14th of February last, about seven o’clock in the evening, and saw
nine men there; Jackson and Carter were two of them; he stayed there
about half an hour, and as soon as he came in he saw four or five men
with great coats and boots on, most of them upon their legs, as if
they were just going; he went and warmed himself by the kitchen fire,
and soon after he heard the stroke of a whip, repeated three or four
times, in a little room that was at the corner of the kitchen, but did
not see who gave the blows, nor who received them; that he afterwards
heard a strange rustling of people, more than before, and saw seven
or eight men come into the kitchen; that he knew Jackson and Carter,
and William Steel, Edmund Richards, and two that went by the names of
Little Sam and Little Harry; there were two other persons there, whom
to his knowledge he had never seen before or since, and could give no
account of them, nor did he observe how they were dressed; that soon
after he thought he heard a blow, and saw Jackson in a moving posture,
as if he had just given a blow, and was drawing up his arm in a proper
form, as if he was going to give another; but William Payne stepped up,
and called him a fool and a blockhead for so doing; upon which he sunk
his arm, and did not behave in a like manner any more in his sight;
that just as they were going out of doors, Jackson turned round with a
pistol in his hand, and asked for a belt, or string, but nobody gave
him either, and he put his pistol into his pocket, and went away with
the rest; that by the trampling of horses he supposed they all went on
horseback, but which way he knew not; it was between seven and eight
o’clock, as nigh as he could guess, when they went off; he did not hear
any conversation about one of the strangers being a King’s officer, nor
did he see the blow given, nor the person to whom the other blow was
going to be given.
The prisoners Jackson and Carter said they had no questions to ask this
witness.
Then his Majesty’s counsel desired that John Raise, otherwise Race, he
being an accessary to the fact, should be called, who appearing and
being sworn, deposed, that on Sunday, the 14th of February, he was at
Rowland’s Castle between twelve and one o’clock at noon; that when he
came there he found Edmund Richards, William Steel, the prisoners
Carter, Jackson, and Little Sam, Richard Kelly, Jackson’s wife, and
Galley and Chater; he saw Jackson take Chater to the door, and heard
him ask him if he knew anything of Dimer the shepherd, and Chater
answered he did, and was obliged to go and speak against him; that
Galley then went out to keep Chater from talking to Jackson; whereupon
Jackson knocked Galley down with his fist; that Galley came in again,
and soon after Jackson and Carter. When they were all come in, he (the
witness) with the prisoners Jackson and Carter, and Edmund Richards,
went into the back room; that there they enquired of Jackson what he
had got out of the shoemaker (meaning Daniel Chater); that Jackson
informed them that Chater said he knew Dimer and was obliged to come in
as a witness against him; that then they consulted what to do with them
(Chater and Galley)--this was about three o’clock in the afternoon:
they first proposed to carry them to some secure place, where they
might be taken care of till they had an opportunity of carrying them
over to France; and that when this proposition was made, the prisoners
Jackson and Carter, and Richards and himself were present. This
resolution was taken to send them out of the way, that Chater should
not appear against Dimer; and afterwards it was agreed to fetch a horse
and carry them away; that Galley and Chater appeared very uneasy, and
wanted to be gone; and thereupon Jackson’s wife, to pacify them, told
them that she lived at Major Battine’s and her horse was gone for, and
as soon as it came she would shew them the way to Mr. Battine’s; that
he (the witness) then went away, and saw no more of them that night.
Being cross-examined at the request of the defendant’s counsel, he
said, “At this consultation there was nothing mentioned, as he
remembered then, but the securing them in order to carry them to
France.”
This witness having gone thus far in his evidence, was set by
for the present; the counsel for the crown declaring that
they would call him again, to give an account of what passed
on the 17th, when Chater was murdered, after they had
examined the next witness.
Then William Steel, one of the accomplices in both the murders from
beginning to end, was sworn, who deposed that he was sent for to the
widow Payne’s on Sunday, the 14th of February; that Jackson, Little
Sam, one Kelly, and two men more, and Jackson’s wife, were there
when he came, which was about two o’clock in the afternoon, and soon
afterwards Little Harry, Carter, Edmund Richards, John Race, the last
witness, and Carter’s wife came thither; he said he did not know how
Carter or Jackson came to be there, but the widow Payne’s son came and
called him out, and said he must go to the Castle, his mother’s, for
there were two men come to swear against the shepherd; that when he
came in he found the two strangers, Galley and Chater, and Jackson,
Carter, Richards, and some others; and that they were in general sober,
but they sat drinking together about two hours; that Jackson took
Chater out of the house to examine him about Dimer; and after they had
been out some time, Galley went out to them, but soon returned, and
said Jackson had knocked him down; the witness saw he was bloody all
down the left cheek; that Jackson was not in the room when Galley came
in, but came in with Carter a little time afterwards; that then Galley,
addressing himself to Jackson, said he did not know any occasion
Jackson had to use him in that manner, and that he should remember it,
and took down his name in Jackson’s presence. Galley likewise said he
was an officer, and shewed his deputation to the people that were in
the room.
This witness, continuing his deposition, said Galley and Chater began
to be very uneasy, and wanted to be going, but that the prisoners
Jackson and Carter, and the rest of them that were smugglers, persuaded
them to stay, and be pacified, and all things should be set right;
and the company continued drinking till Galley and Chater were quite
fuddled, and were carried into a little inner room to sleep; this was
about four or five o’clock, and they continued in the little room two
or three hours; the rest of the company sat drinking all the while,
consulting what to do with Galley and Chater. The prisoners Jackson and
Carter, and Little Sam, Little Harry, Richards, and the witness were
at the consultation. It was proposed to put them (Galley and Chater)
out of the way, because they should not appear against the shepherd,
meaning Dimer; after which it was proposed to throw them into the well
in the horse pasture, about a quarter of a mile from Rowland’s Castle,
but that it was thought not convenient to put them into a well so near,
for fear of discovery.
Here the question was particularly asked Steel, the witness, which of
them it was that proposed the murdering them directly and flinging them
afterwards down the well; to which he replied, he believed he might.
After this it was next proposed to join and each man to allow them
threepence a week, and to keep them in some secret place till they saw
what became of Dimer, and as Dimer was served, so these two people
(Chater and Galley) were to be served. This was talked of while Chater
and Galley were asleep and there was no other proposal made as he heard
at that time: but while they were talking of these things, the wives of
Carter and Jackson said it was no matter what became of them (Galley
and Chater), or what was to be done with them; they ought to be hanged,
for they were come to ruin them, meaning the smugglers. He then said
that about seven o’clock Carter and Jackson went into the inner room
and waked Galley and Chater, and brought them out of the room very
bloody and very drunk; he did not see what passed in the room, but was
sure they did not go in so bloody, and he believed Jackson and Carter
had kicked and spurred them, for they had put on their boots and spurs;
that then Jackson and Carter brought them (Galley and Chater) out into
the kitchen; and took them through to the street door all very bloody,
when they set Galley the officer upon a brown or black horse and Chater
up behind him; that Jackson, Carter and Richards put them on horseback,
and tied their legs under the horse’s belly and also their legs
together; then they tied a line to the bridle, and he (the witness) got
upon a grey horse and led them along; that just after they had turned
round the corner about 70 or 80 yards from the house, Jackson cried out
“Whip them, lick the dogs, cut them.” It was then dark, and the company
whipped and lashed them with their horse-whips, some on one side and
some on the other with great violence, on the face and head and other
parts of the body, and continued doing so while they rode about half
a mile to a place called Woodash, or Wood’s Ashes; that there they
alighted and Little Sam gave all the company a dram or two, but none to
Galley and Chater; that as they were mounted again Jackson and Carter
cried out, “D--n them, lick them, whip them,” and they were whipped
as before for about a mile further, and then they fell down under the
horse’s belly, with their heads upon the ground and their legs over the
saddle; upon which Jackson and Carter and some of the others of the
gang dismounted and untied Galley and Chater, and immediately set them
up again, and their legs were tied together in the same posture, and
the company went on whipping them as before till they came to a place
called Dean,[7] which was about half a mile further. They were beat
very much, and in the judgment of the witness, it was almost impossible
they should sit their horses; that when they came to Dean somebody of
the company pulled out a pistol and said he would shoot them (Galley
and Chater) through the head, if they made any noise whilst they went
through the village. He could not tell who it was that threatened to
shoot them, but apprehends it was done for fear the people in the
village should hear them. They went on at a foot pace, and after they
got through Dean they were whipped again as before; and when they came
near a place called Idsworth, they fell down again under the horse’s
belly, and then some of the company loosed them, and set up the officer
(Galley) behind him (the witness), and Chater behind Little Sam, and in
this manner they proceeded towards Lady Holt Park, which is near three
miles from Idsworth, whipping Galley and Chater as before. But the
lashes of their whips falling upon the witness as he sat before Galley,
he (the witness) could not bear the strokes, and therefore he cried
out, and then they left off whipping Galley in that manner.
This witness further said that Galley sat upon the horse till they got
to Lady Holt Park, and then being faint and tired with riding, he got
down; and then Carter and Jackson took him, one by the arms and the
other by the legs, carried him towards a well called Harris’s Well by
the side of Lady Holt Park; and then Jackson said to Carter “We’ll
throw him in the well,” to which Carter replied “With all my heart;”
and Galley seemed very indifferent what they did with him; but some of
the company saying ’twas a pity to throw him into the well, Jackson and
Carter set him up behind the witness again and Chater was still behind
Little Sam. They went on in this manner till they came to go down a
hill, when Galley was faint and tired, and could not ride any further
and got down there; upon which Carter and Jackson laid him on a horse
before Edmund Richards, with his belly upon the pommel of the saddle.
They laid him across the horse because he was so bad that they could
not contrive to carry him in any other manner, and they carried him so
for about a mile and a half from the well; that then Richards, being
tired of holding him, let him down by the side of the horse; and Carter
and Jackson put him upon the grey horse that he (the witness) was upon,
and the witness got off. They set him up, his legs across the saddle
and his body lay over the horse’s mane; that in this posture Jackson
held him on and he did not remember that anybody else held him at that
time; that they went on for about half a mile in this manner, Galley
crying out all the time “Barbarous usage! barbarous usage! for God’s
sake shoot me through the head or through the body.” He (the witness)
thought Jackson was at this time pinching him by the private parts, for
there were no blows given when he cried so; that Chater was still with
the company behind Little Sam, and they went on for about two miles
and a half further, the company holding Galley by turns on the horse
until they came to a dirty lane, at which place Carter and Jackson
rode forwards, and bid the rest of the company stop at the swing gate
beyond the water till they should return. Jackson and Carter left them
here and went to see for a place proper for taking care of Chater and
Galley, but soon came to them again at the swing gate and told them
that the man of the house whither they went was ill and that they
could not go thither, by which he understood that they had been in the
neighbourhood to get entertainment. It was then proposed to go forward
to one Scardefield’s, and Little Harry tied Galley with a cord and got
up on horseback behind him in order to hold him up on the horse, and
they went on till they came to a gravelly knap in the road at which
place Galley cried out “I shall fall! I shall fall!” whereupon Little
Harry said, “D--n you, then fall,” and gave him a push, and Galley fell
down and gave a spirt, and never spoke a word more. He (the witness)
believed his neck was broke by the fall; that they laid him across the
horse again and went away for Rake to the sign of the Red Lion, which
was kept by William Scardefield; that Chater was behind Little Sam and
was carried to Scardefield’s house and was very bloody when they came
to Scardefield’s; that Jackson and Little Harry went from Scardefield’s
with Chater about three o’clock in the morning and Jackson afterwards
returned to Scardefield’s and said he had left Chater at Old Mills’s,
and that Little Harry was left to look after him that he might not
escape. This was Monday, the 15th of February, and they remained all
that day at Scardefield’s; that the prisoner Richard Mills the younger
was there on that day, and upon hearing from Jackson and Carter that
they had passed by a precipice thirty feet deep when they had Chater
with them, he said, “If I had been there I would have called a council
of war on the spot, and he (Chater) should have gone no further,” or to
that effect.
That two or three days afterwards the company met at Scardefield’s
again, to consult what to do with Chater; that the prisoners John Race,
Carter and Jackson, the prisoner Richard Mills the younger (a son
of the prisoner Richard Mills the elder), Thomas Willis, John Mills
(another son of old Mills), the prisoners Tapner, Cobby, Hammond, and
Thomas Stringer, Edmund Richards, and Daniel Perryer, and he (the
witness) were consulting what to do with Chater, and John Mills[8]
proposed to take him out, and load a gun, and tie a string to the
trigger, and place him (Chater) against the gun, and that they should
all of them pull the string, to involve every one of them in the same
degree of guilt; but this proposal was not agreed to. Then Jackson and
Carter proposed to carry him back to the well near Lady Holt Park,
and to murder him there, which was agreed to by all the company; but
Richard Mills the younger and John Mills said they could not go with
them to the well, because they had no horses; and as it was in their
(the other persons’) way home, they might do it as well without them;
and so it was concluded to murder Chater, and then throw him into the
well.
As soon as it was agreed amongst them to murder Chater and fling him
down the well, they went away for Rake to the house of the prisoner
Richard Mills the elder, and found Chater in a back skilling or
out-house, run up at the back of Mills’s house, a place they usually
put turf in; where they found him chained with an iron chain to a beam
in the skilling; that Chater was bloody about the head, and had a
cut upon one of his eyes, so that he could not see with it; that the
prisoner Richard Mills the elder was at home, and fetched out bread
and cheese for them to eat, and gave them drink; that the house is a
private house, no alehouse; that they all of them went to and again,
between the house and the skilling, and that the prisoner Richard Mills
the elder was at home all the while; that the prisoner Tapner bid
Chater go to prayers, and pulled out a large clasp knife, and swore
he would be his butcher; and while Chater was at prayers, he cut him
across the eyes and nose, and down his forehead, so that he bled to a
great degree. He was ordered by some others of the company to say his
prayers, for they were come to kill him, and kill him they would; and
some of the company were then in the skilling, and the rest of them
were in the house, but no one interposed to save his life; that he (the
witness) was in the skilling when Chater was advised to say his prayers
and was cut, and that Chater was chained by the leg at the time.
When they had kept him there as long as they thought fit, someone
unlocked the chain and set him on horseback, and Race, Richards, Little
Harry, Little Sam, the prisoners Tapner, Stringer; the prisoners Cobby,
Hammond and Perryer; the prisoners Jackson, Carter, and the witness,
set out with him to Lady Holt Park, to carry him down to the well;
that when they came to a place called Harting, Richards, Little Harry
and Little Sam went back; and when the rest came to the white gate by
Lady Holt Park, Carter and Jackson left them, but first told them they
must keep along a little further, and they could not miss the well, for
there were white pales; that it was about 200 yards further, some pales
on the right hand of it, and that there were pales round the well. They
went on, found the well by the direction given them, and carried Chater
with them; that then Tapner, Hammond, Stringer and Cobby got off their
horses, and Tapner pulled a cord out of his pocket, and put it about
Chater’s neck, and led him towards the well. Chater seeing two or three
pales down said he could get through, but Tapner said, “No, you shall
get over,” and he did so with the rope about his neck; they then put
him into the well and hanged him, winding the rope round the rails, and
his body hung down in the mouth of the well for about a quarter of an
hour; and then Stringer took hold of his legs to pull him aside, and
let his head fall first into the well, and Tapner let the rope go, and
down fell the body into the well head foremost; that they stayed there
for some time, and one of the company said he thought he heard him
breathe or groan; on this they listened, and being of the same opinion,
went to one Combleach, a gardener, who was in bed, and asked him to
lend them a ladder and a rope, for one of their company had fallen down
the well; which he readily did, not thinking, as the witness verily
believed, any otherwise. They brought the ladder with them, but as it
was a long one they could not get it down the well through the hole in
the breach of the pales; when they all tried to raise it up and put it
over the pales; but then, not having strength sufficient, they laid
that part of their design aside; and looking about them found a gate
post or two, which they threw into the well and then left him.
Steel, the witness, being cross-examined as to this, said, he never
heard the prisoner say he would not have them murder the man, and
added, that he was sure he must hear them talk of murdering while they
were at his house.
John Race being called again, said: That after he had left the company
at the widow Payne’s on the 14th of February, he met some of the same
company and others, on the Wednesday evening following, being the 17th
of February, at Scardefield’s, at Rake; that the prisoners, Richard
Mills the younger, Carter, Jackson, Tapner, Cobby, and Hammond, with
Steel, Richards, Little Sam, Daniel Perryer, John Mills and Thomas
Willis, were there; and it was proposed at that meeting to murder
Chater. He could not say who first made the proposal, but to the best
of his knowledge, it was either Carter or Jackson, and it was agreed
to by all the company; it was not then resolved how it was to be done,
but only in general, that he was to be murdered and thrown into a well;
that they went to the house of Richard Mills the elder, to join Little
Harry, who was left there to take care of Chater, and found Chater
chained by the leg upon some turf in a skilling, at the back side of
the house; that the prisoner, Richard Mills the elder, was at home, and
ordered his housekeeper to fetch bread and cheese, and some household
beer, for any of them to eat and drink that would, and was sure that
old Mills knew that they came for Chater; that Tapner and Cobby were
very earnest to go and see Chater; and Tapner having his knife in
his hand, said, “This knife shall be his butcher”; and thereupon the
prisoner, Richard Mills the elder said, “Pray do not murder him here,
but carry him somewhere else before you do it”; that Old Mills said
this on seeing that Tapner had his knife in his hand, and hearing
him declare it should be his (Chater’s) butcher; that they then went
out into the skilling, and found Chater sitting upon some turf, and
Tapner ordered him to say his prayers; whilst he was repeating the
Lord’s Prayer, Tapner cut him over the face with his knife, and Cobby
stood by kicking and damning him. This, too, was whilst the poor man
was saying the Lord’s Prayer. That Chater asked them what was become
of Galley, and they told him he was murdered, and that they were come
to murder him. Upon which, Chater earnestly begged to live another
day; that Cobby asked him his name, and whether he had not formerly
done harvest-work at Selsey? To which he answered that his name was
Daniel Chater, and that he had harvested at Selsey, and there he became
acquainted with Dimer. That Little Harry unlocked the horse-lock that
was on his (Chater’s) legs, and Tapner, Cobby and Stringer brought him
out of the skilling, and set him upon Tapner’s mare, in order to carry
him to the well, to be there murdered, and thrown in; and that all
the company knew at that time what was to be done with him; that they
rode about three miles towards the well, and sometimes whipped Chater
with their horse-whips; and Tapner observing that he bled, said, “D--n
his blood, if he bloods my saddle, I will whip him again.” When they
came to Harting, Carter, Jackson, Richards, Little Sam, Little Harry,
and Steel said, “We have done our parts, and you (meaning the rest
of the company) shall do yours.” By which they meant, as he took it,
that they had murdered Galley, and that the rest should murder Chater;
and Richards, Little Sam and Little Harry, stopped there, and did not
accompany them any further; the rest went on towards the well, but
Carter and Jackson stopped before they came to it, and told them the
well was a little further off, describing it to them, and told them
they could not miss finding it, for it had some white pales by it, and
that it was not above 200 yards further, and then Jackson and Carter
left them; that he (the witness) and Tapner, Cobby, Stringer, Hammond,
Perryer and Steel, came to the well, got off their horses, and took
Chater off his horse, the witness was not certain which; and either
Tapner or Cobby put a cord round his neck; that there was a “shord”
in the pales about the well, and he heard Chater say he could get
through there, but Cobby or Tapner said, “D--n you, no; you shall not,
you shall get over”; that Tapner wound the cord round the pales, and
Chater being put into the mouth of the well, hung by the neck for about
a quarter of an hour, and then they loosened the rope, and turned the
body, so that it fell into the well head foremost. They stayed there
till some of the company thought they heard him breathe or groan, and
then went to get a rope and a ladder at one Combleach’s, a gardener;
that they met Jackson and Carter and told them what they had done, and
that they were going to get a rope and a ladder, for Chater was not
quite dead; that they all could not raise the ladder; so they got some
old gate-posts and stones and threw them down upon him into the well,
and then left him.
The prisoner Hammond desired the witness might be asked whether when
they were at Old Mills’s, he did not offer to ride away, and make a
discovery, but was prevented by the company.
Race said he never heard him say anything about it; but one of the
company, which he believed was Richards, did threaten any of the rest
who should refuse to go to the murder of Chater.