Chronicles of Newgate, Vol. 1: From the twelfth to the eighteenth centuryGriffiths, Arthur
History
Chronicles of Newgate, Vol. 1: From the twelfth to the eighteenth century
Griffiths, Arthur
Criminals -- Great Britain; Newgate (Prison : London, England); Prisons -- England; Punishment -- Great Britain
At length one of the neighbours, alarmed by the constant moaning and
groanings which issued from Brownrigg's house, began to suspect that
"the apprentices were treated with unwarrantable severity." It was
impossible to gain admission, but a maid looked through a skylight into
a covered yard, and saw one of the apprentices, in a shocking state of
filth and wretchedness, kept there with a pig. One of the overseers
now went and demanded Mary Clifford. Mrs. Brownrigg produced another,
Mary Mitchell, who was taken to the workhouse, but in such a pitiable
state that in removing her clothes her bodice stuck to her wounds.
Mary Mitchell having been promised that she should not be sent back to
Brownrigg's, gave a full account of the horrid treatment she and Mary
Clifford had received. A further search was made in the Brownriggs'
house, but without effect. At length, under threat of removal to
prison, Mrs. Brownrigg produced Clifford from a cupboard under a
buffet in the dining-room. "It is impossible," says the account, "to
describe the miserable appearance of this poor girl; nearly her whole
body was ulcerated." Her life was evidently in imminent danger. Having
been removed to St. Bartholomew's Hospital, she died there within a
few days. The man Brownrigg was arrested, but the woman and son made
their escape. Shifting their abode from place to place, buying new
disguises from time to time at rag-fairs, eventually they took refuge
in lodgings at Wandsworth, where they were recognized by their landlord
as answering the description of the murderers of Mary Clifford, and
arrested. Mrs. Brownrigg was tried and executed; the men, acquitted of
the graver charge, were only sentenced to six months' imprisonment.
The story runs that Hogarth, who prided himself on his skill as a
physiognomist, wished to see Mrs. Brownrigg in Newgate. The governor,
Mr. Akerman, admitted him, but at the instance of a mutual friend
played a trick upon the painter by bringing Mrs. Brownrigg before him
casually, as some other woman. Hogarth on looking at her took Akerman
aside and said, "You must have two great female miscreants in your
custody, for this woman as well as Mrs. Brownrigg is from her features
capable of any cruelty and any crime." This story, although _ben
trovato_, is apocryphal. At the time of this alleged visit to Newgate
Hogarth was not alive.
I pass now to murders of less atrocity, the result of temporary and
more or less ungovernable passion, rather than of malice deliberate and
aforethought. In this class must be included the case of Mr. Plunkett,
a young gentleman of Irish extraction, who murdered a peruke-maker,
when asked an exorbitant price for a wig. Brown had made it to order
for Mr. Plunkett, and wanted seven pounds for it. After haggling he
reduced it to six. Plunkett offered four, and on this being refused,
seized a razor lying handy and cut Brown's throat.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account