74 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1813. 



Gloiccester.— -Soon after 12 o'clock 

 this criminal was executed at the 

 drop, in front of the county gaol, 

 for the murder of Sarah Harris, 

 at Cow-Honeybourne, four years 

 ago. An amazing concourse of 

 people attended to witness the exe- 

 cution. After attending divine ser- 

 vice in the chapel, and spending 

 a considerable time in prayer, he 

 was brought out upon the scaffold, 

 and seemed so completely over- 

 come with terror, that it was with 

 great difficulty he could support 

 himself. He appeared to shrink 

 with horror from the awful scene 

 before him ; and, after remaining 

 a very few minutes in this situa- 

 tion, he uttered a short ejaculation, 

 and was launched into eternity. 

 After hanging the usual time, his 

 body was cut down, and sent to 

 the infirmary for dissection. The 

 apparent indifference and want of 

 feeling manifested by this unhappy 

 criminal, both during the progress 

 of his trial, and at the dreadful 

 moment of sentence being passed, 

 have been formerly mentioned: on 

 his return to the prison, however, 

 after condemnation, he evinced 

 due contrition, and made an ample 

 confession of his guilt. The man- 

 ner of his perpetrating the horrible 

 crime he stated as follows: — He 

 had for some time kept company 

 with the deceased, and, under re- 

 peated promises of marriage, had 

 robbed her of her virtue; she was 

 six months advanced in pregnancy. 

 On the night of the murder, he 

 went about twelve o'clock to her 

 father's house, and called her out 

 of bed. She came down stairs 

 dressed, but without shoes. Some 

 words passing between them, he 

 struck her so violently with a 



white-thorn stick on the head and 

 temple, that she fell to the ground, 

 crying, "Lord have mercy upon 

 us!'' He then, (to use his own 

 words) "with the assistance of 

 the devil !'' picked her up, and 

 carried her on his shoulder to the 

 pool of water, into which he threw 

 the body, believing there was then 

 but little life left! He denied mak- 

 ing use of the dung-fork spoken of 

 by some of the witnesses, in the 

 perpetration of his diabolical pur- 

 pose. It would appear, however, 

 that his conscience, notwithstand- 

 ing his apparent apathy, had been 

 but ill at rest for the first year 

 after the commission of the mur- 

 der; for, during that period, lie 

 had been several times in London, 

 had visited Birmingham, traversed 

 Kent and Northamptonshire, been 

 four months on board a brig be- 

 longing to Newcastle, had gone 

 into some parts of Scotland and 

 Ireland, and still was bereft of the 

 power of settling anywhere. Af- 

 ter this period, he appears to have 

 acquired a little more tranquillity 

 of mind, having remained about 

 twelve months as a servant in hus- 

 bandry, at Hawley, in Shropshire; 

 from thence he went to Kidder- 

 minster, where he served two years 

 as hostler at the Wharf Inn, and 

 was taken into custody whilst in 

 that situation. 



3L An inquisition was taken at 

 Woodbridge barracks, on view of 

 the body of Thomas M'Mahon, a 

 private in the 69th regiment of 

 foot, who died on Sunday se'nnight 

 in consequence of a wound he re- 

 ceived in his left groin from a 

 bayonet, on the night preceding, 

 inflicted by one Griffin, a fellow- 

 soldier, who is not more than 19 



