The Chronicles of Newgate, vol. 2/2Griffiths, Arthur
History
The Chronicles of Newgate, vol. 2/2
Griffiths, Arthur
Criminals -- Great Britain; Newgate (Prison : London, England); Prisons -- England; Punishment -- Great Britain
pressure of ignominy, and at his request the ordinary drew the cap
further down over his face, when in an instant, without waiting for any
signal, the platform dropped, and he was launched into eternity."
Whenever the public attention had been specially called to a particular
crime, either on account of its atrocity, the doubtfulness of the issue,
or the superior position of the perpetrator, the attendance at the
execution was certain to be tumultuous, and the conduct of the mob
disorderly. This was notably the case at the execution of Holloway and
Haggerty in 1807, an event long remembered from the fatal and disastrous
consequences which followed it. They were accused by a confederate, who,
goaded by conscience, had turned approver, of the murder of a Mr.
Steele, who kept a lavender warehouse in the city, and who had gardens
at Feltham, whither he often went to distil the lavender, returning to
London the same evening. One night he was missing, and after a long
interval his dead body was discovered, shockingly disfigured, in a
ditch. This was in 1802. Four years passed without the detection of the
murderers, but in the beginning of 1807 one of them, at that time just
sentenced to transportation, made a full confession, and implicated
Holloway and Haggerty. They were accordingly apprehended and brought to
trial, the informer, Hanfield by name, being accepted as king's
evidence. Conviction followed mainly on his testimony; but the two men,
especially Holloway, stoutly maintained their innocence to the last.
Very great excitement prevailed in the town throughout the trial, and
this greatly increased when the verdict was known.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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