Mr. Marsh, and other gentlemen. Some of the partners retired in 1794,
about which time a loss of 20,000_l._ was sustained. Here commenced the
difficulties of the house. In 1796, Mr. Stracey and another gentleman
came into the house with little or no augmentation of capital. In 1800 I
became a clerk in the house, and continued so six years; and although
during that time I received no salary, the firm were so well satisfied
with my attention and zeal for the interest and welfare of the
establishment, that I was handsomely rewarded by them. In 1807 my father
died; I then succeeded him; at this time I was only twenty-two years of
age, and the whole weight of an extensive, but needy, banking
establishment devolved upon me; and I found the concern deeply involved
in advances to builders and others, which had rendered a system of
discounting necessary, which we were obliged to continue in consequence
of the scarcity of money at that time, and the necessity of making
further advances to those persons, to secure the sums in which they
already stood indebted. In this perplexed state the house continued
until 1810, when its embarrassments were greatly increased, owing to the
bankruptcies of Brickwood and others, which brought upon it a sudden
demand for no less a sum than 170,000_l._ the greater part being for the
amount of bills, which our house had either accepted or discounted for
those parties said to have become bankrupts. About 1814, 1815, and 1816,
from the speculations with builders, brickmakers, &c. in which the house
was engaged, it was called upon to provide funds to the extent of near
100,000_l._ to avert the losses which would otherwise have visited it
from those speculations. In 1819 the most responsible of our partners
died, and we were called upon to pay over the amount of his capital,
although the substantial resources of the house were wholly inadequate
to meet so large a payment. During these numerous and trying
difficulties, the house was nearly without resources, and the whole
burden of management falling upon me, I was driven to a state of
distraction, in which I could meet with no relief from my partners, and,
almost heartbroken, I sought resources where I could, and so long as
they were provided, and the credit of the house supported, no inquiries
were made, either as to the manner in which they were procured, or as to
the sources from which they were derived. In the midst of these
calamities, which were not unknown to Mr. Stracey, he quitted England,
and continued in France, on his own private business, for two years,
leaving me to struggle as well as I could with difficulties almost
insurmountable. Having thus exposed all the necessities of the house, I
declare that all the moneys temporarily raised by me were applied, not
in one instance for my own separate purposes or expenses, but in every
case they were immediately placed to the credit of the house in
Berners-street, and applied to the payment of the pressing demands upon
it. This fact does not rest on my assertion, as the transactions
referred to are entered in the books now in the possession of the
assignees, and to which I have had no access since my apprehension.
These books, I understand, are now in court, and will confirm the truth
of my statement; and to whatever account all the sums may be entered,
whether to that of stock, or of Exchequer bills, or to my own private
account, the whole went to the general funds of the banking-house. I
alone have been doomed to suffer the stigma of all the transactions; but
tortured as I have been, it now becomes an imperative duty to explain to
you, gentlemen, and through you to the world at large, that the vile
accusations heaped upon me, known to be utterly false by all those who
are best acquainted with my private life and habits, have been so heaped
upon me for the purpose of loading me with the whole obloquy of those
transactions, from which, and from which alone, my partners were
preserved from bankruptcy. I have been accused of crimes I never even
contemplated, and of acts of profligacy I never committed; and I appear
at this bar with every prejudice against me, and almost prejudged. To
suit the purposes of the persons to whom I allude, I have been
represented as a man of prodigal extravagance: prodigal indeed I must
have been, had I expended those large sums which will hereafter be
proved to have gone exclusively to support the credit of a tottering
firm, the miseries of which were greatly accelerated by the drafts of
two of its members to the amount of near 100,000_l._ I maintained but
two establishments, one at Brighton, where my mother and sister resided
in the season--the expenses of which to me, exclusive of my wine, were
within 400_l._ per annum, and one at Lambeth, where my two children
lived, from its very nature private and inexpensive, to which I resorted
for retirement, after many a day passed in devising means to avert the
embarrassments of the banking-house. The dwelling-house in
Berners-street belonged solely to my mother, with the exception of a
library and single bed-room. This was the extent of my expenditure, so
far as domestic expenditure is concerned; I am next accused of being an
habitual gambler, an accusation which, if true, might easily account for
the diffusion of the property. I am, indeed, a member of two clubs, the
Albion and the Stratford, but never in my life did I play in either, at
cards or dice, or any game of chance; this is well known to the
gentlemen of these clubs--and my private friends, with whom I more
intimately associated, can equally assert my freedom from all habit or
disposition to play. It has been as cruelly asserted, that I
fraudulently invested money in the funds to answer the payment of
annuities, amounting to 2,200_l._ settled upon females. I never did make
any such investment; neither at home or abroad, in any funds whatever,
have I any investment; nor is there one shilling secretly deposited by
me in the hands of any human being. Equally ungenerous, and equally
untrue it is, to charge me with having lent to loose and disorderly
persons large sums which never have, and never will be repaid. I lent no
sums but to a very trifling amount, and those were advanced to valued
friends. I can, therefore, at this solemn moment declare, most
fervently, that I never had any advantage beyond that in which all my
partners participated in any of the transactions which are now
questioned. They indeed have considered themselves as partners only in
the profits, and I am to be burdened with the whole of the opprobrium,
that others may consider them as the victims of my extravagance I make
this statement not with a view to criminate others, or to exculpate
myself; but borne down as I am by calamity, I will not consent to be
held out to the world as a cold-blooded and abandoned profligate,
ruining all around me for the selfish gratification of vice and
sensuality, and involving even my confiding partners in the general
destruction. Gentlemen, I have frailties and errors enough to account
for. I have sufferings enough, past, present, and in prospect; and if my
life were all that was required of me, I might endure in silence; though
I will not endure the odium on my memory, of having sinned to pamper
delinquencies to which I never was addicted. Thus much has been extorted
from me by the fabrications which have been cruelly spread amongst the
public,--that very public from whom the arbiters of my fate were to be
selected. Perhaps, however, I ought to thank the enemy who besieged the
prisoner with his slanders, that he did so whilst my life was spared to
refute them, and that he waited not until the grave, to which he would
hurry me, had closed at once on my answer and my forgiveness. There is
one subject more connected with these charges to which I am compelled to
advert, and I do so with great reluctance. It has added to the other
charges made against me, lest the world should think there was any vice
in which I was not an adept. I have been accused of acting treacherously
towards the female who now bears my name, having refused to make
reparation until threatened by her brother, and of having deserted her
at a moment when she had the greatest claim on my protection. Delicacy
forbids me entering into an explanation on this subject further than to
declare, that the conduct I adopted on that occasion was uninfluenced by
the interference of any individual, and arose, as I then considered, and
do still consider, from a laudable and honourable feeling on my part;
and the lady's brother, so far from coming forward at the time alluded
to, was on service in the West Indies. Could all the circumstances be
exposed, I feel convinced that every liberal-minded man would applaud my
determination; and I feel satisfaction in saying, that the lady in
question has always been, and still is actuated by the best feelings
towards me. I have now to apologise to the court for having entered so
much at length into the statement of my unfortunate case, and, in
conclusion, I have to express my perfect confidence that it will receive
every favourable consideration at your hands; and I fully rely that you,
gentlemen of the jury, will give an impartial and merciful decision."
The unfortunate gentleman having completed the reading of this document,
sat down, and wept with much agitation. Seventeen gentlemen of the
highest respectability were then called, and they all attested their
high opinion of his honour, integrity, and goodness of disposition, and
that he was the person whom, of all others, they would have supposed
incapable of a dishonourable action. During their examination the
prisoner buried his face in his handkerchief, apparently anxious to
conceal his features from their view.
In summing up, the judge told the jury, that as the evidence did not
show the forgery to have been committed within their jurisdiction, they,
being a London jury, would have to decide on the count for uttering; and
after twenty minutes' consideration they returned a verdict--Guilty of
uttering--Death.
Every exertion was used by Mr. Fauntleroy's counsel, his case being
twice argued before the judges, upon points of law; but both decisions
were against him, and on the 30th of November, 1824, his execution took
place. The number of persons assembled on the fatal day was estimated at
nearly one hundred thousand! Every window and roof which could command a
view of the dreadful ceremony was occupied, and places from which it was
impossible to catch a glimpse of the scaffold were blocked up by those
who were prevented by the dense crowd before them from advancing
further.
At a quarter before eight o'clock, the sheriffs arrived at Newgate, and
proceeded immediately to the prisoner's room. The prisoner gently bowed
to them on perceiving that they were present, but made no observation.
Besides the Ordinary of Newgate, the Rev. Mr. Cotton, there were the
Rev. Mr. Springett and Mr. Baker with the prisoner, the former of whom
had remained all night.
Mr. Fauntleroy was dressed in a black coat, waistcoat, and trousers,
with silk stockings and shoes. The demeanour of the unhappy man was
perfectly composed. His eyes continued closed, and no emotion was
visible in his countenance. His appearance had undergone little or no
change since the trial. The necessary arrangements having been
completed, the sheriffs moved forward, and Mr. Springett and Mr. Baker
each took hold of one of the prisoner's arms; and thus accompanied, he
followed the sheriffs and the ordinary. He never turned his head to the
right nor the left till he reached the foot of the steps leading to the
scaffold; and the moment he appeared the vast crowd took off their hats.
In less than two minutes after the criminal ascended the platform,
everything was prepared for his execution. Mr. Cotton now placed himself
before the prisoner, who stood with his face towards Ludgate Hill, and
commenced reading the passage--"Yet, O Lord God, most Holy! O Lord, most
mighty! O holy and most merciful Saviour! deliver us not into the bitter
pains of eternal death. Thou knowest, Lord, the secrets of our hearts;"
towards the conclusion of which the trap-door fell, and the unhappy man
died without a struggle.
An almost universal sympathy was excited in his favour, in consequence
of the melancholy termination of his career; but many, even to the
present day, have but too powerful reasons to mourn the crimes of which
he was guilty, depriving them as they did, in many instances, of every
shilling of what otherwise would have been comfortable competencies,
sufficient to maintain them in respectability through life.
GEORGE ALEXANDER WOOD, AND ALEXANDER WELLESLEY LEITH.
INDICTED FOR MANSLAUGHTER.
The scene of the melancholy event by which one youth, a member of a
noble family, was hurried into an untimely grave, and two others were
brought to the bar of a public court of justice upon a charge of
manslaughter, was at Eton College, and it occurred on Monday the 28th
February, 1825.
On the 9th of March, 1825, George Alexander Wood, son of Colonel Wood,
and nephew of the Marquis of Londonderry, and Alexander Wellesley Leith,
were placed at the bar at the Aylesbury Assizes, charged with killing
and slaying the Hon. F. Ashley Cooper, son of the Earl of Shaftesbury.
The circumstances will be best explained as they appeared in evidence
before the coroner.
On Sunday, the 27th of February, about two o'clock, two young gentlemen,
scholars at Eton, the Hon. F. A. Cooper and Mr. Wood, were in the
play-ground, when same words arose between them. From words they
proceeded to blows; and they had fought for several minutes, when the
captain came up and separated them. It was subsequently determined that
they should meet on the following afternoon, and terminate their
differences by a pugilistic contest. Many of the scholars were present
to witness the battle; the combatants stripped at four o'clock on Monday
afternoon, and commenced fighting. Mr. Cooper was under fifteen years,
and his opponent, who was half a head taller, was near seventeen. Mr.
Wood had the advantage in point of strength; but the quickness and
precision of Mr. Cooper were remarkable for one so young, and he
declared that he would never give in. In the eighth, ninth, and tenth
rounds, he became weak and exhausted, and it was then evident he was not
a match for Mr. Wood. Some of the "backers" had brought a quantity of
brandy in bottles into the field; and the second of Mr. Cooper having,
in the eleventh round, poured a portion of it down Mr. C.'s throat, he
recovered his wind and strength. The young men continued fighting from
four till nearly six o'clock; and when they were in a state of
exhaustion, they were plied between the rounds with brandy. They fought
about sixty rounds; and at the end of the last round, Mr. Cooper fell
very heavily upon his head, and never spoke afterwards. He was carried
off the ground to his lodgings, at the house of the Reverend Mr. Knapp,
by his brothers, who were present at the fight. He was put to bed; but
no medical assistance was sent for till four hours had elapsed: shortly
afterwards he expired.
At two o'clock on Tuesday, a jury assembled to hold an inquest on the
body. The jury and coroner proceeded to the house of the Reverend Mr.
Knapp, and viewed the body. The temples, eyes, and upper part of the
cheek-bones were very black, and there were other external marks of
violence about the ribs, breast, &c. The following evidence as to the
circumstances attending the battle was then taken:--
Christopher Teasdale.--"I am a student at Eton college; I knew the
deceased--he was the son of Lord Shaftesbury; and I know his antagonist
Mr. Wood, the son of Colonel Wood. I saw them set-to about the hour of
four o'clock on Monday afternoon. I saw repeated blows, during the
fight, given to Cooper, on different parts of the head: I remember, in
one period of the fight, a severe blow being given on his temple; the
deceased instantly fell, and lay on the ground about half a minute.
There were loud shouts from Wood's party, in consequence of his being
the best. It was a fair fight; I saw no unfair advantage taken. A young
gentleman named Leith seconded the deceased; the fight lasted about an
hour; the deceased's spirits were kept up in a most extraordinary manner
by Leith giving him brandy in the eleventh and subsequent rounds. I
remember that before the last round, Wood said he wanted to go to his
tutor, Mr. Ottery, to attend his private business (studies), and he
would make it up afterwards. Mr. Leith, the second, said, that as Wood
wanted to go, he would appeal to the deceased's party, and hear what
they had to say. The deceased's party exclaimed, 'We will have another
round; we are in no hurry.' The parties fought another round, and the
deceased at the conclusion fell from a severe blow; Wood fell heavily
on him. After the round, Wood said, 'he must go, and he would make it
up.' Leith advised it to be made up on the spot, and directly the
proposition was made the deceased fell back senseless. Wood walked up to
the deceased and lifted his head, but I did not hear him say anything."
Other witnesses proved that the deceased was taken home to Mr. Knapp's,
where he remained for some time under the care of his brother, and that
after the lapse of some hours surgical aid was procured. It was then too
late, however, and he died. On his body been opened, it was he found
that he had died from the rupture of the blood-vessels on the brain.
Upon the arraignment of the defendants they pleaded Not Guilty, and the
witnesses for the prosecution did not answer. Mr. Justice Gasalee having
ordered their recognizances to be estreated, a verdict of Not Guilty was
returned, and the defendants left the bar attended by Lord Nugent,
Colonel Brown, Sir John Dashwood King, and other persons of distinction.
WILLIAM PROBERT,
EXECUTED FOR HORSE-STEALING.
The reader will recognise in this criminal the participator with Hunt
and Thurtell in the murder of Mr. Weare, and the witness who was
examined on the trial of those offenders, who impeached his accomplices.
He was apprehended on the night of Friday the 18th of February, 1825,
and conveyed to Bow-street office, on a charge of stealing a horse, the
property of a man named Meredith, a miller, living near Ruarden in
Gloucestershire. It appeared that the guilty wretch, after his discharge
from Hertford jail, where he had been confined as an approver in order
that his evidence might be secured at the trial of his companions in
crime, wandered through the country without an object or a name, and
followed by public execration. Reduced to the most abject state of
misery, he at length found an asylum in the house of his aged mother at
Ruarden. Meredith, the miller, was distantly related to him by marriage;
and while paying him a visit, the unprincipled villain having seen and
admired a mare which was in his possession, marked it for his own.
Seizing a favourable opportunity, he carried the animal off with him to
London, and there he disposed of her for 20_l._, having assumed a
fictitious name. He was, however, traced by the miller, and at length on
the 18th February was taken into custody.
For this offence he was put on his trial at the Old Bailey on the 7th of
the following month of April, and the evidence for the prosecution,
which was clear and conclusive, having been gone into, the prisoner read
the following defence from a written paper:--
"My lord and gentlemen of the jury,--If I have this day pleaded not
guilty to the indictment preferred against me, it is not that I wish by
subtleties to evade, or screen myself from the verdict and sentence
which my country may award against me, but that I may have an
opportunity to say something in this court, to evince to the public,
that whatever may have been the unhappy circumstances of the latter days
of my life, I was not driven into my present crime from depravity of
disposition, but from a species of fatal necessity, which had placed me
far beyond the reach of all human assistance and charity. The appeal I
now make is not with a view to lessen my past error that I unfortunately
fell into, as there is a God on whom I alone rely for mercy; but I do
beg of the jury to banish all former unfortunate circumstances from
their minds. It cannot have escaped your notice, that immediately after
and ever since my discharge from Hertford, the public animosity has been
kept alive against me by the public press, which has reached every part
of England. Wherever I went, even to the remotest village throughout the
kingdom, I was spurned as an outcast of society; and the chief
instrument which prevented my obtaining employment, or indeed effecting
a reformation, was the public press, which has not slackened to follow
me, and portray me to the world. As the victim of prejudice, I could
scarcely move from one place to another without seeing myself noticed in
the daily papers. Those of my former friends, who might otherwise have
wished to continue their services towards me, shrunk back from an
apprehension of public reprobation for being connected with one such as
myself. Every door was shut against me, every hope of future support
blasted. My country had spared my life, but individuals rendered that
life of no value or utility to me. I was hunted down like a wild beast
of the forest. With this desolation around me, and with these dreary
prospects before me, I felt my fortitude forsaking me, and I knew not
what course to pursue. Heaven and myself only know what I suffered. I
was a prey to the most heart-rending care--I was a prey to a deep and
intense feeling, the cause of which, I trust, it will not be necessary
to refer to. I appeal to you, my lord and gentlemen, whether my
situation was not most deplorable. Perhaps you will weigh in your own
humane breasts the miseries which surrounded me, and what you would have
done under similar circumstances. If you, gentlemen of the jury, should
observe any features in my case deserving commiseration, then I trust
you will express a sense of it to his lordship, and recommend me to
mercy; and should you, my lord, concur in the same sentiments, then I
humbly pray that your lordship will recommend me to the clemency of my
gracious sovereign, as no former conviction appears on the record
against me. On my way from the police-office to Newgate, my ears were
stunned with the horrid yells of the populace, and my life threatened.
Indeed, my lord and gentlemen of the jury, since the calamitous event
that took place at Hertford, I have been a lost man, and at times on the
eve of self-destruction. But the Almighty God has sustained me under my
heaviest afflictions, and should his wisdom direct that my life is to be
spared, the remainder of my days will be spent in atonement for past
errors that I have fallen into. I hope I have not intruded too long upon
your lordship's time. I felt it my duty to state to your lordship and
the gentlemen of the jury, how miserable my life has been and the severe
trials I have undergone since my discharge from Hertford: and likewise
my innocent wife has suffered all privations, without comfort and
without a friend to assist her, and even on the point of starvation, she
having lately been brought to bed with an increase to the family, and no
one to assist her in that trying moment or to render her any way
comfortable; but, on the contrary, nothing but distress and trouble, and
even at the present time destitute of friends and home. Such, gentlemen
of the jury, has been and is now, the situation of my wife. Indeed, my
lord and gentlemen of the jury, I have endeavoured to leave the
country, and several times offered to work my passage over. But all my
endeavours to accomplish my wishes have been unsuccessful. For the
indulgence you have this day shown to me, by attending to the address I
have now made, I feel greatly obliged; therefore, I cannot help
reminding you, my lord and gentlemen of the jury, of the happiness I
once possessed, and was ever ready to alleviate the distresses of my
fellow-creatures, and to contribute to the support of charitable
institutions. I hope I am more the object of commiseration than that of
severe censure. I am aware, my lord and gentlemen of the jury, the whole
country is against me; but that, I trust, will not bias your minds; as a
trial by jurymen of my country does credit to the wise laws of the
realm, and does not less reflect the same sensible feelings on my own
mind. I therefore trust, if there should be any marks favourable in my
case, you will give me the benefit."
He read the address with great composure, but in a low tone of voice.
The judge having charged the jury, a verdict of Guilty was instantly
returned.
On the 13th of the same month the prisoner was brought up to receive
sentence, when he protested his innocence (so far as guilty intention
went), stated that he was driven to the commission of the offence for
which he was about to receive judgment by the greatest distress, and
alluded in a feeling manner to the misery in which his wife and children
were placed. The recorder, after observing that these topics should be
reserved for another place, proceeded to pass the fatal sentence.
The convict continued in prison till the 14th of June, before the
recorder's report was made to the king; and during this long period he
had indulged the most sanguine hopes that his life would be spared. On
being informed that he was ordered for execution on the following
Monday, he felt satisfied, he said, that the public voice was in his
favour, and that every one was surprised at the decision of the privy
council. When told by a gentleman, who visited him, that he sustained
his fate with less fortitude than any of his companions in affliction,
(eight being left for execution out of thirty-seven reported,) he
replied that that was not to be wondered at, for they were conscious of
their guilt, and knew they could have supported themselves by other
means than theft; but that he was absolutely impelled by dire necessity
to commit the act for which he was about to suffer death--he must have
done it or starved. He solemnly declared that he was completely ignorant
of any circumstances connected with the murder of Weare, until after it
had been effected, and that the confession of Hunt was in many of its
points utterly false, particularly those which related to his
(Probert's) wife. It was thought that he could have made some disclosure
relative to some persons who were said to have been missing a short time
before Weare's murder; but in justice to the memory of the wretched man,
it must be stated that there are no grounds for believing him to have
been concerned in any transaction of a murderous nature, but that in
which his own evidence at Hertford proves him to have been implicated.
When he ascended the platform on the fatal morning, the 20th of June,
1825, his limbs were completely palsied, and his agitation dreadful.
After the noose was tied, he moved as far as he was able, and turning
himself, raised his hands in quick and tremulous motion, and so
continued till the ordinary had taken his final leave, and the falling
of the platform closed the scene.
His fellow-sufferers were two men, named Sargeant and Harper, for the
same offence of horse-stealing, and another, named Smith, for burglary.
The four others who were at the same time ordered for execution met
their fate on the Monday following.
On this occasion the concourse of spectators was immense, the windows
opposite being crowded as early as three o'clock in the morning, and
chiefly with females.
CHARLES LYNN.
TRIED FOR MURDER.
The following are the circumstances attending a murder committed at
Whaddon Chase, Buckinghamshire, in the month of January 1825, which at
the time of its perpetration attracted a considerable portion of the
public attention.