been generally believed to have led the wretched man on to the
commission of so foul a crime, namely, the hope of procuring a large
booty; for the supposed "bank" of Mr. Weare was generally believed to
amount to nearly 1,000_l._; from the testimony of the witness Probert,
it would appear that he was unsuccessful in his object, while at the
same time the observation made by Thurtell, on their going to search the
body, (itself a corroborative fact,) that he had got all except the
pocket-book, clearly exhibits that the anticipation was that which we
have pointed out. Where or how the "bank" was disposed of, has never
been shown; but there were not wanting those among the companions of
Probert and Hunt, who suggested that it had been in reality found, and
hidden by Thurtell, until an opportunity was afforded for its removal,
unknown to his companions in the plot. It is a well ascertained fact,
that he was not previously in possession of means sufficient to defray
the expenses of a defence, which was known to have cost a very large sum
of money; and it was very generally believed that the produce of the
double robbery of Mr. Weare, and of the prisoner's companions, from whom
he kept their share of the booty, (if the suggestion thrown out be well
founded,) was applied to the payment of his attorney's bill.
We have only to add that Hunt was reprieved, and was subsequently
ordered to be transported for life. It was for some time reported that
he had died on his voyage to Australia; but he in fact arrived in Sydney
in good health; and by his excellent conduct while there procured for
himself a ticket of leave, by which he was exempted from all the
immediate consequences of his conviction, although he was not absolutely
restored to freedom. He was subsequently appointed chief constable at
Paramatta, a large town in the interior, when he became generally well
liked from his quiet manners; and it has been reported that he died in
the colony, within the last few years, but the truth of the rumour
cannot be ascertained by reference to any document in this country.
Probert met the fate which he so justly deserved within a short time of
his escaping from punishment for his connexion with this case, in a
manner and for an offence which we shall hereafter in due course
describe.
ALEXANDER PIERCE.
EXECUTED FOR MURDER.
Although the offence for which this person was executed did not occur
within the district of our own country, yet as the malefactor was a
British subject, the particulars of the horrid deed of which he was
guilty, and which was of a nature most disgustingly appalling, may not
be considered out of place in our catalogue.
In the month of November 1823, the prisoner surrendered himself at a
place called Macquarrie Harbour, in Van Diemen's Land--of which place it
was the penal settlement, and which was therefore inhabited only by
persons twice transported, and the guards necessary to keep them in
subordination--and charged himself with having been guilty of the murder
of one Cox, a convict, who had escaped with him from the same settlement
only a short time before, and whom he had despatched, for the purpose of
preserving himself from starvation by devouring his flesh. It would be
useless for us to go into a detail of the circumstances proved on his
trial at Hobart Town on the 21st June 1824, which were of a nature far
less horrible than those which he confessed immediately before his
execution for the offence with which he charged himself.
This confession was in the following terms. "I was born in the county of
Fermanagh, in the north of Ireland, where in the 26th year of my age I
was convicted on a charge of stealing six pairs of shoes, and received
sentence to be transported for seven years. I arrived at Hobart Town, in
the ship Castle Forbes, and was assigned to Mr. John Bellenger, with
whom I remained about nine months, at the expiration of which time I was
returned to the government superintendant, in consequence of some
misconduct of which I had been guilty. In a few months afterwards, I was
assigned to a constable named Cane; but I had stayed with him only
sixteen weeks, when being carried before a magistrate for some offence,
of which I had been guilty, I was ordered to receive fifty lashes, and
to be returned again to Crown labour. I was subsequently again assigned
to a Mr. Scattergood, at New Norfolk, but I absconded from his service
into the woods, where I joined Laughton, Saunders, Latton, and Atkinson,
who were at large in the bush. After about three months spent in
'ranging,' I surrendered upon a proclamation issued by the Governor, and
was pardoned; but I shortly afterwards forged some orders, upon which I
obtained property. On learning that the fraud was discovered, I was
induced once more to make off, and I did so; but after a stay of about
three months in the woods, I was taken by a party of the 48th regiment,
and being tried for the forgery, was found guilty, and ordered to be
transported to the Penal Settlement at Macquarrie Harbour, for the
remainder of my original sentence. I was not there more than a month
before I made my escape with seven others, named Dalton, Traverse,
Badman, Matthews, Greenhill, Brown, and Cornelius. We all kept together
for about ten days, during which we ate nothing but our kangaroo-skin
jackets, and then we were nearly exhausted with hunger and fatigue. On
the eleventh night, we began to consult what was best to be done for our
preservation, and we made up our minds to a dreadful result. In the
morning we missed three of our company, Dalton, Brown, and Cornelius,
who, we concluded, had left us with an intention of returning, if
possible. We then drew lots, which of us should die; and the chance fell
on Badman. I went with one of the others to collect dry wood, to make a
fire, during which time Traverse had succeeded in killing Badman, and
when we returned, he had begun to cut him up. We dressed part of the
flesh immediately, and continued to use it as long as it lasted. We then
drew lots again, and it fell to the fate of Matthews. Traverse and
Greenhill killed him with an axe; we cut the flesh from his bones,
carried it on, and lived upon it as long as it lasted. By the time it
was all eaten, Traverse, through fatigue, fell lame in his knee--so much
so, that he could not proceed; Greenhill proposed that I should kill
him, which I agreed to. We then made the best of our way, carrying the
flesh of Traverse between us, in the hope of reaching the Eastern
settlements while it lasted. We did not however, succeed, and I
perceived Greenhill always carried the axe, and thought he watched an
opportunity to kill me. I was always on my guard, and succeeded, when he
fell asleep, in getting the axe, with which I immediately despatched
him, made a meal, and carried all the remaining flesh with me to feed
upon. To my great disappointment, I was afterwards many days without
food, and subsisted solely upon grass and nettle-tops, which I boiled in
a tin pot that I brought with me from the settlement. At length I fell
in with some natives' huts, from which apparently the inmates had just
retired; and there I collected some entrail, and bits of kangaroo, which
afforded me a meal. Two days afterwards, when nearly exhausted, I came
in sight of a hut, which proved to be M'Guire's near the High Plains. I
staid there a fortnight, and made up my mind to surrender myself to
Captain Wood, a magistrate on the river Clyde; but on my way thither, I
met Davis and Churton, who were then desperadoes, and living at the
Shannon hut. They wished me to join them, to which I agreed. In a few
weeks we were all taken, near Jericho, by a party of the 48th regiment,
and brought into Hobart town jail; Churton and Davis were tried, found
guilty of capital offences, and suffered death. It was my fate to be
returned to the Penal Settlement. I again made my escape with Thomas
Cox, who eagerly pressed my departure. I had irons on at the time; and
when we had proceeded some distance, Cox knocked them off with an axe he
had brought with him, and we made the best of our way through a thicket,
which was very wet. At night we tried to make a fire, but could not. We
travelled on several days without food, except the tops of trees and
shrubs, until we came upon King's River; I asked Cox, if he could swim;
he replied he could not; and I remarked, that had I been aware of that,
he should not have been my companion. The arrangements for crossing the
river created words, and I killed Cox with the axe: I ate part of him
that night, and cut the greatest part of his flesh up in order to take
on with me. I swam the river with the intention of keeping the coast
round to Port Dalrymple, but my heart failed me, and I resolved to
return and give myself up to the commandant. I threw most of the flesh
away; one piece I carried in my pocket, to show the commandant that Cox
was dead. I confessed that I had killed him, and accompanied a party in
a boat to bring up his remains, which was done."
The prisoner underwent the extreme penalty of the law on the following
morning, for the detestable crimes of which he had been guilty. We
regret to say, however, that this is not a solitary instance of persons
in the situation of Pierce resorting to similar means for the
preservation of their lives.
HENRY FAUNTLEROY.
EXECUTED FOR FORGERY.
The station in society which was occupied by this unfortunate gentleman,
together with the long established respectability of the banking-house
in which he was a most active partner, and the vast extent of the
heartless forgeries which he committed, gave to his case an intensity of
interest, which has rarely been exceeded.
The apprehension of Mr. Fauntleroy took place on the 10th of September
1824, when he was taken into custody on a warrant, issued in consequence
of information being lodged at Marlborough-street police-office, that it
had been discovered that in the month of September 1820, stock in the
three per cents, to the extent of 10,000_l._, which stood in the name of
himself, J. D. Hulme, and John Goodchild, as trustees for Francis
William Bellis, had been sold out under a power of attorney, to which
the names of Mr. Fauntleroy's co-trustees, and of one of the subscribing
witnesses, had been forged. The name of the firm with which Mr.
Fauntleroy was connected was Marsh, Stracey, Fauntleroy, and Graham, and
their banking-house was situated in Berners-street, where they enjoyed
no inconsiderable portion of public patronage; and the apprehension of
Mr. Fauntleroy, on one charge, no sooner became generally known, than,
on inquiries being made, it was found that he had, under similar
circumstances, sold out stock to the enormous amount of 170,000_l._,
since the year 1814, the whole of which he had converted to his own use.
The most extraordinary degree of interest was, in consequence,
exhibited, and the public, unconscious of the degree of mischief which
might be apprehended, became so alarmed that a run on the banking-house
took place, which was checked by a suspension of payments, and
eventually by a commission of bankruptcy.
Meanwhile Mr. Fauntleroy's private character and conduct became the
subject of general comment in the newspapers, and exaggerated accounts
of his depravity of habit were published. He was described as a
licentious libertine, and as a deep and determined gamester, and it was
alleged that his extravagance knew no bounds. His private life was also
inquired into, and it was found that he had been married to a young lady
of respectable family named Young, by whom he had previously had a
child; but that after his marriage, he had never lived with his wife;
and it is not a little remarkable, that it was for a forgery, by means
of which his wife's family was defrauded, that he underwent the final
dreadful sentence of the law.
His trial took place at the Old Bailey, on the 30th of October 1824,
when he was indicted for forging a power of attorney for the transfer of
stock in the three per cent. consols, to the amount of 5,000_l._, with
intent to defraud Frances Young. As early as seven o'clock in the
morning the doors leading to the court-house were thronged with persons
anxious to obtain a glimpse of the prisoner; and on the arrival of the
judges, before whom the unfortunate gentleman was tried, every corner of
the court was filled with spectators. The Attorney-General was employed
to conduct the case for the prosecution, and in his opening address to
the jury, he described the prisoner as the acting partner in the house
of Messrs. Marsh and Co. Mr. Fauntleroy, the father of the prisoner, had
become a partner in that firm, at the period of its establishment, and
had continued so up to the time of his death, which took place in the
year 1807. The prisoner was then admitted into the concern, and became a
most active member in carrying on its extensive transactions. In the
year 1815, Frances Young, of Chichester, a customer of the house, lodged
in their hands a power of attorney, to receive the dividends on
5,450_l._ stock, invested in her name in the three per cent. consols.
The dividends were regularly handed over by the banking-house; but it
was found, that soon after the period mentioned, another power of
attorney, authorising the prisoner to sell the stock, was presented to
the bank, and the sale was effected by him. To this power the prisoner
had forged the names of Frances Young, and of two witnesses to it. But
the most extraordinary part of the case was, that among the prisoner's
private papers, contained in a tin box, there had been found one in
which he acknowledged his guilt, and adduced a reason for his conduct.
The Attorney-General then read the paper, which presented the following
items, &c.:--De la Place, 11,150_l._ three per cent. consols; E. W.
Young, 5,000_l._ consols; General Young, 6,000_l._ consols; Frances
Young, 5,000_l._ consols; H. Kelly, 6,000_l._ consols; Lady Nelson,
11,995_l._ consols; Earl of Ossory, 7,000_l._ four per cents; W. Bowen,
9,400_l._ four per cents;--Parkins, 4,000_l._ consols. Sums were also
placed to the names of Mrs. Pelham, Lady Aboyne, W. R. and H.
Fauntleroy, and Elizabeth Fauntleroy; and the learned gentleman
observed, that all the sums were added together, and the sum total,
120,000_l._, appeared at the foot of this list in the prisoner's
hand-writing. The statement was followed by this declaration:--
"In order to keep up the credit of our house, I have forged powers of
attorney for the above sums and parties, and sold out to the amount here
stated, and without the knowledge of my partners. I kept up the payment
of the dividends, but made no entries of such payments in our books. The
Bank began first to refuse to discount our acceptances, and to destroy
the credit of our house: the Bank shall smart for it."
The Attorney-General then called his witnesses, who confirmed in every
point his statement of the case.
On being asked what he had to say in his defence, the prisoner read from
a paper the following address:--
"My lord, and gentlemen of the jury,--Overwhelmed as I am by the
situation in which I am placed, and being uninformed in what manner I
should answer the charges which have been alleged against me, I will
endeavour to explain, so well as the poignancy of my feelings will
enable me, the embarrassments of the banking-house in which I have been
for many years the active and only responsible partner, and which have
alone led to the present investigation; and although I am aware I cannot
expect to free myself from the obloquy brought upon me by my anxiety to
preserve the credit and respectability of the firm, still I trust that
an impartial narrative of the occurrences will obtain for me the
commiseration of the well-disposed part of the community.
"Anticipating the Court will extend its indulgence to me, I will
respectfully submit such observations as I think will tend to remove
from influenced minds those impressions, which, with sorrow I say, must
have been made upon them by the cruel and illiberal manner in which the
public prints have untruly detailed a history of my life and conduct;
hoping therefrom I may deserve your compassion, and although I may be
unable to justify my proceedings, and secure my liberation, by a verdict
of the jury, yet they may be considered, in the mercy of the court and a
discerning public, as some extenuation of the crimes with which I stand
arraigned.