Launceston, which consisted of only three rooms--a front and back
kitchen, and an upper apartment, to which access was had by a staircase
leading from the latter. On the evening of Tuesday, the 11th of March,
she was on the point of retiring to rest, at half-past nine o'clock,
when she heard a knock at the door. She demanded who was there, and some
one from without answered, "A boy--a lad," and said that he had lost his
way. She was induced, by his representations of his distress, to open
the door, and then, on her seeing him, she recognised him as having
called at her house three weeks before to enquire his way to Corgreen.
On his being admitted he at once assumed an authoritative air, locked
the door and pocketed the key, and declared his intention to stop there
that night. He called for tea and bread and butter, which were supplied
by the witness, who was in a dreadful state of alarm, and then demanded
that a bed should be brought for his use into the sitting-room. This,
after some remonstrance, she consented to do, and then she retired to
her own room, where, retaining all her clothes but her gown upon her
person, she lay down by the side of her little boy. Unable to sleep,
after a while she was alarmed to hear the prisoner suddenly ascend the
stairs, and immediately afterwards he rushed into her room, to the side
of the bed where her little girl lay. He took up the girl and flung her
to the bottom of the bed, and in a moment threw himself across the bed,
and laid hold of witness by the head. She exclaimed, "Good God, what
have I done?" and got his hands off her head, and continued screeching.
[Here followed evidence of the brutality of the prisoner, developing a
series of the most shocking expressions and brutish attempts on the
witness. Thrice he thrust a handkerchief in her mouth, to prevent her
cries; repeatedly knocked her down across the bed and on the floor; the
witness stating explicitly acts, the evidence of which was conclusive of
the attempt, and all but accomplishment of his diabolical purpose. The
prisoner had nothing on but his shirt at the time of the attack]. The
witness at length succeeded in gaining the staircase, down which she
rushed, when the prisoner, leaning over the rail of the stair-head, laid
hold of her hair, by which he attempted to pull her up stairs again. Her
hair gave way, and she fell through the staircase-door, at the bottom of
the stairs. She got up and tried the front door, but the key was taken
away. The prisoner had by this time also come down stairs, and he
repeated the violence of which he had before been guilty. He swore that
he had razors and pistols with him and would murder her, and he attacked
her with the most brutal ferocity with a fire-shovel, with which he
wounded her many times on the head and face. "All his aim now was," said
the witness, "to murder me. He said he passed by the door a few nights
ago, with three more of the gang. I said, 'Spare me my life for the
sake of my dear little fatherless children.' He said, 'Will you promise
me never to split, or to divulge, or to make it known?' I said, 'No,
sir, I never will.' He said, 'I must put you upon your oath; if you
divulge, and I am taken up and punished, the others will soon do for
you; are you agreeable?' I said, 'Yes; anything to save my life.' He
said he should be put to death himself by his gang. He said he never
went through but one such case before, and then his life was a narrow
escape to him, or something to that effect. I fell upon my knees, and he
said the words over that I was to say. I cannot recollect them exactly,
but the last were 'Holy Ghost.' I then thought he was going to spare my
life. There was blood upon the floor. He said to me, 'You must wash
yourself.' I said 'Yes, sir.' He said, 'You must, for you are all over
blood.' I said, 'I will get some water,' and I took a basin, but he said
he would get the water. He went out and returned immediately; I said I
would wash up the blood from the floor, as when Mr. Fitzgerald's groom
came to the stable close by he might notice it. Prisoner had thrown away
the water with which I had washed; I took the basin out to the pump, and
lifted the handle once or twice, and then ran away to William
Summerfield's; the prisoner was brought there by William Summerfield and
Mr. Fitzgerald's servant; they asked me if that was the person; I
exclaimed, he was the rogue. The prisoner then fell on his knees; he
said, 'My dear ma'am, if you'll forgive me, I'll never do the like
again.' Before I left my house, he ordered me up stairs whilst he
dressed himself; he ordered me down, and I came; he took the candle and
said, '_I fear I have injured you too much to spare your life._'" Here
the witness described her desperate condition, the dreadful effects of
the assault. One tooth had been knocked down her throat, another broken
off in the jaw, which was much swollen, her head had been cut with the
shovel, her limbs much bruised by the fall over the stairs. Other hurts
were also described of a nature not to be put in print.
The prosecutrix was cross-examined by counsel for the prisoner, but no
part of her sad recital was invalidated.
Counsel addressed the jury on behalf of the prisoner, endeavouring to
show that the youth for a time must have been possessed of a demon, or
that the whole account of the prosecutrix was exaggerated, as it
appeared more like a tale of fancy than an exposition of facts.
His lordship charged the jury, who, without much hesitation, returned a
verdict of "Guilty," with a recommendation to mercy.
The learned judge, in delivering the sentence of two years' imprisonment
and hard labour, explained that the prisoner owed his life to the
courageous conduct of the prosecutrix. Had she not resisted to the life,
and had he accomplished his guilty and brutal purpose, nothing could
have saved him from an ignominious death.
JAMES PAGE.
TRANSPORTED FOR MALICIOUSLY WOUNDING CATTLE.
As yet we have presented our readers with no instance of the conviction
of a prisoner for the offence of maiming cattle. The case of James Page
is worthy of observation.
He was indicted at the Bedford assizes on Wednesday, the 16th of July
1834, for maliciously and feloniously wounding three cows and a mare,
the property of Mr. William George, a farmer at Houghton Conquest, on
the previous 1st of May. The prisoner was a pauper of the parish of
which the prosecutor was overseer; and, having applied for relief, was
set to break stones on the roads. This employment seemed to produce an
ill feeling in his mind towards Mr. George, and he was heard to express
his dissatisfaction. On the night of the 30th of April, Mr. George's
cattle were placed in a particular field in his farm in good health and
condition, but in the morning, at four o'clock, three fine cows and a
mare were found to have been hamstrung, and so severely injured as to
render it necessary that they should all be killed. The evidence by
which this offence was brought home to the prisoner consisted of the
repetition of observations made by him, subsequent to the 1st of May, in
reference to the act, and the testimony of one Chappell, to whom the
prisoner had proposed that he should accompany him to execute his base
purpose.
The prisoner was found "Guilty," and sentenced to be transported for
life.
JOHN EDWARDS, _alias_ HEATH; PETER LECASSER; AND JEREMIAH WEEDON.
IMPRISONED FOR AN ASSAULT.
ON Monday, the 12th of May 1834, Mr. Gee, a respectable solicitor at
Bishop's Stortford, appeared before the magistrates at Lambeth-street
police office, to prefer a complaint of a most extraordinary
description.
It appeared from his statement that he had been professionally retained
for the estate of a gentleman named Canning, deceased, who at his death
had bequeathed a life-interest in a sum of 2000_l._ to his widow, the
principal of which, at her death, was directed to descend to his three
children. Mr. Gee's occupation had been, under the direction of the
executors of Mr. Canning's will, to invest in good securities the amount
thus bequeathed, with a view to as good a rate of interest being
procured upon it as was possible. A sum of 1200_l._ had been already
invested, and 800_l._ only remained in his possession, which he had
deposited in the hands of his bankers, Messrs. Gibson and Co., of
Saffron Walden, for security. A few days before, he had received a
letter signed "W. Heath," the writer of which professed his desire to
have a personal communication with him in London, upon the subject of
certain landed property which was for sale in the neighbourhood of
Bishop's Stortford. He returned an answer, announcing his intention to
visit London on that day (the 12th of May), and expressing his
willingness to meet Mr. Heath in the coffee-room of the Bull Inn,
Aldgate, at ten o'clock in the morning. Having received no negative
reply, he accordingly proceeded to the Bull Inn at the appointed hour,
and found a young man in the garb of a sailor waiting to see him. He
presented him with a letter in the same handwriting as that which had
been before delivered to him, and signed with the same name, in which he
was requested to accompany the bearer in a coach, which had been
prepared, to the residence of the writer, who was too ill to attend the
appointment which had been made, an assurance being given of a desire to
afford every assistance to Mr. Gee with a view to the saving of his
time. On his reading the letter he had no hesitation in complying with
the wish which was expressed, and the messenger having conducted him to
a coach, he immediately entered it and was driven off. The carriage
proceeded along the Commercial-road, and at length drew up at the house
No. 27, York-street West.
On his quitting the vehicle and entering the house, a person met him in
the passage, who told him that his brother was in the kitchen at his
breakfast, but suggested that he would not, perhaps, have any objection
to go there to him. The door was at this moment closed and the coach
driven off, and, as he was about to descend the stairs, he was suddenly
seized by the man who had delivered the letter to him, and who had
followed him into the house, by the man who had accosted him in the
passage, and by a third person, who made his appearance from below.
Alarmed at this proceeding, he made considerable resistance; but, in
spite of all his exertions, he was carried into the back kitchen, and
from thence into a species of cupboard, or den, where he was instantly
placed upon a seat and securely fastened. A chain, fixed to staples at
his back, passed round his chest, under his arms, and was padlocked on
the left side; and his feet being secured with cords, were so tightly
bound to rings in the floor, as to prevent the possibility of his moving
them. Having been thus confined, one of the party addressed him, and
representing himself as the brother of Mrs. Canning, demanded that he
should immediately give him a check for the 800_l._ of her money which
he had in his possession, as well as an order, upon the presentment of
which he might procure the delivery to him of the bond for 1200_l._
invested for her benefit and that of her children. Now for the first
time informed of the object of his assailants, he remonstrated with them
upon the illegality of their proceeding, and entreated them to release
him. They answered, that they were quite aware that what they had done
was contrary to law, but that they were resolved to brave the
consequences, and that not only would they retain him in his present
situation until he had complied with the demand which they had made, but
until they had actually obtained the money and the deed.
They were then about to leave him, and lock him in the horrible den in
which he had been confined, where he would be left in utter darkness,
when, on reflection, he became apprehensive that, if he made any attempt
to give an alarm or to procure assistance they might return and murder
him, and calling them back he notified, that he was willing to comply
with their demands. Pen, ink, and paper, were, in consequence, brought,
and he wrote a check on his bankers for 800_l._, and a letter directed
to Mr. Bell, at Newport, Essex, requesting the delivery of the deed in
his possession to the bearer, for the inspection of Mrs. Canning.
The person, who had described himself as Mrs. Canning's brother, on
receiving these documents immediately quitted the house, and being left
by the other men also, the door of his cage standing open, he began to
meditate upon the possibility of his escape. For three hours he found
every effort which he made unavailing; but at length he succeeded, by a
violent exertion, in shifting the iron chain which encompassed his chest
a little upwards, and in freeing his body from it. Thus at liberty he
was able to reach his feet, and he soon liberated his legs from the
cords by which they were confined. His only remaining effort now was to
quit the house; and stealthily making his way out of the back-kitchen
into the garden, he succeeded in eluding the vigilance of the two
remaining men, who were at dinner in the front kitchen, and escaped over
the garden-wall into an adjoining street. He instantly despatched
messengers to Mr. Bell, and to Messrs. Gibson's bank, with instructions
not to obey the orders which he had signed, and then made the best of
his way to the police-office to describe the treatment to which he had
been subjected.
Mr. Walker, the magistrate, immediately afforded Mr. Gee every
assistance in his power, and despatched Lea and Shelswell, two active
officers of the establishment, to York-street, in order that they might
apprehend the parties concerned in this most extraordinary conspiracy.
On their reaching the house, however, they found that it had been
already vacated, and that it was closed. An entry was soon forced, and
then they discovered that the house had evidently been taken solely for
the purpose of effecting the outrage which had recently been committed
in it. It was devoid of any furniture, with the exception of a few
chairs in the kitchen, and a blind to the window of the same room. The
den, in which Mr. Gee had been confined, was situated in the
back-kitchen; it was partitioned off from the room with boards of an
immense thickness and strength. Its dimensions were about five feet by
three, and outside the immediate walls of the cell, and within another
exterior partition, a large quantity of earth had been placed, so as
effectually to prevent any sounds emitted within from escaping or being
heard in any of the neighbouring houses. The interior of the cell
resembled a privy in its structure, although it had evidently been built
expressly for the purpose for which it had been used. There was a seat
at an elevation of about two feet from the ground, and at the back,
about a foot above the seat, was securely fixed a strong bar of wood to
which the chain with which Mr. Gee had been confined was still
suspended, in the same state as that in which he had left it. On the
floor there was also another bar of wood securely fixed; and attached to
this were two swivels, through which a large quantity of sash line,
which had been employed in binding the feet of Mr. Gee, passed. On
inquiries being made in the neighbourhood, it was learned that the
occupants of the house had only entered upon its possession on the
previous Saturday; and that immediately after Mr. Gee had escaped, two
men were seen in the garden anxiously looking right and left, as if in
search of some person, and that on their being asked what they wanted,
they declared that they were in pursuit of a thief who had escaped. They
were observed to leave the house immediately afterwards.
The subsequent investigation of this singular affair induced a belief,
that the person who had represented himself to Mr. Gee as the brother of
Mrs. Canning, was a man named Edwards, who was blind, and who had taken
the house of Mr. Wych the landlord. It was ascertained that Edwards was
in the habit of visiting Mrs. Canning at her residence at No. 4,
Providence-row; and after a short interval he was observed to quit that
house, and was taken into custody. The apprehension of Peter Lecasser,
his wife, Mary Lecasser, and Jeremiah Weedon, soon after took place, as
they were about to enter the house in York-street; and the prisoners
were on Tuesday morning taking before the magistrates. Mrs. Lecasser, it
then appeared, was the sister of Edwards, and her husband and Weedon had
been employed by him to assist him in his attack upon Mr. Gee. Edwards,
it was proved, had admitted when he was taken into custody, that he had
been the prime mover in this conspiracy; that he had tried by all legal
means to get the money from Mr. Gee, and that having failed, he had
determined upon procuring it at all hazards.
While the prisoners were under examination, a singular fact developed
itself. The Rev. D. Mathias, rector of the parish of Whitechapel,
recognised Edwards as having been recently married by him in the name of
Heath, to a female named Elizabeth Jenkins, who, however, from the
description given of Mrs. Canning, he was now induced to believe was
that person. Edwards, upon being questioned, hesitated to admit the
truth of this assertion, but made no attempt to deny that the statement
made by Mr. Gee was correct. He made every effort to exculpate his
fellow-defendants, declaring that they had been employed by him, and
that he alone was to blame. Weedon, who was a smith by trade, had built
the cell, and both he and Lecasser had acted entirely under his orders.
He said, that he was acquainted with Mrs. Canning, and that he had
become known to her about two years before, from his being recommended
to her to tune her piano, an occupation which he followed for his own
support.
On Wednesday the prisoners were again brought up, and on this occasion
Mrs. Canning was in attendance. The three men were distinctly identified
by Mr. Gee, as the parties by whom he had been assaulted; and Mrs.
Canning was also recognised by Mr. Mathias, as the person whom he had
united to the prisoner Edwards. This fact was, however, denied by Mrs.
Canning; but after some questions had been put to her she fainted in the
office, and her sister then admitted that the declaration of the
clergyman was true. A reason for her denial of the fact was suggested in
the circumstance, that her interest in the property left by her deceased
husband terminated with her widowhood.
On the following Tuesday, the 19th of May, the prisoners, except Mrs.
Lecasser, who was discharged, were fully committed to take their trial
at the next Old Bailey Sessions. Their committal was made out under the
provisions of statute 7 & 8 Geo. IV. c. 29, c. 6, which enacts, "That if
any person rob another person of any chattel, money, or valuable
security, every such offender being convicted thereof, shall suffer
death as a felon. And if any person shall steal any such property from
the person of another, or shall assault any other person with intent to
rob him, or shall with menaces or by force, demand any such property of
any other person, with intent to steal the same, every such offender
shall be guilty of felony; and being convicted thereof, shall be liable,
at the discretion of the court, to be transported beyond the seas for
life, or for any term not less than seven years; or to be imprisoned for
any term not exceeding four years; and, if male, to be once or twice
publicly whipped (if the court shall think fit) in addition to such
punishment."
At the Old Bailey Sessions on Monday the 12th of July, Edwards, Weedon,
and Lecasser, were put upon their trial. Mr. Lee having stated the case
for the prosecution, it was argued by Mr. Phillips, on behalf of the
prisoners, that the indictment which charged them with felony could not
be sustained. The allegation was, that the prisoners intended to take
the security for 800_l._ "from the person" of Mr. Gee, which was
inconsistent with the fact. The case was on this objection stopped by
Mr. Justice Patteson, who declared that the prosecution could not be
sustained, and a verdict of acquittal was, in consequence, returned.
The prisoners were then indicted for demanding from Mr. Gee, with
threats and menaces, a legal security for 1200_l._; and also, an order
for the payment of 100_l._, with a view to steal the same. Mr. Adolphus
having opened the case, the Court declared that this indictment was also
open to objection. The prisoners were alleged to have demanded the
security "with a view to" obtain it. They had actually obtained it, as
it appeared, and they must be acquitted. Mr. Gee, besides, never had
possession of the papers giving up the security, and as there could be
no robbery where there was no possession, the indictment could not be
sustained.
The prisoners were then declared "Not Guilty;" but a bill of indictment
having been already found against them at the Middlesex Sessions,
together with Mrs. Canning, for an assault, they were all held to bail
to answer that charge.
On Friday, the 1st of August, the whole of the parties were put upon
their trial at the Middlesex Sessions. The case occupied the Court until
ten o'clock at night, when it terminated in a verdict of acquittal as
regarded Mrs. Canning, and of guilty of the offence of conspiracy
against Edwards and Weedon, and of guilty of an assault against
Lecasser.
Edwards was sentenced to two years' imprisonment in Newgate; Weedon to
twelve months' imprisonment in the House of Correction; and Lecasser to
six months' imprisonment in the same jail.
JOSEPH MOSELEY AND WILLIAM GARSIDE.
EXECUTED FOR MURDER.
This remarkable murder was committed on the 3rd of January, 1831,
although the strong arm of the law did not reach its guilty perpetrators
until August 1834. The case is worthy of note, not only from the length
of time which intervened between the murder, and the time when the
murderers were discovered, but also from a remarkable dispute having
arisen with regard to the execution of the criminals, and the consequent
delay of the sentence passed upon them.
The murder, as we have stated, occurred at the beginning of the year
1831, a period when there was much discontent exhibited by the labouring
population of England, engaged in agricultural and in manufacturing
pursuits. At Ashton, and many other places in the neighbourhood of
Manchester, which were thickly inhabited by cotton-spinners, and other
persons employed in the various factories of that district, the feeling
of distaste towards the masters was almost universal; and "unions" were
formed amongst the men, who were bound by the terms of the compact into
which they entered, to work only at certain prices for their labour,
which they desired to dictate to their masters, and to hold commune with
no man who presumed to labour for smaller wages than those they chose to
accept. Although there can be no doubt that in this case the murder
which was committed by Moseley, Garside, and their companions, arose out
of the prevailing system of combination amongst the workmen, it would be
hard from such a fact to draw an inference, condemnatory of the whole
system, and of all parties to it. Mr. Thomas Ashton, the victim of the
murder, was the younger son of a master cotton-spinner at Hyde. It is
remarkable that at this place little discontent was shown by the
workmen, who were employed at the usual wages; but the master-spinners
of Ashton justified their refusal to raise the wages of their men, upon
this circumstance; and as this was known to have excited dissatisfaction
among the workmen at the latter place, little doubts were entertained
that they were the persons to whom the diabolical act would be traced.
The circumstances attending the murder were these:--Mr. Ashton had taken
tea at his father's house at an early hour on the evening in question,
and had gone to visit a newly-erected factory, about a third of a mile
distant. He quitted the factory at half-past six o'clock, and his
murdered remains were found on the road leading towards his father's
house at eight o'clock. He had been killed by a shot through the heart;
and the appearance of the body showed that the assassin must have stood
close to him at the time of the murder. On his left side in front was
one large wound, evidently produced by the discharge of slugs from a
pistol, which had entered his body so immediately after their quitting
the muzzle of the weapon as not to have had time to separate, as would
have been the case had they been discharged at him from a distance. In
his back were two wounds, a small distance asunder, which showed that
the slugs had diverged in the body of the murdered man, and had thus
passed out at his back. This event excited universal astonishment at
Hyde, as well from the amiability of character of the unfortunate
deceased, as from the absence of all apparent cause for the sanguinary
deed; and rewards from the friends of Mr. Ashton, and from the
government, amounting to 2000_l._ were immediately offered for the
apprehension of the murderers, and for the evidence of any accomplice
who had not actually fired the fatal shot.
Officers were despatched in all directions to endeavour to secure the
offenders, but years passed ere the real authors of the diabolical crime
were discovered. William Moseley, a convict in Chester jail, in the
month of April 1834, disclosed the leading circumstances of the murder;
and Garside and Joseph Moseley, the brother of the prisoner, its leading
perpetrators, were shortly afterwards apprehended at Oldham.
On Thursday, August the 7th 1834, the prisoners were put upon their
trial at the Chester assizes. William Moseley was the principal witness,
but his evidence was corroborated in many important particulars. He
stated that the murder had been committed at the instance of a man named
Samuel Scholfield, a unionist, who gave as a reason for it, the unjust
measure of wages paid by Mr. Ashton. The subject was broached by this
person to them all; and for the trifling sum of ten pounds, they
undertook to carry out the diabolical plot. In pursuance of the
agreement, they all met near the mill belonging to Mr. Ashton, called
the Woodley Mill; and stationing themselves in a quiet position, they
awaited the coming of their victim. Shortly before seven o'clock, his
approach was observed; and Garside rising and advancing to him, shot
him dead before he had time to utter a word, or to offer the smallest
resistance to the cowardly attack made upon him. The three murderers
instantly ran off, without waiting to remove the body from the middle of
the road where it lay; and as we have already said, at eight o'clock it
was discovered. The price of the murder was paid on the same night, the
three murderers and Scholfield going on their knees, and swearing to
each other, that "they wished God would strike them dead if they ever
told." The oath was strictly obeyed until William Moseley, being
imprisoned in Chester jail for some other crime, disclosed all he knew
of the transaction. The witness was subjected to a severe
cross-examination, in which he admitted that his reputation was stained
by a long list of the blackest crimes. His testimony, however, received
so great confirmation from the statements of other witnesses, that a
verdict of "Guilty" was returned against both prisoners, and they were
ordered for execution on the morning of the following Saturday.
A difficulty, however, now arose upon the subject of the proper officer,
by whom this sentence was to be carried into execution. The sheriff of
the County Palatine, and the sheriff of the city of Chester, each
refused to perform this painful duty, upon the ground that the other was
the officer to whose lot it fell. The wretched prisoners remained up to
Saturday morning in suspense as to the period of their execution; and on
that day Mr. Justice Parke granted a respite until the 18th of the same
month, in order that the difficulty might be settled.