prisoners, and divided them into two classes, of principals and
accessaries, yet the law makes no distinction in the crime. And in case
all the prisoners are guilty of the charge in this indictment, they
will be all equally liable to the same judgment and punishment.
“In the outset of this trial I shall not enlarge upon the heinousness
of murder in general; nor shall I dwell upon those circumstances in
aggravation attending this in particular. When I come to mention those
circumstances of cruelty and barbarity, I doubt not but they will have
all that effect upon the jury which they ought to have--to awaken and
fix your attention to every part of the transaction, and to balance
that compassion which you feel for the prisoners, though they felt none
for others. The effect I mean these circumstances should and ought to
have, is to clear the way for that justice which the nation expects,
from your determination and verdict.
“To comply with this general demand of justice upon the prisoners,
his Majesty, in order to give the prisoners the earliest opportunity
of proving their innocence and of wiping off this foul suspicion of
murder they now lie under, or if guilty of a breach of the laws of God
and man, that they may suffer the punishment due to their guilt, has
been pleased, by a special commission, to appoint this trial to be
before their lordships, not less knowing in the laws than tender and
compassionate in the execution of them.
“I cannot here omit taking notice of the unhappy cause of this fatal
effect, now under your consideration. Every one here present will,
in his own thoughts, anticipate my words and know I mean smuggling.
Smuggling is not only highly injurious to trade, a violation of the
laws, and the disturber of the peace and quiet of all the maritime
counties in the kingdom; but it is a nursery for all sorts of vice and
wickedness; a temptation to commit offences at first unthought of; an
encouragement to perpetrate the blackest of crimes without provocation
or remorse; and is in general productive of cruelty, robbery and murder.
“It is greatly to be wished, both for the sake of the smugglers
themselves and for the peace of this county, that the dangerous and
armed manner now used of running uncustomed goods was less known and
less practised here.
“It is a melancholy consideration to observe, that the best and wisest
measures of Government, calculated to put a stop to this growing
mischief, have been perverted and abused to the worst of purposes. And
what was intended to be a cure to this disorder has been made the means
to increase and heighten the disease.
“Every expedient of lenity and mercy was at first made use of
to reclaim this abandoned set of men. His Majesty, by repeated
proclamations of pardon, invited them to their duty and to their own
safety. But instead of laying hold of so gracious an offer, they have
set the laws at defiance, have made the execution of justice dangerous
in the hands of magistracy, and have become almost a terror to
Government itself.
“The number of prisoners at the bar, and of others involved in the
suspicion of the same guilt, the variety of circumstances attending
this whole transaction, the length of time in the completion thereof,
and the general expectation of mankind to be informed of every minute
circumstance leading and tending to finish the scene of horror, will
necessarily lay me under an obligation of taking up more time than
will be either agreeable to the court or to myself.
“To avoid confusion in stating such a variety of facts with the
evidence and proofs thereof, and to fix and guide the attention of the
gentlemen of the jury to the several particular parts of this bloody
tragedy, at last completed in the murder of Chater, I shall divide the
facts into four distinct periods of time.
“1st. What happened precedent to Chater’s coming to a
public-house, the sign of the White Hart, at Rowland’s Castle in
Hampshire, kept by Elizabeth Payne, widow, upon Sunday, the 4th
of February, 1747–8.
“And this period of time will take in the occasion and grounds of the
prisoners’ wicked malice to the deceased and the cause and motive of
his murder.
“2nd. What happened after Chater’s arrival at the widow Paine’s,
to the time of his being carried away from thence by some of the
prisoners to the house of Richard Mills the elder, at Trotton in
Sussex.
“This will disclose a scene of cruelty and barbarity, previous to
Chater’s murder, and show how active and instrumental the prisoners
Jackson and Carter were therein.
“3rd. What happened after Chater was brought to the house
of Richard Mills the elder, to the time of his murder, upon
Wednesday night, the 17th of that February.
“This will take in the barbarous usage of Chater at Mills’ house; a
consultation of sixteen[3] smugglers in what manner to dispose of
Chater, and their unanimous resolution to murder him: and will shew
Tapner, Cobby and Hammond to be principals therein, and the other four
prisoners to be accessaries.
“4th, and last period, takes in the discovery of Chater’s body
in a well, where he was hung, with the proofs that it was the
body of Chater.
“In the opening of this case, it will be impossible for me to avoid the
frequent mention of one William Galley, also suspected to have been
murdered: and for whose murder two of the prisoners, viz., Jackson and
Carter, are indicted, and are to be tried upon another indictment.
“But the murder of Galley is not the object of your present
consideration, nor do I mention his name either to aggravate this
crime, by taking notice of his murder also, nor to inflame the jury
against the prisoners at the bar; but I do it for the sake of method,
and for the purpose only of laying the whole case before the jury; for
the story of Chater’s murder cannot be told without disclosing also
what happened to Galley, his companion and fellow-sufferer.
“To begin with the first period of time. Some time in September,
1747, a large quantity of uncustomed tea had been duly seized by one
Captain Johnson, out of a smuggling cutter, and by him lodged in the
custom-house at Poole, in the county of Dorset.
“In the night of the 6th of October following, the custom-house of
Poole was broken open by a numerous and armed gang of smugglers; and
the tea which had been seized and there lodged, was by them taken and
carried away.
“This body of smugglers, in their return, passed through
Fordingbridge, where Dimer,[4] one of that company, was seen and known
by Chater. Dimer was afterwards taken up upon suspicion of being one
of those who had broken open the custom-house, and was in custody at
Chichester for further examination, and for further proof that he was
one of that gang.
“And in order to prove the identity of Dimer, and that he was one of
the gang, Daniel Chater, a shoemaker at Fordingbridge (the person
murdered), was sent in company with, and under the care of, William
Galley, a tide-waiter of Southampton, by Mr. Shearer, collector of the
customs there, with a letter to Major Battine, a Justice of Peace for
Sussex, and surveyor general of the customs for that county. Sunday
morning, the 14th of February, 1747–8, Galley and Chater set out from
Southampton, with Mr. Shearer’s letter, on their journey to Major
Battine’s house, at East Marden, in the neighbourhood of Chichester.
“At the New Inn at Leigh,[5] in Havant parish, in Hants, Chater and
Galley met with Robert Jenkes, George Austin, and Thomas Austin, and
having shewed them the direction of the letter to Major Battine, they
told them they were going towards Stansted, where Chater and Galley
were informed Major Battine then was; and said they would go with
them, and shew them the road. Their direct way to Stansted lay near
Rowland’s Castle; but Jenkes and the two Austins carried them to
Rowland’s Castle that Sunday about noon, where this cruel plot was
first contrived, and in part carried into execution.
“The malice conceived by the prisoners against Chater appears not
to have arisen from any injury, or suspicion of injury, done by the
deceased to the prisoners. But because Chater dared to give information
against a smuggler, and do his duty in assisting to bring a notorious
offender to justice, he was to be treated with the utmost cruelty, his
person was to be tortured, and his life to be destroyed. What avail
the laws of society, where no man dares to carry them into execution?
Where is the protection of liberty and life, if criminals assume to
themselves a power of restraining the one, and destroying the other.
“Having mentioned the motive of the prisoners in this murder, I shall
now open to you a scene of cruelty and barbarity, tending to the murder
of Chater, begun at Rowland’s Castle, by the two prisoners Jackson and
Carter, in company with others, and from thence continued, until Chater
was brought to the house of Richard Mills the elder, at Trotton, upon
Monday morning the 15th of February, before it was light.
“And here you will observe how cruelly and wickedly, in general,
the gang assembled at Rowland’s Castle behaved; and in particular,
how active Jackson and Carter appeared in every step of this fatal
conspiracy.
“Soon after Chater and Galley, and the three others, had arrived at
Rowland’s Castle, the widow Payne suspected Chater and Galley intended
some mischief against the smugglers; and for that purpose enquired
of George Austin who the two strangers were, and what their business
was. He privately informed her they were going to Major Battine with a
letter. She desired he would either direct the two strangers to go a
different way from Major Battine’s, or would detain them a short time
at her house, until she could send for Jackson, Carter and others.
And she immediately sent her son William for the prisoner Jackson;
and soon afterwards ordered her other son Edmund to summon the other
prisoner Carter, and Edmund Richards, Samuel Howard, Henry Sheerman,
William Steel and John Race, who all lived near Rowland’s Castle;
and accordingly they all came, as also did Jackson’s and Carter’s
wives. They were immediately informed by the widow Payne of what she
suspected, and had been informed concerning the two strangers. Jackson
and Carter being very desirous of seeing the letter to Major Battine,
got Chater out of the house, and endeavoured to persuade him to let
them see the letter, and to inform them of the errand to Major Battine.
But upon Galley’s coming out to them, and interposing to prevent
Chater’s making any discovery, they quarrelled with Galley, and beat
him to the ground; Galley complained of this ill-usage, and said he was
the King’s officer, and to convince them shewed his deputation.
“Chater and Galley were very uneasy at this treatment, and wanted to be
gone; but the gang insisted upon their staying; and in order to secure
and get them entirely in their own power, they plied them with strong
liquors, and made them drunk; and then carried them into another room
to sleep.
“During the two hours Galley and Chater slept, the letter was taken out
of Chater’s pocket; whereby it appeared that Chater was going to give
information against Dimer. The secret being thus disclosed to the gang,
the next thing to be considered of by the smugglers, was how to save
their accomplice Dimer, and to punish Chater and Galley for daring
to give information against him. For that purpose, whilst Chater and
Galley were asleep, several consultations were held.
“It was proposed first to put Galley and Chater out of the way, to
prevent their giving information against Dimer; and to that end it was
talked of murdering them, and flinging them into a well, a quarter of
a mile from Rowland’s Castle, that was in the horse pasture; but the
proposal was overruled, fearing a discovery, as the well was so near
Rowland’s Castle.
“The next thing proposed was secretly to convey Chater and Galley into
France, at that time at war with England.
“The second scheme was, for all present to contribute threepence a week
for the maintenance of Chater and Galley, who were to be confined in
some private place, and there subsisted until Dimer should be tried;
and as Dimer was done unto, so Chater and Galley were to be dealt with.
“The third and last proposal was to murder both.
“With a view and intention to execute this last, and the most cruel
proposal, Jackson went into the room about seven that evening, where
Chater and Galley lay asleep, and awaked them. They both came out very
bloody, and cut in their faces; but by what means, or what Jackson had
done to them, does not appear. They were immediately afterwards forced
out of the house by Jackson and Carter; the others present consenting
and assisting; Richards, one of the company, with a cocked pistol in
his hand, swore he would shoot any person through the head who should
make the least discovery of what had passed there.
“Chater and Galley were put upon one horse; and to prevent their
escape, their legs were tied under the horse’s belly; and both their
legs tied together; and the horse was led by William Steel. After they
had been thus carried about one hundred yards from Rowland’s Castle,
Jackson cried out to Carter and the company, “Lick them, d--n them,
cut them, slash them, whip them.” Upon which, they whipped and beat
them over their heads, faces, shoulders, and other parts of their
bodies, for the space of near a mile. With this cruel treatment they
both fell down under the horse’s belly, with their heads dragging upon
the ground. They were again put on the horse, and tied as before; and
whipped and beat with the like severity, along the road for upwards
of half a mile. And when they cried out through the agony of their
pain, pistols were held to their heads, and they were threatened to
be shot, if they made the least noise or cry. Being unable to endure
this continued and exquisite pain, and to sit on horseback any longer,
they fell a second time to the ground. By this inhuman usage, they were
rendered incapable of supporting themselves any longer on horseback.
Galley was afterwards carried behind Steel, and Chater behind Howard,
the prisoners Jackson and Carter, with the rest of the company, still
continuing their merciless treatment of Chater and Galley, but instead
of whipping, they now began to beat them on the heads and faces with
the butt-ends of their whips, loaded with lead. When they came to Lady
Holt Park, in Sussex, Galley almost expiring with the torture he had
undergone, got down from behind Steel; and it was proposed to throw
him alive into a well adjoining to that park; in which well Chater
was three days after hanged by the same gang. Galley was then thrown
across the pommel of the saddle and carried before Richards. He was
afterwards laid along alone upon a horse, and supported by Jackson, who
walked by him, and was at last carried before Sheerman, who supported
him by a cord tied round his breast. When they came to a lane called
Conduit-lane, in Rogate parish, in this county, Galley in the extremity
of anguish, cried out, “I shall fall! I shall fall!” upon which
Sheerman swore, “D--n you, if you will fall, do then;” and as Galley
was falling he gave him a thrust to the ground; after which Galley was
never seen to move, or heard to speak more.
“Jackson, Carter, and the others, in order to prevent a discovery of
the murder of Galley, went about one o’clock on the Monday morning,
to the Red Lion at Rake, in Sussex, a public-house, kept by William
Scardefield, whither they carried Chater all over blood, and with his
eyes almost beat out; and also brought the body of Galley. They obliged
Scardefield to shew them a proper place for the burial of Galley; and
accordingly he went with Carter, Howard, and Steel, to an old fox
earth, on the side of a hill near Rake, at a place called Harting
Coombe, where they dug a hole and buried Galley.
“The same morning, and long before it was light, whilst some were
employed in the burial of Galley, Jackson and Sheerman carried Chater
to the house of Richard Mills the elder, at Trotton.
“I am now come to the third period of time: from Chater’s arrival at
the house of Richard Mills the elder, to his murder upon Wednesday
night, the 17th of February.
“And here it is that Richard Mills the elder appears to be privy and
consenting to the intended murder of Chater. A private house was
thought much more proper and safe for the confinement of Chater,
than a public-house, at all times open to every man; and therefore
Chater was to be removed from Scardefield’s. The prisoners and
their companions being no strangers to Old Mills, but his intimate
acquaintance, and confederates in smuggling; where could Chater be so
secretly imprisoned, as at the private house of the elder Mills? and
where could he be more securely guarded than under the roof of one of
their gang? With these hopes and reliance, and in full confidence of
the secrecy and assistance of Old Mills, Chater was brought to his
house by Jackson and Sheerman. When they came there, they told Old
Mills they had got a prisoner; he must get up and let them in; upon
which Old Mills got up, and received Chater as his prisoner, whose face
was then a gore of blood, many of his teeth beat out, his eyes swelled
and one almost destroyed. I shall here omit one or two particular
circumstances, which the witnesses will give an account of; which shew
that Old Mills was also void of all tenderness and compassion.
“Chater was received by him as a prisoner, and a criminal; and
therefore was to be treated as such. Old Mills’s house itself was
thought too good a prison for him; and therefore he was soon dragged
into a skilling or out-house, adjoining to the house, wherein lumber
and fuel was kept. And although Chater was in so weak and deplorable
a condition as to be scarce able to stand, yet to prevent all chance
and possibility of his escape, he was chained by the leg with an iron
chain, fastened to a beam of the out-house; he was guarded night and
day, sometimes by Sheerman, and sometimes by Howard, who came there
that Monday evening. Thus he continued in chains until he was loosened
for his execution. But lest he should die for want of sustenance, and
disappoint their wicked designs, he was to be fed and just kept alive,
until the time and manner of his death was determined. During the whole
time of this imprisonment, Old Mills was at home and in his business as
usual. He betrayed not the trust reposed in him. He acquainted nobody
with what had happened, nor with whom he was entrusted; but like a
gaoler, took care to produce his prisoner for execution.
“On Wednesday, the 17th of February, there was a general summons of
all the smugglers then in the neighbourhood, at Scardefield’s house,
who had been concerned in breaking open the custom-house at Poole, to
meet that day at Scardefield’s. Upon which notice, all the prisoners
(except Old Mills) came that day to Scardefield’s. And there were also
present John Mills, another son of Old Mills, Edmund Richards, Thomas
Willis, Thomas Stringer, Daniel Perryer, William Steel and John Race;
Howard and Sheerman still continuing at Old Mills’s, and there guarding
Chater. It was at this consultation at Scardefield’s unanimously agreed
by all present that Chater should be murdered.
“This was a deliberate, serious, and determined act of minds
wickedly and cruelly disposed, and executed with all the imaginable
circumstances of barbarity.
“At this meeting Tapner, Cobby and Hammond were first concerned in, and
became privy and consenting to, this murder. And there also Richard
Mills the younger first became an accessary to this murder; but he was
so eager in pursuit of it, that he particularly advised and recommended
it; and said he would go with them to the execution, but he had no
horse. And when he was told that the old man (meaning Chater) was
carried by a steep place in the road to Rake, he said--‘If I had been
there, I should have called a council of war, and he should have come
no farther.’
“About eight o’clock on that Wednesday evening, all who were present at
the consultation at Scardefield’s (except Richard Mills the younger,
John Mills and Thomas Willis) went from Scardefield’s to the house of
Old Mills, where they found Chater chained, and guarded by Howard and
Sheerman.
“They told him he must die, and ordered him to say his prayers. And
whilst he was upon his knees at prayers, Cobby kicked him; and Tapner,
impatient of Chater’s blood, pulled out a large clasp knife, and swore
he would be his butcher, and cut him twice or thrice down the face,
and across the eyes and nose. But Old Mills in hopes of avoiding the
punishment due to his guilt, by shifting Chater’s execution to another
place, said--‘Don’t murder him here: carry him somewhere else first.’
“He was then loosened from his chains, and was by all the prisoners
(except Mills the father and his son), and by all the gang that came
from Scardefield’s, carried back to that well, wherein Galley had
before been threatened to be thrown alive. Jackson and Carter left the
company some small distance before the others came to the well; but
described the well to be fenced round with pales and directed them
where to find it; and said--‘We have done our parts,’ meaning we have
murdered Galley; ‘and you shall do yours,’ meaning you shall murder
Chater.
“Tapner, in order to make good what he had before said, after Chater
had been forced over the pales which fenced the well, pulled a rope out
of his pocket, put it about Chater’s neck, fastened the other end to
the pales, and there he hung Chater in the well until he was dead, as
they all imagined.
“They then loosened the cord from the rail of the pales, and let
him fall to the bottom of this well, which was dry; and one of the
accomplices imagined he heard Chater breathe, and that there were still
some remains of life in him.
“To put an end to a life so miserable and wretched, they threw pales
and stones upon him. This was the only act that had any appearance of
mercy and compassion; and it brings to my remembrance the saying of
the wisest of men, fully verified in this fatal instance of Chater’s
murder--‘The mercies of the wicked are cruelties.’
“I am now come to the fourth and last period of time.
“And here it is observable, that although Providence had for many
months permitted this murder to remain undiscovered, yet it was then
disclosed and brought to light when the appointed time was come, and
an opportunity given to apprehend and bring to justice many of the
principal offenders.
“Upon the 17th of September last, search was made in pursuance of
information given, for the body of Chater. And the body was found with
a rope about its neck, covered with pales, stones and earth, in that
well I have before mentioned, close by Lady Holt Park, in a wood called
Harrass Wood belonging to Mr. Carryll.
“By the length of time, from February to September, the body was too
much emaciated to be known with any certainty. But by his boots,
clothes and belt, there also found, it evidently appeared to be the
body of the unfortunate Chater.
“I have now opened to you the substance of all the most material
facts: and should the proofs support the truth of those facts, no man
can doubt the consequence thereof, that Chater was murdered, and the
prisoners were his murderers.”
Mr. Smith, another of the King’s counsel, also spoke as follows, viz.:--
“The crime they are charged with is one of the greatest that can be
committed against the laws of God and man, and in this particular case
attended with the most aggravated circumstances.
“It was not done in the heat of passion, and on provocation, but in
cold blood, deliberately, on the fullest consideration, in the most
cruel manner, and without any provocation. The occasion being as you
have heard, only because he dared to speak the truth.
“This prosecution, therefore, is of the utmost importance to the public
justice of the nation, and to the safety and security of every person;
for if such offenders should escape with impunity, the consequence
would be, that no crime could be punished. It would teach highwaymen
and all other criminals, to unite in the manner those men have done,
and whoever received injuries from them would not dare to take any
steps towards bringing them to justice, for fear of exposing themselves
to the revenge of their companions.