This is a list of some trials in Britain between 1700 and 1857. This is not, of course, a definitive inventory. It is likely that details of the case were reported in the news. If you can find the name you are searching please make contact by using the enquiry form. I will see if any archive material is available. If you cannot find the person you are searching don’t worry – please enquire anyway. I will do a search and get back to you.
The data for these British trials is sourced from a book I acquired in January 2021, ‘Annals of Crime in the Midland Circuit; or Biographies of Noted Criminals in the Counties of Nottingham, Derby, Leicester and Lincoln’. This was published in 1859. The only other copy, as far as I am aware is in the British Library (according to COPAC).
They make fascinating reading and create temptation for us to find out more. They cover all life from murder to executions, libel, slander, bankruptcy, love affairs, divorce, wills, land disputes – it’s all there for us to discover and read about in the newspapers generations on.
I have transcribed these pages as faithfully as possible with little change to the language and style. I have taken time-out to remove any references that, today, we might find racist or offensive (as language and attitudes towards life has changed dramatically since the days of these court proceedings).
EXECUTIONS AT NOTTINGHAM
Richard Comyn, for uttering a base shilling at Mansfield. 1727.
Robert Pemberton, for committing a burglary at the shop on the Long-row, now occupied by Mr. Wilcockson, druggist. 1728.
John Briggs, for murdering his wife. 1729.
John Revell, for shooting a trespasser on his land at Papplewick. He was conveyed to the gallows in his own carriage and pair. 1732.
William Pycroft lived in Nottingham, and for some years gained a subsistence by fraud and imposture. He pretended to tell fortunes by the occult science of astrology, and was a coiner of base money. Occasionally he made extensive journeys with a woman named Ann Sadler, with whom he cohabited. at length apprehended at Lincoln for coining, but the evidence of his guilt not being conclusive, he was removed to Notting ham, and here, by the admissions of the woman Sadler, the implements for coining were found in the thatch of his house. For this offence he was executed at Gallows-bill. Pycroft was the last criminal who had to walk up a ladder to be” turned off.” The practice hitherto had been to have a lofty gallows in the shape of a T, the only access to the transverse section of which was by means of a ladder, up which the executioner and his victim had to mount. When the rope was properly adjusted, the functionary of the law would generally seat himself on the summit of the gallows, to hold the poor wretch steady by the shoulders, while his assistant mored the ladder from the base. Occasionally, the sufferer would dispense with the latter part of the process, by throwing himself off the stave on which he was standing. The practice, after this, was to have two uprights instead of one, sufficiently wide apart to admit of the passage of the cart in which the male factor and his attendants would be seated. When immediately under the erection, the man had to ascend a plank, placed across the vehicle, and to retain this position until the withdrawal of the cart left him in a state of suspension.
Henry Parnell, for murdering his wife at Cotgrave. 1737.
James Gibbons, for highway robbery : 1738.
Thomas Hallam. This was a respectable servant to a farmer of Wilford, and being a remarkably handsome young man, of fine figure, was much courted by members of the fair sex of his neighbourhood; but having misplaced his affections, the equilibrium of his mind was disturbed, he quitted his place of servitude, became embarrassed in circumstances, and stole a cow, for which he was hanged, much pitied and lamented. Hallam was interred in the churchyard of St. Mary, Notting ham, and a surgeon of the town, anxious to possess his body for the purpose of dissection, engaged a man named Rolleston to clandestinely remove it from its resting place. Accordingly, Rolleston and a confederate disinterred the body the night after burial, and placing it in a sack, the former took it away on his back. Policemen and gaslights being then equally unknown, the undertaking, thus far, was comparatively easy. But on passing along Stoney street, Rolleston fancied he heard the dead man pant, and his terror was so great, that he gladly left hold of his burden, and with his assistant, ran as if for life. Becoming, however, somewhat reassured, they, after an interval, deliberated on the course best to be pursued. If they took poor Hallam to the surgeon, it was their conviction, uncharitable as it might seem, that he would cut him up, dead or alive; and if he really should not be dead, it would be equally dangerous to leave him in the street as to take him away. They therefore took the corpse, and placed it in the barn of a field, (since built on, though retaining its old name of”the Meadow platts.” ) It was found there in the morning by a woman who came to milk, and was subsequently reinterred by friends, at Sutton in Ashfield. 1748.
Smith and Miller, for robbing Captain Deane, at Wilford, in his own garden. 1752.
James Wogden, for murdering Edward Whatman, near Ollerton. This was the first malefactor whose body was exposed for dissection. 1753.
Woolston Roberts and William Sandham, for maiming a rec recruit, in Nottingham, by cutting off his little finger. 1757.
Richard Sturgess, dyer, for robbing his employer. 1758.
Robert Wilson, for robbing a pedlar at Newark. 1759.
Samuel Ward, for feloniously entering the premises of Mr. Lip trot, tallow chandler, Byard lane. 1759.
William Andrew Horne, Esq., for murder, November 30. 1763.
Elizabeth Morton, for strangling an infant, April 6. 1766.
James Bromage and William Wainer, for plundering a coach on the highway, July 30. 1767.
Robert Downe, for stabbing a boy at Mansfield, August 17. 1767.
Thomas Reynolds, for a robbery in Chesterfield street, August 30. 1769.
William Hebb, for murder, March 20. 1773.
Joseph Shaw, for burglary, March 30. 1773.
Richard Wheatley, for robbing a bleach yard. 1775.
William Voce, for committing a rape at Sneintop, March 20. 1779.
John Spencer, for murder and robbery, July. 1781.
George Brown, alias Bounds, and Adam Bagshaw, for burglary, March 28. 1782.
Cooper Hall, for stealing a bill of exchange for £120, March 27. 1784.
Ann Castledine and Robert Rushton, for murder, March 17. 1784.
Thomas Henfry and William Rider, for highway robbery, March 31. 1785.
John Pendrill, John Townsend, John Anderson, and William Cook, for highway robbery, March 23. 1785.
Thomas Cobb, for ſelony, July 27. 1786.
William Hands and John Lister, for mare stealing, March 29. 1790.
Samuel Martin and Anthony Farnsworth, for burglary, March 24. 1793.
William Healey, for horse stealing, March 27. 1795.
David Proctor, for rape, March 25. 1797.
John Milner, for cow stealing, August 16. An unfortunate incident attended his execution. He had hung a few seconds, when the knot of the rope gave way, and the wretched man fell heavily to the ground. Upon being raised, and the preparations for his suspension commencing afresh, he seemed painfully conscious of his situation, and exclaimed,” My God, this is hard work !” Either from the inefficiency of the hangman, or some cause unexplained, several minutes elapsed ere the preliminaries were re-adjusted; and it was not until a ropemaker named Godber pushed the blundering functionary aside, and tied the man up himself, that the cart was a second time driven away. The execrations of the spectators at the executioner were very loud and general. Milner was a native of Eakring, and was a very stout, broad- set man, nearly six feet in height. His body was buried the same day, in St. Mary’s churchyard. 1799.
James Brodie, for murder, July. 1800.
John Atkinson, for forgery, April 16. 1801.
Michael Denman, William Sykes, and Thomas Bakewell, for forgery, August 5. 1802.
Mary Voce, for murder, March 15. 1802.
Ferdinando Davis, for highway robbery, March 31. 1803.
John Thompson, for robbery, March 23. 1803.
William Hill was hung August 10, for committing a rape (at tended with great brutality ), on the person of Mrs. Sarah Jus tice, the wife of a respectable farmer, at Bole, near Gains borough, on the 28th of the previous May. Hill was the son of a labouring man of Lowdham, and was brought up very imperfectly,—an associate of bad men, dissolute, and grossly licentious. He acknowledged to the chaplain, after conviction, that he had made criminal attempts upon other females, one of whom was only twelve years of age, but with out success. The chaplain, and a number of pious persons, attempted to soften the ferocity of his disposition, by representing to him the extent of his crime, and the danger of dying in hardened state, but all their efforts proved utterly in vain. On the morning of death, he manifested the most extreme reluctance to submit to the sentence of the law. He had to be dragged out of his cell by main force, and the exertions of half a dozen men were scarcely sufficient for the task of pinioning him. He was then conveyed in the customary manner to Gallows- bill; but no sooner did he feel the cord loose by which he had been tied to the cart, than he leapt over the side of the vehicle, and endeavoured to escape, to the great astonishment and agitation of the multitude. Several of the Sheriff’s men immediately struck him with the blunt end of javelins, and in spite of his horrid language and struggles, he was again forced to ascend the cart, and compelled to meet his fate. This hardened malefactor was about five feet eight inches high, and extremely robust and muscular. who witnessed his exit, wrote the following lines, as coming from the misguided sufferer : Though you trifle with Patience, Kate, Margery, or Joan, Be warned by my fate, and let JUSTICE alone; For sooner or later her vengeance each feels, Her hands are of iron, though leaden her heels. 1805.
Robert Powell, alias Harvey, for robbery, April 10. 1806.
William Rhodes, alias Davies, for forgery, March 26. 1809.
Thomas Lampin, for forgery, August 2. 1812.
Benjamin Renshaw, for firing a haystack, July 29. 1813.
William Simpson, for burglary, March 31. 1815.
John Hemstock, for murder, March 23. 1816.
John Simpson, alias Daniel Simpson, for highway robbery, April 3. 1817.
Daniel Diggle, for attempted murder, April 2. 1817.
Charles Rotherham, for murder, July 28. ioane jacinesh’s marlene 1818.
George Needham and William Manderville, for burglary, April 3. 1820.
Thomas Wilcox, for highway robbery, March 29. 1822.
Henry Sanderson, Robert Bamford, and Adam Adie, for murder, March 22. 1823.
Thomas Roe and Benjamin Miller, for robbery, April 2. 1825.
Thomas Dewey, for murder, July 27. 1825.
Samuel Wood, for murder, March 16. 1826.
George Milnes and Joshua Smith, for burglary, July 26 1827.
William Wells, for robbery, April 2. 1831.
William Reynolds and William Marshall, for a rape, August 24. 1832.
George Beck, George Hearson, and John Armstrong, for firing a silk- mill, February 1. 1833.
William Clayton, for murder, April 2. 1834.
William Hinckley, for murder, July 23. 1836.
Richard Smith, for rape, March 30. 1839.
John Driver, for murder, July 31. 1842.
John Jones, for murder, March 23. 1844.
EXECUTIONS AT DERBY
Howitt and R. Ollerenshaw, for poisoning H. Hewitt, March. 1735.
Richard Woodward, for highway robbery, March. 1740.
William Dolphin, for highway robbery, April. 1740.
George Ashmore, for uttering counterfeit guineas, September. 1741.
Robert Bowler, for murder. 1754.
Mary Dilks, for murder. 1755.
Ann Williamson, for picking pockets, March. 1756.
- Ratcliff, for horse stealing. 1757.
Thomas Hulley, for returning from transportation. 1759.
Charles Kirkman, for the murder of his infant child, March. 1763.
- Perry and Amos Mason, for highway robbery. 1768.
- Lowe, for housebreaking. 1768.
Charles Pleasant, for forgery. 1776.
Matthew Cocklayne, for murder, March 21. 1780.
James Meadows, for highway robbery, March. 1780.
William Buxton, for highway robbery. 1782.
James Williams, for horse stealing. 1782.
John Shaw, for breaking out of gaol. 1784.
Thomas Greensmith, for a robbery at Walton, near Burton. 1784.
William Rose, for horse stealing. 1784.
- and Benjamin Jones, for housebreaking : these two brothers hung themselves in gaol. 1785.
- Grooby, G. Grooby, and J. Peat, for a burglary. 1786.
- Sheppard and William Stanley, for housebreaking. 1786.
James Halliburton, for a rape, August. 1787.
John Porson, for picking pockets. 1788.
Thomas Grundy, for poisoning his brother. 1790.
Joseph Allen, for shop breaking. 1791.
William Rider, for a robbery, March. 1794.
James Murray, for housebreaking, March. 1795.
Thomas Neville, for robbing Mr. Morley, March. 1796.
James Preston, for murder, March. 1800.
Thomas Knowles, for uttering a note, August. 1801.
George Lacey Powell and John Drummond, for highway robbery; James Gratian, for a burglary; Evans and J. Dent, for sheep stealing, August. 1802.
- Mellor and J. Spencer– cousins — for a burglary, August. 1803.
William Wells, for murder, March. 1804.
- Booth and J. Parker, for horse stealing. 1807.
William Webster, for poisoning two people, March. 1807.
Joseph West, for forgery. 1812.
Percival Cook and James Tomlinson, for burglary, March. 1813.
- Mason, R. Hibbet, and P. Henshaw, for burglary. 1815. Anthony Lingard, for murder 1816.
Joseph Wheeldon, for murder. 1817.
Brown, Booth, Jackson, and King, for burning stacks of corn, August. 1817.
Brandreth, Ludlam, and Turner, for high treason, November 7. 1816.
Hannah Bocking, aged 16, for poisoning J. Grant. 1819.
Thomas Hopkinson, for highway robbery. 1822.
Hannah Halley, for murdering her infant. 1825.
George Batty, for a rape, April. 1833.
John Leedham, for bestiality, April 12. 1843.
Samuel Bonsall, William Bland, and John Holmes, alias Hulme alias Starbuck alias Jack the Sweep, for the murder of Martha Goddard at Stanley, executed March 31, on the new drop at the top of the County Gaol. 1847.
John Platts, for the murder of George Collis, Chesterfield, April 1. 1852.
Anthony Turner, for a murder at Belper, March 26.
EXECUTIONS AT LEICESTER
John Massey, alias” Topsey Turvey,” executed on Red Hill, for the murder of his wife. 1801.
William Robins, for firing a pistol at William Wisdom, of Whitwick. 1803. August 29.
John Clarke, for a rape, executed on Ashby road. 1813. April 19.
Three men, near the Danebill turnpike, Hinckley Road. 1816. November 20.
James Towle, the Luddite, executed on the new drop 1817. April 17.
The six Luddites, and Babbington (afterwards stated to be innocent ), executed on the new drop. 1817. August 18.
Bottomore, executed on the new drop. 1820. May 15.
Scott, a chimney sweep, executed for a rape. 1821. March 21.
Esther Waters, for the murder of her child. 1822.
William and John Correns, and William Barnett, executed April 1. 1825.
Abraham Billson, executed Mareb 30. 1825.
Hannah Read, for the murder of her husband, August 5. 1826.
John Akrill, for horse stealing, April 16. 1829.
Hinton, Forrester, and Varnham, for horse stealing, April 20. [ These men were the first who suffered in front of the County Gaol.] 1830.
Watkin and Thompson, for highway robbery and intended murder, April 7. 1832.
Ann Smith, for the murder of her child at Mountsorrel, March 26. 1832.
James Cooke, for the murder of Mr. Paas, August 10. 1846.
William Hubbard, for the murder of his wife, April 1. 1856.
William Brown, for a murder at Melton Mowbray, July 25. 1856.
EXECUTIONS AT LINCOLN
Eleanor Elsom, burnt at the stake, for poisoning her husband. 1725.
John Bishop, hanged for the murder of his mother. 1731.
John Keel, for murder, hung in chains near Louth. 1732.
Thomas and Isaac Hallam, for murder. The former hung in chains near Middle Rasen, the latter near Bunker’s hill toll bar, where the murder was committed. 1733.
Thomas Worley, for burglary. 1736.
John Thompson, for burglary, Robert Lidgard, for mare stealing. 1737.
Thomas Dixon, for burglary, William Marshall, for highway robbery. William Lomas and Thomas Sharp, for horse stealing, Joseph Binge, for burglary. 1739.
William Dykes, for murder, Thomas Brown, for robbery. 1740.
William Lewin and John Stovargue, for housebreaking 1741.
Henry Ginn, for highway robbery, William Tyles, for murder. 1742.
Peter Brown, for privately stealing, Clay Lee, for sheep stealing. 1745.
Jeremiah Buxton, for murder. 1747.
Mary Johnson burnt at the stake for poisoning her husband; William Lynn, hung for poisoning his wife; and Barnaby Freeman, for robbery. 1748.
William Burton and John Wood, for sheep stealing. 1751.
John Bellamy, for horse stealing, Thomas Skegg, for highway robbery. 1753.
Edward Walker, for sheep stealing. 1756.
Timothy Raven, for sodomy, Richard Austin, for mare stealing. 1759.
Thomas Brown, for murder, hung in chains near Spittal. 1762.
Thomas Lill, for returning from transportation, Daniel Ryan, for the murder of his comrade. (from the city.) 1765.
Thomas Nicholson, for robbery, William Fenwick, for burglary. 1766.
Mary Davy, for murder, George Dalton, for burglary. 1767.
John Baker, for housebreaking. 1769 Philip Houghton, for murder, hung in chains on Surfleet common. 1770.
William Matthews and James Kearney, for murder. 1773.
William Moore, for returning from transportation. (from the city ). 1775.
John Lyon, for highway robbery, William Farmery, for the murder of his mother. 1777.
James Lee, for burglary, Henry Atkinson, for murder, Thomas Ham, for robbery. 1778.
Robert Blades and Edward Dobson, for highway robbery. 1782.
Edward Johnson, for forgery, Jonathan Barnett, for horse stealing, John Story, for setting fire to a house. 1783.
Edward Petphlar and William Dales, for coiping. 1784.
Thomas Wood, Richard Downing, and William Dawson, for housebreaking, Richard Bull, for sheep stealing, Patience Elsam, for setting fire to a barn. 1785. March.
John Hudson, for highway robbery, William Holdsworth, alias Holmes, for mare stealing, Thomas Rawson, for housebreaking, Jonathan Warner, for sheep stealing, John Palferman, for stealing two heifers, George Huntingdon, for cow stealing, William Ligburn, alias Bedford, for street robbery, John Wright, for sheep stealing, Michael Harrison, for mare stealing; all Lincolnshire men but Ligburn. These nine malefactors were carried in two carts to the place of execution, amidst about 20,000 spectators. They all kneeled down at the gallows and prayed very fervently, behaving with great penitence, every way becoming men in their unhappy situation. After they had ascended the steps to be tied, Michael Harrison, for horsestealing, addressed the populace.” It was a very awful sight,” states the record,” and what cannot be remembered by the oldest person living in Lincoln for such a number to be executed at one time.” July.1785
Thomas Golling, for housebreaking, Richard Carpenter, for mare stealing. 1786.
Joseph Wilkinson, for poisoning his own child, Henry Knowles, for sheep stealing, Stephen Tar, for cow stealing, John Curtis, for housebreaking, George Roberts, from the city jail, for sheep stealing. 1787. March 16.
William Rawby, a small farmer, of Dogdike, for the murder of Ann Leary, aged 13, a parish apprentice. All the way to the place of execution he seemed to be much agitated. After a few minutes spent in prayer he ascended the steps, and being tied up was immediately turned off. The girl’s death was caused by ill usage : her mistress also had beaten her with severity. Thomas Dickinson, for sheep stealing, William Wright, alias Thompson alias Phipps, for house breaking, Richard Dennis, for highway robbery. 1788.
John Wilson, for murder, George Bennett, for housebreaking, John Smith, for street robbery, Frances Acred, for beastiality, William Mitchinson Hardy, for horse stealing. 1789.
George Kylpike, for footpad robbery, William Nettleship, for street robbery, William Ward, for housebreaking, John George alias Smith Flint, for house-breaking and horse stealing. 1790.
John Ward, for robbery. 1791.
William Burder, for murder, John Robinson, for horse stealing. 1792.
Ralph Smith, for murder. 1794.
John Dinny, for housebreaking. 1796.
Edward Coxon, for highway robbery. 1797.
Elizabeth Brocklesby, for poisoning her husband. 1798.
Thomas Newman, for highway robbery. 1800.
William Jewitt, for housebreaking, William Chapman, for rape. 1801.
John Green and Susannah Mottershall, for murder, John Whittaker, for forgery, Matthew Stubley and Edward Taylor, for sheep stealing. 1802.
Robert Wells, for forgery, George Mitchell, for horse stealing. 1803.
Thomas Wilson, for murder. 1806.
Thomas Tempral alias Otter, for the murder of his wife, hung in chains near Drinsey Nook, Thomas Kirton,for sheep stealing. 1807,
John Freeman, Charles Metcalf,and Henry Coates, for house breaking, Charles Wilcock, for forgery, John Coxon, for horse stealing. 1810.
Charles Waklin, Henry Sawyer, William Marshall, for burglary, John Wilson alias Thomas Culey alias John Atkinson, for forgery. 1813.
George Turner Rowell and Azebah Fountain, for murder, David Spreadbury, for forgery. 1814.
William Ward, for burglary. The last person executed on the old gallows. 1815.
Thomas Clarke and Henry Coster, for burglary. These men were executed within the Castle gates. A great number of navigators being at work on the Witham, the authorities were afraid of a rescue. 1817. March 15.
Elizabeth Whiting, for murder. This was the first person executed on the new drop. July 16.1817
Elizabeth Warrener, for murder. August 15. William Longland, for burglary. 1818.
Richard Randall and John Tubs, for highway robbery, Thomas Morris and Thomas Evison, for firing. 1819.
John Louth, for burglarya August 16.- Richard Johnson, for horse stealing. 1820. March 17.
William Fox, for rape. 1821. March 23.
David Booth and John Parish, for housebreaking, August 9.-James Cawthorne, for murder. 1822. March 22.
John Rogers, for highway robbery. August 2. Joseph Birkitt, for highway robbery. 1823.
Benjamin Candler, William Arden, and John Doughty, for sodomy. 1824. March 14.—
John Smith, for murder. August 20. James Wetherill, for murder. 1827. March 23.
William Udale, for sheep stealing. 1829. March 27.
Thomas Lister, for burglary, George Wingfield, for highway robbery. The latter executed in the city, 1830. March 19.
Thomas Strong and Timothy Brammer, for house breaking, John Clarke, for sheep stealing. This was the last man hung in England for sheep stealing. 1831. March 12.
Michael Lundy, for murder. March 18. — John Greenwood, for burglary. July 22.-William Hall, for murder. July 29.-Richard Cooling and Thomas Motley, for firing. 1833.
William Stephenson, for highway robbery. July 26. Thomas Knap ton, for rape. 1843. March 17.
Thomas Johnson, for murder. 1844. August 2.
Eliza Joyce, for murder. 1847. July 30.
Mary Ann Milner, under sentence of death for murder, found dead in her cell on the morning fixed for the execution, she having hung herself during the night with a silk handkerchief. 1847