Murder Stones
“Stones bearing tragic accounts of family - murders and other catastrophic events are by no means uncommon but “Murder Stones”, with an appeal
to conscience, have a completely different purpose. They were intended to attract one man – the murderer who had escaped detection (“the
murderer returns to the scene of the crime”). Their primary message is for the murderer in the hope that his conscience will strike within him.
Their subsidiary purposes are a warning to others of violent inclination and an attraction for the curious.”
Murder Stones, E L Reynolds
to conscience, have a completely different purpose. They were intended to attract one man – the murderer who had escaped detection (“the
murderer returns to the scene of the crime”). Their primary message is for the murderer in the hope that his conscience will strike within him.
Their subsidiary purposes are a warning to others of violent inclination and an attraction for the curious.”
Murder Stones, E L Reynolds
Margaret Williams Church of St Catwg Cadoxton
1823
TO RECORD
MURDER
THIS STONE WAS ERECTED
OVER THE BODY
OF
MARGARET WILLIAMS
AGED 26
A NATIVE OF CARMARTHENSHIRE
LIVING IN SERVICE IN THIS PARISH
WHO WAS FOUND DEAD
WITH MARKS OF VIOLENCE ON HER PERSON
IN A DITCH ON THE MARSH
BELOW THIS CHURCHYARD
ON THE MORNING
OF SUNDAY THE FOURTEENTH OF JULY
1823
ALTHOUGH
THE SAVAGE MURDERER
ESCAPED FOR A SEASON THE DETECTION OF MAN
YET
GOD HATH SET HIS MARK UPON HIM
EITHER FOR TIME OR ETERNITY
AND
THE CRY OF BLOOD
WILL ASSUREDLY PURSUE HIM
TO CERTAIN AND TERRIBLE BUT RIGHTEOUS
JUDGEMENT
TO RECORD
MURDER
THIS STONE WAS ERECTED
OVER THE BODY
OF
MARGARET WILLIAMS
AGED 26
A NATIVE OF CARMARTHENSHIRE
LIVING IN SERVICE IN THIS PARISH
WHO WAS FOUND DEAD
WITH MARKS OF VIOLENCE ON HER PERSON
IN A DITCH ON THE MARSH
BELOW THIS CHURCHYARD
ON THE MORNING
OF SUNDAY THE FOURTEENTH OF JULY
1823
ALTHOUGH
THE SAVAGE MURDERER
ESCAPED FOR A SEASON THE DETECTION OF MAN
YET
GOD HATH SET HIS MARK UPON HIM
EITHER FOR TIME OR ETERNITY
AND
THE CRY OF BLOOD
WILL ASSUREDLY PURSUE HIM
TO CERTAIN AND TERRIBLE BUT RIGHTEOUS
JUDGEMENT
Margaret Williams was found dead on Sunday morning, 14 July 1822. By Tuesday an inquest was held and an arrest was made. We are told that the jury were locked up the whole of Tuesday night, an adjournment of the inquest being necessary. All that was missing was evidence. Margaret was an unmarried country girl from Carmarthenshire. She is described as a ‘fine, healthy young woman,’ known for her ‘industry and cheerfulness’. However she was pregnant, probably at least 16 weeks. And Margaret was adamant about the father of her child. She had announced it publicly on a number of occasions. It was the son of the farmer for whom she worked as a servant. We shall call him John. John was the one who was arrested for her murder on Tuesday 16th July 1822. The report says clearly that he was ‘the man generally suspected of having committed the diabolical act’. Suspicions alone have never been enough. The problem was that there was no proof. All John had to do was to keep quiet. There was nothing to link him to the murder. There was nothing to prove that John was the father of her child. Paternity, after all, is deniable. Only in recent years has it ever been anything other than a matter of opinion. He could present Margaret as a fantasist, as a country girl on the make. She could have proved nothing.
The scenes in the farmhouse when she revealed the happy news of her Easter egg, can be imagined. Certainly ten weeks previously in May she had moved out - or been thrown out - and was now working for ‘an industrious old man who occupies a small cot near Neath’. She had been to Neath on Saturday night. It had been a fine summer’s day, though there had been strong wind. Steam vessels on their way to Ireland, The Saint Patrick and The Duke of Lancaster, had taken shelter in Milford Harbour. Margaret had gone to buy a sheep’s head that was found in her basket, alongside her hat, on the marsh, a short way from her body. She was on her way home. Was this a chance encounter? Was he waiting for her?
The report describes her condition. ‘found lying on her left side in a pill on the salt marsh, containing about 30 inches in depth of water-the face and head were under the water, whilst the right side of the body, with the arm in an elevated position, was perfectly dry-the marks on her body consisted of bruises and discolorations on the throat and neck and on both arms above the elbow: but of the two arms the right was most bruised, apparently by strong pressure-those on the throat were manifestly caused by strangulation.
’So he grabbed her, shook her, strangled her, left her in a ditch. And yes, she was pregnant, for they ‘opened and examined the body’.
John would say nothing. Why should he? What incentive was there to confession? The newspaper always carried reports of recent executions. No, he would keep quiet. So he did. But everyone knew. Or thought they knew. We are told that “the strongest suspicions existed against the prisoner’ but that ‘no evidence was adduced to establish his guilt’. There was nothing to link him to her death. The absence of clues was merely an example of ‘ Human wickedness and cunning’. The verdict therefore was ‘Wilful Murder against some person or persons unknown’ but they knew and their anger and their certainty point like a finger across the centuries. ‘The magistrates have declared their resolution to seek out fresh evidence with unremitting scrutiny and it is devoutly to be wished that the inhuman monster who perpetrated this foul and horrid deed may yet be brought to justice.”It is not a person they seek. Merely evidence".In language that pre-figures the words of Elijah Waring the report concludes ‘The eye of Providence is upon him’
John may have escaped conviction and execution but what now could he do? His position within his community was untenable. His family will have known this too. Not long afterwards he left Swansea on a cargo vessel to start a new life in America. But his family still had to face that eternal call for vengeance from the graveyard across the road, standing on the main path through the village for all to see, every day. There can be no wiping away of the crime whilst those words are set in stone. There is consolation that whilst he might escape human justice there must come an inescapable final reckoning. A greater power is in pursuit. John might run - and we can be sure that he did - but he could never hide. And for some in the anticipation of revenge there was hope.
The ‘Murder Stone’ so easily found speaks of tragedy. It speaks of two families scarred. Of a life taken. Of lives ruined. It is a crime and pain that endures. There are still flowers placed on Margaret’s grave. A grave that is incongruous amongst the records of ordinary lives that ran their course in this village-the Richards, the James, the Griffiths, the Owens But this is different. This is a woman betrayed. And murdered. This is the local legend, the story that has endured.
The scenes in the farmhouse when she revealed the happy news of her Easter egg, can be imagined. Certainly ten weeks previously in May she had moved out - or been thrown out - and was now working for ‘an industrious old man who occupies a small cot near Neath’. She had been to Neath on Saturday night. It had been a fine summer’s day, though there had been strong wind. Steam vessels on their way to Ireland, The Saint Patrick and The Duke of Lancaster, had taken shelter in Milford Harbour. Margaret had gone to buy a sheep’s head that was found in her basket, alongside her hat, on the marsh, a short way from her body. She was on her way home. Was this a chance encounter? Was he waiting for her?
The report describes her condition. ‘found lying on her left side in a pill on the salt marsh, containing about 30 inches in depth of water-the face and head were under the water, whilst the right side of the body, with the arm in an elevated position, was perfectly dry-the marks on her body consisted of bruises and discolorations on the throat and neck and on both arms above the elbow: but of the two arms the right was most bruised, apparently by strong pressure-those on the throat were manifestly caused by strangulation.
’So he grabbed her, shook her, strangled her, left her in a ditch. And yes, she was pregnant, for they ‘opened and examined the body’.
John would say nothing. Why should he? What incentive was there to confession? The newspaper always carried reports of recent executions. No, he would keep quiet. So he did. But everyone knew. Or thought they knew. We are told that “the strongest suspicions existed against the prisoner’ but that ‘no evidence was adduced to establish his guilt’. There was nothing to link him to her death. The absence of clues was merely an example of ‘ Human wickedness and cunning’. The verdict therefore was ‘Wilful Murder against some person or persons unknown’ but they knew and their anger and their certainty point like a finger across the centuries. ‘The magistrates have declared their resolution to seek out fresh evidence with unremitting scrutiny and it is devoutly to be wished that the inhuman monster who perpetrated this foul and horrid deed may yet be brought to justice.”It is not a person they seek. Merely evidence".In language that pre-figures the words of Elijah Waring the report concludes ‘The eye of Providence is upon him’
John may have escaped conviction and execution but what now could he do? His position within his community was untenable. His family will have known this too. Not long afterwards he left Swansea on a cargo vessel to start a new life in America. But his family still had to face that eternal call for vengeance from the graveyard across the road, standing on the main path through the village for all to see, every day. There can be no wiping away of the crime whilst those words are set in stone. There is consolation that whilst he might escape human justice there must come an inescapable final reckoning. A greater power is in pursuit. John might run - and we can be sure that he did - but he could never hide. And for some in the anticipation of revenge there was hope.
The ‘Murder Stone’ so easily found speaks of tragedy. It speaks of two families scarred. Of a life taken. Of lives ruined. It is a crime and pain that endures. There are still flowers placed on Margaret’s grave. A grave that is incongruous amongst the records of ordinary lives that ran their course in this village-the Richards, the James, the Griffiths, the Owens But this is different. This is a woman betrayed. And murdered. This is the local legend, the story that has endured.
Mary Morgan tried and hanged for murder (infanticide) St. Andrew’s parish churchyard in Presteigne
To the memory of Mary Morgan
who young and beautiful, endowed
with a good understanding and
disposition, but unenlightened by the
sacred truths of Christianity become
the victim of sin and shame and
was condemned to an ignominious
death on the 11th April 1805
for the Murder of her bastard Child
Rous'd to a first sense of guilt and
remorse by the eloquent and humane
exertions of her benevolent Judge
Mr. Justice Hardinge, she underwent
the Sentence of the Law on the
following Thursday with infeigned
repentance and a furvent hope of
forgiveness through the merits of a
redeeming intercessor
This stone is erected not merely to
perpetuate the remembrance of a
departed penitent, but to remind the
living of the frailty of human nature
when unsupported by religion
Thomas Bruce Brudenell Bruce
Earl of Ailesbury
who young and beautiful, endowed
with a good understanding and
disposition, but unenlightened by the
sacred truths of Christianity become
the victim of sin and shame and
was condemned to an ignominious
death on the 11th April 1805
for the Murder of her bastard Child
Rous'd to a first sense of guilt and
remorse by the eloquent and humane
exertions of her benevolent Judge
Mr. Justice Hardinge, she underwent
the Sentence of the Law on the
following Thursday with infeigned
repentance and a furvent hope of
forgiveness through the merits of a
redeeming intercessor
This stone is erected not merely to
perpetuate the remembrance of a
departed penitent, but to remind the
living of the frailty of human nature
when unsupported by religion
Thomas Bruce Brudenell Bruce
Earl of Ailesbury
Although Mary Morgan was from Glasbury, her story has been associated with Presteigne since her tragic death in 1805. She was employed as a servant at Maesllwch Castle near Glasebury. Maesllwch was the seat of Walter Wilkins Esq, the Member of Parliament for the county. Mary was working in the kitchens in the early hours of a Sunday in September 1804 when she became unwell. She later went to her room in the servant's quarters of the castle. Early that evening the cook went to her room and accused Mary of having given birth to a baby, which at first she strongly denied. Later, according to the evidence given by the cook, Mary Morgan "owned that she had delivered herself of a child which was in the underbed cut open, amongst the feathers with the head nearly divided from the body supposed by a penknife which was found by the witness under the pillows of the same bed". The inquest on the baby was held at Glasbury two days later, and the Coroner's Jury found that:
"Mary Morgan, late of the Parish of Glazebury, a single woman on the 23rd day of September being big with child, afterward alone and secretly from her body did bring forth alive a female child, which by the laws and customs of this Kingdom was a bastard. Mary Morgan...moved and seduced by the instigation of the devil afterwards on the same day, feloniously, wilfully and of her malice aforethought did make an assault with a certain penknife made of iron and steel of the value of sixpence....and gave the child one mortal wound of the length of three inches and the depth of one inch. The child instantly died."
Mary was too ill to travel to Presteigne, where the Assizes were held, until the 6th of October. By the time of the start of the Session in April 1805 she had been locked up for almost six months, under the grim prison conditions of the day. By this time Mary had just turned 17 years of age. The fateful Mary was too ill to travel to Presteigne, where the Assizes were held, until the 6th of October. By the time of the start of the Session in April 1805 she had been locked up for almost six months, under the grim prison conditions of the day. By this time Mary had just turned 17 years of age. The fateful day in her short life was Thursday the 11th of April, the final day of her trial before Judge Hardinge, when the jury found that she was guilty of the murder of her child. The Judge's final address to Mary has been described as "consisting of pious platitude...without pity or understanding."
After the trial Mary Morgan was returned to the gaol at Presteigne, this time to the condemned cell. It has been claimed that a gentleman who witnessed the trial immediately set off to London to seek a reprieve for Mary, but failed to get back in time to save her because his horse went lame. However, there does not seem to be any evidence to support this version of events.
Public executions always attracted large crowds, who would have watched the tragic figure being taken by cart from the gaol to the site of her execution at Gallows Lane. She was supposedly put in a winding sheet with her hair hanging down in long tresses, and was barely conscious when taken down from the cart for her execution. At noon on Saturday, 13th April she was hanged, and was buried in what was then unconsecrated ground near the church later that same afternoon.
Since her death there have been claims that the father of Mary's child was Walter Wilkins the Younger, the son of the MP for the county and the "young squire" of Maesllwch Castle. A further twist to the tale is that his was one of the names on the list of members of the jury at her trial. The theory is no longer widely believed, and the father was probably one of her fellow servants at the castle. It is, however, thought that poor Mary was fully expecting him to use his position to intervene and save her life, which he clearly could have done. The realisation that he was not going to help her in her extreme distress must have come as a terrible shock. 'Execution for infanticide was by this date quite rare and illegitimate births were commonplace and not regarded as a major stigma. These circumstances make the case of Mary Morgan a particularly sad one, and are part of the reason for the attention that the case still attracts.
Eleanor Williams Nebo Independent Chapel Felindre
1832
TO RECORD A MURDER
THIS STONE WAS ERECTED BY GENERAL SUBSCRIPTION OVER THE BODY OF ELEANOR WILLIAMS
AGED 29 YEARS A NATIVE OF CARMARTHENSHIRE LIVING IN THIS HAMLET IN THE PARISH OF
LLANGYFELACH
WITH MARKS OF VIOLENCE UPON HER PERSON SHE WAS FOUND DEAD IN A WELL BY
LLWYNGWENNO FARMHOUSE THEN IN THE OCCUPATION OF THOMAS ON THE MORNING OF
SUNDAY 9TH 1832
ALTHOUGH
THE SAVAGE MURDERER MAY ESCAPE FOR A SEASON THE DETECTION OF MAN YET DOUBTLESS
GOD HATH SET HIS MARK UPON HIM EITHER FOR TIME OR ETERNITY
AND
THE CRY OF BLOOD WILL ASSUREDLY PURSUE HIM TO A TERRIBLE AND RIGHTEOUS JUDGEMENT
NAC YMDDIELWCH RAI ANNWYL OND RHODDWCH LE I DDIGOFAINT CANYS Y MAE YN YSGRIFENEDIG I MI Y MAE
DIAL
MYFI A DALAF MEDD YR ARGLWYDD
RHUFEINIAID XII 19
BELOVED NEVER AVENGE YOURSELVES BUT LEAVE IT TO THE WRATH OF GOD FOR IT IS WRITTEN
“VENGEEANCE IS MINE I WILL REPAY SAYS THE LORD”
ROMANS XII 19
TO RECORD A MURDER
THIS STONE WAS ERECTED BY GENERAL SUBSCRIPTION OVER THE BODY OF ELEANOR WILLIAMS
AGED 29 YEARS A NATIVE OF CARMARTHENSHIRE LIVING IN THIS HAMLET IN THE PARISH OF
LLANGYFELACH
WITH MARKS OF VIOLENCE UPON HER PERSON SHE WAS FOUND DEAD IN A WELL BY
LLWYNGWENNO FARMHOUSE THEN IN THE OCCUPATION OF THOMAS ON THE MORNING OF
SUNDAY 9TH 1832
ALTHOUGH
THE SAVAGE MURDERER MAY ESCAPE FOR A SEASON THE DETECTION OF MAN YET DOUBTLESS
GOD HATH SET HIS MARK UPON HIM EITHER FOR TIME OR ETERNITY
AND
THE CRY OF BLOOD WILL ASSUREDLY PURSUE HIM TO A TERRIBLE AND RIGHTEOUS JUDGEMENT
NAC YMDDIELWCH RAI ANNWYL OND RHODDWCH LE I DDIGOFAINT CANYS Y MAE YN YSGRIFENEDIG I MI Y MAE
DIAL
MYFI A DALAF MEDD YR ARGLWYDD
RHUFEINIAID XII 19
BELOVED NEVER AVENGE YOURSELVES BUT LEAVE IT TO THE WRATH OF GOD FOR IT IS WRITTEN
“VENGEEANCE IS MINE I WILL REPAY SAYS THE LORD”
ROMANS XII 19
On Sunday, December 9th 1832 Eleanor Williams' battered body was discovered down a well in Felindre. Rumours as to who had committed the evil deed were rife and the reporter from the "Cambrian" newspaper was inundated with accusations by unnamed informants but no hard facts to go with them. The only information that the newspaper could print was the following paragraph:- "On the 9th inst., the corpse of a young woman named Eleanor Williams was discovered in a well of a farmyard in the parish of Llangyfelach with her skull fractured and other marks of violence and the jury at the inquest held before Charles Collins Esq.,Coroner after a very patient investigation returned a verdict of 'Wilful murder against some person or persons unknown.---Several suspicious circumstances have however transpired which it is not thought to be prudent at present to publish and every exertion is made in the neighbourhood to bring the foul assassin to justice." Well the 'foul assassin' was never brought to justice and poor Eleanor's body was buried in the graveyard of Nebo Chapel unavenged. A poignant touch was the setting up of a small stone in front of Eleanor's gravestone in memory of the unborn child that she was carrying at the time of her death.
John Jane and Elizabeth Brass Church of St John the Evangelist Kirk Merrington
HERE LIE THE BODIES OF
JOHN JANE AND ELIZABETH CHILDREN
OF JOHN AND MARGARET BRASS
WHO WERE MURDERED THE 12TH OF JANUARY 1683
BY ANDREW MILLS THEIR FATHER’S SERVANT
FOR WHICH HE WAS EXECUTED AND HUNG IN CHAINS
READER REMEMBER SLEEPING
WE WERE SLAIN
AND HERE WE SLEEP TILL WE MUST
RISE AGAIN
WHOSO SHEDDETH MAN’S BLOOD BY MAN SHALL
HIS BLOOD BE SHED
THOU SHALT DO NO MURDER
JOHN JANE AND ELIZABETH CHILDREN
OF JOHN AND MARGARET BRASS
WHO WERE MURDERED THE 12TH OF JANUARY 1683
BY ANDREW MILLS THEIR FATHER’S SERVANT
FOR WHICH HE WAS EXECUTED AND HUNG IN CHAINS
READER REMEMBER SLEEPING
WE WERE SLAIN
AND HERE WE SLEEP TILL WE MUST
RISE AGAIN
WHOSO SHEDDETH MAN’S BLOOD BY MAN SHALL
HIS BLOOD BE SHED
THOU SHALT DO NO MURDER
John, Jane and Elizabeth Brass were the children of John and Margaret Brass who owned Brass Farm, west of Ferryhill - now known as High Hill House Farm. The oldest child was Jane Brass, who was about at the time of the murder 19 years old. John, the second oldest and the only son in the family, was 17 years old. The youngest was Elizabeth, who would have been about 10 years of age.
One 19th century author described Jane, who, with her raven (black) hair and ruby lips, she was “rendered brighter by perfect health and made temptingly beautiful by an arch ness of manners which tantalised the young farmers who spent evenings at Hill House”. Jane was indeed a beacon to all the young swains of the neighbourhood.
John was described as a “Cheeky and somewhat idle… who enjoyed ridiculing his father’s workers. Part encouraged by his parents, he particularly enjoyed teasing Mills”.
The ‘little lass' Elizabeth “Enjoyed playing in the surrounding fields after finishing her daily chores”. Elizabeth showed affection towards Mills, and the pair “would often be seen playing with her dolls and toys or chasing ducks around the yard”.
In the 17th to 18th Centuries, the Brass family of Ferryhill were wealthy. They could afford their own farm, they were able to have their children to be well educated, and thirdly, the parents were able to afford alter-tombs for their children's funerals and their own. Like many northerners, the Brass family continued their Christmas celebrations well into the New Year.
Andrew Mills was known to be 18 to 19 year old, who killed his employer’s three children at the time of the Christmas celebrations of 1683. He was a servant at Brass Farm – now known as High Hill House Farm – which still stands in the far west of Ferryhill, behind now Ferryhill Comprehensive School. Andrew Mills was believed to be a quiet, inoffensive lad, who when angered, “…a dangerous light flashed from this usual dull eyes”. He was, believed by 19th century historians, deficient of intellect, or somewhat deranged. Historians marked Andrew Mills as a simpleton.
A motive for the murder of the Brass Children has never been officially established. However, there was no robbery committed as it has never been commented upon.
The murders took place at Brass House, now known as High Hill House, on the western ridge, between Ferryhill, Kirk Merrington, and Spennymoor. Given its almost secluded location away from all three towns, it would set the scene of the North of England most inhumane murders. These murders were so terrible by description that the news of them even spread as far down to London. According to records, the parents went to visit friends. They were bragging about the news that their eldest daughter was going to be married at Candlemas (February 2nd). The folio sheets that just before the parents left the house, Mills was outside "feeding the oxen". In Mill’s Confession he stated that the Devil persuaded him to pick up his axe and to kill the children before the parents arrived back. According to tradition he did so, and with a sudden insane impulse, which found no cause, he walked to the farmhouse and began the rampage…
Robert Surtees of Mainsforth, who researched and wrote the volumes "The History and Antiquities of the County Palatine in Durham" in the 19th Century, mentions Andrew Mills confession. Accordingly, he chased the two elder children into a bedroom, where Jane managed to bolt the door locked just before Mills reached her. He then thrust his axe against the wood. It did not take much before the iron hinges started to move, and the wood stables to shatter. In desperation, Jane used her right hand and put it through a crack, and used it as a makeshift bolt. It only took the final blow, and Jane’s arm broke, and sent her flying across the room. She looked on as John struggled with him for a while but it wasn’t long before he too lost some sort of concentration with the fight, and Mills knocked him in the head with the axe. John lay in pain on the floor, dying from a fractured skull. He then proceeded with cutting his throat. He then went to Jane and killed her.
According to the folio sheet of 1682, it states that the children were "most barbarously and Inhumanely murdered: Their throats being cut, their bodies greatly mangled, especially their Heads and Necks." A theory for such a brutal attack is that Mills, in an insane state, did not see the human features on the faces of his victims, but hallucinated those of demons. He smashed in their faces and heads as the "demonic" faces of the children plagued, tormented, and laughed at him. Of course, with such an attack, the children were screaming in pain, and so, Andrew Mills using his pocket knife, slashed open the children's throats to stop the noise. Elizabeth was screaming and Mills then turned, and put his attention, with his wide wild violent eyes, to her, who now, so terrified, lay shaking violently and hiding under her bed linen.
According to Mills’s confession, he had a fond relationship with the eleven year old, whilst being in employment. It was due to his childlike ways. Elizabeth cried in sorrow, and prayed to Mills to spare her life. She offered him bread, butter, sugar, and toys, all the little things that meant so much in return to keep her soul. Andrew left the room and it seemed that Elizabeth was going to be spared. When Mills left the room whilst Elizabeth’s life was at the edge of her hands, he walked in to the dark corridor near the stairs where he chased Jane, and it was here, according to his confession, where the Devil in the shape of a hideous creature met him in the passage:
"...but that in going of the room he met in the passage a hideous creature like a fierce wolf with red fiery eyes, its two legs were like those of a stag, its body resembled an eagle, and was supplied with two enormous wings; this apparition addressed Mills with a most unchristian croak, in the words:
“Go back, thou hateful wretch, resume thy cursed knife. I long to view more blood, spare not the young one's life”. And the injunction was obeyed."
The Devil told him to spare no-one, and with the words, ringing continuously in his ears, Mills returned to the room, dragged the girl from under her bed and began by “dashing out her brains”.
Legend stated that Mills stayed with his bloody victims for quite some time but realizing the enormity of his crime, he bolted from the house, and ran into Ferryhill where his blood-stained clothing and wild talk sealed his fate…
According to some books, troops marching from Darlington to Durham that very night apprehended Mills as he came running into Ferryhill with wild news of a triple murder.
"1682-3. Jan. A company of troopers passing from Darlington to Durham are said to have assisted Mr. Brass to seize the probably insane Andrew Mills...It is said also that the old Brasses on their return heard the most dreadful howlings of dogs and screeching of owls, the horse bolted continually, and at last, at the place where Andrew Mills's Stob afterwards stood, would not move a peg more. Andrew threw from a thicket, and on enquiry told of his horrid deed. The mother fell to the ground, and the troopers who were passing at the time helped to secure the murderer. Mary was conveyed to a place of safety, Dobbing again went on, and the hapless father arrived at his bloody home."
A coroner was sent for, and a panel of people were empanelled as jury and questioned Andrew about the murders, but, with Mills still insisting on his innocence, the coroner asked the jury to withdraw, and he then asked Mills that if he was guilty of the murder and confess this fact, then he would befriend Mills by saving his life. He confessed and was subsequently arrested and taken to Durham Goal. Andrew Mills was sentenced to be hanged at Durham. As public opinion was high in that time, it was demanded that his body should be brought back to near the scene of the crime to be displayed. So before he was hung, he was measured by a local blacksmith - usually hired by the Court - in his condemned cell. He was measured for his last suit - a gibbet cage for which his body would be later displayed.
His execution took place straight after his trial of being found guilty. Armed soldiers escorted Mills from the Court, and put into a metal cage on a cart and driven through the old streets of Durham. First from Palace Green in the shadow of the Cathedral, down Owengate, through the Great North Gate of Durham Gaol, down Saddler Street, through the Market Place (the place where possibly in May the previous year he stood as part of a servant auction), down Silver Street, across Framwellgate Bridge, along Millburngate, and through Framwelgate Peth to Dryburn, at the outskirts of the city. The day of his execution would have indeed drawn masses of crowds; people wanting to see the young man responsible for the "most and barbarous murder that was heard on in the North or elsewhere". Through the streets, crowds would have shouted abuse and hauled stones and rotten food at him.
The exact location of pre-1811 executions at Dryburn and Framwellgate are impossible to state. Three locations are mentioned by local historians. The first being Gallows Field, now the site of St. Leonard's Roman Catholic School. The second being Gilbert Knowles, formally called Gibbet Knowles. This is now a street called 'Black Western Hill'. The third location being now the site of the University Hospital of North Durham. It is possible that all three locations were used as execution spots at one time or another.
At the site of Andrew Mills' execution, there was a public gallows, of which there was a high platform with a strong wooden beam running across the top, attached to it some hanging ropes. His hanging would have drawn a massive crowd. The rope was put round his neck and at the last beat of a soldier's drum, a hole beneath his feet opened, and he was hung until he was dead. A doctor announced his death at the scene. A few days later, he was taken down from the rope, and before his body was placed in his metal cage, it would have tarred with pitch for preservation. Andrew, inside his cage, would have been lifted onto a cart and driven by soldiers to the location, a three-quarter mile north of Ferryhill, overlooking the scene of the murder. He was placed on his gibbet on Wednesday 15th August 1683. It was said that his gibbet overlooked the scene of the murder, approximately at a half mile distance north of Ferryhill. Even today, at this distance, you can still see High Hill House Farm on the ridge facing west. His gibbet would have been a 30 foot, strong, wooden post where an iron compartment, holding inside the body of the criminal, hung from.
Andrew Mills was executed by hanging by rope at or near Dryburn, Durham, and then his body would be transported to near Ferryhill for public exhibition and caution to other could-be criminals and on Wednesday 15th August 1683, Andrew Mills was hanged in chains at approximately half a
mile north of the village of Ferryhill. This is recorded in two books and even on the Children's Alter tomb:
Mills was tortured in an iron cage in which his limbs were bound, and was apparently fed with milk on a stick through the bars by his sweetheart. It is said that when Mills hungered, a ‘penny loaf’ was suspended on a string, with the bread being held by an iron pike, in front of his face but just out of his reach. When he tried to eat the bread, the iron pike would enter his throat, so to add pain to his already agonising torture. Mills was said to have survived his torture for a period of several days, but when he did die, he ‘expired with a shriek that was heard from miles around’. His body was left to rot. The Gibbet was thereafter called: ‘Andrew Mills’ Stob’ and it overlooked the scene of the murder, and was located about half of a mile, north of Ferryhill village on the Great North Road. Andrew Mills’s Stob the oaken post or gibbet which Mills was hung remained until the mid of the 19th Century until it was taken down and cut up for souvenirs and charms. The area was ploughed over and levelled It is not known for certain if Andrew Mills' remains were buried or cremated, it was sometimes customary for bodies displayed in gibbets to be buried underneath their post. It is believed by some people of Ferryhill that his body was disposed of at the crossroads at Thinford Inn, now Black & Deckers, Spennymoor and it is reputed that his ghost resides in one of the offices there and according to local superstition, on New Year's Eve you can hear Andrew Mill’s wild cries near the old farmhouse.
John Price Church Llanafan Fawr
JOHN PRICE WHO WAS MURDERED ON DARREN HILL IN THIS PARISH BY
R LEWIS APRIL 21 1826
Lewis Lewis who was accused of the murder of Thomas Price whose body was cast into the pools known as Varlen Fawr. Unfortunately for Lewis the body rose to the surface so he and his brother Thomas took the remains to a house called Argoed and burned them. Thomas Lewis turned King's evidence and named Lewis Lewis as the murderer. Lewis Lewis fled. He was said to have a "wonderfully developed leg" which subsequently led to his capture. He was a very fast runner and "could catch wild ponies on the hill". He was once apprehended as he returned h o me to visit his wife, when, unbeknown to him, his house, Gorswen, was being watched, To take him to prison his captors had to cross the Chewfri river, which was in full flood, by means of a wooden footbridge near Abernefel. Old Evans of Lletherddu led the accused over the bridge followed by the parish constable, As they crossed the prisoner sprang into the surging waters, scrambled to the bank and fled up the steep hill opposite Abernefel. Chase was made but it was hopeless. He was next apprehended in North Wales but was recognised chiefly by his "well shaped leg, huge calf and small ankle". Lewis Lewis's family however were no strangers to crime.
Thomas Price was said to be "the perfect villain on the hill and far worse a man than Lewis Lewis". It was no uncommon thing for Lewis Lewis, the Elder, father of his murderer , to find 7 or 8 of his sheep dead on the hill and placed head to tail in a row - killed by Price and his dogs. Whatever the rights and wrongs Lewis Lewis, the Younger, was duly convicted and sentenced to be hanged at Brecon Gaol.
On the evening of Sunday 23rd April 1826 a most atrocious murder was committed on the body of John Price of Panlilow in Llanafan breaks on the Darren Hill. The deceased was found that night his neck was twisted till the blood ran out of his ears, so that his death must have been occasioned by the dislocation of his vertebrae. A neighbour of the name Rees Lewis who absconded was suspected of the murder. Rees Lewis was a nephew to
Lewis Lewis the Elder and cousin to Lewis Lewis the Younger of the murder 36 years previously. It is this John Price who lies beneath the unique gravestone in the churchyard. Rees Lewis was eventually caught, tried, convicted of murder and was also hanged at Brecon Gaol on 14th August
1826. The hanging was quite a public event being the first for thirty years, and though Lewis initially denied his guilt he eventually confessed. As the cart drew away from under him he exclaimed 'God, have mercy on me' before being launched into eternity. After he was hanged he was carried away to Garth Hill, near here, where his body was attached by chains to a gibbet and left to rot. One stormy night the gibbet was cut down by his family but unable to free the chains around his ankles they cut off his feet. The following day a John Price (not related) of Dolyfelin reported one of his hounds brought home a human foot!
His brother Thomas and father Lewis Lewis The Elder were accomplices to the murder of Thomas Price. Lewis Lewis's family were no strangers to crime. The following is a list of some of his relative's misdemeanours.
David Lewis his Uncle was convicted of stealing a Turkey in 1786 and transported to New South Wales.
Margaret Lewis wife of David was tried for the murder of a male bastard child she had had since her husband was sent away.
John Lewis his uncle was convicted of sheep stealing and sentenced to 14 years transportation.
Thomas Price was said to be "the perfect villain on the hill and far worse a man than Lewis Lewis". It was no uncommon thing for Lewis Lewis, the Elder, father of his murderer , to find 7 or 8 of his sheep dead on the hill and placed head to tail in a row - killed by Price and his dogs. Whatever the rights and wrongs Lewis Lewis, the Younger, was duly convicted and sentenced to be hanged at Brecon Gaol.
On the evening of Sunday 23rd April 1826 a most atrocious murder was committed on the body of John Price of Panlilow in Llanafan breaks on the Darren Hill. The deceased was found that night his neck was twisted till the blood ran out of his ears, so that his death must have been occasioned by the dislocation of his vertebrae. A neighbour of the name Rees Lewis who absconded was suspected of the murder. Rees Lewis was a nephew to
Lewis Lewis the Elder and cousin to Lewis Lewis the Younger of the murder 36 years previously. It is this John Price who lies beneath the unique gravestone in the churchyard. Rees Lewis was eventually caught, tried, convicted of murder and was also hanged at Brecon Gaol on 14th August
1826. The hanging was quite a public event being the first for thirty years, and though Lewis initially denied his guilt he eventually confessed. As the cart drew away from under him he exclaimed 'God, have mercy on me' before being launched into eternity. After he was hanged he was carried away to Garth Hill, near here, where his body was attached by chains to a gibbet and left to rot. One stormy night the gibbet was cut down by his family but unable to free the chains around his ankles they cut off his feet. The following day a John Price (not related) of Dolyfelin reported one of his hounds brought home a human foot!
His brother Thomas and father Lewis Lewis The Elder were accomplices to the murder of Thomas Price. Lewis Lewis's family were no strangers to crime. The following is a list of some of his relative's misdemeanours.
David Lewis his Uncle was convicted of stealing a Turkey in 1786 and transported to New South Wales.
Margaret Lewis wife of David was tried for the murder of a male bastard child she had had since her husband was sent away.
John Lewis his uncle was convicted of sheep stealing and sentenced to 14 years transportation.
Mary Kavanagh Penrice Church
TO THE MEMORY OF MARY
WIFE OF JAMES KAVANAGH OF PENMAEN
WHO WAS MURDERED
Mary Kavanagh, 75, from Penmaen, was brutally murdered in her garden in Oct 1829.The motive was burglary for her house was found ransacked and 2 watches that used to hang on her mantelpiece were missing but her life savings, hidden in a locked oak chest, of approx £120 were not found. On a small round table there was found an open testament and a pair of spectacles, showing Mary to be a pious widow.
Elizabeth Jones Gwynfe Church Ynystoddeb Gwynfe Llangadog
Elizabeth Jones, aged 20 died in 1816. Having been forbidden marriage, when
they found out that she was
pregnant, Elizabeth's lover, Rees Thomas Rees, a preacher, went to a country fair
at Llandeilo and
procured a potion to make her abort the baby. Elizabeth died not long after
taking it.
After Elizabeth died, Rees fled to Liverpool and was then going on to America,
but changed his mind and returned to stand trial. In his defence he claimed that
Elizabeth had taken lots of different concoctions provided by her family and that
his was one of many. There was some doubt at the trial as to whether it was at
Elizabeth's own request that Rees went to buy the potion or whether she was
forced but the judge found Rees Guilty
William Watkins his wife Elizabeth and children Charlotte Frederick and Alice
The so called Llangibby Massacre
It appears that the murderer Salvador Joseph Garcia, was a young Spaniard, a thief, who arrived in Newport on an iron ore ship and then decided to stay and enjoy the delights of the town. He became well known locally and began a life of crime to pay for his extravagances with wine and women.
On September 25 1878 he burgled someone's home and was caught in the act. This was in St Brides' Wentloog. October 17 1877 he was sent for trial and he protested he was innocent, but the case against him damning. He was sentenced to nine months in gaol. with hard labour. He was sent to Usk prison and protested saying 'Me no gaol'. On July 1878 he was released from gaol and put in the custody of two warders who were supposed to take him to Usk Railway Station . He was supposed to go back to Newport and then be deported but he managed to get away into the countryside.
On July 17 1768, the name Llangibby, a small quiet village on the road between Newport and Usk was on everyone's lips because of the Murder. It was a Wednesday when they were found by Frank James, a local boy, who knew the family. When he got into the garden he saw the bodies of the couple, William and Elizabeth whose throats were cut after they had been stunned. It was very savage. John Morgan , another friend made the gruesome discovery of the children, they had been attacked with a knife with terrible savagery. The children were eight, five and only four and it appeared Charlotte the eldest had tried to summon help from the neighbours, and had been repeatedly stabbed in the back. Also the murderer had set fire to the bed on which all three bodies had been put, Various witnesses said they had seen the swarthy foreigner and he had tried to hitch a lift from the post at Llantarnum. He did get to Newport, where he was arrested. He had on him several items of Mrs Watkins' clothing and her mantle clock. He had little else on him. His shirt was bloodstained and he was wearing two pairs of trousers.
He was charged and the town was in a 'lynching mood' when the details of the crime were known. People sobbed and wept at the inquest. People could not believe the doctors accounts of the terrible wounds and the Jury named Garcia as their suspect. He was tried, found guilty and sentenced in the Four County Assizes in the Shire Hall, Gloucester before Lord Justice Barnwell. Mary Ann Watkins, an older daughter of the Watkins gave evidence She identified his boots as belonging to her father and the female clothing as he mother's. He had bread with him that carried a dent identical to a baking tin at the cottage. The watchmaker confirmed the mantle clock belonged to the Watkins family.
Garcia had no defence and did not really understand what was going on He had no explanation for the stuff found on him and there was no motive (or indeed history) of his ever having committed such a bizarre and savage murder for so little. He had been seen earlier in the company of another man , with whom he appeared to be friendly. He was sentenced to hang, and this sentence carried out on Nov 18 1878. He tried to escape again, but failed. There were doubts about his guilt the evidence being overwhelming, but no real effort was made to investigate from the point of view of him being framed.
In May 1994 there was an article in the South Wales Argus which gave another theory-the originator of the story said he was the grandson of an illegitimate child born of a love affair between Mary Ann Watkins and Garcia. He claims Garcia was desperate to get money to support Mary Ann and burgled but got caught. He returned to the Watkins house, to reconcile himself with the family. He was shouted at, lost his temper and went mad and murdered the whole family. Mary Ann was fifteen and away in service at the time. At the trial it was said he did not know the Watkins's and had no reason to kill them. However the evidence against him was overwhelming , especially the bloodstained shirt and stolen goods. It was also strange that Mary Ann herself said nothing about it, but then she was probably trying to keep her situation quiet. The cottage was demolished soon after.
Richard Lewis (Dic Penderyn) St Mary`s Church Aberavon
TO THE MEMORY OF
RICHARD LEWIS
EXECUTED AT CARDIFF
FOR THE PART HE PLAYED
DURING THE INDUSTRIAL
RIOTS IN MERTHYR TYDFIL
IN JUNE 1831
BURIED ON 14TH AUGUST
1831 AGED 23 YEARS
RICHARD LEWIS
EXECUTED AT CARDIFF
FOR THE PART HE PLAYED
DURING THE INDUSTRIAL
RIOTS IN MERTHYR TYDFIL
IN JUNE 1831
BURIED ON 14TH AUGUST
1831 AGED 23 YEARS
LEWIS , RICHARD (‘ Dic Penderyn ’; 1807/8 - 1831 ) . He was a native of Aberavon A letter recounting a conversation with an old man who knew him ( Y Drysorfa , 1919 , 418-9; both the writer and the old man are anonymous), states that he was the son of Lewis Lewis , who lived at a cottage named Penderyn in the parish of Pyle . An elder sister (she was said to be 41 when she died in 1841 ) m., in Sept. 1827 , the . There is no certain evidence of Dic Penderyn 's movements until the outbreak of the Merthyr Tydfil riots of 1831 . He was then a married man living at Merthyr , and was a miner by occupation. Rioting began on 2 June with an attack on the house of Joseph Coffin , clerk to the Court of Requests , and the destruction of his furniture. There is no evidence that Dic Penderyn took any part in this action. Troops were then called for by the magistrates , and a company of the 93rd (Highland) Regiment arrived the following morning. A number of these entered the Castle Inn . Others, who were left outside, were hemmed in by a crowd, among whom was Dic Penderyn . Incited by Lewis Lewis , the crowd tried to rush the soldiers and seize their muskets. A scuffle ensued, until soldiers within the Castle Inn fired through the windows into the crowd. A number of persons were killed and wounded, and several soldiers were injured. It is not known that Dic Penderyn took any part in the activities that followed, such as the waylaying of an ammunition-party from Brecon and the ambushing and disarming of the Swansea Yeomanry .
Dic Penderyn was arrested and charged with riotously assembling at Merthyr Tydfil and feloniously attacking and wounding Donald Black , of the 93rd Regiment while in the execution of his duty. He was tried at Cardiff Assizes before Mr. Justice Bosanquet , and, on the evidence of James Abbott , hairdresser , and William Williams , tailor , both of Merthyr , was found guilty. He was, therefore, condemned to death, the execution being fixed for 31 July . There was considerable doubt as to whether it was Dic Penderyn who had, in fact, wounded Donald Black . The soldier , who had seen Dic in the crowd, freely admitted that he did not know who had wounded him. A petition, said to have been signed by 11,000 persons, was drawn up for Dic 's reprieve. The Quaker philanthropist , Joseph Tregelles Price of Neath was convinced of his innocence. He sought an interview with the home secretary , lord Melbourne , but without success, until, through the good offices of the lord chancellor , lord Brougham , Melbourne was induced to grant a respite of two weeks. When this elapsed Melbourne intimated that he saw no reason to change the verdict. Dic Penderyn was publicly executed at Cardiff goal at 8 o'clock on Saturday, 13 Aug. 1831 . He was then said to be 23 years of age. Four Wesleyan Methodist ministers among them William Rowlands who had been with him during the previous hours, accompanied him to the scaffold. An eloquent letter to his sister, written by or for him in gaol, asked that arrangements be made for his burial. The funeral procession through the Vale of Glamorgan on the following day, Sunday, 14 Aug. , became swollen to a considerable size. He was buried in S. Mary's churchyard , Aberavon , the funeral service being read by the incumbent. His body was not taken into the church. Outside the churchyard wall his brother-in-law the Rev. Morgan Howells addressed the crowd in a scene of great emotion.
In 1874 a reputable Congregational minister , the Rev. Evan Evans reported a deathbed confession to him in America by a man who alleged that it was he who had wounded Donald Black .
Dic Penderyn was arrested and charged with riotously assembling at Merthyr Tydfil and feloniously attacking and wounding Donald Black , of the 93rd Regiment while in the execution of his duty. He was tried at Cardiff Assizes before Mr. Justice Bosanquet , and, on the evidence of James Abbott , hairdresser , and William Williams , tailor , both of Merthyr , was found guilty. He was, therefore, condemned to death, the execution being fixed for 31 July . There was considerable doubt as to whether it was Dic Penderyn who had, in fact, wounded Donald Black . The soldier , who had seen Dic in the crowd, freely admitted that he did not know who had wounded him. A petition, said to have been signed by 11,000 persons, was drawn up for Dic 's reprieve. The Quaker philanthropist , Joseph Tregelles Price of Neath was convinced of his innocence. He sought an interview with the home secretary , lord Melbourne , but without success, until, through the good offices of the lord chancellor , lord Brougham , Melbourne was induced to grant a respite of two weeks. When this elapsed Melbourne intimated that he saw no reason to change the verdict. Dic Penderyn was publicly executed at Cardiff goal at 8 o'clock on Saturday, 13 Aug. 1831 . He was then said to be 23 years of age. Four Wesleyan Methodist ministers among them William Rowlands who had been with him during the previous hours, accompanied him to the scaffold. An eloquent letter to his sister, written by or for him in gaol, asked that arrangements be made for his burial. The funeral procession through the Vale of Glamorgan on the following day, Sunday, 14 Aug. , became swollen to a considerable size. He was buried in S. Mary's churchyard , Aberavon , the funeral service being read by the incumbent. His body was not taken into the church. Outside the churchyard wall his brother-in-law the Rev. Morgan Howells addressed the crowd in a scene of great emotion.
In 1874 a reputable Congregational minister , the Rev. Evan Evans reported a deathbed confession to him in America by a man who alleged that it was he who had wounded Donald Black .
The Dick Penderyn Plaque at the Central Library in Merthyr Tydfil
Adeline Coquelin St Illtyd’s Church Pembrey
SACRED
to the memory of Lt. Col. COQUELIN
aged 45 Years
And ADELINE his daughter aged 12 Yr
Both natives of France
who lost their lives by the wreck of the
Ship La Jeune Emma on Cefn sidon Sand
as they were returning home from MARTINIQUE
in the West Indies and were interred in this ground
on 25th Novr. 1828
The above named Lady was Niece to Josephine Consort
of that renowned Individual
NAPOLEON BUONAPARTE
The captain CHACELOT DE CHATILLON and five seamen
also perished in the same Shipwreck
and were buried near this place
In Decr. 1835 was wrecked the ship Brothers of Liverpool
from BAHIA on Cefn sidon Sand which also caused the death
of five persons who are buried here
In July 1839 the ship Pickering Dodge of Boston AMERICA
was driven on the same Sand by which several seamen lost their lives
Thomas Sweet Jacob Winter & Lawrence were buried in this ground.
to the memory of Lt. Col. COQUELIN
aged 45 Years
And ADELINE his daughter aged 12 Yr
Both natives of France
who lost their lives by the wreck of the
Ship La Jeune Emma on Cefn sidon Sand
as they were returning home from MARTINIQUE
in the West Indies and were interred in this ground
on 25th Novr. 1828
The above named Lady was Niece to Josephine Consort
of that renowned Individual
NAPOLEON BUONAPARTE
The captain CHACELOT DE CHATILLON and five seamen
also perished in the same Shipwreck
and were buried near this place
In Decr. 1835 was wrecked the ship Brothers of Liverpool
from BAHIA on Cefn sidon Sand which also caused the death
of five persons who are buried here
In July 1839 the ship Pickering Dodge of Boston AMERICA
was driven on the same Sand by which several seamen lost their lives
Thomas Sweet Jacob Winter & Lawrence were buried in this ground.
"La Jeune Emma" bound from the West Indies to France and blown badly off course in 1828. 13 of the 19 on board drowned, including Adeline Coquelin, the 12 year-old niece of Napoleon Bonaparte's divorced wife Josephine de Beauharnais.
Sarah Jacob Church of St Michael Llanfihangel-ar-arth
Sarah Jacob was known as the "Welsh Fasting Girl" and regarded as a miracle: the little 12-year-old who had not eaten for over two years.
In an age where spirituality clashed with the new teachings of science, she was an undoubted phenomenon, but whether or not her "miracle" was of her own making or something that was forced on her by manipulative parents remains unclear. However you view it, the story of Sarah Jacobs is one of fascinating and tragic proportions. In the end she was killed by her own fame, a fame that, to begin with at least, she seemed more than eager to grasp.
Sarah Jacobs was born on 12 May 1857 on a farm just outside the village of Llanfihangel-ar-Arth in Carmarthenshire. Her parents, Evan and Hannah Jacobs, held respectable positions in this rural community,
Evan having been a deacon in the local chapel.
At the age of nine Sarah fell ill with convulsions of some type. As she recovered she was allowed to sleep in her parent's bedroom, a warm and comfortable environment compared to the loft where she would otherwise have spent her days. There was no denying that lying in bed all day, composing poems and reading the Bible, was far preferable to looking after the animals on the farm. Spoiled and cosseted, she began to refuse food. She was genuinely religious but whether her refusal to eat had spiritual undertones or was simply the machinations of a manipulative anorexic has never been clear.
She was a self-possessed and bright child and, whatever the cause, she soon began to see the value in what she was doing. Perhaps her parents encouraged her in what was clearly a deception that fooled virtually everybody. Evan and Hannah later claimed that their daughter had had no food whatsoever from 10 October 1867 until her death two years later in December 1869. As the fasting went on Sarah became something of a local celebrity, with people from the village wondering at her refusal to either eat or drink. And so it might have remained if the local vicar had not written to the newspapers about this amazing miracle that was occurring in his parish. Sarah's fame was assured almost overnight. Soon people were coming from far afield, from the English cities as well as Wales, catching the train to Pencader and walking over two miles to the farm to stand gazing in wonder at this young girl who was defying the laws of nature. They brought gifts and money for her, dropping their sovereigns onto the bedspread as she lay, surrounded by flowers, reading and quoting the Bible. Everyone marvelled at her appearance, one visitor remarking: "Her eyes shone like pearls, as alert as my own - - - She had rosy cheeks and looked like a lily amongst thorns."
To live for over two years without food or water is, clearly, impossible but in the Victorian Age people really believed they were witnessing a miracle. How Sarah got her food is not known. Some believe her sister was feeding her, passing titbit's from her mouth whenever they kissed. Others are inclined to the view that Sarah fed herself, climbing out of bed when the rest of the house was asleep. Her body would have become used to reduced amounts of food, and she had often refused to eat her lunch in the past. When at school she had asked her classmates not to tell anyone, her parents in particular.
With her case attracting more and more interest, the vicar and the medical profession decided to mount a watch over Sarah. This was to last for a fortnight. Evan Jacob agreed but the watch did not last both day and night and the findings were unclear. As Sarah grew fatter and plumper, reaching full maturity despite her lack of food, people began to suspect fraud. Dr Phillips of Guy's Hospital decided to organise another vigil. Six nurses were brought in to mount a 24 hour watch on the girl. Now Sarah's position became really untenable. If she had previously been able to slip out of bed to find food in the night, now it was impossible. She could not admit to fraud or lying; pride or religious conviction, or even her undiagnosed medical condition, would not let her. And so she simply lay there, waiting to die, as the nurses watched and made notes in their diaries.
The experiment was cruel: the nurses were instructed not to treat or help, simply to mount a watch. If Sarah asked for food they were to give it but otherwise they were to do nothing. And, of course, she did not, and the tragedy was to be played out until the bitter end.
The Lancet, the main journal of the medical profession, later commented that practitioners everywhere should be "filled with feelings of shame and indignation." After four or five days Sarah lapsed into semi-consciousness and on 12 December 1869 she died. The 'miracle' was over.
An autopsy was held at the Eagle Inn in the village and a sticky substance and the bones of a small bird or fish were found in Sarah's stomach. Clearly, she had eaten something. More tragic, however, were the grooves found on her toes - as if she had been trying to open the cap of the stone water bottle that had been placed in her bed, a desperate attempt to get water. Evan and Hannah Jacob were subsequently convicted of manslaughter and spent 12 and six months, respectively, in Swansea prison. No-one could prove that they had deliberately starved and, eventually, killed their daughter but they - like the medical profession, although the doctors and nurses were never prosecuted - were certainly guilty of doing nothing to protect her. Perhaps they really believed they were witnessing a miracle? So, Sarah Jacobs? A genuine miracle or a cynical exercise in fraud?
Many people call her Wales' first anorexic - and there are certainly elements of that awful condition in her history. But above all, this is the tragic story of a young girl on the threshold of life, a young life that was, because of her own personality or because of pressure from outside, cut brutally short.
Thomas Heslop St Tyvriog Church Llandyfyriog
ALAS POOR HESLOP
Thomas Heslop was killed by solicitor John Beynon in Ceredigion in 1814 in a quarrel following a partridge shoot. Beynon was convicted of manslaughter but escaped with a fine. Legend says Beynon fired his pistol as Heslop had his back to him, Heslop, 36, who lived in Carmarthen, had been invited to a partridge shoot on 8 September 1814 by Beynon. The two fell out later that evening when the group were drinking at the Old Salutation Inn at Adpar, in what was then Cardiganshire, following the shoot. Beynon accepted a challenge from Heslop and the pair met early on Saturday 10 September 1814 in fields outside Newcastle Emlyn. The story goes that they stood with their backs towards each other on either side of a stream. They were supposed to walk 10 paces before turning to fire but, according to the accepted version Beynon walked only five paces before he turned and shot Heslop in the back. Heslop fell fatally wounded and was shortly pronounced dead by Mr Williams the surgeon and witness, who extracted the bullet.
Beynon was convicted of manslaughter but according to Mr Jones a number of powerful and well-known county figures spoke up on his behalf and he escaped with a fine. However it was said he later fled to America to escape locals who were angered at the injustice suffered by Heslop.
Ken Jones a local historian claims to have tracked down the bullet which killed the last man to die in a duel in Wales and plans to prove that Heslop was not shot in the back. the bullet was recovered at the scene by surgeon John Williams, who was a witness to the duel. The fatal bullet has been passed down through generations of the Williams' family to a relative now living in Oxford. It had been kept in a parchment bearing a series of notes which tell a story that differs entirely from the tales which have been told about the killing over the past two centuries and tell that Heslop was not as previously thought shot in the back. The details have been available for nearly 200 years because of the judge's notes. Beynon ran away to America and Heslop the local story of the fatal pistols-at-dawn confrontation appears to have been false.
The Heslop Bullet and Parchment
Beynon was convicted of manslaughter but according to Mr Jones a number of powerful and well-known county figures spoke up on his behalf and he escaped with a fine. However it was said he later fled to America to escape locals who were angered at the injustice suffered by Heslop.
Ken Jones a local historian claims to have tracked down the bullet which killed the last man to die in a duel in Wales and plans to prove that Heslop was not shot in the back. the bullet was recovered at the scene by surgeon John Williams, who was a witness to the duel. The fatal bullet has been passed down through generations of the Williams' family to a relative now living in Oxford. It had been kept in a parchment bearing a series of notes which tell a story that differs entirely from the tales which have been told about the killing over the past two centuries and tell that Heslop was not as previously thought shot in the back. The details have been available for nearly 200 years because of the judge's notes. Beynon ran away to America and Heslop the local story of the fatal pistols-at-dawn confrontation appears to have been false.
The Heslop Bullet and Parchment
Fanny Adams Alton Cemetery Hampshire
SACRED
TO THE MEMORY OF
FANNY ADAMS
AGED 8 YEARS AND 4 MONTHS
WHO WAS CRUELLY MURDERED
ON SATURDAY AUGST. 24TH. 1867
FEAR NOT THEM WHICH KILL THE BODY BUT
ARE NOT ABLE TO KILL THE SOUL BUT RATHER
FEAR HIM WHICH IS ABLE TO DESTROY BOTH
SOUL AND BODY IN HELL. Matthew 10 v 28
THIS STONE WAS ERECTED BY VOLUNTARY SUBSCRIPTION
TO THE MEMORY OF
FANNY ADAMS
AGED 8 YEARS AND 4 MONTHS
WHO WAS CRUELLY MURDERED
ON SATURDAY AUGST. 24TH. 1867
FEAR NOT THEM WHICH KILL THE BODY BUT
ARE NOT ABLE TO KILL THE SOUL BUT RATHER
FEAR HIM WHICH IS ABLE TO DESTROY BOTH
SOUL AND BODY IN HELL. Matthew 10 v 28
THIS STONE WAS ERECTED BY VOLUNTARY SUBSCRIPTION
Fanny Adams (1859–1867) was murdered on 24 August 1867 by solicitor's clerk Frederick Baker at the age of eight and four months. Her head and legs had been severed and her eyes gouged out. Although there was a history of mental illness in Baker's family, including Baker himself. Baker was hanged outside Winchester prison on 24 December 1867.
The expression 'Fanny Adams' was adopted by sailors discontented with their rations to mean meat of no worth. By extension, 'Sweet FA' has come to be a euphemism for something of no value, in other words 'Fuck All'
The expression 'Fanny Adams' was adopted by sailors discontented with their rations to mean meat of no worth. By extension, 'Sweet FA' has come to be a euphemism for something of no value, in other words 'Fuck All'