throughout the metropolis, and various reports were in circulation as to
the manner in which they had been committed; and the most active
inquiries were made with a view to the collection of evidence to be
produced before the coroner's jury. Upon an inquest being held, in
addition to the facts above detailed, it was proved by the servant girl
that, on her quitting her employer's house, her master and the shop-boy
were in the shop, and her mistress and the child were in the kitchen
below; but no facts were proved which could at all lead to the discovery
of the persons implicated in the foul deed. From the testimony of the
girl it was supposed, that very soon after she had quitted home, the
ruffians had entered the shop, probably under pretence of making a
purchase, and, having closed the door, had attacked Mr. Marr, whom they
had knocked down and there killed by cutting his throat. They had next
seized the boy, who apparently had made some resistance, and despatched
him in a similar manner; and Mrs. Marr now coming up stairs to inquire
into the cause of the tumult and confusion which was doubtless created,
she was in turn murdered in the same manner with her husband and the
shop-boy. One would have imagined that the infant in its cradle would
have escaped in this scene of carnage; but it was imagined that it had
cried at being so long left alone, and the blood-thirsty monsters,
afraid lest a discovery should take place in consequence of its calls,
descended and terminated its existence by cutting its throat, so as
almost to sever its head from the body. There being no further evidence
to produce, the inquest was at length, after several adjournments,
concluded, and a verdict of "Wilful murder against some person or
persons unknown," was returned.
The funeral of these victims of villany took place on Sunday the 15th of
December, 1811, at the church of St. George in the East, when the bodies
of the family of Mr. Marr were deposited in one grave, in the presence
of their sorrowing friends, and of an immense concourse of people, by
whom the utmost respect and decorum were exhibited. The body of the
shop-boy was interred by his friends.
Would that our tale of blood could terminate here! It is, however, our
painful task to inform our readers of other murders, taking place under
precisely similar circumstances with those of the Marr family, and
within ten minutes' walk of the place in which they were perpetrated.
The horror and dismay produced by the atrocious event which we have just
detailed had not yet subsided; the exertions of the police to discover
the parties concerned in it had not yet been abated; the earth which had
been thrown over the graves of the unhappy victims was not yet settled,
ere the neighbourhood of Ratcliffe Highway was again the scene of a
crime as horrible as that which still struck terror into the minds of
all persons.
On Thursday night, the 19th of December, the neighbourhood of New
Gravel-lane was thrown into a state of the most violent confusion by
loud cries of "Murder!" proceeding from the King's Arms public-house,
situated at No. 81 in that lane The recollection of the late event was
still fresh in the minds of all, and crowds of persons instantly ran to
the spot to learn the cause of alarm, rendered doubly appalling by
recent circumstances. Nor was the sight which met their eyes at all
calculated to allay the apprehensions which had been raised. A man
almost in a state of nudity was seen descending from the second-floor
window of the house mentioned by means of two sheets tied together, and
exclaiming, with expressions of the most violent agitation and terror,
"They are murdering the people in the house." On his reaching the
extremity of the line which he was using, he was still eight feet from
the ground; but he was assisted in his descent by the watchman, who
received him into his arms, and he then repeated the alarm which he had
already given. The greatest horror was felt at what was supposed to be a
repetition of the frightful scene which had been so recently enacted,
and a short consultation was held as to the best mode of affording
relief to the inmates of the house. It was determined that the most
speedy means must be taken; and, in accordance with a resolution which
was arrived at, an entry was forced through the cellar flap. A man named
Ludgate, a butcher living in Ashwell's Buildings, close by, and a Mr.
Hawse and a constable, were the first persons who entered by this means;
and almost at the same instant a gentleman named Fox obtained admission
through some wooden bars at the side of the house, with a cutlass in his
hand. The first object that was seen in the cellar was the body of Mr.
Williamson, which lay at the foot of the stairs; and on its being
examined, it was found that his throat was dreadfully cut, and that
besides his leg was broken, and he had sustained a severe fracture of
the skull, while the weapon with which he appeared to have been
attacked, an iron crow-bar or maul, was lying at his side. In the
parlour, the body of Mrs. Williamson was found with the skull fractured
and the throat cut, the blood still issuing from the wound, while at her
side lay that of the servant woman, whose head was horribly bruised, and
whose throat was cut in a similar manner.
Surgical aid was instantly procured; but upon the bodies being examined,
it was found that the vital spark had fled.
A new and irresistible feeling of horror now overspread the city of
London and its vicinity, and the utmost apprehension was felt at this
new attack upon a family within its own circle. On the first alarm being
given, a picquet of the Tower Hamlets' Militia, and a number of the
Volunteer Corps, aided by the inhabitants and the constables, made a
most minute search in all quarters for the offenders, but no person
could be discovered to whom suspicion could attach. Upon the premises
being examined, in which the diabolical murders had been committed, it
was found that the under part of the house was used as a skittle-ground,
next to the entrance of which was the cellar-door; and from the bloody
marks which appeared on both doors, it was obvious that the murderers
had attempted to escape by both those means.
It was discovered, also, that the villains had eventually effected their
exit from the house by means of a back window which looked into an open
space belonging to the London Dock Company, from which there was easy
access to many different streets branching off in various directions.
The wounds on the heads of the unfortunate deceased, it was obvious, had
been inflicted by the iron crow-bar which had been found; and from their
position, as well as from the inclination in the cuts in the throats of
the deceased persons, it appeared that the murderer was left-handed.
During the time occupied in the perpetration of the horrid deed, a
public-house, almost adjoining that of Mr. Williamson, was filled with
people drinking, while only a few doors on the other side, there was a
rendezvous for seamen, the windows of both of which looked into the open
ground into which the murderers had escaped.
In the course of the following day the most active measures were taken
to secure the murderers. Police officers were despatched in all
directions; a reward of 100_l_ was offered by the parish for their
apprehension, and the magistrates sat at Shadwell Police-office during
the whole day, ready to receive and act upon any information which might
be brought to them. On the day succeeding, a coroner's inquest was held
upon the bodies of the deceased persons, when Mr. Anderson, constable,
and John Turner, the man who had escaped from the window, were examined.
Mr. Anderson deposed that he was a constable, and knew Mr. and Mrs.
Williamson; they were highly respected in the neighbourhood, and for the
space of fifteen years kept the King's Arms public-house, which was the
resort of foreigners of every description. At eleven o'clock every night
they invariably closed their house. On Thursday night, the 19th of
December 1811, Mr. Williamson pursued his usual course. Ten minutes
before eleven witness called for a pot of beer. During the time Mrs.
Williamson was drawing the beer, Mr. Williamson, who was sitting by the
fire, said to him, "You are an officer--there has been a fellow
listening at my door with a brown coat on; if you should see him, take
him into custody, or tell me." He answered "He certainly would, for his
and his own safety," and then retired. Witness lived next door but one
to the deceased. Between twenty and thirty minutes after he left the
King's Arms, he intended to go for another pot of beer; as soon as he
got out of his house he heard a noise, when he saw the lodger lowering
himself down into the street by the sheets. He ran into the house for
his staff, and proceeded to the spot. The watchman caught the lodger in
his arms, when witness and others broke the cellar-flap open, and,
having descended, began to look round the cellar; on coming to the
staircase, they saw Mr. Williamson lying on his back, with his legs upon
the stairs, his head downwards: by his side was an iron instrument,
similar to a stonemason's crow, about three feet long, in diameter three
quarters of an inch: it was much stained with blood. Mr. Williamson had
received a wound on the head, his throat was dreadfully cut, his right
leg was broken by a blow, and his hand severely cut. From these marks of
violence witness supposed Mr. Williamson made great resistance, as he
was a very powerful man. They then proceeded up into the sitting-room,
where they saw Mrs. Williamson lying on her left side; her skull was
fractured, and her throat cut and bleeding most profusely. Near to her
was the servant woman, lying on her back, with her head under the grate;
her skull was more dreadfully fractured than that of her mistress, her
throat most inhumanly cut, and none of the bodies were cold. Witness
then stated that the premises were afterwards examined, and it was
discovered that the murderers had made their escape from a back window
looking into a piece of waste ground belonging to the London Dock
Company. The sill of the window was stained with blood, and the sash
remained thrown up. The distance which the villains had to jump did not
exceed eight feet, and the ground beneath was soft clay; so they could
sustain no injury even had they fallen. From the waste ground in
question there was no difficulty whatever in escaping, as it
communicated with several by-streets.
John Turner, the man who escaped from the window, and who was a lodger
in the house, deposed as follows:--
"I went to bed about five minutes before eleven o'clock; I had not been
in bed more than five or ten minutes before I heard the cry of 'We shall
all be murdered!' which I suppose was the cry of the woman-servant. I
went down stairs, and saw one of the villains cutting Mrs. Williamson's
throat, and rifling her pockets. I immediately ran up stairs, took up
the sheets from my bed, fastened them together, and lashed them to the
bed-posts; I called to the watchman to give the alarm; I was hanging out
of the front window by the sheets; and the watchman received me in his
arms, naked as I was. A great mob had then assembled opposite the door;
and as soon as I got upon my legs the door was forced open: I entered,
and found the bodies lying as described. There was nobody lodged in the
house but myself, except a grand-daughter of Mrs. Williamson. I have
lived in the house about eight months, and during that time I have found
the family to be the most peaceful people that could keep a
public-house. The man whom I saw rifling Mrs. Williamson's pocket, as
far as I could see by the light in the room, was about six feet in
height, dressed in a genteel style, with a long dark loose coat on. I
said nothing to him; but, terrified, I ran up stairs, and made my escape
as already mentioned. When I was down stairs, I heard two or three very
great sighs; and when I was first alarmed, I heard distinctly the words,
'We shall all be murdered.'" Turner further deposed that, at the time he
went to bed, Mrs. Williamson was on the stairs, taking up a silver
punch-ladle and watch, which were to be raffled for on the following
Monday, into her bedroom for security.
Other witnesses were examined, but their testimony differed in no
material respects from that of the persons whose evidence we have
detailed; and the jury, as in the case of Mr. Marr, returned a verdict
of "Wilful Murder against some person or persons unknown."
After the termination of this necessary inquiry before the coroner,
however, the most minute investigation of every circumstance connected
with this lamentable affair was carried on by the magistrates of
Shadwell. Many persons were taken into custody, but discharged for want
of evidence: but an Irishman, named Cornelius Driscoll, was detained on
suspicion of being implicated in the horrid deed, on account of a pair
of breeches covered with blood being found in his possession.
Of all the persons seized, however, suspicion fell strongest upon a man
named John Williams, who cheated justice by committing suicide before
his guilt or his innocence could be fully established.
This man was apprehended on suspicion of being concerned in the murders;
and on his examination, John Frederick Ritchen, a Dane, who was also in
custody, was sworn as a witness. He stated that he had lodged in the
Pear Tree public-house, kept by Mr. Vermillee, with the prisoner, for
about twelve weeks and three or four days, but knew little of him except
in the light of a fellow-lodger. He knew that he was acquainted with two
men, a carpenter and a joiner, and about three or four weeks before he
had seen them all three drinking together at the bar of the
public-house. On the night of the murder of the Marr family Williams was
out, and a few minutes before he returned there was a knock at the door,
which Mrs. Vermillee opened. The witness had gone down to open the door,
but seeing Mrs. Vermillee, he went up to his own room; and, when there,
heard her in conversation with a man, whose voice resembled that of one
of the two men before mentioned. A few minutes afterwards Williams
himself came in. This was almost half-past one o'clock. Three or four
days before Williams was taken up, he observed that the large
sandy-coloured whiskers, which had before formed a striking feature in
his appearance, had been cut off. About eleven o'clock on the day after
the murder of the Marr family, the witness went from curiosity to
examine the premises, which he entered, and saw the dead bodies. From
thence he returned to the Pear Tree, where he found Williams in the back
yard, washing out his stockings, but he did not tell him where he had
been. He was then questioned respecting his knowledge of the maul, which
is a round bar of iron about an inch in diameter, between two and three
feet in length, flattened at the end into the shape of a chisel, but not
with a cutting edge, being apparently a tool for caulking. He said it
resembled one he had seen about the Pear Tree public-house, but he could
not identify it. A pair of blue woollen trousers, and also a pair of
canvas trousers, were then produced, which had been found between the
mattress and the bed-clothes of the hammock in which the witness slept.
The legs of the blue trousers had evidently been washed, for the purpose
of cleaning them from mud, of which the appearances were still visible
in the creases, which had not been effectually cleansed. These trousers
were damp at the time of the examination; the canvas trousers were also
damp, but they presented no particular appearance. The witness stated
that both these pairs of trousers had formerly belonged to a person
since gone to sea, and he had since worn them himself.
Mrs. Orr, residing near the Pear Tree, stated, that on the Saturday
before Marr's murder, about half-past one o'clock in the morning, she
was getting up linen, when she heard a noise about the house, as if a
man was attempting to break into the house. She was frightened and
asked, "Who was there?" A voice answered, which she knew to be
Williams's, "I am a robber!" She answered, "Whether you are a robber or
not, I will let you in, and am glad to see you." Williams entered,
seating himself till the watchman was calling the hour of past two
o'clock. He then got up from his chair, and asked the landlady if she
would have a glass. She assented, but as he would not go for it, she
went to the Pear Tree public-house, but could gain no admittance. She
returned, when Williams inquired how many rooms there were in her house,
and the situation of her back premises. She replied, there were three
rooms, and that her back yard communicated with Mrs. Vermillee's house.
The watchman came into Mrs. Orr's house, although Williams resisted it
for some time, and he told her that he had picked up a chisel by the
side of her window. Williams ran out unobserved at this information;
soon afterwards he returned. The watchman was going, when Williams
stopped him, and desired him to go to the Pear Tree and get some liquor.
The house was then open. While the watchman was gone for the liquor,
Williams took up the chisel, and said, "D--n my eyes, where did you get
this chisel?" Mrs. Orr did not part with it, and retained the instrument
till the Monday following. Hearing that Williams was examined, she went
to Mrs. Vermillee's, and showed her the chisel.--Mrs. Vermillee looked
at it, and compared it with the tools in one Patterson's chest, when it
was found to bear the same marks, and declared that it was taken out of
her house. Mrs. Orr instantly delivered the chisel to the magistrates of
Shadwell-street office, as being a further trace to the villany. Mrs.
Orr said she knew Williams for eleven weeks; he frequently nursed her
child, and used to joke with her daughter, and once asked her whether
she should be frightened if he came in the dead of the night to her
bedside? The daughter replied, that if it was he who came, she should
not be frightened. They both thought him an agreeable young man, of a
most insinuating address.
In consequence of the information of this witness, a minute examination
of the ripping chisel found at Mr. Marr's took place, and it was found
also to be marked like that discovered by the watchman at Mrs. Orr's.
The husband of Mrs. Vermillee was in custody on suspicion in Newgate,
and he was consulted, and expressed his belief that it was taken from
the same tool chest as that chisel. The plot now seemed to thicken
against the prisoner, and little doubt was entertained of his connexion
with the carpenter and joiner, and of their having all been engaged in
the perpetration of these most horrid murders, when all further efforts
on the part of the police were checked, by his adding another crime to
those which it was fully believed he had already committed, by
destroying himself.
He had been remanded for further examination to Cold Bath Fields Prison,
and the police of the district had redoubled their exertions to detect
and bring to justice his accomplices. Mr. Vermillee had been ordered to
be set at liberty, in order that he might give evidence upon the day of
the next inquiry before the magistrates, when, on the very morning on
which the prisoner was to be carried before the magistrates, upon the
gaoler going to call him from his cell, in order that he might prepare
himself to be carried to the Police Office, he was found, heavily ironed
as he was, suspended by a handkerchief from a beam in the apartment in
which he was confined. He was instantly cut down, but upon his body
being examined, it was found that he was quite dead and cold, and that
he had evidently been hanging during several hours.
The excitement produced by this termination of the investigation would
be difficult to describe, but all persons now expressed their full
belief that the deceased prisoner was the author of the crimes which had
attracted such universal attention. An inquest was held upon his body,
and a verdict of _felo de se_ was returned by the jury, but now became a
question, how the public indignation could best be satisfied? The rule
in such cases was that the deceased should be buried in the nearest
cross roads, but a conference was held with the Home Secretary by Mr.
Capper, the magistrate, with the view of ascertaining how far this
regulation might be departed from, at which it was determined that a
public exhibition of the body should be made through the neighbourhood
which had been the scene of the monster's crimes. In conformity with
this decision, on the 31st of December, the body of the deceased was
privately removed from the prison at eleven o'clock at night, and
conveyed to St. George's watchhouse, near the London docks, and on the
following (Tuesday) morning, at half-past ten o'clock, a procession was
formed in the following order:--
Several hundred constables, with their staves, clearing the way.
The newly-formed patrole, with drawn cutlasses.
Another body of constables.
Parish officers of St. Georgeâs, St. Paulâs, and Shadwell,
on horseback. Peace-officers, on horseback.
Constables.
The high constable of the county of Middlesex, on horseback.
The body of Williams,
Extended at full length on an inclined platform, erected on the
cart, about four feet high at the head, and gradually sloping
towards the horse, giving a full view of the body, which was
dressed in blue trousers and a white and blue striped waistcoat,
but without a coat, as when found in the cell. On the left side of
the head the fatal maul, and on the right the ripping-chisel, with
which the murders were perpetrated, were exposed to view. The
countenance of Williams was ghastly in the extreme, and the whole
had an appearance too horrible for description.
A strong body of constables brought up the rear.
The procession advanced slowly up Ratcliffe Highway, accompanied by an
immense concourse of persons, eager to get a sight of the murderer's
remains. When the cart came opposite to the late Mr. Marr's house, a
halt was made for near a quarter of an hour. The procession then moved
down Old Gravel-lane, along Wapping, up New Crane-lane, and into New
Gravel-lane. When the platform arrived at Mr. Williamson's late house, a
second halt took place. It then proceeded up the hill, and again entered
Ratcliffe Highway, down which it moved into Cannon-street, and advanced
to St. George's turnpike, where the New Road is intersected by
Cannon-street. There a grave, about six feet deep, had been prepared,
immediately over which the main water-pipe runs. Between twelve and one
o'clock the body was taken from the platform, and lowered into the
grave, immediately after which a stake was driven through it; and, the
pit being covered, this ceremony concluded.
During the last half-hour the crowd had increased immensely--they poured
in from all parts, but their demeanour was perfectly quiet. All the
shops in the neighbourhood were shut, and the windows and tops of the
houses were crowded with spectators. On every side, mingled with
execrations of the murderer, were heard fervent prayers for the speedy
detection of his accomplices.
A conclusive evidence of the guilt of this wretched suicide was
afterwards found, in the discovery of a knife which he always carried
with him, concealed in a hole in the room which he occupied, encrusted
with blood.
Fearful as were the horrid crimes committed by this blood-thirsty
assassin, they were not without their good effect in the metropolis. The
sensation produced by the murders awakened the apprehension of all
persons for their own safety; and local meetings were held in the
various parishes of the metropolis, at which resolutions were passed, in
pursuance of which a system of police was established far more complete
than that which before existed, although still infinitely inferior in
point of regularity and competence to that which within the last eleven
years has been adopted and carried out to the admiration of the
civilised world.
WILLIAM HEBBERFIELD.
EXECUTED FOR FORGERY.
The prosecution of this prisoner arose out of a desire on the part of
the Bank of England to put a stop to the most dangerous and hurtful
system of forgery which existed about this time in the city of London.