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
publicly exhibited in a place built for the purpose in the Old Bailey."
About this time I find that the bodies of two murderers, Clench and
Mackay, "were publicly exposed in a stable in Little Bridge Street, near
Apothecaries' Hall, Surgeons' Hall being let to the lieutenancy of the
county for the accommodation of the militia." In 1811 Williams, who
murdered the Marrs in Ratcliffe Highway,[102] having committed suicide
in gaol to escape hanging, it was determined that a public exhibition
should be made of the body through the neighbourhood which had been the
scene of the monster's crimes. A long procession was formed, headed by
constables, who cleared the way with their staves. Then came the
newly-formed horse patrol, with drawn cutlasses, parish officers, peace
officers, the high constable of the county of Middlesex on horseback,
and then the body of Williams, "extended at full length on an inclined
platform erected on the cart, about four feet high at the head, and
gradually sloping towards the horse, giving a full view of the body,
which was dressed in blue trousers and a blue-and-white striped
waistcoat, but without a coat, as when found in the cell. On the left
side of the head the fatal mall, and on the right the ripping chisel,
with which the murders had been committed, were exposed to view. The
countenance of Williams was ghastly in the extreme, and the whole had an
appearance too horrible for description." The procession traversed
Ratcliffe twice, halting for a quarter of an hour in front of the
victims' dwelling, and was accompanied throughout by "an immense
concourse of persons, eager to get a sight of the murderer's remains....
All the shops in the neighbourhood were shut, and the windows and tops
of the houses were crowded with spectators."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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