the facts he had to lay before the jury must excite the greatest horror
in the minds of those who heard the dreadful narration; but he thanked
God that such a case as the present was of unfrequent occurrence in this
country. The deceased, who was only ten years of age, was a pauper, and
was apprenticed to the prisoner, Esther Hibner, the elder, who resided
at Platt Terrace, Pancras Road, by the overseers of St. Martin's parish,
to learn the business of fabricating tambour-work. She was apprenticed
on the 7th of April, 1828, and in the month of October following, a
system of the most cruel and unnatural treatment was commenced by the
prisoners towards the unfortunate deceased and the other children who
were placed under their care by St. Martin's and other parishes. They
were not allowed sufficient sustenance, were compelled to rise to begin
work at three and four in the morning, and were kept at work till eleven
at night, sometimes two in the morning, and sometimes all night. They
had scarcely any bed to lie on; and frequently during the most inclement
season their resting-place was the flooring, and their only covering was
an old rug. The prisoners and their family had good bedding and clothes,
and every comfort that they desired. The children were not permitted to
go out to obtain necessary air and exercise; and thus the cruel
treatment they had experienced had terminated fatally with three of
them. The child which was the subject of the present indictment had been
reduced to such a deplorable condition that her feet mortified; and
this, combined with the bursting of an abscess on the lungs, brought on
by the ill-treatment the child had experienced, occasioned her death.
The breakfast which was allowed the children, was a slice of bread and a
cup of milk; and if they were indulged with this luxury, they had no
more food all the day. Sometimes the elder Hibner said the deceased and
the other children had not earned their breakfast, and then a few
potatoes were given them in the middle of the day, and nothing more
afterwards till the following morning. Nine pounds of potatoes were
divided amongst the whole family, which consisted of twelve persons;
they were allowed meat only once a fortnight; and on Sundays they were
locked in the kitchen, the windows of which were closed. It would be
proved that the younger prisoner, Hibner, had taken the deceased from
the frame, and knocked her down on the floor; she had then taken the
deceased up, and knocked her down again. When the elder prisoner was
informed that the deceased was lying in the room ill, instead of
affording her that protection which she was bound to do, she replied,
"Let her lie there." The deceased, when in that state that she could
scarcely crawl about the house, was told by the younger Hibner to clean
the stairs; she attempted to do it, but fell exhausted, and was unable
to accomplish the task; the younger Hibner then took the deceased up
stairs, and flogged her with a cane and a rod, and afterwards sent her
down to finish the stairs; when she came down, she was unable, from
weakness, to go to the proper place to obey the calls of nature, and
wetted the stairs: when Hibner the younger discovered it, she rubbed the
child's nose and face in it, and afterwards plunged her head into a pail
of water; the prisoner Robinson, who was standing by, encouraged Hibner
to commit this violence, and said, "Curse her! do it again, and that
will finish her." The children often cried for food, and, to satisfy the
cravings of nature, had eaten the meat that was brought in for the dog,
and also some pieces of meat which they picked out of the wash that was
obtained for feeding the pig. It would be proved also, that all the
prisoners had beaten the deceased; sometimes with a cane, sometimes with
a rod, and sometimes with a shoe. The medical gentlemen who attended the
deceased before death, and examined her body afterwards, would prove
that they found large sores on the feet of the deceased, and her toes
were mortifying and falling off. After death they examined the body, and
found it in the most dreadful state, produced by the ill-treatment she
had experienced from the prisoners, and from the want of proper food and
nourishment. The case demanded the most serious attention of the Jury;
and he felt satisfied that they would give the circumstances the most
serious consideration before they arrived at their decision.
Evidence of the apprenticeship by the parish-officers, and of the
dreadful state in which the deceased was found, was then given, and
followed up by the testimony of three of the apprentices, who fully
confirmed the narrative given by Mr. Bolland.
Charles James Wright, a surgeon, said, he went to visit the deceased at
Mrs. Hibner's house; she had sores on her feet, and her toes were
mortifying and dropping off, she died on the 15th of March. After death,
he examined the body; he found that the lungs were nearly destroyed with
abscess--the viscera were inflamed, and the body was otherwise diseased;
there were also several bruises on the outside of the body; the
proximate cause of death was the abscess on the lungs, and mortification
on the feet. These were produced by the want of food and exercise, and
the improper treatment which the child had received. The immersion of
the child's head in cold water would, he considered, greatly accelerate
the complaint on the lungs.
Two other medical gentleman, named Gozna and Bellin, gave similar
evidence, and concurred in opinion that the treatment the deceased had
received had accelerated the complaint on the lungs, and caused death.
This closed the case for the prosecution, and the prisoners were called
upon for their defence.
The elder prisoner, Hibner, said she would leave her defence in the
hands of her daughter.
The daughter said that the children had sworn falsely. They had been
treated with the greatest kindness by her and her mother, since they had
been in their house, and there was not the slightest ground for the
accusation which had been preferred against them.
Robinson declared that what had been alleged against her was false. She
was engaged by the Hibners only to assist them in their business, and
went home every night at eight o'clock.
Mr. Baron Garrow then proceeded to sum up the case, and delivered a most
feeling and impressive address, in the course of which he entreated the
jury, however their feelings might have been excited by the horrible
narrative they had heard, to come to a calm and temperate decision on
the case. The elder prisoner was the person to whose protecting care
this unfortunate child was consigned. She had promised that it should
receive from her care and attention, and she was, therefore, bound to
protect it from violence. His lordship then read over the evidence to
the jury, and observed, that in deciding the case, the jury had to
consider, first, whether the general ill-treatment which the child had
received from the elder prisoner had caused its death: if that were
their opinion, the other two prisoners must be acquitted. If, on the
other hand, they believed that the immersion of the child's head in cold
water by the younger Hibner, in the presence of Robinson, had promoted
the consumption, and had been the principal cause of the child's
premature death, then they were bound to convict those two women and
acquit the elder prisoner.
The jury after some deliberation found the elder Hibner guilty, but
acquitted the other women.
The sentence of death was at once passed upon Mrs. Hibner, and she was
ordered for execution on the following Monday; while the other women
were directed to be detained, to be tried for the assault upon the
deceased.
During the trial Mrs. Hibner did not exhibit the slightest feeling of
remorse for her crimes, or of fear for the consequences of them; and
upon her being arraigned upon a second indictment, which charged her
with the diabolical murder of another of her apprentices, she pleaded
not guilty with all the firmness of conscious innocence, although as the
poor child's death had been the result of the same dreadful course of
treatment adopted towards Colpitt, there could be no doubt of her legal
and moral responsibility for the crime, which had hurried the wretched
being from the world. As a capital conviction had already been obtained
against the prisoner, it was thought unnecessary to obtain the verdict
of the jury upon this second indictment; and the horrid wretch was
conducted from the court to the condemned cell in the jail. Here her
conduct became violent in the extreme. She swore to Mr. Wontner, the
governor of the jail, that she would not be hanged, and became perfectly
outrageous because she was not allowed to have a mutton-chop for her
dinner. On Sunday, she had a last interview with her daughter; but it
produced no effect upon her hardened mind, and she parted from her
without a tear. She subsequently went into the yard; and it appearing to
the turnkey that there was something suspicious in her behaviour, he
sent some person after her who found her bleeding from a wound she had
inflicted in the front part of her neck with a knife, which, by some
means, she had obtained unknown to the attendants. From this time her
behaviour was so violent, that it was found absolutely necessary to
apply the strait waistcoat to prevent her from tearing the bandages off
the wound. She confessed, soon after her attempt at suicide, to Mr.
Wontner, that it was not her intention to kill herself, but merely to
wound herself severely; thinking, thereby, that she would be allowed to
live a few days longer.
When this was ascertained, Mr. Cotton offered his spiritual advice and
assistance to the wretched woman; but she refused them and said, "that
she knew enough of the Bible herself, and wanted no interpreter." Mr.
Cotton still persevered until a late hour, but all his efforts proved
useless. She listened to him with the most imperturbable patience, and
never gave expression to either assent or dissent.
A little before eight o'clock on Monday morning, the 13th of April, the
wretched malefactor was led from the condemned cell to the press-room.
She exhibited a dreadful appearance; her dress, a black gown, over which
was a white bed-gown, and the white cap on her head, contributed,
together with the sallowness of her complexion, to give her a most
unearthly aspect. The sad procession then set forward, the miserable
woman being carried by two men, as she absolutely refused to walk. On
her arrival at the scaffold, she was assailed with a loud volley of
yells from the people, particularly from the females, of which the crowd
was in a great measure composed.
Up to the last the culprit refused to receive any spiritual consolation,
and no clergyman attended her on the scaffold. The executioner proceeded
to perform the necessary duties, and a few minutes after eight the
unfortunate woman was carried to
"That bourne from whence no traveller returns."
She did not make a single struggle, and appeared to die almost
instantaneously.
Her body was cut down, after hanging the usual time, and was delivered
to the surgeons for dissection.
Upon the same day on which this wretched being expiated her crimes upon
the scaffold, her daughter and her assistant Robinson were tried for the
minor offence of assaulting the miserable children entrusted to their
care as apprentices; and having been found guilty, were sentenced
respectively to twelve, and to four months' imprisonment in the House of
Correction.
JONATHAN MARTIN.
TRIED FOR ARSON.
The name of this wretched maniac will long be remembered from the
circumstance of the object of his offence being that of burning down
that venerable monument of antiquity--York Minster; an effort in which,
happily, he only partially succeeded.
The fire was discovered in a most remarkable manner. On the evening of
Sunday the 1st of February, 1829, one of the choristers, a lad named
Swainbank, was passing through the Minster-yard, when, setting his foot
on a piece of ice, he was thrown on his back, on the ground. Before he
had time to rise, he perceived smoke proceeding from the building before
him. He at once gave the alarm, and assistance was immediately procured;
but it was not until the choir, with its magnificent organ and its
beautiful roof, had been totally destroyed, that the flames could be
conquered. At first this national catastrophe was supposed to have been
the result of accident; but the discovery of one of the bell-pulls,
knotted so as to form a species of ladder, suspended from one of the
windows of the building, and of evidence of a light having been seen
moving about in the belfry after all the officers of the Minster had
retired, on the night of the fire, led to a conclusion that it was the
work of an incendiary. This belief was on the following week
strengthened by the apprehension of a person named Jonathan Martin, at
Leeds, with some portion of the velvet from the reading-desk in his
possession. He was examined before the magistrates, and at once
confessed that he had set fire to the building in obedience to the will
of the Lord communicated to him in two remarkable dreams. He was
committed to York Castle for trial, and it turned out that he had been
already twice in confinement as a madman, and that he had prophesied the
destruction of the Minster.
On Monday, the 30th of March, he took his trial at the York assizes and
was found by the jury to have been of unsound mind at the time of his
committing the offence charged against him.
The following extracts from his defence at once showed that he was a
religious enthusiast:--
When called upon for his defence, he proceeded to say, in a Northern
dialect and with great energy--"Well, sir, the first impression that I
had about it was from a dream. And after I had written five letters to
these clergy, the last of which I believe was a very severe one, and all
of which I dated from my lodgings at No. 90, Aldwick, I was very anxious
to speak to them by word of mouth; but none of them would come near me.
So I prayed to the Lord, and asked him what was to be done. And I
dreamed that I saw a cloud come over the cathedral--and it rolled
towards me at my lodgings; it awoke me out of my sleep, and I asked the
Lord what it meant; and he told me it was to warn these clergymen of
England, who were going to plays, and cards, and such like: and the Lord
told me he had chosen me to warn them, and reminded me of the
prophecies--that there should in the latter days be signs in the
heavens. I felt so impressed with it, that I found the Lord had destined
me to show those people the way to flee from the wrath to come. Then I
bethought me that I could not do that job without being out all night,
and I considered whether I should let my wife know. I got everything
ready, and I took the ring from my wife's finger, and talked to her
about what I have mentioned--and I told her what I meant to do: she
grieved very much, and I had work to get off. I still staid a few days,
but I could get no rest whatever until I had accomplished the work. It
was a severe contest between flesh and blood--and then I bethought me
what would come of her and my son Richard, who I had at Lincoln. Then
the Lord said unto me, 'What thou does, do with all thy might.' I tore
from her and said, 'Well, well, Lord--Not my will but thine be done.' I
then left Leeds, taking twenty of my books with me; but I had no money,
and went into Tadcaster; there I got a gill of ale. [He then proceeded
to state the manner in which he travelled and supported himself to
York.] On Sunday (February 1st) I went to the cathedral service, and it
vexed me to hear them singing their prayers and amens. I knew it did not
come from the heart, it was deceiving the people. Then there was the
organ, buz! buz! and said I to mysen, I'll hae thee down to-night, thou
shot buz no more! well, they were all going out, and I lay me down by't
side of the Bishop's round by the pillar. [The prisoner concealed
himself behind a tomb, between which and the wall there was a space that
more than one person might lie down in.] I thought I heard the people
coming down from the bells; they all went out, and then it was so dark
that I could not see my hand. Well, I left this Bishop, and came out and
fell upon my knees, and asked the Lord what I was to do first; and he
said, Get thy way up the bell-loft; I had never been there, and I went
round and round; I had a sort of guess of the place from hearing the men
as I thought come down; I then struck a light with a flint and a razor
that I had got, and some tinder that I had brought from my landlord's. I
saw there were plenty of ropes--then I cut one, and then another; but I
had no idea they were so long, and I kept draw, draw, and the rope came
up. I dare say I had hundred feet. Well, thought I to myself, this will
make a man-rope, a sort of skaling rope, and I tied knots in it. Ay,
that's it, I know it well enough (pointing to the rope which lay upon
the table). So I went down to the body of the cathedral, and bethought
me how I should get inside. I thought if I did so, by throwing the rope
over the organ, I might set it _ganging_, and that would spoil the job.
So I made an end of the rope fast, and went hand over-hand over the
gates, and got down on the other side, and fell on my knees and prayed
to the Lord--and he told me, that do what I would, they would take me.
Then I asked the Lord what I was to do with velvet, and he told me, and
I thought it would do for my hairy jacket, that I have at Lincoln. I
have a very good seal-skin one there. I wish I had it with me, that I
might show it you. Then I got all ready. Glory to God, I never felt so
happy; but I had a hard night's work of it, particularly with a hungered
belly. Well, I got a bit of wax-candle, and I set fire to one heap, and
with the matches I set fire to the other. I then tied up the things that
the Lord had given me for my hire, in this very handkerchief that I have
in my hand. [The prisoner then went on to describe his escape by means
of the rope, nearly in the same terms as have been stated, and of his
proceeding to Hexham; that on the road the coaches passed him, but he
laid himself down, and was never seen.] While I was at Hexham (I think I
had been there two days) I had been to pray with a poor woman, and the
Hexham man came and tipped me on the shoulder." He concluded by saying,
"I's tired, or I'd tell you more."
The unfortunate man was ordered to be detained during his Majesty's
pleasure, and was afterwards conveyed to a lunatic asylum.
It appeared that this maniac was the brother of the painter, who, for
his magnificent productions, has attained so much celebrity. Up to the
time of this transaction, he had gained a precarious livelihood by
hawking books; having been, however, as we have before stated, once or
twice confined in a mad-house.
It is very remarkable that York Minster has repeatedly suffered from
fire. Its origin may be dated from A.D. 626. In 741 it was dreadfully
damaged by fire, and remained in that state till 767, when it was taken
down, rebuilt, and completed, and was consecrated in 780. Thus it stood
until 1069, when the Northumbrians, aided by the Danes, having besieged
the city of York, the garrison set fire to several houses in the
suburbs, which fire unfortunately extended further than they intended,
and, amongst other buildings, burnt the Minster to the ground. In 1137,
the same fire which burnt St. Mary's Abbey, St. Leonard's Hospital,
thirty-nine churches in the city, and one in the suburbs, again
destroyed the Minster; since which there had not been any damage done to
it by fire, excepting two trifling occurrences, which have taken place
through the neglect of the workmen, within the last sixty years, up to
the time of Martin's mad attempt. In the present year (1840), it has
again suffered severely from an accidental conflagration, which has
destroyed nearly the whole of that portion of the ancient building which
the former catastrophe had left standing.
JOHN STACEY, THE YOUNGER,
EXECUTED FOR MURDER; AND
JOHN STACEY, THE ELDER,
TRANSPORTED AS AN ACCESSORY AFTER THE FACT.
The murder of which the former of these diabolical criminals was guilty
very closely resembles that mention of which will be found in a
preceding part of our calendar, of Mr. Bird and his housekeeper, which
took place at Greenwich.
Mr. Langtrey, it appears, was a person nearly eighty years of age, and
of great bodily infirmity, residing in a small house in Prospect-row,
Portsmouth, to which he had retired, after he had amassed a considerable
fortune in his business as a brickmaker. His only servant, and the only
other inmate of the house, was a woman upwards of sixty years old, named
Christian Joliffe, who acted as housekeeper, but who was assisted in
procuring such comforts as the old man required, by a Mrs. Dyott, a
neighbour, living at an adjoining cottage. Mr. Langtrey was so feeble as
to be unable to quit his bed-room, which was situated on the first floor
of his house, and he was attended there by Mrs. Joliffe. He was known to
have saved a considerable sum of money, and he was reputed in the
neighbourhood to keep a very large amount (in notes and gold) in the
house. Amongst those who were observed to be particularly inquisitive
into his affairs, was a young man named Stacey, about twenty-one years
of age, an apprentice to a barber, living close by, who usually shaved
Mr. Langtrey,--an office which his infirmity prevented his performing
for himself.
On the morning of Monday the 2nd of March, 1829, the vicinity of the
dwelling of the unfortunate old man, was thrown into a state of the
utmost confusion and alarm, by the propagation of a report that he and
his housekeeper had, in the course of the previous evening, been
murdered in a most barbarous and cold-blooded manner. Inquiries were
instantly set on foot by the authorities of the town, and it proved that
the statement was true; the murders having been discovered by Mrs.
Dyott, the assistant of Mrs. Joliffe in her attendance upon her master.
Mrs. Dyott, it appeared, had repaired to Mr. Langtrey's house, in
accordance with her usual custom, on the previous evening, at a little
after six o'clock, to assist Mrs. Joliffe in preparing the old man's
bed; but was unable to procure admittance, although she made a
considerable noise at the door. Imagining, however, that the old people
were asleep, she took little notice of the circumstance; but upon
returning on the following morning, and finding the same silence
prevail, and the same inattention to her application for admission, she
became alarmed, and called in the aid of a neighbour. It was determined
by the latter instantly to force open the back door, and upon his
entering the house, he at once perceived the fearful crimes which had
been committed. Upon the floor of the lower room lay the body of the
aged housekeeper, frightfully mangled, and with the head nearly severed
from the trunk; while around her lay the instruments by which some of
the injuries had evidently been caused. A slater's hammer (smeared with
blood and brains), which was known to have belonged to Mr. Langtrey, was
lying at her feet; and near her were portions of a broken broom-handle,
which had been evidently employed in the desperate conflict which must
have taken place between the old woman and her assailant. The scull of
the deceased was found to have been completely smashed in, in several
places; and around her were pools of blood, extending over a space of
several feet. In the upper apartment a scene no less frightful presented
itself. The old man, whose age nor infirmities could protect him from
the assassin's blow, was found to have been murdered with equal
barbarity. His body lay upon the floor, dressed in his usual attire,
with his walking-stick by his side; but his scull had been frightfully
fractured by repeated blows from the same deadly weapon with which his
housekeeper had been assailed, and his blood and brains were scattered
over the apartment to a considerable distance.
A further alarm was immediately raised upon this dreadful discovery
being made, and the utmost consternation prevailed. Upon a minute
examination of the house, it became evident that plunder had been the
object of the assassin. The boxes and drawers had been rifled of their
contents, which lay strewed about the rooms; and money, deeds, papers,
and wearing apparel were scattered in indiscriminate confusion. The
murderer had been apparently disturbed in his work of robbery, probably
by Mrs. Dyott's knocking on the previous evening, and had left his work
unfinished, but a bag containing 600_l._ was found to have been stolen.