[Illustration: M^r. Galley and M^r. Chater put by y^e Smugglers on one
Horse near Rowland Castle.
_A. Steele who was Admitted at King’s Evidence._ _B. Little
Harry._ _C. Iackson._ _D. Carter._ _E. Donner._ _F.
Richards._ _1. M^r. Galley._ _2. M^r. Chater._]
Smuggling & Smugglers in Sussex.
THE GENUINE HISTORY
OF THE INHUMAN AND
UNPARALLELED MURDERS
OF
MR. WILLIAM GALLEY,
A CUSTOM-HOUSE OFFICER, AND
MR. DANIEL CHATER,
A SHOEMAKER,
BY FOURTEEN NOTORIOUS SMUGGLERS,
WITH THE
TRIALS AND EXECUTION OF
SEVEN OF THE CRIMINALS AT CHICHESTER,
1748–9.
_Illustrated with Seven Plates, Descriptive of the Barbarous Cruelties._
ALSO THE
Trials of John Mills and Henry Sheerman; with an account of the
wicked lives of the said Henry Sheerman, Lawrence and Thomas
Kemp, Robert Fuller and Jockey Brown; and the Trials at large
of Thomas Kingsmill and other Smugglers for Breaking open the
Custom-house at Poole; with the Sermon preached in the Cathedral
Church of Chichester, at a Special Assize held there, by Bp.
Ashburnham; also an Article on “Smuggling in Sussex,” by William
Durrant Cooper, Esq., F.S.A. (Reprinted from Vol. X. of the
“Sussex Archæological Collections”), and other Papers.
W. J. SMITH, 41–43 NORTH STREET, BRIGHTON.
TO THE PUBLIC.
This History was first published in 1749, soon after the execution of
Jackson, Carter, and other Smugglers, upon the Broyle, near Chichester.
The writer in his Preface, says: “I do assure the Public that I took
down the facts in writing from the mouths of the witnesses, that
I frequently conversed with the prisoners, both before and after
condemnation; by which I had an opportunity of procuring those letters
which are hereinafter inserted, and other intelligence of some secret
transactions among them, which were never communicated to any other
person.” Its authenticity thus shewn, he further says: “Of all the
monstrous wickedness with which the age abounds, nothing, I will be
bound to say, can parallel the scenes of villainy that are here laid
open. In all the Histories I have ever read, of all the barbarous
stories I have heard related, never did I meet with an instance where
cruelty was carried to such an excess as here. We have an instance of
two men suffering the most cruel torments that malice itself could
invent, without any provocation given, and for no other crime but a
duty to serve their king and country.”
He also says: “When the facts were proved by undeniable evidence
in the face of the Court, what horror and detestation appeared in
the countenance of everyone present! Everyone shuddered when they
heard the aggravating circumstances of the murders related, and how
barbarously the villains handled their two wretched victims. The judges
themselves declared on the bench, that in all their reading they never
met with such a continued scene of barbarity, so deliberately carried
on and so cruelly executed. The Council, Jury, and all present, were
astonished and shocked, to hear proved beyond contradiction, facts of
so monstrous a nature as the sufferings were of Mr. Galley and Mr.
Chater.”
“But how monstrous and unnatural soever the facts here related appear,
yet they are certainly true: everything is related just in the manner
it was acted, without the least aggravation to set it off. I have set
down nothing but what the witnesses themselves declared upon their
oaths, except in some few circumstances which Steele declared on his
first examination, but was not examined upon his trial. And therefore,
upon the whole, I affirm that the following account is genuine and
authentic.”
A reverend writer says: “In order to deter mankind from the
perpetration of notorious crimes, nothing can be so effectual as
to represent, in the most striking colours, the punishments that
naturally attend them. The fear of shame as often preserves a person
from the commission of a crime, as the expectation of a reward for his
continuing in the paths of virtue.” Mr. Pope also says,
“Vice is a _Monster_ of such frightful mien,
As, to be hated, needs but to be seen.”
These authorities, it is hoped, will be a sufficient apology for
reprinting the said History; and as the chief motive thereto is that
of serving the community, the editor humbly hopes it will meet with
due encouragement, more especially as such republication may justly be
considered as one means (among many others) of checking that audacious
spirit which now daily gains ground, by reminding those violators of
the laws, that, like Jackson and the other miscreants mentioned in
this work, they will most assuredly receive that just punishment their
crimes merit, if they continue their unlawful and wicked practices. On
the other hand, did they seriously consider the dreadful consequences
which frequently follow, they would shudder to think of them; they
would at once see and confess their own unworthiness; they would
be thoroughly sensible, that to answer the purposes of their Great
Creator, they should use their utmost endeavours to get an honest
livelihood in the stations to which they may respectively be called;
they would then be useful members of the community; and by such conduct
would avoid those dreadful horrors and most bitter pangs which for ever
haunt guilty minds.
The better to attain these most desirable and salutary ends, parents,
guardians, and others who have the tuition of youth (we mean here
the youth of the poor and the illiterate in general) should now and
then take occasion to read, or cause to be read, to their servants,
etc., divers passages of this true history; at the same time make such
remarks and draw such inferences from them, as their own natural good
sense and experience might point out; and more especially they should
put them in mind that God, by the mouth of His servant Moses, expressly
declares, “He who sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed.”
“I have drawn it up in the way of a Narrative, as the best method of
giving a full view of the whole affair. When that is over, I proceed
to give an account of their Trials; after which I conclude with their
lives, confessions, behaviour, and last dying words at the place of
execution.
“I cannot omit to mention here, that Mr. Banks made a speech,
exceedingly eloquent and judicious, which drew the attention of the
whole court; and which he concluded with that wise saying of the wisest
of men, ‘That the mercies of the wicked are cruelties’; the truth of
which will evidently appear in the following pages.”
HISTORY OF THE SMUGGLERS.
In September, 1747, one John Diamond, otherwise Dymar, agreed with a
number of smugglers to go over to the Island of Guernsey, to smuggle
tea, where, having purchased a considerable quantity, on their return
in a cutter, were taken by one Capt. Johnson, who carried the vessel
and tea to the port of Poole, and lodged the tea in the Custom-house
there.
The smugglers being very much incensed at this fatal miscarriage of
their purchase, resolved not to sit down contented with the loss; but,
on a consultation held among them, they agreed to go and take away the
tea from the warehouse where it was lodged. Accordingly, a body of
them, to the number of sixty, well armed, assembled in Charlton Forest,
and from thence proceeded on their enterprise; to accomplish which,
they agreed, that only thirty of them should go upon the attack, and
that the remaining thirty should be placed as scouts upon the different
roads, to watch the motions of the officers and soldiers, and to be
ready to assist or alarm the main body, in case any opposition should
be made.
In the night time, between the 6th and 7th of October, they went to
Poole, about thirty only present, broke open the Custom-house, and took
away all the said tea, except one bag about five pounds.
The next morning they returned with their booty through Fordingbridge,
in Hampshire, where some hundreds of people were assembled to view the
cavalcade. Among the spectators was Daniel Chater, a shoemaker (one of
the unhappy persons murdered) known to Diamond, one of the gang then
passing, as having formerly worked together in harvest time. Diamond
shook hands with him as he passed along, and threw him a bag of tea.
His Majesty’s proclamation coming out with a promise of a reward
for apprehending those persons who were concerned in breaking open
the Custom-house at Poole, and Diamond being taken into custody at
Chichester, on a suspicion of being one of them, and Chater saying
in conversation with his neighbours, that he knew Diamond, and saw
him go by with the gang, the day after the Custom-house at Poole was
broken open, it came to the knowledge of Mr. Shearer, collector of the
Customs at the port of Southampton, when, after some things had passed
by letter, between him and Chater, he was ordered to send Mr. William
Galley (the other unfortunate person murdered) with Chater, with a
letter to Major Battin, a Justice of Peace for the county of Sussex,
the purport of which was, to desire the justice to take an examination
of Chater, in relation to what he knew of that affair; and whether he
could prove the identity of Diamond’s person.
On Sunday, the 14th of February, they set out, and going for
Chichester, they called at Mr. Holton’s, at Havant, who was an
acquaintance of Chater’s; Holton asked Chater where they were going,
and Chater told him they were going to Chichester, to carry a letter to
Major Battin; when Mr. Holton told him the Major was at East Murden,
near Chichester, and directed him and Galley to go by Stanstead, near
Rowland’s Castle. Galley and Chater, pursuing their journey, and going
through Leigh, in the parish of Havant, in their way to Rowland’s
Castle, they called at the New Inn, and asking the nearest way, they
saw Mr. George Austin, and Mr. Thomas Austin, two brothers, and their
brother-in-law, Mr. Jenkes; when the elder brother, G. Austin, said
they were going the same way, and would shew them; and they all set out
together (Galley, Chater, and the rest being all on horseback); and
about 12 at noon came to the White Hart at Rowland’s Castle, a house
kept by one Elizabeth Payne, widow, who had two sons, both men grown,
and blacksmiths, and reputed smugglers, in the same village. After
calling for some rum, Mrs. Payne took Mr. George Austin aside, and told
him she was afraid these two strangers were come with intent to do some
injury to the smugglers. He replied he believed she need be under no
such apprehension on that account, for they were only carrying a letter
to Major Battin; and as he did not know the purport of it, he imagined
it was only about some common business. The circumstance, however, of
their having a letter for the Major, increased her suspicion; upon
which she sent one of her sons who was then in the house, for William
Jackson and William Carter, two of the murderers (as will appear
hereafter), who lived within a small distance of her house. While her
son was gone, Chater and Galley wanted to be going, and asked for their
horses; but Mrs. Payne told them, that the man was gone out with the
key of the stables, and would be at home presently, which words she
said in order to keep them till Jackson and Carter came, who lived
very near. As soon as Jackson came, who was there first, he ordered
a pot of hot to be made, and while that was getting ready Carter
came in; Mrs. Payne immediately took them aside, and told them her
suspicions concerning Chater and Galley, and likewise the circumstance
of a letter which they were carrying to Major Battin; and soon after
advised George Austin to go away about his business, telling him, as
she respected him, he had better go and not stay, lest he should come
to some harm; upon which he went away, and left his brother Thomas and
brother-in-law Mr. Jenkes there.
During this time, Mrs. Payne’s other son came in, and finding there
were grounds to suspect that the two strangers were going to make
information against the smugglers, he went out and fetched in William
Steel (who was one of the King’s witnesses upon trial), and Samuel
Downer, otherwise Samuel Howard, otherwise Little Sam, Edmund Richards,
Henry Sheerman, otherwise Little Harry, all smugglers, and all
belonging to the same gang, and were indicted for the murder of Mr.
Galley, but not then taken.
After they had drank a little while, Jackson took Chater into the
yard, and asked him how he did, and where Diamond was; Chater said he
believed he was in custody, but how he did he did not know; but that
he was going to appear against him, which he was sorry for, but he
could not help it. Galley soon after came into the yard to them, to get
Chater in again, suspecting that Jackson was persuading Chater not to
persist in giving information against the smugglers, and upon Galley’s
desiring Chater to come in, Jackson said, “G--d d--n your b--d,
what is that to you?” strikes him a blow in the face and knocks him
down, and set his nose and mouth a-bleeding; after which they all came
into the house, Jackson abusing Galley; when Galley said he was the
King’s officer, and could not put up with such usage; then Jackson
replied, “You a King’s officer! I’ll make a King’s officer of you; and
for a quartern of gin I’ll serve you so again;” and some time after
offering to strike him again, one of the Paynes interposed, and said,
“Don’t be such a fool, do you know what you are doing?”
Galley and Chater began to be very uneasy, and wanted to be going; upon
which Jackson, Carter, and the rest of them persuaded them to stay
and drink more rum, and make it up, for they were sorry for what had
happened; when they all sat down together, Mr. Austin and Mr. Jenkes
being present. After they had sat a little while, Jackson and Carter
wanted to see the letter which Galley and Chater were carrying to
Major Battin; but they refused to show it; upon which they both made a
resolution they would see it. They then drank about pretty plentifully,
and made Galley, Chater, and Thomas Austin fuddled; when they persuaded
Galley and Chater to go into another room where there was a bed, and
lie down; which they did, and fell asleep; and then the letter was
taken out of one of their pockets, and brought into the kitchen, where
Carter or Kelly read it; and the contents of it being plainly a design
to promote an information against some of their gang, they immediately
entered into consultation what course to take on this occasion. Some
proposed one thing, some another; but all agreed in this, that the
letter should be first destroyed, and then they would consider what
to do with the men, in order to prevent their giving the intended
information.
Before this, one John Race (who was also one of the King’s witnesses)
and Richard Kelly came in, when Jackson and Carter told them that they
had got the old rogue the shoemaker of Fordingbridge, who was going to
give an information against John Diamond, the shepherd, who was then in
custody at Chichester. Then they all consulted what was best to be done
with him and Galley, when William Steel proposed to take them both to
a well, a little way from the house, and to murder them and throw them
in.
At this consultation were present only these seven smugglers; namely,
William Jackson, William Carter, William Steel, John Race, Samuel
Downer, Edmund Richards, and Henry Sheerman, and this proposal was
disagreed to, as they had been seen in their company by the Austins,
Mr. Jenkes, Mr. Garrat, Mr. Poate, and others who came into Payne’s
house to drink. This being disagreed to, another proposal was made,
which was, to take them away, and send them over to France; but that
was objected against, as there was a possibility of their coming over
again, and then they should be all known. At these consultations
Jackson and Carter’s wives were both present, and who both cried
out “Hang the dogs, for they came here to hang us.” Then another
proposition was made, which was that they should take them and carry
them to some place where they should be confined, till it was known
what would be the fate of Diamond, and in the mean time each of them to
allow threepence a week to subsist Galley and Chater; and that whatever
Diamond’s fate was, they determined that theirs should be the same.
Galley and Chater continued all this while asleep upon the bed; then
Jackson went in and began the first scene of their cruelty; for having
first put on his spurs, he got upon the bed and spurred their foreheads
to awake them, and afterwards whipped them with a horsewhip, so that
when they came out into the kitchen, Chater was as bloody as Galley.
This done, all the abovesaid smugglers being present, they took them
out of the house, when Richards with a pistol cocked in his hand, swore
he would shoot any person through the head that should mention
anything of what was done, or what they had heard.
[Illustration: Galley & Chater _falling off their Horse at_
Woodash, _draggs thier Heads on the Ground, while the Horse kicks
them as he goes; the Smugglers still continuing thier brutish
Usage_.]
When they were all come out of the house, Jackson returned with a
pistol in his hand, and asked for a belt, a strap, or string: but none
of the people in the house presumed to give him either; upon which he
returned to the rest of the gang, who were lifting Galley on a horse,
whose legs they tied under the horse’s belly; then they lifted Chater
on the same horse, and tied his legs under the horse’s belly, and then
tied their four legs together.
All this time John Race was with them; but when they began to set
forward, Race said, “I cannot go with you for I have never a horse,”
and so stayed behind.
They had not gone above a hundred yards, before Jackson called out
“Whip them, cut them, slash them, damn them”; and then all fell upon
them except the person who was leading the horse, which was Steel; for
the roads were so bad that they were forced to go very slow.
They whipped them till they came to Wood’s Ashes, some with long whips
and some with short, lashing and cutting them over the head, face,
eyes and shoulders, till the poor men, unable any longer to bear the
anguish of their repeated blows, rolled from side to side, and at
last fell together with their heads under the horse’s belly; in which
posture every step the horse made, he struck one or the other of their
heads with his feet. This happened at Wood’s Ashes, which was more
than half a mile from the place where they began their whipping, and
had continued it all the way thither. When their cruel tormentors saw
the dismal effects of their barbarity, and that the poor creatures had
fallen under it, they sat them upright again in the same position as
they were before, and continued whipping them in the most cruel manner
over the head, face, shoulders, and everywhere, till they came beyond
Goodthorpe Dean, upwards of half a mile farther, the horse still going
a very slow pace; where they both fell again as before, with their
heads under the horse’s belly, and their heels up in the air.
Now they found them so weak that they could not sit upon the horse at
all, upon which they separated them, and put Galley behind Steel, and
Chater behind Little Sam, and then whipped Galley so severely, that the
lashes coming upon Steel, he desired them to desist, crying out himself
that he could not bear it, upon which they desisted accordingly. All
the time they so continued to whip them, Jackson rode with a pistol
cocked, and swore as they went along through Dean, if they made any
noise he would blow their brains out. They then agreed to go up with
them to Harris’s Well near Lady Holt Park, where they swore they would
murder Galley; accordingly they took him off the horse and threatened
to throw him into the well. Upon which the poor unhappy man desired
them to dispatch him at once, or even throw him down the well, to put
an end to his misery. “No, G--d d--n your blood,” says Jackson, “if
that’s the case, we must have something more to say to you”; and then
put him on a horse again, and whipped him over the Downs till he was so
weak that he fell.
Was ever cruelty like this! To deny a miserable wretch, who was half
dead with their blows and bruises, the wretched favour of a quick
dispatch out of his tortures! Could the devil himself have furnished a
more execrable invention to punish the wretched victims of his malice,
than to grant them life only to prolong their torments!
Poor Galley not being able to sit on horseback any longer, Carter and
Jackson took him up and laid him across the saddle, with his breast
over the pommel, as a butcher does a calf, and Richards got up behind
him to hold him, and after carrying him in this manner above a mile,
Richards was tired of holding him, so let him down by the side of the
horse; and then Carter and Jackson put him upon the grey horse that
Steel had before rode upon; they set him up with his legs across the
saddle, and his body over the horse’s mane; and in this posture Jackson
held him on for half a mile, most of the way the poor man cried out
“Barbarous usage! barbarous usage! for God’s sake shoot me through the
head”; Jackson all the time squeezing his private parts.
After going on in this manner upwards of a mile, Little Harry tied
Galley with a cord, and got up behind him, to hold him from falling
off; and when they had gone a little way in that manner, the poor man,
Galley, cried out “I fall, I fall, I fall”; and Little Harry, giving
him a shove as he was falling, said, “Fall and be d----d”; upon
which he fell down, and Steel said that they all thought he had broke
his neck, and was dead; but it must be presumed he was buried alive,
because when he was found, his hands covered his face, as if to keep
the dirt out of his eyes.
Poor unhappy Galley! who can read the melancholy story of thy tragical
catastrophe without shedding tears at the sorrowful relation? What
variety of pains did thy body feel in every member of it, especially
by thy privy parts being so used? What extremity of anguish didst thou
groan under, so long as the small remains of life permitted thee to be
sensible of it! And after all, to be buried while life was yet in thee,
and to struggle with death even in thy wretched grave, what imagination
can form to itself a scene of greater horror, or more detestable
villainy? Sure thy murderers must be devils incarnate! for none but
the fiends of Hell could take pleasure in the torments of two unhappy
men, who had given them no offence, unless their endeavouring to serve
their king and country may be deemed such. This indeed was the plea of
these vile miscreants; but a very bad plea it was to support as bad a
cause. But such is the depravity of human nature, that when a man once
abandons himself to all manner of wickedness, he sets no bounds to his
passions, his conscience is seared, every tender sentiment is lost,
reason is no more, and he has nothing left him of the man but the form.
We forgot to mention in its proper place that in order to make their
whipping the more severely felt, they pulled off Galley’s great coat,
which was found in the road next morning all bloody.
They, supposing Galley was dead, laid him across a horse, two of the
smugglers, one on each side, holding him to prevent his falling, while
the third led the horse, and as they were going up a dirty lane,
Jackson said, “Stop at the swing gate beyond the water till we return,
and we will go and seek for a place to carry them both to;” when he
and Carter went to the house of one Pescod, who had been a reputed
smuggler, and knocked at the door. The daughter came down, when they
said they had got two men whom they wanted to bring to the house. The
girl told them her father was ill, and had been so for some time, and
that there was no conveniency for them, nor any body to look after
them; and they insisting that she should go up and ask him, she did,
and brought down word that her father would suffer nobody to be brought
there, be they who they would; upon which they returned to the rest.
Though this Pescod was (as I have observed) a reputed smuggler, and
therefore these fellows supposed he would give them harbour upon this
occasion, yet it does not appear that he had gone such lengths as
the rest of them had done; for if he had, he would not have refused
admitting them at any hour of the night, notwithstanding his illness;
but he imagining they were upon some villainous expedition, resolved
to have no hand in it, or have his name brought in question on that
account. But to proceed.
By this time it was between one and two in the morning, when they
agreed to go to one Scardefield’s at the Red Lion at Rake, which was
not far from them. When they came there, they knocked at the door, but
the family being all in bed, Scardefield looked out of the window, and
asked who was there. Carter and Jackson told him who they were, and
desired him to get up, for they wanted something to drink, and there
were more company coming; Scardefield refused several times, but they
pressing him very hard, he put on his clothes and came down, and let
them in after many times refusing.
As soon as he was down, and had let Steel, Jackson, Carter and Richards
in, he made a fire in the parlour, and then went to draw some liquor,
while he was doing which he heard more company come in; and he going
into the brewhouse saw something lie upon the ground like a dead man.
They then sent him to fetch them some rum and some gin, and while he
was gone for the same, they had got poor Chater into the parlour, and
on his bringing the liquor, they refused to let him in; but he saw a
man, he says, stand up very bloody, whom he supposed to be Chater. They
told him, Scardefield, that they had an engagement with some officers,
and had lost their tea, and were afraid that several of their people
were killed; which they probably said, as well to conceal their murder
of Galley, as to account for Chater’s being bloody.
All this time poor Mr. Chater was in expectation every moment of being
killed, and indeed, when I am speaking of it, my heart bleeds for his
sufferings; but they sent him now out of the way, for Jackson and
Little Harry carried him down to Old Mills’s, which was not far off,
and then returned again to the company.
After they had drank pretty plentifully, they all went out, taking
Galley, or his corpse, if he was quite dead, with them; when Carter
and Richards returned to Scardefield’s, and asked him if he could find
the place out where they had some time before lodged some goods; and
he said he believed he could, but could not go then. But Richards and
Carter insisted he should; and then Carter took a candle and lantern,
and borrowed a spade, and they went together, and had not gone far
when they came to the rest, who were waiting; and then Scardefield saw
something lie across a horse, which he thought looked like the dead
body of a man; and then Little Sam having a spade, began to dig a hole,
and it being a very cold morning, he helped, but did not know what it
was for; and in this hole they buried poor Mr. Galley.
They then returned to Scardefield’s, and sat carousing the best part of
Monday, having, as Jackson told them, secured Chater.
[Illustration: _William Galley, brought cross a Horse to a Sand Pit
where a deep Hole is Dug to Bury him in._]
[Illustration: _The unfortunate William Galley put by the Smugglers
into the Ground &c. as is generally believed before he was quite
DEAD._]
This Scardefield was formerly thought to have been concerned with
the smugglers; and as he kept a public-house, they thought they might
take any liberties with him. And it seems evident, by what they did
after they had gained admission, that they only wanted a convenient
place to consult at leisure what course to pursue on this occasion.
They had two prisoners, one of whom they supposed they had already
murdered, whose body they must dispose of in some manner or other. The
other, though yet living, they resolved should undergo the same fate,
but by what means it does not appear they had yet agreed. The better
to blind Scardefield, whom they did not care to let into the secret of
their bloody scheme, and likewise to give some colourable pretence for
what his own eyes had been witness to (a dead corpse in his brewhouse,
and a man all over blood standing in his parlour), they tell him a
plausible story of an engagement they had with the king’s officers.
Now whether Scardefield gave entire credit to what they told him, or
whether he really suspected what they were upon, did not appear from
the evidence. This, however, is certain, that he went with them to the
place, and assisted them in burying the body of Galley; and therefore
one would imagine he could not be entirely ignorant of what they were
doing. But as he was one of the witnesses by which this iniquity was
brought to light, and as he was likewise a person of fair character,
we shall forbear saying any thing that may seem to throw a slur on his
reputation.
But now we must return to the melancholy story of the unfortunate man,
unhappy in the hands of the most cruel wretches surely ever breathing.
While they were sitting at Scardefield’s, consulting together what
they were to do next, Richard Mills came by; this Richard was the son
of old Richard Mills, to whose house they had conveyed Chater for his
better security, till they had resolved what to do with him. When they
saw young Mills they called him in, and related to him in what manner
they had treated Chater, who was going to make information against
their friend Diamond, the shepherd, and that in their way they came
by a precipice thirty feet deep. To this Mills made answer, that if
he had been there he would have called a council of war, and thrown
him down headlong. So it seems as if cruelty was the ruling principle
among the whole body of smugglers, and that nothing less than death
or destruction of all those they deemed their adversaries--that is,
all such as endeavoured to prevent or interrupt them in the pernicious
trade of smuggling--would content them.
They continued drinking at Scardefield’s all that day, which was
Monday, Chater being chained all the while by the leg, with an iron
chain about three yards long, in a place belonging to old Mills, called
a skilling, which is what they lay turf up in, and looked after by
little Harry and old Mills; and in the dead of that night they agreed
to go home separately, and to rally up some more of their gang, and to
meet at Scardefield’s on Wednesday.
Their design in this was, that they might appear at their own homes on
Tuesday morning early, so that their neighbours might have no suspicion
of what they had been about, or of what they had in hand still to do,
and likewise to consult with the rest of the gang what was best to be
done.
They all met at Scardefield’s on Wednesday evening according to
appointment; that is, William Jackson, William Carter, William Steel
(one of the king’s witnesses), Edmund Richards, of Long Coppice, in
the parish of Walderton, in the County of Sussex, and Samuel Howard,
otherwise Little Sam, of Rowland’s Castle, in the county of Hants, who
were five of the six concerned in the murder of Galley, as has been
before related. Also John Cobby, William Hammond, Benjamin Tapner,
Thomas Stringer, of the city of Chichester, cordwainer, Daniel Perryer,
otherwise Little Daniel, of Norton, and John Mills, of Trotton, both in
the county of Sussex, and Thomas Willis, commonly called the Coachman,
of Selbourne, near Liphook, in the county of Hants, Richard Mills,
jun., and John Race (another King’s witness), being fourteen in number;
Richard Mills, sen., and Henry Sheerman, alias Little Harry, stayed at
home to take care of Chater, in whose custody they had left him. They
dropped in one after another, as if by accident, so that it was late
in the night before they were all got together. Being all of them at
last come in, they entered upon the business for which they were then
met, namely, to consult coolly and sedately what was to be done with
Chater, that is, how to dispatch him in such a manner as would be least
liable to discovery; for that he must be destroyed, had been already
unanimously determined, as the only method they could think of to
prevent his telling tales about Galley. Thus, when a course of villainy
is once begun, it is impossible to say where it will end; one crime
brings on another, and that treads on the heels of a third, till at
length both the innocent and the guilty are swept away into the gulf of
destruction.
I cannot pass in silence, without making mention of the readiness old
Mills shewed when they brought poor Chater first down to his house; for
he fetched them victuals and drink, and they all eat and drank, except
Chater, who could not eat, but vomited very much.
After they had debated the matter some time among them, Richard Mills,
jun., proposed this method: “As Chater is already chained to a post,
let us,” said he, “load a gun with two or three bullets, lay it upon a
stand, with the muzzle of the piece levelled at his head, and, after
having tied a long string to the trigger, we will all go to the butt
end, and, each of us taking hold of the string, pull it together; thus
we shall be all equally guilty of his death, and it will be impossible
for any one of us to charge the rest with his murder, without accusing
himself of the same crime; and none can pretend to lessen or mitigate
their guilt by saying they were only accessories, since all will be
principals.” But some, more infernally barbarous than the rest (but
who, the witness Steel could not recollect), objected to this proposal
as too expeditious a method of dispatching him, and that it would put
him out of his misery too soon; for they were resolved that he should
suffer as much and as long as they could make his life last, as a
terror to all such informing rogues (as they termed it) for the future.
This proposal being rejected, another was offered and agreed to, and
that was--to go to old Major Mills, and fetch him away from thence,
and carry him up to Harris’s Well, near Lady Holt Park, and throw
him in there, as they intended to have done with Galley, as the most
effectual method to secrete the murder from the knowledge of the world;
forgetting that the eye of Providence was constantly upon them, watched
all their motions, and would certainly, one day or other, bring to
light their deeds of darkness; and that Divine Justice never forgets
the cries of the oppressed, but will, in due time, retaliate the
cruelties exercised on the innocent, on the heads of their inexorable
tormentors.
All this while the unhappy Chater remained in the most deplorable
situation that ever miserable wretch was confined to; his mind full
of horror, and his body all over pain and anguish with the blows and
scourges they had given him, and every moment in expectation of worse
treatment than he had yet met with, without any sustenance to support
his wretched life, than now and then a little bread and water, and
once some pease porridge. Besides all this, he was continually visited
by one or other of them, not to comfort or relieve him with words of
kindness, or promises of better usage; not to refresh him with cordials
or agreeable nourishment, but to renew their cruel exercise of beating
and abusing him, and to swear and upbraid him in the vilest terms and
the most scurrilous language that their tongues could utter.
Having at length concluded what to do with their poor unhappy prisoner,
they all went down to Old Mills’s, where they immediately opened a
fresh scene of barbarity. For as soon as they came in, Tapner, Cobby,
and some others of them, went directly into the turf-house, where they
found Chater in the most piteous condition, enough to melt a heart not
made of stone into compassion; but was so far from moving the pity of
these merciless bloodhounds, that it only served them as a fresh motive
to renew their cruelties, and aggravate his afflictions. Tapner, in
particular, immediately pulled out a large clasp knife, and expressed
himself in this horrible manner: “G--d d--n your b--d, down on your
knees and go to prayers, for with this knife I will be your butcher.”
The poor man being terrified at this dreadful menace, and expecting
that every moment would be his last, knelt down upon a turf, as he
was ordered, and lifted up his heart and hands to Heaven, in the best
manner that his pains and anguish would suffer him; and while he was
thus piously offering up his prayers to God, Cobby got behind him, and
kicked him, and with the most bitter taunts, upbraided him for being an
informing villain. Chater suffered all his torments with great patience
and resignation; and though there was scarce a limb or a joint of him
free from the most excruciating pains, yet in the midst of all he did
not forget his friend Galley, and believing that he was either dead or
very near it, he begged they would tell him what they had done with
him. Tapner replied, “D--n you, we have killed him, and we will do so
by you”; and then, without more ado, or any other provocation, drew his
knife aslant over his eyes and nose, with such violence, that he almost
cut both his eyes out, and the gristle of his nose quite through. Poor
Chater was absolutely at his mercy, for it was not in his power to make
any resistance; his great and only comfort was that he suffered in a
righteous cause, and supported with this consideration, he resigned
himself to the will of heaven, which he was persuaded took cognizance
of his sufferings, and would reward his tormentors according to their
demerits.
Tapner, however, not satisfied with this wanton act of cruelty, in
another fit of frenzy, aimed another stroke at his face, designing
to cut him again in the same wound; but happening to strike a little
higher, made a terrible gash across his forehead, from which the blood
flowed in abundance. What a lamentable figure must the poor creature
make! His face deeply furrowed with the most ghastly wounds, his eyes
cut almost out of his head, and the blood running down in torrents
upon the rest of his body. What a spectacle was here! yet not
miserable enough to move the compassion of these bloodthirsty tigers!
Old Mills, however, not from any pity, or that his heart relented at
the terrible condition of this deplorable object, but apprehending bad
consequences to himself, in case he should die under their hands, and
under his roof, said to them, “Take him away, and do not murder him
here, but murder him somewhere else.”
[Illustration: _Chater, Chained in y^e Turff House at Old Mills’s.
Cobby, kicking him & Tapner, cutting him Cross y^e Eyes & Nose, while
he is saying the Lords Prayer. Several of y^e other Smugglers standing
by._]
It is surprising that this poor miserable man, who was far advanced
in years, had strength and vigour enough to sustain such a variety of
torments, which were inflicted upon him, almost without intermission,
for several days successively; yet even after this last act of
barbarity, he had more severe trials to come before he was suffered
to part with his wearisome life. And as the last scene of this woful
tragedy appears more astonishing and more monstrous than anything
they had hitherto transacted, we shall give a very particular and
circumstantial account of everything that was done on this sad
occasion. Being all agreed in the measures they were about to take,
they mounted Chater on a horse, and set out together for Harris’s
Well. Mills, however, and his two sons, stayed behind, desiring to
be excused, because their horses were not in the way; or they would
readily have borne them company on the occasion if they could, for they
were as hearty in the same cause as the best of them. Besides, there
was no great necessity for their assistance, since there were enough
of them, as the Mills’s said, to kill one man; and as Harris’s Well
lay just in their way homewards, the execution would be little or no
hindrance to them in their journey.
Everything being now settled, they proceeded towards the well. Tapner,
however, more cruel, if possible than the rest, fell to whipping poor
Chater again over his face and eyes, and made his wounds, which he had
before given him with his murdering knife, bleed afresh; and, what was
still more amazing, swore, “That if he blooded his saddle” (for it
seems Chater was set upon his horse) “he would destroy him that moment
and send his soul to Hell:” which is such an unparalleled instance of
barbarity, that one would think it impossible that there should be a
creature living, that pretends to reason, and would be ranked among
men, could be guilty of. What! to threaten to murder a man for a thing
which was not in his power to avoid, and which the villain himself was
the sole occasion of! Horrible, shocking wickedness! but let us proceed
in our melancholy story.
At last poor Chater, in this disfigured lamentable condition, is
brought to the well. By the time they got there, it was the very dead
of night, and so near the middle of it, that it was uncertain whether
it was Wednesday night or Thursday morning. The well was between
twenty and thirty feet deep, without water, and paled round at a small
distance to keep the cattle from falling in. Being come up to the
pales, they dismounted Chater, and Tapner, taking a cord out of his
pocket which he had brought for that purpose, made a noose in it and
then fastened it round his neck. This being done, they bade him get
over the pales to the well. The poor man observing a small opening,
where a pale or two had been broken away, made an attempt to go
through; but that was a favour too great to be allowed to so heinous an
offender, as it seems poor Chater was in their opinion; and therefore
one of them swore he should get over in the condition he was and
with the rope about his neck, all over blood, his wounds gaping and
himself extremely weak and ready to faint through loss of blood; yet in
this miserable plight these cruel executioners obliged him to get over
the pales as well as he could.
[Illustration: _Chater hanging at the Well in LADY HOLT Park
the Bloody Villains Standing by._]
[Illustration: _The Bloody Smugglers flinging down Stones after they
had flung his Dead Body into the Well._]
With a great deal of difficulty he got over the pales, when he found
himself just upon the brink of the well, the pales standing very near
to it. Being over, Tapner took hold of the rope which was fastened to
Chater’s neck, and tied it to the rail of the pales where the opening
was, for the well had neither kerb, lid nor roller. When the rope was
thus fixed to the rail, they all got over to him and pushed him into
the well; but the rope being of no great length, would not suffer his
body to hang lower than knee-deep in it; so that the rest of his body,
from his knees upwards, appeared above the well, bending towards the
pales, being held in that position by the rope that was tied to the
rail. But as in this posture he hung leaning against the side of the
well, the weight of his body was not of sufficient force to strangle
him presently. For his inhuman executioners, whether wearied with
tormenting him so long or whether they wanted to get home to their
several places we cannot say, but they seemed now resolved to dispatch
him as soon as they could.
After they had waited about a quarter of an hour, and perceiving by the
struggles he made that he would be a considerable time in dying, they
altered the method of his execution. Thomas Stringer therefore, with
the assistance of Cobby and Hammond, pulled his legs out of the well,
and Tapner untying the cord that was fastened to the rail, his head
fell down upon the ground, and then, bringing it round to the well, put
it in. Then Stringer, who had hold of his legs, assisted by Cobby and
Hammond, let them go, and the body fell head foremost into the well.
Now one would think they had entirely finished this tragedy and that
this miserable creature was quite out of his misery, and beyond the
reach of any further injury. No, he had yet some further remains of
life in him, and while he had any sense left, he must feel the exercise
of their cruelty.
After they had thrown the body into the well, they stood by it some
time; and it being the dead of night and every thing still, they heard
him breathe or groan, and from thence being assured that he was still
alive, and that if they should leave him in that condition somebody
accidentally passing that way might possibly hear him; and in that
case if the man should be relieved and brought to life again, the
consciousness of their own horrid crimes and the enormous barbarities
they had exercised upon him and Galley, told them that they would
certainly be discovered, and then they knew they were dead men.
Upon which they immediately came to a resolution to procure a ladder
that should reach to the bottom of the well, and one of them would go
down by it and dispatch him at once. Accordingly they went to William
Combleach, a gardener, who lived but a little way off, and knocked him
up, telling him that one of their companions was fallen into Harris’s
Well and begged the favour he would lend them a ladder and a rope to
get him out again. Combleach knowing nothing more of the matter but
what they had told him, lent them the ladder, and they carried it to
the well. Having brought it to the pales, whether through the surprise
and confusion they were in or the dread and horror that might have
seized their minds from the consideration of the dreadful work they
were about, or from what other cause is uncertain, they had not all of
them power sufficient to raise the ladder high enough to get it over
the pales, it being a very long one, though there were six of them
employed in doing it, namely, Stringer, Steel, Perryer, Hammond, Cobby
and Tapner.
When they had tried some time, and found all their efforts ineffectual
to raise the ladder, they left it upon the ground, and went again to
the well side to listen, and hearing the poor man still groaning, they
were at a stand what they should do to put a quick end to the life of
the miserable creature. But recollecting themselves, they hunted about
for something heavy to throw in upon him, and found two logs of wood
that had been gate-posts, which they threw into the well; and being
resolved to do the business effectually, got together as many great
stones as they could find, and threw them in likewise. And now they
thought they had done his business, and they were undoubtedly right in
their guess, for on listening again they could hear nothing of him;
and therefore, concluding he was dead, as most certainly he was, they
mounted their horses and went to their respective homes.
Thus are we brought to the fatal and final catastrophe of the unhappy
Chater, and whoever seriously reflect on the cause for which he
suffered, the torments he underwent, the variety of punishments with
which he was continually exercised, from the time he set out from
Rowland’s Castle till he finished his miseries in Harris’s Well,
which was from Sunday afternoon to the dead of the night between the
Wednesday and Thursday following, must feel their hearts melt with
compassion, and in some measure be sensible of the variegated pains
and tortures with which the poor creature was constantly racked and
torn during this time. But who can think on his tormentors without
horror and detestation? Bloody villains! had you thought that his
death was absolutely necessary to secure your own lives, could you
not have dispatched him at once, without exercising such a variety of
merciless cruelties upon him? It is true, even in this case you would
not have been excused, because you would have slain him while he was
actually discharging his duty to his country, that is, endeavouring to
detect and to bring to punishment wretches that live only by rapine
and the plunder of the public. I say, had this been the case, and upon
meeting him on the road you had shot him through the head, merely to
prevent his bringing you to that righteous judgment which your country
has since passed upon you, it might have been some mitigation of your
crime; but to torture and to destroy a man by inches, to be constantly
afflicting and lacerating his body for so many days together with every
cruelty that malice itself could suggest; this surely must convince
mankind that some malicious demon had taken possession of your souls,
and banished every sentiment of humanity from your hardened hearts.