice might have operated against him; complained much of that
prejudice having been excited against him by premature reports in the
public journals; and then entered into a general train of argument,
inferring, that in a case of life and death, a jury ought not to convict
upon circumstantial evidence; the more especially where the proof
appeared, as in the present case, so dubious. He stated that whatever
might be the result of their judgment upon the evidence, it was almost a
matter of indifference to him on his own account; for he was borne down
and subdued by the unjust prejudices of the public, by the long
imprisonment he had endured, and by the enormous expenses to which he
had been subjected; but he had those relations who made life dear to
him: he had children who looked to him for support, and who would not
only be dishonoured, but ruined by his death. The only evidence which he
adduced was that of three persons who spoke to his general character.
The Lord Chief Baron summed up the evidence in the most perspicuous
manner, occupying nearly two hours in commenting upon every part of it;
when the jury retired for about a quarter of an hour, and on their
return pronounced a verdict of Guilty.
His lordship then proceeded to pronounce the awful sentence of the law.
He observed, that the prisoner had begun his career of guilt in a system
of fraud towards his friend; he had continued it in ingratitude, and had
terminated it in blood. He then directed that he should be executed on
Monday, and that his body should be delivered for dissection.
Patch, who had the appearance of a decent yeoman, and was about
thirty-eight years of age, during the whole of the trial never betrayed
the slightest symptom of embarrassment: his appearance evinced a
seeming composure, which innocence alone could manifest, or the most
consummate villany could counterfeit. He heard the dreadful sentence
with a degree of apathy, as if he had previously made up his mind to the
event. The execution was eventually deferred till the next Tuesday, it
being deemed advisable that he should suffer with a man and his wife,
Benjamin and Sarah Herring, who had been convicted at Kingston, March
28, of coining, in order to obviate the inconvenience of having two
public executions following each other so closely. It was in consequence
of this suggestion of Mr. Ives, the keeper, to the Chief Baron (who,
with the Dukes of Sussex and Gloucester, retired to his house after the
trial), that his lordship was induced to order the respite, which he
wrote thus on the margin of the first order for execution:--
"Let the execution be respited till Tuesday, the 8th day of April, 1806.
"A. MACDONALD."
It seems that Herring and his wife had carried on the trade of coining
to a great extent, at their own house in St. George's Fields. On
searching their premises, a complete set of coining implements, punches,
aquafortis, &c., were found, besides upwards of seventy shillings, a
quantity of dollars, half-crowns, and sixpences, all ready for
circulation.
But to return to Patch.--This criminal, after condemnation, remained
perfectly calm and unembarrassed. He slept well during the greater part
of the Saturday night, rose at nine o'clock on the next morning, and
attended divine service at half-past ten. About a quarter before eleven,
the Rev. Mr. Mann, the ordinary, preached the condemned sermon, in a
style the most impressive and affecting; to which Mr. Patch paid
becoming attention. On his return, he looked the gaoler steadfastly in
the face for about two minutes, and then ejaculated, "I am innocent;"
but he appeared composed as usual during the remainder of the day. He
continued to preserve a sullen silence until Monday afternoon, when that
composure which had marked his countenance left him. He was informed by
the ordinary of the gaol, that his friends approached to take their last
farewell of him for ever, when he gave up all hope of a reprieve, and
exclaimed, "Is no mercy to be expected?" His relations, viz., his
sister, who had lived with Mr. Blight, a younger brother, who bore a
strong resemblance in person to the unfortunate man, and a
brother-in-law, with his wife, a nephew, and another distant relation,
were admitted to him, and remained with him until three o'clock, when
they took their last farewell. Patch was now most sensibly affected, and
the scene was truly distressing. He embraced each of his relatives, and
wept bitterly, clinging to them until the moment had arrived when their
absence was required. After this affecting scene, Mr. Ives, the governor
of the prison, went to his cell, and Patch here uttered an expression
adequate to a confession of his guilt. He said, "I have confessed my
sins to God; man can give me no relief." He was also visited by the Rev.
Mr. Mann, and three dissenting ministers. In their interviews with him
he evinced the strongest proofs of a penitent sinner; but invariably
declined to give any answer to the urgent entreaties of the clergymen to
acknowledge the crime for which he was to die. Mr Graham, the magistrate
who committed him to prison, was the last person admitted to see him on
this night. Before they parted Mr. Patch took him by the hand, and said,
emphatically, "We shall, I trust, meet in Heaven."
The three dissenting ministers remained with him during the night, and
he appeared extremely penitent and devout.
At about half-past six o'clock on Tuesday morning, the Rev. Mr. Mann,
and the curate of the Rev. Mr. Rowland Hill, came to the prison, and
after a short interview Patch and Herring received the sacrament, Mrs.
Herring, who was a Catholic, being left with a priest, the Rev. Mr.
Griffiths.
About five minutes before nine o'clock the high-sheriff demanded the
bodies of the unfortunate sufferers; and immediately after, they began
to move in the usual order, followed by Mr. Ives, the keeper of the
prison. When they got to the open yard, Herring and his wife were placed
on a sledge, and drawn to the entrance of the stair-case leading to the
apparatus for the execution, from which they ascended the stairs with as
much firmness as could be expected. Patch displayed his usual
intrepidity.
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:--