February, when considerable curiosity was exhibited by the public. The
court was crowded to excess at an early hour, and its avenues were
thronged until the conclusion of the proceedings. The prisoner was put
to the bar at ten o'clock, and pleaded Not guilty, to the two
indictments preferred against him; the first for the murder, and the
second for stealing a coat, the property of George Holding. Having been
given in charge to the jury in the first case, the evidence which we
have given in substance, was detailed by the various witnesses. The
prisoner on being called on for his defence read a paper, in which he
complained of the prejudices which had been excited against him, and
solemnly asserted his innocence of the crime imputed to him. He entered
into a long argumentative statement, contending that no grounds whatever
existed for believing him guilty of the murder; and witnesses having
been called on his behalf, who swore that his disposition was both mild
and humane, the trial terminated at twelve o'clock at night, when the
jury returned a verdict of Not guilty.
The prisoner was arraigned on the next day upon the second indictment,
when he withdrew the plea which he had put on the record, and confessed
himself guilty. At the following sessions, held in the month of April,
he was sentenced to be transported for seven years; in pursuance of
which, he was sent to Van Diemen's Land. Some surprise was excited at
his having escaped thus easily from the hands of justice, as it was
known that there were charges of forgery to a considerable extent
pending against him; and it was suggested that some persons of
respectability and good standing had interested themselves in his
behalf.
[Illustration: _Howard assaulting Mr. Mullay._
_P. 141. Vol. 2._]
It has been reported, that he has been executed in Hobart Town, for
bush-ranging, and that before his death he confessed himself guilty of
the murder for which he was tried; but although the idea gained currency
at the time of its being thrown out, we have no means of ascertaining
the degree of credit to which the story is entitled.
WILLIAM HOWARD.
CONVICTED OF AN ASSAULT WITH INTENT TO ROB.
The case of this prisoner exhibits a degree of profligacy and
bloodthirsty hardihood, scarcely excelled in any instance in the whole
course of the annals of crime. The culprit was a man whose appearance
and conduct showed him to have received a good education, and to have
been in the habit of moving in a respectable sphere of life. Of his
history, however, we are unable to give any distinct account; and there
is great probability that the name under which he was tried, was assumed
for the purpose of concealing his real character.
The prosecutor on the indictment preferred against the prisoner, was a
Mr. Mullay, an Irishman, and it appears that, being desirous to obtain
some mercantile employment, he advertised in the newspapers, offering a
loan of 800_l._ or 1000_l._ to any person who should be able to
introduce him to such a situation as he desired. On the 6th of February
1828, he received an answer in the following terms:--"If J. L. will have
the goodness to call upon Mr. Howard, No. 36, Red Lion-square, Holborn,
to-morrow or the next day, between the hours of twelve and four o'clock,
he will no doubt hear of something that will suit him." For some time
Mr. Mullay paid no attention to this note, but at length on Friday the
15th of February, he called at the house to which he was directed. It
was a house in which a society, called the "London Co-operative
Society," held their meetings; and upon his making known his errand, he
was introduced to Howard. Having mentioned the object of his call, the
latter immediately became very communicative upon the subject of the
advertisement. After a short conversation, in which he stated that he
was a relative of a gentleman who had great interest in procuring
lucrative situations, Mr. Mullay explained that his object was not to
purchase a place, but only to advance money, in consideration of his
receiving an appointment, upon proper security, but without interest.
"Step up stairs then," said Mr. Howard, and they immediately proceeded
to an attic at the back of the house, peculiarly adapted for the
commission and concealment of the sanguinary attack, which was
eventually made. The conversation on the subject of the required loan
was here renewed; and it was at length agreed that Mr. Mullay should be
at the same place at one o'clock on the next day, prepared to produce
the cash, and that Mr. Owen, who was represented as the party whose
interest was to be employed, should then also be in attendance. On the
following day, Mr. Mullay and Mr. Howard were punctual to their
appointment, and again proceeded to the room which we have already
described, but Mr. Owen did not make his appearance, and two hours were
spent in awaiting his arrival. In the course of this time some
conversation took place between Howard and his intended victim, in which
the former managed to discover that Mr. Mullay had provided himself
with 500_l._ to meet the anticipated demand. The manner of Howard during
the whole of this conference was such as to excite some degree of
suspicion on the part of Mr. Mullay. He observed that he frequently eyed
him, as if to ascertain their comparative strength, and the presence of
a large clasp knife, and of a heavy trap-ball bat in the room, for which
their owner gave no very satisfactory reason, did not serve to alleviate
the apprehension which he entertained. Although he was considerably
alarmed at these circumstances, he felt indisposed to give credit to the
suspicions which flashed across his mind; and at length he quitted the
house, promising to call again on the following Monday, in the
anticipation of then seeing Mr. Owen. On that day that gentlemen was
still not forthcoming, and another appointment for Tuesday at twelve
o'clock was made, Howard cautioning him "to be sure not to forget the
money." At twelve o'clock on Tuesday Mr. Mullay called, and he was
immediately introduced to the same little room at the back of the house.
Howard was there, and appeared to be labouring under an extraordinary
degree of excitement and agitation. A conversation was commenced, but
was sustained with great inequality; and at length Howard directed Mr.
Mullay to write Mr. Owen a note from a copy which he handed to him. Mr.
Mullay acquiesced, and taking off his great-coat, hung it up in the
room; but he had scarcely commenced writing, when he observed his
companion thrust the poker violently into the fire. Mr. Mullay did not
relish this extraordinary proceeding, and removed the poker; but he had
scarcely resumed his seat, when Howard, as if driven on by some feeling
which he could not control, suddenly locked the door, and seizing the
bat and knife, already referred to, commenced a violent attack upon him.
Mr. Mullay at once perceived that robbery and murder were intended, and
rushing at his antagonist, he determined to make a desperate resistance.
Blow followed blow from the bat upon his head; and he would, doubtless,
have been severely injured with the knife, which his assailant retained
in his left hand, had he not by a violent wrench succeeded in breaking
it in two--an effort, however, which he did not make without receiving
some severe cuts upon his hands. The struggle meanwhile continued for
life or death, the blood flowing copiously from the wounds which Mr.
Mullay had received from the bat, by which his vision was almost
obscured. Cries of "Murder" were repeated by the unfortunate gentleman,
but his assailant, who seemed determined upon finishing him, declared
that it was of no use, for that he had assistants at hand, who would aid
him in "doing for him." Desperate with the idea that his life would be
violently taken from him, Mr. Mullay redoubled his cries, and rushing
from his assailant, he thrust his hands through the windows to render
his voice audible to the neighbourhood. Seizing the poker, he resolved
to make one final effort, and dashing his assassin antagonist to the
ground, he fell upon him, and a frightful struggle ensued. Mr. Mullay
being the stronger man, however, he got his knee upon the other's chest,
when the approach of footsteps outside the door was heard. He now gave
himself up for lost, supposing that new enemies were come to attack him,
but he had resolved to sell his life as dearly as he could, when, to his
surprise, Howard begged for quarter. Imagining that this might be only a
subterfuge, he determined not to give up the advantage which he had
obtained; but Howard, repeating his anxiety to be allowed to rise, and
declaring that he had no intention of doing him any harm, he at length
permitted him to get up from the floor. The door being then immediately
opened, the people of the house entered the room, and the street keeper
of Red Lion-square being called in, the culprit was secured. The room,
as well as the persons of the prisoner and Mr. Mullay, were found to be
deluged with blood; and the latter gentleman having been attended by a
surgeon, was discovered to have received wounds of a dangerous
character.
The prisoner was immediately conveyed to Hatton Garden police-office,
where he made a vehement appeal to the magistrates, and positively
denied any intention to assassinate the prosecutor. He declared that he
was labouring under extreme ill-health; and that unless he was
immediately supplied with an ounce of opium, his death would be the
consequence. He was committed to Newgate to take his trial, and upon
inquiry being made it was learned that he was in a state of extreme
want.
On Tuesday the 26th of February, the prisoner took his trial at the Old
Bailey. Mr. Mullay having been examined as to the circumstances already
detailed, the prisoner read the following account of the transaction. He
said that he had resided in Red Lion-square for about three weeks, at
the time of his being taken into custody. His circumstances during that
time were certainly bad; and having consulted with an acquaintance, who
passed by the name of Owen, and who was equally badly off, as to the
best mode of relieving their pecuniary wants, they adopted the following
plan. Perceiving the prosecutor's advertisement, they determined, if
possible, to induce the advertiser to lodge his money in some
banking-house in the joint names of himself and Owen. They imagined that
this deposit would enable them to refer to the banking-house, as to
their respectability, and by that means obtain credit to a considerable
amount. Having answered the advertisement, Mr. Mullay called upon him,
and he intimated to him, that there was a situation under Government,
which was vacant, the value of which was about 350_l._ per annum; and
that Mr. Owen would be able to procure it for him, provided he consented
to pass as his relative; and that the return which they expected was the
deposit of three years' salary in the hands of a banker, to be paid over
at the end of three months as a premium. Mr. Mullay appeared to consent
to this proposition, and several appointments were made to carry out the
agreement, at which Owen, it was expected, would attend. On the Tuesday,
Mr. Mullay waited for a considerable time, and having already
experienced great disappointment in not seeing Mr. Owen, in order that
the affair might be finally settled, he expressed himself in no measured
terms of the neglect which had been exhibited towards him. Being in bad
health and of an irritable disposition, he (the prisoner) became enraged
at an offensive epithet which was applied to him, and struck the
prosecutor a blow in the face. A violent scuffle took place, in the
course of which, finding that the prosecutor was superior to him in size
and strength, he admitted having exerted himself to the utmost in his
own defence.
The jury, however, notwithstanding this ingenious version of the case,
found the prisoner guilty of an assault with intent to rob, and he was
sentenced to be transported for life.
CAPTAIN JOHN BURGH MONTGOMERY, _alias_ COLONEL WALLACE, _alias_ COLONEL
MORGAN.
CONVICTED OF FORGERY.
The circumstances which were proved in evidence against this individual
showed that he was to a very great extent implicated in the uttering of
forged bank-notes. The unfortunate gentleman, who appears to have been
most respectably connected, there can be little doubt had long subsisted
upon the produce of his illegal trade: but it was not until Monday the
1st of April 1828 that he was apprehended. He was then charged at
Marlborough-street police-office, with having passed a forged 10_l._
note at the shop of Mr. William Newby, a silversmith, at No. 3,
Southampton-row, Russell-square, in payment for half-a-dozen silver
tea-spoons. The note turned out to be forged after it was paid to Mr.
Newby, and the prisoner, having already subjected himself to some
suspicion, was taken into custody at a house where he lodged in Great
Ormond-street. Subsequent inquiry proved that he had been guilty of
other almost innumerable acts of forgery, and several cases having been
completed against him, he was committed for trial.
At the ensuing Old Bailey sessions, no fewer than six indictments were
preferred and found against him; and upon his being arraigned upon the
29th of May upon the charges, he at once pleaded guilty, declaring that
he had made up his mind to suffer the punishment due to his crimes. At
the conclusion of the session, sentence of death was passed upon the
unhappy man; and on Saturday the 28th of June, an order arrived at
Newgate that his sentence should be carried into effect. From the time
of his conviction, Montgomery addressed himself with great anxiety to
his religious offices, and, from his general demeanour, it was believed
that he would meet his fate with firmness. Friday the 4th of July was
fixed upon as the day on which the sentence of the law should be carried
into effect; and on the Thursday night he employed himself in writing
several letters, one of which was addressed to Mr. Edward Gibbon
Wakefield, who was his fellow prisoner, and his frequent companion in
jail. Mr. Cotton, the rev. ordinary, afterwards visited him, and read to
him the celebrated sermon of the late Dr. Dodd. At the hour of locking
up, Mr. Harris, the jailor, in whose care he was, searched him, and
there was nothing then perceptible to warrant a supposition, either that
self-destruction was contemplated by the unhappy man, or that his health
was so impaired as to lead to the possibility of his sufferings being
terminated by natural means. The last thing he said to Mr. Harris was,
"Shall I see you in the morning?" and then, without waiting for a reply,
he continued, "If I do not, I shall leave a letter for you." He then
shook hands with the jailor, and was left apparently quite cheerful.
On Friday morning at six o'clock, the door of his cell was opened, and
on the bed, stretched at full length, was seen the body of John
Montgomery, cold and breathless. The sensation created by this discovery
within the jail was most extraordinary; and the assistance of Mr. Box,
the surgeon of the prison, having been immediately procured, every
effort was made to restore suspended animation, and, when that was found
unavailing, to ascertain the cause of death. An investigation was
immediately set on foot by the sheriffs; but they failed to discover any
circumstance from which it could be inferred that the deceased had been
assisted in his design, by any person in or connected with the jail. All
search to discover the means of causing death for some time proved
ineffectual, but at length, in one corner of the cell, a small phial was
found, labelled "Prussic Acid," which at once unravelled the mystery of
the unhappy man's death. It was supposed that he had carried about his
person, ever since he had commenced the practice of passing forged
notes, what he looked upon as an "antidote against disgrace;" but, to
say the least of it, he must have been exceedingly ingenious to have
concealed the poison so long after his apprehension, as he was
frequently searched, supposing that he had employed the same drug to
destroy himself, which he possessed before his committal to Newgate.
Upon an examination of the letters, to which we have alluded as having
been written by him on the night before his death, it was found that in
one, which he had addressed to Mr. Box, he gave up his body to be
dissected, expressing a wish, however that the heart should be preserved
in spirits and conveyed to a female to whom he had long been fondly
attached. In that which he wrote to Wakefield, he alluded to their short
acquaintance in the jail, and declared that he was perfectly ready to
pass into another world; although his letter contained no reference to
the means by which the transition should take place. A third letter was
found, addressed to the female mentioned in the communication to Mr.
Box; but in neither of them was there any allusion to the mode by which
he intended to terminate his existence.
On the following day a coroner's inquest was held on the body of the
deceased man, when a verdict of _felo de se_ was returned; and his
remains were interred at ten o'clock at night, in the grave-yard
adjoining St. Sepulchre's church.
This unfortunate man, who gave his age in Newgate as only thirty-three,
was, in fact, nearly forty years old; but his appearance bore out the
assertion which he made. He was born in the town of Naas, in the county
of Kildare, about fifteen miles from Dublin. His father had been a corn
and flour merchant, and a considerable holder of land; and having by
dint of industry amassed a large sum of money, he became a magistrate
for the county of Kildare, and was much respected. He had four children
besides the unfortunate subject of this sketch, namely, two females, who
were respectably married, and two sons, one of whom was a
lieutenant-colonel in the British service, while the other was a
solicitor, and the senior partner in a firm of great respectability in
Dublin. The deceased was early in life of a dissipated turn, and quitted
home to take a commission in a foot regiment, which had been procured
for him, in order to keep him out of harm's way. He soon retired from
the army, however, although he retained the title given to him by his
commission. At an early period of his career, he became an adept at
forgery; and counterfeited the signature of the Hon. Mr. Neville, at
that time M.P. for the county of Kildare, who wrote an extremely cramped
and illegible hand, to such a degree of perfection, that that gentleman
himself was only able to detect the imposition by the fact, that he had
never placed his signature to an instrument like that which had been
forged. Young Montgomery escaped prosecution in this instance, on
account of the respectability of his family, and he shortly after came
to London. He there assumed the airs of a person of fortune; mixed in
good society, and for a considerable time lived upon "his appearance."
His cheats and swindling were of daily occurrence; and in one instance,
having been detected in a transaction of no very honest character, he
only escaped punishment by refunding such portion of the money which he
had obtained as he had not spent, and by giving up his watch and
trinkets to make up the deficiency. He was frequently in prison for
debt; first in Newgate, and afterwards in the King's Bench, and after
his discharge from the latter place, where he had undergone a detention
of three years' duration, he was on the point of marriage with the
daughter of a gentleman of respectability, to whom he had represented
himself as his brother, Colonel Montgomery, when the fraud was
discovered, and the match broken off, at the very moment when it was
about to be completed. Being now reduced to the lowest ebb, and having
no longer any chance of living upon credit, he resorted to the
circulation of forged bank-notes as affording him the only means left of
obtaining a livelihood.
WILLIAM CORDER.
EXECUTED FOR THE MURDER OF MARIA MARTEN.
The murder for which this most diabolical criminal merited and justly
underwent condign punishment, rivalled in cold-blooded atrocity that of
the unfortunate Mr. Weare, and was as foul and dark a crime as ever
stained the annals of public justice. The wretched victim of his offence
was born in July 1801, and was brought up by her father, who was a
mole-catcher at Polstead in Suffolk, where she received an education far
superior to her situation in life. Possessed of more than ordinary
personal advantages--a pretty face, and a fine form and figure--it is
little to be wondered at that she was beset by admirers; and that,
artless and inexperienced as she was, she should have imprudently fixed
her affections upon an unworthy object. An unfortunate step ruined the
character of the young woman, and a second mishap with a gentleman of
fortune, residing in the neighbourhood of her father's house, left her a
child, which at the time of her death was three years and a half old.
About the year 1826 she formed a third _liaison_ with the man who became
her deliberate murderer.
William Corder was the son of an opulent farmer at Polstead, and having
become acquainted with the unfortunate girl Marten, the consequence of
an illicit intercourse which took place between them, was a child. From
that time he became much attached to her, and was a frequent visitor at
her father's house. The child died within a short period of its birth,
and from the circumstances of its having died suddenly, and of Corder
having taken it away at night, and disposed of its body in a manner
which he would never explain, an idea was entertained that it had come
unfairly by its death. However strongly this notion may have taken
possession of the public mind, after the apprehension of Corder, it does
not appear that any real evidence was ever produced publicly, to support
the impression which had got abroad; but certain it is, that the unhappy
girl made use of the circumstance as a means of endeavouring to
procure
[Illustration: _Corder shooting Maria Marten._
_P. 147._]