however, at length made. On the 20th of March, Mr. Gay, a broker
residing in Goodge-street, Tottenham-court-road, applied to Mr. Thornton
the churchwarden of the parish of Paddington, for permission to inspect
such of the remains of the deceased woman as had been preserved above
ground. He founded his application upon the fact of the sudden
disappearance of his sister, whose name was Hannah Brown, and who having
quitted her home on the afternoon preceding Christmas-day, had not since
been seen or heard of. A request so reasonable was at once complied
with; and upon Mr. Gay seeing the head, which had been placed in
spirits, he at once declared his belief that it was that of his
unfortunate relation. Other persons who had been acquainted with Hannah
Brown also came forward to express their opinion as to her identity; and
from the statements which they made upon the subject of her habit of
body, and the opinions which they expressed in reference to the identity
of the head, no doubt remained of her being the individual who had been
so inhumanly destroyed.
From the inquiries of the police, it was elicited that the unfortunate
woman had received with favour the advances of a man named James
Greenacre, to whom she was about to be married; and that on
Christmas-eve she had quitted her lodgings in Union-street, Middlesex
Hospital, in order to accompany her intended husband to his house, in
Carpenter's-buildings, Camberwell, preparatory to their union on the
ensuing Monday. Greenacre was the person in whose company she had been
last seen; and to him, therefore, the authorities naturally turned for
information, as to the manner in which they had parted, if they had
parted at all, before her death. A warrant was granted by the
magistrates of Mary-le-bone Police-office for the apprehension of this
man; and after considerable difficulty he was at length taken into
custody on the 24th of March, 1837, at his lodgings at St.
Alban's-place, Kennington-road, together with a woman named Sarah Gale,
with whom he cohabited, and her infant child.
On Monday the 25th of March, an extraordinary degree of excitement
prevailed throughout the parishes of Paddington and Mary-le-bone, in
consequence of the apprehension of these persons being made known. At an
early hour the greater part of High-street was thronged with persons who
were anxiously awaiting the arrival of the prisoners. A coach was, at a
quarter-past twelve o'clock, seen to approach the police-office, from
which Greenacre and Mrs. Gale were taken, and conducted through the
magistrates' private entrance to the office. Upon their being placed at
the bar, Greenacre appeared to be a man about fifty years of age, of
middle height, and rather stout in figure. His aspect was forbidding,
and he conducted himself with considerable firmness of demeanor. He was
wrapped in a brown great-coat, and returned the gaze of any one who
looked at him, with an air of insolent bravado. Towards the close of the
examination, however, he appeared to be oppressed with a sensation of
weakness, a circumstance which was attributable to his having, during
his sojourn in the station-house, attempted to strangle himself with his
pocket-handkerchief--an attempt, the effects of which were only removed
upon the introduction of surgical assistance.
The prisoner Sarah Gale was between thirty and thirty-five years of age;
she was tolerably well dressed, and had with her a child between four
and five years old; she seemed quite unconcerned at her situation, and
was the object of as much, if not more attention, and interest than her
fellow-prisoner and paramour.
In the course of this and the succeeding examinations of the prisoners,
evidence extending to a very great length was procured. A succinct
narrative of the proceedings, however, will be perhaps better understood
than a lengthy statement of the testimony of each particular witness;
and to such a descriptive account, therefore, we shall confine
ourselves. The various witnesses having been examined, whose testimony
was requisite to prove the circumstances attending the discovery of the
body, the head, and the legs of the deceased woman, which we have
already described, proof of the identity of those remains was given; and
upon this subject the peculiarity of the formation of the body, to which
we have already alluded, tended at once to dispel all doubts, if any
such existed. Mrs. Brown, it then appeared, had lived for about a
year-and-a-half before her death at No. 45, Union-street, Middlesex
Hospital, where she gained a living by taking in washing and mangling.
While in this situation she became acquainted with Greenacre, and the
intimacy after a while ended in an offer of marriage on his part, which
was accepted by her. Mr. and Mrs. Davis, of No. 45, Bartholomew-close,
Smithfield, were friends of Mrs. Brown, and were made acquainted by her
with the nature of her connexion with Greenacre; and they acceded to a
proposition which was made to them, that Mr. Davis should give away the
bride, and that their daughter should act as bridesmaid. The day after
Christmas-day was fixed upon as the day of the wedding, and the banns
were in due course put up at the church of St. Giles, Camberwell,
preparatory to the nuptial rites. On the 22nd of December, Mrs. Davis
last saw Hannah Brown. The latter then called at her house with
Greenacre, and they at that time appeared perfectly happy and
"sociable," and, as it seemed, eagerly wishing for the wedding-day. They
remained to supper and went away together, having immediately before
their departure spoken of an intention which they had, after their
marriage, to settle at Hudson's Bay. On the afternoon of the 24th of
December, Mrs. Brown quitted her lodgings in Union-street, with
Greenacre, in a coach, and on the same evening they were seen together
at the residence of the latter, in Carpenter's-buildings. Mrs. Brown had
previously disposed of what little property she possessed; but as the
coach would not contain all her personal movables, she took away the key
of her door with her, saying, that she should return for them at night.
She did not return, however, and Mrs. Corney (her landlady) did not
again see her alive. On the night before Christmas-day, Greenacre called
upon Mrs. Davis, and inquired whether she had seen anything of Hannah
Brown? She answered that she had not; and Greenacre then said that he
found, upon inquiry, that Mrs. Brown had deceived him as to her
property, and that it would not do for them to plunge themselves into
poverty by marrying. At this interview he appeared agitated and angry,
and his countenance presented an aspect of such peculiarity, that it was
remarked by Mrs. Davis to her husband. On the Tuesday after
Christmas-day, Greenacre also called upon the brother of Mrs. Brown; and
he acquainted him also with the fact of the postponement of the
marriage, saying that he and his intended wife had quarrelled with
respect to her property, and that she had in consequence quitted his
house, and he had seen nothing of her since.
In the meanwhile, the continued absence of Mrs. Brown from her lodgings
excited some apprehension in the minds of her friends; but it was not
until the 27th of March, (as we have already stated), that they
exhibited any fears of the probability of the murdered remains which had
been found being those of their unfortunate relative. An inspection of
those remains, however, at once informed them of the melancholy cause of
her disappearance.
The apprehension of Greenacre and Gale took place under circumstances
which tended to confirm the suspicions of their guilt of murder, and to
give conclusive evidence of their perfect cognizance of the fact of the
death of the deceased. Inspector Feltham was the person by whom this
capture was effected; and he took the prisoners into custody at a small
house, No. 1, St. Alban's-place, Kennington-road, accompanied by a
police constable of the L division. He proceeded to that house and found
them in bed together; and upon his entering the room, he informed them
of the object of his visit. Greenacre at first denied all knowledge of
any such person as Hannah Brown; but subsequently, upon his being
further questioned, he admitted that he had been going to be married to
her, although he did not then know what had become of her. The prisoners
having dressed themselves, Greenacre declared that it was lucky that the
officer had gone on that night, for that they were about to sail on the
next day for America, a fact which appeared to be true, from the
appearance of a number of boxes, which stood in the apartment, ready
packed and corded for travelling. A minute examination of the contents
of the trunks, afforded highly important evidence. Many articles were
found in them, which were known to have belonged to Mrs. Brown; but
besides these, some remnants of an old cotton dress were discovered,
exactly corresponding in pattern and condition with the pieces in which
the body had been wrapped, on its being first seen in the Edgeware-road.
Subsequent inquiries afforded additional proofs in the case, implicating
both Mrs. Gale and Greenacre. These consisted in the discovery of
evidence as to the proceedings of the prisoners, on the night of
Christmas-eve, and the following days. Greenacre, as we have already
stated, was observed on Christmas-eve to take home his intended wife to
his house in Carpenter's-buildings. Previously to this time, Mrs. Gale
had been living with him there as his wife; but she appears to have been
sent away on the morning of the 24th of December, in order to make room
for the new-comer. On that night some noise and scuffling was heard in
Greenacre's house by the neighbours, but no notice was taken of it; and
on the following day Greenacre was observed to go out, and the house
remained locked up, and with the shutters closed all day. On that day it
was proved that he went to dine with Mrs. Gale, at lodgings which she
occupied temporarily, at Portland-street, Walworth. On boxing-day
(Monday), Mrs. Gale was again in Carpenter's-buildings, and she seemed
to be engaged in washing the house, as she procured some water from some
of her neighbours, and she was noticed to be employed with a bucket and
mop, as if she were hard at work. On Wednesday, Greenacre was observed
to leave his home, carrying with him a blue merino bag, and it was
ascertained that about a week afterwards he quitted the house in
Carpenter's-buildings altogether, his boxes and furniture being removed
by a man named Chisholm. About a fortnight afterwards the house was
stated "to be to let," and several of the neighbours went to look at it.
The floors of one or two of the rooms appeared to have been carefully
scrubbed and cleaned; and besides this, there was observed to be a
strong smell of brimstone, as if it had been employed in fumigating the
house, and the fire-places were boarded up, so as to prevent the escape
of the vapour by the chimney. Independently of these circumstances,
various expressions were attributed to Greenacre and Mrs. Gale, from
which it was inferred that the latter was aware of the murder; and it
was also shown that the bag or sack in which the body was enclosed, had
been stolen by Greenacre about a week before Christmas, from the shop of
a Mr. Ward, a mangle-maker, in Cheyne-walk, Tottenham-court-road; whose
shopman, Higgins, was enabled to identify it by a particular species of
shaving, which was still adhering to its interior, and also by the cord,
with which it was made to close.
Upon the statement of all these circumstances, the prisoners were called
upon for any defence which they might have to make, and Greenacre thus
addressed the magistrate. He spoke in a clear voice, and without
betraying any emotion.
"I have to state, that in the evidence given there are many direct
falsehoods. I distinctly told Mrs. Davis that we had had no words at all
of consequence--that is, no quarrel. What I mentioned to her was, that I
had found out Mrs. Brown had no money at all, and had tried to set up
things in my name at a tally-shop. I merely argued the point with her
but there had been no dispute worth speaking of. There may have been
duplicity on both sides. I represented myself to her to be a man of
property, as many other people do; and I found out that she was not a
suitable companion for me, which may fairly be concluded from her
conduct towards her brothers and sisters. I'll adhere strictly to the
truth in what I am saying, although there are many circumstances in the
evidence combining together against me, and which may perhaps cost me my
life. One of the witnesses has said, that I helped to move the boxes on
the Saturday; that is true, but I will precede that remark by stating,
that I had this female (the other prisoner) in a room at the time, where
she was lodging, and did my cooking for me. I gave her notice to leave
previous to Mrs. Brown coming home, and she had left accordingly. On the
Saturday night before Christmas-day, Mrs. Brown came down to my house,
rather fresh from drinking, having in the course of the morning treated
the coachman, and insisted upon having some more rum, a quantity of
which she had had with her tea. I then thought it a favourable
opportunity to press upon her for the state of her circumstances. She
was very reluctant to give me any answer, and I told her she had often
dropped insinuations in my hearing about her having property enough to
enable her to go into business, and that she had said she could command
at any time three hundred or four hundred pounds. I told her I had made
some inquiry about her character, and had ascertained she had been to
Smith's tally-shop, in Longacre, and tried to procure silk gowns in my
name. She put on a feigned laugh, and retaliated by saying she thought I
had been deceiving her with respect to my property, by misrepresenting
it. During this conversation she was reeling backwards and forwards in
her chair, which was on the swing, and as I am determined to adhere
strictly to the truth, I must say that I put my foot to the chair, and
she fell back with great violence against a chump of wood that I had
been using; this alarmed me very much, and I went round the table and
took her by the hand, and kept shaking her, but she appeared to be
entirely gone. It is impossible to give a description of my feelings at
the time; and, in the state of excitement I was in, I unfortunately
determined on putting her away. I deliberated for a little while, and
then made up my mind to conceal her death in the manner already gone
forth to the world. I thought it might be more safe that way than if I
gave an alarm of what had occurred. No one individual up to the present
moment had the least knowledge of what I have stated here. This female I
perfectly exonerate from having any more knowledge of it than any other
person, as she was away from the house."
Mrs. Gale, after denying that she was at Camberwell at the time of the
murder, or that she had participated in any way in causing the death of
the deceased, said--"Mr. Greenacre told me I was to leave his house a
fortnight before Christmas, but I did not then leave, as I could not
suit myself with lodgings, and I went away on the following Thursday. On
the Monday week after that I returned to the house, and he told me that
the correspondence between him and Mrs. Brown was broken off. That's all
I have to state."
During the whole of the time occupied by the police in prosecuting their
inquiries, new and increasing interest prevailed upon the subject of the
case, and every opportunity was seized upon by the public at which it
was thought that a glimpse of the prisoners might be obtained.
The 5th of April was fixed upon for the last examination; but owing to
the extreme difficulties which had attended every fresh inquiry before
the magistrates at the police-office, arising from the crowds which were
every day collected, they were induced to determine upon holding their
final meeting at the New Prison, Clerkenwell, where Greenacre had been
confined. Mrs. Gale had been kept in custody at the House of Correction;
and the intention of the magistrates being soon made known to the mob,
many of them proceeded from the neighbourhood of Marylebone to
Clerkenwell, in the hope of catching a glimpse of her as she passed to
the New Prison. During the examination both prisoners were much
affected, and trembled violently.
The principal object of this meeting was the re-perusal of the whole of
the vast body of evidence which had been obtained in the presence of the
prisoners. The statements made by Greenacre and his fellow-prisoner were
also read, and signed by them as true. Gale, when called upon to affix
her name to her statement, appeared to be labouring under extreme
trepidation. She got up from her seat, and walked with a faltering step
to the table; she took the pen with a trembling hand, when Greenacre,
seeing the agitation she was in, said to her, "Sign, sign; don't
frighten yourself at what people say about your going to be hanged, and
all that sort of stuff!" Gale at length appended her name, and resumed
her seat.
The whole of the evidence having now been read over, the prisoners were
fully committed to Newgate for trial.
The following lines were circulated by Greenacre among the reporters
present at this examination, with a view to their publication in the
newspapers.
"To a humane and enlightened public.
"New Prison, Clerkenwell, April 5.
"Everything that ingenuity and malice could invent to influence the
minds of the ignorant, and to fill the minds of the good and
religious with awe, has been the result of newspaper comment
against me. It is said that the finger of God is manifested in
bringing this horrid and wilful murder to light, the day only
before my flight to America! I contend that this manifestation of
Divine Providence is to serve my case, or the cause of a suffering
mind, to prevent me from a life of continual dread of being fetched
back from America upon this awful charge, and which would certainly
have been the result, if the deceased had not been recognised until
I had departed; thus it may be shown that Providence is on my side.
Again, if in my crossing the Atlantic, or by any other means, my
death had ensued, the fatal conviction of an innocent female would
certainly have been the result--suspicion would have been too
strong against her to have saved her; it was for God, and God only,
to prevent this fatal termination--no human mind could have
discerned anything in her favour, if my death had preceded this
investigation. God is just; and God be praised for this timely
interference to prevent my premature death through either my
crossing the seas, or the distracted state of my mind. I hope,
therefore, that my unfortunate situation may not be prejudiced by
malice and perverted comments."
Monday, the 10th of April 1837, was the day fixed for the trial of
these offenders, and on that day they were placed at the bar of the
Central Criminal Court, and arraigned upon the indictment found against
them. Greenacre was charged, as the principal, with the wilful murder of
the deceased, and Gale was indicted for being an accessory after the
fact, in comforting, aiding, and assisting her fellow-prisoner.
Chief Justice Tindal, Mr. Justice Coleridge, and Mr. Justice Coltman,
were the judges who sat to try these offenders, and the court was
crowded in every corner.
The evidence produced now was a repetition of that which had been
brought forward at the various examinations at the police-office. Mr.
Adolphus, Mr. Clarkson, and Mr. Bodkin, appeared to conduct the case for
the prosecution; and Mr. Price and Mr. Payne defended the prisoners. The
line of defence was consistent with the statements which had been made
by the prisoners at Marylebone police-office. The witnesses who were
competent to give any evidence as to the possibility of the truth of
these declarations being cross-examined with a view to its being shown,
that Greenacre's account of the transaction might be correct; and,
further, that in the direction in which he stated Mrs. Brown to have
fallen, she might have passed through a doorway, which was behind her,
and into the back-room. This suggestion was, however, negatived by the
declaration of the witnesses; and the testimony of the surgeons who were
examined also tended to prove that the injuries which had been received
by the deceased could not have been the result of such a state of facts.
Mr. Girdwood underwent a long examination, and exhibited throughout an
extensive acquaintance with those branches of his profession which were
material to the inquiry. He declared his belief that many of the
appearances of wounds or bruises on the head were the result of injuries
inflicted during life; and, further, that the bloodless state of the
arteries of the head exhibited that the process of disseveration had
been commenced before life was extinct.
Mr. Price addressed the jury for the prisoners, urging those topics in
his argument to which he had applied himself on his cross-examination.