the packet of arsenic in the drawer, and I missed it a day or two after
the 7th of March. On Tuesday, the 21st of March, I went into the kitchen
between three and four o'clock, and I observed a plate on the table, on
which were a dumpling and a half. I had dined at two o'clock, but I took
up a knife and fork, and was going to eat the dumpling, when the
prisoner exclaimed, "Gadsden, do not eat that; it is cold and heavy; it
will do you no good." I ate a piece about the size of a walnut, and
there being some sauce in the boat, I sopped it up with a piece of bread
and ate it. I then went into the office, and Mr. Turner came there in
about ten minutes after, and said he was very ill. About ten minutes
after that I was taken ill, but not so ill as to vomit. I was sent off
for Mr. Turner's mother. I was very sick going and coming--I thought I
should die. The prisoner had made yeast dumplings for supper the night
before: I and Peer and the prisoner partook of them: they were quite
different from these dumplings in point of colour and weight, and very
good.
Margaret Turner sworn.--I was sent for. When I arrived I found my
husband, son, and daughter, extremely ill. The prisoner, very soon after
I was there, was ill, and vomiting. I exclaimed to her, "Oh, these
devilish dumplings!" supposing they had done the mischief. She said,
"Not the dumplings, but the milk, madam." I asked her "What milk?" She
said, "The halfpenny-worth of milk that Sally fetched, to make the
sauce." She said my daughter made the sauce. I said, "That cannot be; it
could not be the sauce." She said, "Yes; Gadsden ate a very little bit
of dumpling, not bigger than a nut; but licked up three parts of a boat
of sauce with a bit of bread."
Mrs. Turner, jun., being called, said--"The sauce was made with the milk
brought by Sarah Peer. I mixed it, and left it for her to make."
Robert Gregson Turner sworn.--I partook of the dumplings at dinner; I
ate none of the sauce whatever. Soon after dinner I was taken ill: I
first felt an inclination to be sick; I then felt a strong heat across
my chest. I was extremely sick; I was exactly as my father and wife
were. I had eaten a dumpling and a half, and I suffered more than any
other person. I should presume that the symptoms were such as would be
produced by poison.
Sarah Peer sworn.--I have been servant to Mrs. Turner near eleven
months. I recollect the warning given to the prisoner some time after
she came. After that I heard her say she should not like Mr. or Mrs.
Robert Turner any more. On the 21st of March I went for some milk after
two o'clock, after I had dined with the prisoner on beef-steak pie. I
had no concern whatever in making the dough for the dumplings, or in
making the sauce. I was not in the kitchen when the dough was made: I
never meddled with it, or put anything to it; I never was in the kitchen
after I went up to make the beds, a quarter after eleven, until dinner
time. I had permission to go out that afternoon, directly after I took
up the dumplings. I went out directly. I came home at nine o'clock
exactly. I ate none of the dumplings myself. In eating the beef-steak
pie, I ate some of the crust. I was not at all ill. I had eaten some
dumplings she had made the night before: I never tasted any better. They
were all made out of the same flour. I had no difference with my
mistress at any time.
_Cross-examined by Mr. Alley._--I had occasionally quarrelled with the
prisoner. I went sometimes to visit my friends, but it was generally on
Sundays. I never went on a week-day except on this occasion. I know
nothing of the drawer in which the arsenic was. The paper which I used
for lighting fires was kept in the dining-room. I never went to the
drawer in the office, nor did I ever see or hear of any poison being
kept there.
An officer of Hatton Garden and the brewer's man were then successively
examined. The first proved that on his apprehending the prisoner, she
declared that she thought the poison must have been in the yeast, as she
saw a red settlement in it after she had used it, and the second stated
that the yeast was good, and that he delivered it to the girl Peer.
Mr. John Marshall, a surgeon, was then sworn, and he stated that on his
being called in to Mr. Orlibar Turner's family he found them all
labouring under symptoms of having taken arsenic, and that the prisoner
was also ill, and exhibited similar symptoms. On the following day he
saw a pan, and on his examining its contents he found them to contain
arsenic. He had also examined the yeast which was left and the flour
tub, and they were both devoid of arsenic. The poison being cut would
blacken the knife.
The case for the prosecution being closed, the prisoner made the
following defence:--
"I am truly innocent of the whole charge; I am innocent; indeed I am. I
liked my place, and was very comfortable. Gadsden behaved improperly to
me; my mistress came and saw me undressed; she said she did not like it;
I said 'Ma'am, it is Gadsden that has taken a liberty with me.' The next
morning I said, 'I hope you do not think anything of what passed last
night.' She was in a great passion, and said she would not put up with
it; I was to go away directly. I did not look upon Mrs. Turner as my
mistress, but upon the old lady. In the evening the old lady came to
town; I said, 'I am going away to-night;' Mrs. Turner said, 'Do not
think any more about it; I don't.' She asked Mrs. Robert Turner if she
was willing for me to go. She said 'No, she thought no more about it.'
As to my master saying I did not assist him, I was too ill. I had no
concern with that drawer at all; when I wanted a piece of paper I always
asked for it."
The prisoner called five witnesses, who gave her an excellent character
for integrity, sobriety, cheerfulness, and humanity. One of them was
proceeding to state an accidental conversation which he had with the
prisoner two days after she had ordered the yeast, wherein she declared
herself happy and contented with her situation, and pleased with her
master and mistress; but the recorder stopped him, saying it was not
evidence.
Whilst the trial was proceeding, William Fenning, the father of the
prisoner, went to a public-house, and got a person (for he was too
agitated himself) to write on a slip of paper, that on the 21st of March
he went to Mr. Turner's, his daughter having sent for him in the
morning, and that Sarah Peer told him Eliza had gone with a message for
her mistress, whilst, at the same time, she was in agonies below-stairs
from the effect of having eaten of the dumplings. He then went home, and
thought no more about it.
When this note was written, it was handed to Mr. Alley, who, standing
upon tiptoe, showed it to the recorder, who leaned over and looked at
it, but no further notice was taken of it.
Other efforts were made by the prisoner to produce witnesses, but as
they were not in attendance, the court said that it was too late, and
that the trial could not be suspended for their coming.
The recorder then proceeded to sum up the case, and the jury in a few
minutes brought in a verdict of guilty. The recorder having then passed
sentence of death upon her, the miserable girl was carried from the bar
convulsed with agony, and uttering frightful screams.
Few cases ever excited greater interest than that of Eliza Fenning; and
we are happy in being able to state that her religious principles were
correct, and her professions sincere. Through life she was distinguished
by a superiority of intellect, and a propriety of deportment, which
could hardly be reconciled with the depravity of which she was accused.
In person she was short of stature, but of the most perfect symmetry;
while her countenance evinced a heart at ease, and a mind at once
intellectual and lively. She had been before the fatal transaction
betrothed to a young man, to whom she appears to have been sincerely
attached.
After the unfortunate girl's conviction she was induced to apply to the
Crown for a remission of the sentence of death, and sent a petition to
the prince regent. She next addressed the lord chancellor, to whom she
sent a statement of all the exculpatory circumstances of her case. She
also sent a letter to Lord Sidmouth, and another to her late master,
requesting him to sign a petition in her favour, with which however he
refused to comply.
Several gentlemen interested themselves in the fate of the poor girl;
and Mr. Montagu, of Lincoln's Inn, waited on the recorder, offering to
produce evidence of a member of Mr. Turner's family, who was insane,
having declared that he would poison the family; but the recorder
assured him that the production of such evidence would be wholly
useless.
The night before her execution a meeting of gentlemen took place in Mr.
Newman's apartments in Newgate, at which Mr. Gibson, of the house of
Corbyn and Co., chemists, No. 300, Holborn, stated that Robert Gregson
Turner, in the month of September or October, called at their house in a
wild and deranged state, requesting to be put under restraint, otherwise
he declared he should destroy himself and wife. Mr. Gibson also stated
that it was well known in the family that Robert Turner was occasionally
subject to such violent and strange conduct.
With this information Mr. Gibson, accompanied by a clerk from the
secretary of state's office, waited on the recorder, requesting that the
unfortunate girl might be respited to admit of investigation; but all
was of no avail, and in twelve hours after, Eliza Fenning was executed!
From the moment the poor girl was first charged with the poisoning,
however or by whomsoever questioned, she never faltered in her denial of
the crime, and rather courted than shunned an investigation of her case.
So many circumstances, which had developed themselves subsequently to
the trial, had been communicated to the secretary of state by the
gentlemen who interested themselves in her favour (among whom were some
of great respectability), that a reprieve was confidently expected to
the last: and the order for her execution, four months after her
conviction, was received with very great surprise.
On Tuesday morning, the 25th July, she took her last farewell of her
father, who, by the firmness of his manner, exemplified the courage he
wished his child to sustain upon the scaffold: but with her mother the
parting scene was heart-rending.
On the fatal morning, the 26th July, 1815, she slept till four o'clock,
when she arose, and, after carefully washing herself, and spending some
time in prayer, she dressed herself neatly in a white muslin gown and
cap. About eight o'clock she walked steadily to the spot where criminals
are bound; and, whilst the executioner tied her hands--even whilst he
wound the halter round her waist--she stood erect and unmoved, with
astonishing fortitude. At this moment a gentleman who had greatly
interested himself in her behalf adjured her, in the name of that God in
whose presence she was about to appear, if she knew anything of the
crime for which she was about to suffer, to make it known; when she
replied distinctly and clearly, "Before God then, I die innocent!" The
question was again put by the reverend Mr. Vazie, as well as by the
ordinary, and finally, by Oldfield, a prisoner who suffered with her,
and to each she repeated "I am innocent." These were her last words; and
she died without a struggle, at the age of twenty-one.
Her miserable parents, on application for her body, were not prepared to
pay the executioner's fees of fourteen shillings and sixpence: but
having borrowed the money with some difficulty, the remains of their
daughter were handed over to them.
We have endeavoured to give the circumstances of this case as clearly
and with as little prejudice as possible, but we should not do our duty,
if we were not to state that the public mind was much inflamed at the
execution of the unhappy prisoner. Thousands of persons, after examining
the evidence adduced at the trial, did not hesitate to express their
opinions very strongly upon the subject of the case; and many of the
lower orders, apparently convinced of the innocence of the sufferer,
assembled in front of Mr. Turner's house, in Chancery-lane, hooting and
hissing, and otherwise expressing their indignation, at what they
conceived to be their unjust prosecution of their servant. The police
were active in their exertions to suppress the tumult; and an affidavit
made by Davis, a turnkey in Newgate, was industriously circulated, in
which the deponent swore that old Fenning had conjured his daughter,
when she went upon the scaffold, to declare her innocence: a counter
affidavit of the father of the wretched girl, however, was produced and
published, and the assertion of the jailer was at length admitted to
have been founded upon a mistaken interpretation of what had really
passed. The mob continued to assemble for many days, and it was not
until the police had taken very vigorous measures against them, that
they were finally dispersed. The public still sympathised with the
unhappy parents of Eliza Fenning, and a subscription was entered into
for their benefit.
JOSEPH BLACKBURN.
EXECUTED FOR FORGERY.
The particulars of the melancholy case of this unfortunate gentleman,
will be best described by the report of his trial which has reached us,
which took place at York on the 18th March 1815, before Sir Simon Le
Blanc. He was then placed at the bar and arraigned on two indictments,
charging him with forging and counterfeiting the impression of a certain
stamp or die, used under the direction of the Commissioners of Stamps,
to denote the payment of certain duties imposed on various deeds and
other securities, on vellum, parchment, or paper, and also with uttering
the same, knowing it to be forged, with an intent to defraud the revenue
of the duties imposed on such stamped vellum, parchment, or paper. To
these indictments he pleaded--Not guilty. Mr. Blackburn was then
arraigned on two other indictments, charging him with feloniously
removing stamps from executed deeds, and affixing them upon others, with
an intent to defraud the revenue; to these indictments he also
pleaded--Not guilty. He was then charged in another indictment with the
same offence, jointly with Mr. Thomas Wainewright, who was charged with
feloniously aiding and assisting in this illegal removal of stamps. To
this indictment both the prisoners severally pleaded--Not guilty.
As soon as the jury were sworn, Mr. Wainewright, at the suggestion of
the counsel for the prosecution, retired from the bar, and the court
proceeded to the trial of Mr. Blackburn, on one of the capital
indictments for forgery. The clerk of the arraigns read the indictment.
It charged the prisoner with feloniously forging, and counterfeiting the
resemblance of a certain stamp or die, used by the Commissioners of
Stamps, to denote the payment of duties imposed on vellum, parchment,
and paper, viz. for the payment of two pounds, imposed by the 48th of
George III. on mortgage deeds, with intent to defraud his Majesty, his
heirs, or successors. Another count in the indictment charged him with
uttering the said forged stamps, knowing the same to be false, forged,
and counterfeited, with the like intent to defraud his Majesty, his
heirs, or successors.
The counsel for the crown were, Mr. Park, Mr. Topping, Mr. Wailes, and
Mr. Richardson.
The counsel for the prisoner--Mr. Scarlett, Mr. Littledale, and Mr.
Williams.
Mr. Park opened the case to the jury, and said,--I am counsel against
the unfortunate gentleman now at the bar. This is a prosecution by the
Commissioners of Stamps, who in the discharge of their professional duty
have thought it incumbent upon them to institute this inquiry, and which
indeed they could not have omitted to do without a gross dereliction of
the duty they owed to the public. They have no interest in this
prosecution, and whatever be the result of this day's inquiry, they will
be satisfied with your decision. The crime imputed to the prisoner by
this indictment, is not merely calculated to defraud the public revenue,
but tends to affect the security of the property of individuals, and
that in the most serious manner, for if deeds, or other written
instruments for the transfer of property, have affixed to them forged or
improper stamps, they have no validity, and convey no rights to the
parties in whose favour they are executed. This consideration must at
once impress you with a conviction of the great importance of the
present case; as the conveyance of property by instruments the most
solemn known to the law, is thereby defeated, the contract becomes
invalid, and the deed by which it was intended to be effected, of no
possible use. Nor is it too much to say, that the rights of future
generations may be affected by the consequences of the crime imputed to
the prisoner.
It is, gentlemen, with the most unfeigned concern, that I have risen to
address you on the present occasion. This is the first time, during a
practice of thirty years at the bar, that it has fallen to my lot to be
concerned in a prosecution for felony against any person with whom I
have had any personal acquaintance. Mr. Blackburn (the prisoner) I have
long known; he has conducted actions in which I have been engaged for
him, and others in which I have been retained by the adverse party: and
though when I first heard the name I did not know how to affix it to the
person, yet now, when (for the first time since this prosecution has
been depending) I see him, I find that I know the gentleman perfectly
well. We at the bar are, however, bound to aid the administration of the
public justice of the country, and must do justice to the country, and
to the crown, on whose behalf we are engaged, and cannot shrink from the
performance of our professional duty, however painful to our feelings
the exercise of it may occasionally be. But the Government, the
Commissioners of Stamps, and those who on their account conduct this
prosecution, are very far from having any wish to oppress these
individuals; their only desire is, that justice should be done between
them and the country, and this justice I have no doubt will be done by
you.
If the prisoner is guilty of the offence imputed to him by this
indictment, his crime is greater than that of any other individual,
because there is no one who is so much obliged by his profession to
understand the principles of morality. The very first rudiments of his
profession must have rendered familiar to him those principles of
justice on which the law is founded; and in his long attendance at these
courts, he must (in addition to sound lessons of law) have heard the
principles of moral obligation enforced by the learned judges who have
from time to time presided here, and which ought to have had the effect
of rooting them in his mind.
Having made these few preliminary observations, I shall proceed to state
the nature of the charge against the prisoner, and the evidence by which
that charge is meant to be substantiated. The charge against the
prisoner is that of having forged, or caused to be forged, or
counterfeited, the impression of a certain stamp or die, used by the
commissioners (appointed by his Majesty, to manage the duties on stamped
vellum, parchment, or paper) to denote the payment of a certain duty,
imposed by the 48th of the King, on mortgage deeds, which are laid _ad
valorem_, that is, in a ratio proportioned to the money secured by such
deeds. The amount of the money secured by the deed which is the subject
of this inquiry, is 180_l._ and the stamp required for this sum, must be
of the value of 2_l._; for in the schedule affixed to the act, it
states, that from 150_l._ to a sum not exceeding 200_l._ the duty shall
be 2_l._ The subject-matter of this prosecution is, that in order to
evade the duty imposed by this act, the prisoner affixed a forged and
counterfeit stamp to an instrument, purporting to be a mortgage deed;
and also that he uttered or published the same, well knowing it to be
false, forged, or counterfeited. The penal act on which this prosecution
is founded, is an act of the 52nd year of the king, intituled, "An act
for amending and reducing into one act, the provisions contained in any
laws now in force, imposing the penalty of death, for any act done in
_breach of_ or in resistance to any part of the laws, for collecting His
Majesty's revenue in Great Britain." In this statute, cap. 143, section
7, it is enacted, "that if any person shall, after the passing of this
act, forge or counterfeit, or cause to be forged or counterfeited, any
mark, stamp, die, or plate, which in pursuance of any act or acts of
parliament, shall have been provided, made or used, by or under the
direction of the commissioners, appointed to manage the duties on
stamped vellum, parchments, or paper, or by or under the direction of
any other person or persons, legally authorised in that behalf, for
expressing or denoting any duty or duties, or any part thereof, which
shall be under the care and management of the said commissioners, or if
any person shall utter, or sell, or expose to sale, any vellum,
parchment, or paper, &c. having thereupon the impression of any such
forged or counterfeited mark, every person so offending, and being
thereof convicted, shall be adjudged guilty of felony, and shall suffer
as a felon, without benefit of clergy." I will now lay before you the
evidence by which we propose to establish this charge against the
prisoner.