Chronicles of Newgate, Vol. 2: From the eighteenth century to its demolitionGriffiths, Arthur
History
Chronicles of Newgate, Vol. 2: From the eighteenth century to its demolition
Griffiths, Arthur
Criminals -- Great Britain; Newgate (Prison : London, England); Prisons -- England; Punishment -- Great Britain
crowd, to be caught at last by a person who struggled with it to a cart
and deposited it there in safety. In another part of the crowd seven
persons met their death by suffocation.
In this convulsive struggle for existence people fought fiercely with
one another, and the weakest, of course the women, went under. One
cart-load of spectators having broken down, some of its occupants fell
off the vehicle, and were instantly trampled to death. This went on for
more than an hour, until the malefactors were cut down and the gallows
removed; then the mob began to thin, and the streets were cleared by
the city marshals and a number of constables. The catastrophe exceeded
the worst anticipations. Nearly one hundred dead and dying lay about;
and after all had been removed, the bodies for identification, the
wounded to hospitals, a cart-load of shoes, hats, petticoats, and
fragments of wearing apparel were picked up. St. Bartholomew's Hospital
was converted into an impromptu morgue, and all persons who had
relatives missing were admitted to identify them. Among the dead was a
sailor lad whom no one knew; he had his pockets filled with bread and
cheese, and it was generally supposed that he had come a long distance
to see the fatal show.
A tremendous crowd assembled when Bellingham was executed in 1812
for the murder of Spencer Percival, at that time prime minister; but
there were no serious accidents, beyond those caused by the goring of
a maddened, over-driven ox which forced its way through the crowd.
Precautions had been taken by the erection of barriers, and the
posting of placards at all the avenues to the Old Bailey, on which
was printed, "Beware of entering the crowd! Remember thirty poor
persons were pressed to death by the crowd when Haggerty and Holloway
were executed!" The concourse was very great, notwithstanding these
warnings. It was still greater at Fauntleroy's execution in 1824, when
no less than 100,000 persons assembled, it was said. Every window
and roof which could command a view of the horrible performance was
occupied. All the avenues and approaches, places whence nothing could
be seen of the scaffold, were blocked by persons who had overflowed
from the area in front of the gaol.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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