THE NEWGATE CALENDAR Edited by Donal Ó Danachair Volume 2

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

THE NEWGATE CALENDAR Edited by Donal Ó Danachair Volume 2 THE NEWGATE CALENDAR Edited by Donal Ó Danachair Volume 2 Published by the Ex-classics Project, 2009 http://www.exclassics.com Public Domain -1- THE NEWGATE CALENDAR Old Newgate Prison -2- VOLUME 2 CONTENTS RICHARD THORNHILL, ESQ Convicted of Manslaughter on 18th of May, 1711, for killing Sir Cholmondeley Deering in a Duel................................................................10 TOM GERRARD Taught a Dog to pick Pockets, and was executed for Housebreaking at Tyburn in August, 1711 ..................................................................12 WILL MAW Having committed a Robbery, Maw ordered his Wife to organise a Mock Funeral, so that People should think he was dead. He was executed at Tyburn in October 1711 ...........................................................................................................14 DAVY MORGAN Executed at Presteigne in April, 1712, for murdering Edward Williams .......................................................................................................................15 ELIZABETH MASON Executed for the murder of her godmother, 18th June, 1712 16 ELIZABETH CHIVERS Executed for the murder of her bastard child, 1st August, 1712..............................................................................................................................17 COLONEL JOHN HAMILTON Convicted of Manslaughter, 11th of September, 1712, as Second in a Duel between the Duke of Hamilton and Lord Mahon..............19 RICHARD TOWN Executed at Tyburn, December 23, 1712, for Fraudulent Bankruptcy ...................................................................................................................21 JACK BLEWIT Was taken into Slavery by the Blacks on Pirates' Island. After gaining his Liberty and returning to England he became a Highwayman. Executed in 1713 for the Murder of a Farmer's Daughter..............................................................23 TOM GRAY Highwayman who set Fire to a Prison. Executed at Tyburn in March, 1713..............................................................................................................................26 NED BONNET Took to the Highway because he was ruined by a Fire. Executed at Cambridge Castle in March, 1713...............................................................................28 RICHARD NOBLE Executed at Kingston, March 28, 1713, For the Murder of Mrs. Sayer. ...........................................................................................................................29 DICK ADAMS Once pretended to be the Bishop of London's Nephew in order to escape from a Man he had robbed. Executed at Tyburn, 1713 ...................................35 NED WICKS Highway Robber, executed at Warwick Jail in 1713 for Robbery........38 JACK SHRIMPTON Convicted for Murder and Highway Robberies. Executed at St Michael's Hill in September, 1713...............................................................................40 WILL LOWTHER Executed on Clerkenwell Green for the Murder of Edward Perry, December, 1713 ...........................................................................................................42 RODERICK AUDREY With the Assistance of a Sparrow he committed many Robberies, and was executed at Tyburn in 1714 at the age of Sixteen........................44 MACCARTNEY Hanged at Gloucester Jail in April, 1714, for the Murder of one Mr Beachere ......................................................................................................................46 WILL OGDEN AND TOM REYNOLDS Housebreakers and Highwaymen. Executed at Kingston- upon-Thames in April, 1714....................................................................48 -3- THE NEWGATE CALENDAR HENRY PLUNKET Murderer, executed at Tyburn, on the 22nd of September, 1714. ......................................................................................................................................50 WILLIAM JOHNSON AND JANE HOUSDEN Executed in September, 1714, for the Murder of a Turnkey in the Court at the Old Bailey....................................................51 THOMAS DOUGLASS Murderer, executed at Tyburn on the 27th of October, 1714. ......................................................................................................................................53 WILL CHANCE Robbed his Uncle by Forgery, and then turned Footpad. Was executed at Tyburn in April, 1715................................................................................54 NATHANIEL PARKHURST, ESQ. Executed for the Murder of Lewis Pleura, 20th May, 1715 ....................................................................................................................56 ZACHARY CLARE Highwayman, who was captured after a Fight, and executed with James Lawrence in August, 1715, at Warwick Jail .............................................58 THE FIRST REBELLION IN SCOTLAND. Account of the rise and progress of the rebellion in Scotland, 1715; With full accounts of the principal traitors who were executed........................................................................................................................60 COLONEL HENRY OXBURGH Executed at Tyburn, May 14, 1716, for High Treason. .......................................................................................................................71 RICHARD GASCOIGNE Executed at Tyburn, May 25; 1716, for High Treason.....72 REV. WILLIAM PAUL Executed at Tyburn, July 18, 1716, for High Treason.........73 JOHN HALL, ESQ Executed at Tyburn, July 18,1716, for High Treason. ................75 ROBERT WHITTY, FELIX O'HARA, AND JOSEPH SULLIVAN Executed at Tyburn, July 18,1716, for High Treason......................................................................78 JAMES GOODMAN Executed March 12, 1716, for Horse Stealing, &c. .................79 HENRY POWEL Highwayman, executed at Tyburn, on the 23rd of December, 1715. ......................................................................................................................................81 JOHN HAMILTON, ESQ. Tried in Scotland for Murder, and beheaded by the Maiden, 30th of June, 1716..........................................................................................83 JAMES QUIN, ESQ. The Celebrated Tragedian, tried for Murder at the Old Bailey in 1717, and convicted of Manslaughter..........................................................................85 THE MARQUIS DE PALEOTTI An Italian Nobleman, executed at Tyburn for the Murder of his Servant, 17th of March, 1718. ..............................................................87 JOSEPH STILL Executed At Stanford-Hill, March, 22, 1717, For Murder ...............89 JAMES SHEPPARD Jacobite, who plotted to assassinate King George I. Executed 17th March, 1718.........................................................................................................90 JOHN PRICE, COMMONLY CALLED JACK KETCH A Rogue and Liar, who was not believed when he spoke the Truth. He held the Office of Common Hangman, and was himself hanged in Bunhill Fields in May, 1718, for murdering a Woman ...........94 JAMES FILEWOOD ALIAS VILET Convicted of picking Pockets, and sentenced to Death. Executed at Tyburn in October, 1718 ..............................................................98 CATHERINE JONES Tried for Bigamy ...................................................................100 -4- VOLUME 2 LIEUTENANT EDWARD BIRD Took a Pinch of Snuff just before his Execution at Tyburn, on 23rd of February, 1719, for murdering a Waiter....................................101 MARK ANTHONY DE LA PORTE A Catholic priest, sentenced to life imprisonment for performing a Catholic marriage, 4th March 1719 ..............................................102 NICHOLAS HORNER A Minister's Son who turned Highwayman, and was executed 3rd of April, 1719.......................................................................................................103 THOMAS BUTLER, Esq. Highwayman, executed at Tyburn, on the 8th Of February 1720............................................................................................................................107 BARBARA SPENCER Executed at Tyburn on the 5th of July, 1721, for Coining. She was probably the first Woman to suffer the Death Penalty for what was regarded as Treason ......................................................................................................................108 MATTHEW CLARKE Executed for murder, 28th July, 1721 .................................110 WILLIAM SHAW Executed in 1721 for "Murdering" his Daughter, who, it was afterwards proved, committed Suicide.......................................................................112 JOHN MEFF Executed for Returning from Transportation......................................114 ARTHUR GRAY Convicted of Burglary..................................................................116 NATHANIEL HAWES Highwayman, who underwent Torture for the Sake of his Honour. Executed at Tyburn, 21st of December, 1721..............................................118 ARUNDEL COOKE, ESQ., AND JOHN WOODBURNE The First who suffered Death under the Coventry Act. Executed at Bury St Edmunds, 5th of April, 1722....120 JOHN HARTLEY AND THOMAS REEVES Footpads, who were executed at Tyburn on the 4th of May, 1722, after One had, by a Ruse, petitioned the King ......122 JOHN HAWKINS AND JAMES SIMPSON Highwaymen and Mail Robbers. Executed at Tyburn on the 21st of May, 1722 ...........................................................124
Recommended publications
  • Redefining the Newgate Novel
    http://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/ Research Commons at the University of Waikato Copyright Statement: The digital copy of this thesis is protected by the Copyright Act 1994 (New Zealand). The thesis may be consulted by you, provided you comply with the provisions of the Act and the following conditions of use: Any use you make of these documents or images must be for research or private study purposes only, and you may not make them available to any other person. Authors control the copyright of their thesis. You will recognise the author’s right to be identified as the author of the thesis, and due acknowledgement will be made to the author where appropriate. You will obtain the author’s permission before publishing any material from the thesis. ‘The Remorseless Fangs of the Law’: The Newgate Novel, 1722-2012 A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts at The University of Waikato by Larissa Schumacher 2013 iii Abstract The Newgate novel is a fascinating sub-genre of crime fiction which emerged in the 1830s as a response to contemporary issues within the social, legal and penal systems of Victorian London. This thesis is split into four distinct Parts which, using both critical research and original interventions, summarise developments in the Newgate novel from 1722-2012. The introductory section provides a foundation to this thesis by looking at the most significant contributors to the rise of the Newgate novel: genre, historical context, and the Newgate Calendar . The influences of Daniel Defoe, Henry Fielding and William Godwin’s works are then analysed, as are their similarities to the Newgate school.
    [Show full text]
  • DATES of TRIALS Until October 1775, and Again from December 1816
    DATES OF TRIALS Until October 1775, and again from December 1816, the printed Proceedings provide both the start and the end dates of each sessions. Until the 1750s, both the Gentleman’s and (especially) the London Magazine scrupulously noted the end dates of sessions, dates of subsequent Recorder’s Reports, and days of execution. From December 1775 to October 1816, I have derived the end dates of each sessions from newspaper accounts of the trials. Trials at the Old Bailey usually began on a Wednesday. And, of course, no trials were held on Sundays. ***** NAMES & ALIASES I have silently corrected obvious misspellings in the Proceedings (as will be apparent to users who hyper-link through to the trial account at the OBPO), particularly where those misspellings are confirmed in supporting documents. I have also regularized spellings where there may be inconsistencies at different appearances points in the OBPO. In instances where I have made a more radical change in the convict’s name, I have provided a documentary reference to justify the more marked discrepancy between the name used here and that which appears in the Proceedings. ***** AGE The printed Proceedings almost invariably provide the age of each Old Bailey convict from December 1790 onwards. From 1791 onwards, the Home Office’s “Criminal Registers” for London and Middlesex (HO 26) do so as well. However, no volumes in this series exist for 1799 and 1800, and those for 1828-33 inclusive (HO 26/35-39) omit the ages of the convicts. I have not comprehensively compared the ages reported in HO 26 with those given in the Proceedings, and it is not impossible that there are discrepancies between the two.
    [Show full text]
  • The Rockingham Street Anomaly - Southwark a Geoarchaeological Evaluation
    THE ROCKINGHAM STREET ANOMALY - SOUTHWARK A GEOARCHAEOLOGICAL EVALUATION Preliminary report April 2019 Michael Hacker, Prof. Rob Scaife, Peter Collins. CONTENTS 1. Introduction 2. Anomalous buried hollows 3. The Rockingham Street Anomaly 4. Archaeological and historical background 5. The 2017 soil sample 6. Pollen analysis 7. Soil analysis 8. Discussion 9. Conclusion 10. Acknowledgments 11. Bibliography 12. Maps ILLUSTRATIONS Fig. 1 Artwork by Gail Dickerson Fig. 2 Rockingham Street Anomaly geology Fig. 3 Section through the Rockingham Street Anomaly Fig. 4 Location of Rockingham Street Anomaly Fig. 5 Rocque’s map of 1746 Fig. 6 Fairburn’s map of 1802 Fig. 7 Prehistoric seed and insect remains Table 1 Pollen count data Page 1 1. INTRODUCTION Hidden beneath the surface of the Central London Thames floodplain lie numerous, deep, crater- like pits known as 'anomalous buried hollows’ (or sometimes drift filled or scour filled hollows). They penetrate deep into the London Clay and sometimes beyond. Most of these hollows are filled with sands and gravels. They are believed to have formed under sub-arctic, peri-glacial conditions. One of these hollows, The Rockingham Street Anomaly, is situated in the London Borough of Southwark, close to Elephant and Castle. It is nearly 300m wide and over 19m deep. The Rockingham Street Anomaly is exceptional in that unlike most of the other hollows, a substantial part of the fill comprises a deep accumulation of peat. The peat was first identified during the construction of a sewer in the early 20th century and the general shape of the hollow and presence of peat have been confirmed by subsequent boreholes in the area.
    [Show full text]
  • Perceptions of the Murderess in London and Paris, 1674-1789
    Perceptions of the Murderess in London and Paris, 1674-1789 Anna Clare Jenkin A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Sheffield Faculty of Arts and Humanities Department of History August, 2015 Thesis Summary This project is a comparative study of print about women accused of murder in eighteenth-century London and Paris. While gender played an important role in determining how such women were perceived, in that female killers stimulated forms of social introspection that male murderers did not, this thesis demonstrates that a wider variety of factors affected the kinds of women who stimulated concern among the London and Parisian populace. Most importantly, only eleven women accused of murder stimulated high levels of print reaction in the period, implying that aspects beyond their gender were behind such reactions. Through focus on the print material and judicial records of these eleven high-profile murderesses, including ballads, pamphlets, images, novels, legal tracts and printed correspondence, this thesis will expose a number of contemporary concerns present in eighteenth-century London and Paris. In both cities, perceptions of the crime of female- perpetrated murder reflected emerging concerns about the impact of urbanisation on social structures and women’s roles, alongside shifting European-wide ideas of gender difference. Murderous women’s occupations as midwives, servants, aristocrats and household managers were used to explore broader concerns about emerging sites of female independence. Discussion of cases that involved adultery, male sociability and court intrigue were used to reveal the perceived corrupting effects of urban society.
    [Show full text]
  • Conservation Plan Old Sessions House 22 Clerkenwell Green London Ec1r Ona
    CONSERVATION PLAN OLD SESSIONS HOUSE 22 CLERKENWELL GREEN LONDON EC1R ONA EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. The Old Sessions House is one of the finest and most important historic buildings in Clerkenwell. Constructed in the late eighteenth century as the Middlesex Sessions House for the magistrates’ courts, it is a high-status building intended to dominate Clerkenwell Green and its surroundings. In 1860 onwards it was re-modelled and extended to present grander elevations to the newly laid out Farringdon and Clerkenwell Roads. Following the relocation of the magistrates courts in 1920 the premises became the headquarters of Avery Scales, and in the 1970s the building was acquired as a Masonic Lodge who occupied the premises until 2013. The new owners, Ted and Oliver Grebelius are therefore only the fourth proprietors in a 235 year history. 2. This Conservation Plan evaluates the historic and architectural significance of the building and its surviving fabric. It sets out the risks and opportunities in the context of the building’s condition, status and current conservation policy. It makes proposals for the repair and enhancement of the building, including a strategy of phased work. It suggests how improvements can be made to the setting of the building within the surrounding environment of Clerkenwell Green and Farringdon Lane. INTRODUCTION 3. This Conservation Plan for the Old Sessions House, Clerkenwell Green, has been commissioned by Oliver and Ted Grebelius, who acquired the building in late 2013. The Plan aims to inform and direct an appropriate way forward to re-use this important historic building and its immediate environs.
    [Show full text]
  • WALLACE, (Richard Horatio) Edgar Geboren: Greenwich, Londen, 1 April 1875
    WALLACE, (Richard Horatio) Edgar Geboren: Greenwich, Londen, 1 april 1875. Overleden: Hollywood, USA, 10 februari 1932 Opleiding: St. Peter's School, Londen; kostschool, Camberwell, Londen, tot 12 jarige leeftijd. Carrière: Wallace was de onwettige zoon van een acteur, werd geadopteerd door een viskruier en ging op 12-jarige leeftijd van huis weg; werkte bij een drukkerij, in een schoen- winkel, rubberfabriek, als zeeman, stukadoor, melkbezorger, in Londen, 1886-1891; corres- pondent, Reuter's, Zuid Afrika, 1899-1902; correspondent, Zuid Afrika, London Daily Mail, 1900-1902 redacteur, Rand Daily News, Johannesburg, 1902-1903; keerde naar Londen terug: journalist, Daily Mail, 1903-1907 en Standard, 1910; redacteur paardenraces en later redacteur The Week-End, The Week-End Racing Supplement, 1910-1912; redacteur paardenraces en speciaal journalist, Evening News, 1910-1912; oprichter van de bladen voor paardenraces Bibury's Weekly en R.E. Walton's Weekly, redacteur, Ideas en The Story Journal, 1913; schrijver en later redacteur, Town Topics, 1913-1916; schreef regelmatig bijdragen voor de Birmingham Post, Thomson's Weekly News, Dundee; paardenraces columnist, The Star, 1927-1932, Daily Mail, 1930-1932; toneelcriticus, Morning Post, 1928; oprichter, The Bucks Mail, 1930; redacteur, Sunday News, 1931; voorzitter van de raad van directeuren en filmschrijver/regisseur, British Lion Film Corporation. Militaire dienst: Royal West Regiment, Engeland, 1893-1896; Medical Staff Corps, Zuid Afrika, 1896-1899; kocht zijn ontslag af in 1899; diende bij de Lincoln's Inn afdeling van de Special Constabulary en als speciaal ondervrager voor het War Office, gedurende de Eerste Wereldoorlog. Lid van: Press Club, Londen (voorzitter, 1923-1924). Familie: getrouwd met 1.
    [Show full text]
  • Deixis and the Renaissance Art of Self Construction1
    1 Deixis and the renaissance art of self construction Sylvia ADAMSON University of Sheffield ABSTRACT This paper is offered as a contribution to our understanding of both the history of literary style and the psychology of reading. I begin with a comparison with art history, where the development of the technique of linear perspective provides a stylistic boundary-marker between medieval and renaissance styles. Identifying the ‘printed voice effect’ as an analogous demarcator in literary history, I explore the technical means by which the effect was created, in a set of case-studies representing the emergent genres of essay and dramatic lyric. My analytical model is adapted from Gombrich’s account of ‘guided projection,’ which explains pictorial illusion as the cooperative creation of the artist (who provides the visual cues) and the spectator (who interprets them). I argue that the literary equivalent to the geometric cues of perspective is to be found in the linguistic system of deixis and claim that renaissance texts show an innovative and experimental awareness of the deictic resources of the English language. KEYWORDS: deixis, renaissance, historicism, self in literature, language and style 1. The printed voice In the history of art forms, some stylistic innovations seem to demand the title revolutionary, if only because their effects are so striking as to be felt by the non-professional observer. In the western 1 I am grateful to the organisers of 15 SEDERI for inviting me to give the plenary on which this paper is based and to the conference participants for their helpful responses to my presentation.
    [Show full text]
  • Prisons and Punishments in Late Medieval London
    Prisons and Punishments in Late Medieval London Christine Winter Thesis submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the University of London Royal Holloway, University of London, 2012 2 Declaration I, Christine Winter, hereby declare that this thesis and the work presented in it is entirely my own. Where I have consulted the work of others, this is always clearly stated. Signed: Date: 3 Abstract In the history of crime and punishment the prisons of medieval London have generally been overlooked. This may have been because none of the prison records have survived for this period, yet there is enough information in civic and royal documents, and through archaeological evidence, to allow a reassessment of London’s prisons in the later middle ages. This thesis begins with an analysis of the purpose of imprisonment, which was not merely custodial and was undoubtedly punitive in the medieval period. Having established that incarceration was employed for a variety of purposes the physicality of prison buildings and the conditions in which prisoners were kept are considered. This research suggests that the periodic complaints that London’s medieval prisons, particularly Newgate, were ‘foul’ with ‘noxious air’ were the result of external, rather than internal, factors. Using both civic and royal sources the management of prisons and the abuses inflicted by some keepers have been analysed. This has revealed that there were very few differences in the way civic and royal prisons were administered; however, there were distinct advantages to being either the keeper or a prisoner of the Fleet prison. Because incarceration was not the only penalty available in the enforcement of law and order, this thesis also considers the offences that constituted a misdemeanour and the various punishments employed by the authorities.
    [Show full text]
  • Robin Hood the Brute: Representations of The
    Law, Crime and History (2016) 2 ROBIN HOOD THE BRUTE: REPRESENTATIONS OF THE OUTLAW IN EIGHTEENTH CENTURY CRIMINAL BIOGRAPHY Stephen Basdeo1 Abstract Eighteenth century criminal biography is a topic that has been explored at length by both crime historians such as Andrea McKenzie and Richard Ward, as well as literary scholars such as Lincoln B. Faller and Hal Gladfelder. Much of these researchers’ work, however, has focused upon the representation of seventeenth and eighteenth century criminals within these narratives. In contrast, this article explores how England’s most famous medieval criminal, Robin Hood, is represented. By giving a commentary upon eighteenth century Robin Hood narratives, this article shows how, at a time of public anxiety surrounding crime, people were less willing to believe in the myth of a good outlaw. Keywords: eighteenth century, criminal biography, Robin Hood, outlaws, Alexander Smith, Charles Johnson, medievalism Introduction Until the 1980s Robin Hood scholarship tended to focus upon the five extant medieval texts such as Robin Hood and the Monk, Robin Hood and the Potter, Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne, and A Gest of Robyn Hode (c.1450), as well as attempts to identify a historical outlaw.2 It was only with the work of Stephen Knight that scholarship moved away from trying to identify a real outlaw as things took a ‘literary turn’. With Knight’s work also the post- medieval Robin Hood tradition became a significant area of scholarly enquiry. His recent texts have mapped the various influences at work upon successive interpretations of the legend and how it slowly became gentrified and ‘safe’ as successive authors gradually ‘robbed’ Robin of any subversive traits.3 Whilst Knight’s research on Robin Hood is comprehensive, one genre of literature that he has not as yet examined in detail is eighteenth century criminal biography.
    [Show full text]
  • King Mob Echo: from Gordon Riots to Situationists & Sex Pistols
    KING MOB ECHO FROM 1780 GORDON RIOTS TO SITUATIONISTS SEX PISTOLS AND BEYOND BY TOM VAGUE INCOMPLETE WORKS OF KING MOB WITH ILLUSTRATIONS IN TWO VOLUMES DARK STAR LONDON ·- - � --- Printed by Polestar AUP Aberdeen Limited, Rareness Rd., Altens Industrial Estate, Aberdeen AB12 3LE § 11JJJDJJDILIEJMIIENf1r 1f(Q) KIINCGr JMI(Q)IB3 JECCIHI(Q) ENGLISH SECTION OF THE SITUATIONIST INTERNATIONAL IF([J)IF ffiIE V ([J) IL lUilII ([J) W §IFIEIEIIJ) IHIII§il([J) ffiY ADDITIONAL RESEARCH BY DEREK HARRIS AND MALCOLM HOPKINS Illustrations: 'The Riots in Moorfields' (cover), 'The London Riots', 'at Langdale's' by 'Phiz' Hablot K. Browne, Horwood's 1792-9 'Plan of London', 'The Great Rock'n'Roll Swindle', 'Oliver Twist Manifesto' by Malcolm McLaren. Vagrants and historical shout outs: Sandra Belgrave, Stewart Home, Mark Jackson, Mark Saunders, Joe D. Stevens at NDTC, Boz & Phiz, J. Paul de Castro, Blue Bredren, Cockney Visionaries, Dempsey, Boss Goodman, Lord George Gordon, Chris Gray, Jonathon Green, Jefferson Hack, Christopher Hibbert, Hoppy, Ian Gilmour, Ish, Dzifa & Simone at The Grape, Barry Jennings, Joe Jones, Shaun Kerr, Layla, Lucas, Malcolm McLaren, John Mead, Simon Morrissey, Don Nicholson-Smith, Michel Prigent (pre-publicity), Charlie Radcliffe, Jamie Reid, George Robertson & Melinda Mash, Dragan Rad, George Rude, Naveen Saleh, Jon Savage, Valerie Solanas, Carolyn Starren & co at Kensington Library, Mark Stewart, Toko, Alex Trocchi, Fred & Judy Vermorel, Warren, Dr. Watson, Viv Westwood, Jack Wilkes, Dave & Stuart Wise Soundtrack: 'It's a London Thing' Scott Garcia, 'Going Mobile' The Who, 'Living for the City' Stevie Wonder, 'Boston Tea Party' Alex Harvey, 'Catholic Day' Adam and the Ants, 'Do the Strand' Roxy Music', 'Rev.
    [Show full text]
  • REFORMATIVE SYMPATHY in NINETEENTH-CENTURY CRIME FICTION Erica Mccrystal
    Erica McCrystal 35 REFORMATIVE SYMPATHY IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY CRIME FICTION Erica McCrystal (St. John’s University, New York) Abstract Nineteenth-century British crime novels whose heroes were criminals redefined criminality, alerting readers to the moral failures of the criminal justice system and arguing for institutional reform. My research on this topic begins with William Godwin’s novel Caleb Williams (1794) as a social reform project that exposes hypocrisy and inconsistency of governing institutions. I then assess how contemporary social criticism of crime novels contrasts with the authors’ reformative intentions. Critics argued the ‘Newgate novels’, like those of Edward Bulwer-Lytton and William Harrison Ainsworth, glorified criminality and were therefore a danger to readers. However, Bulwer-Lytton’s Paul Clifford (1830) and William Harrison Ainsworth’s Jack Sheppard (1839) serve, like Caleb Williams, as social reform efforts to alert readers to the moral failings of the criminal justice and penal institutions. They do so, I argue, through the use of sympathy. By making the criminal the victim of a contradictory society, Godwin, Bulwer-Lytton, and Ainsworth draw upon the sympathies of imagined readers. I apply contemporary and modern notions of sympathy to the texts to demonstrate how the authors use sympathy to humanise the title characters in societies that have subjected them to baseless mechanisation. The emergence of crime fiction in nineteenth-century Britain provided readers with imaginative access to a criminal’s perspective and history as they conflicted with the criminal justice system and its punitive power. Novelists working within the genre re- examined criminality, morality, and justice, often delivering powerful social critiques of extant institutions.
    [Show full text]
  • Representations of the Criminal in Eighteen-Century England Daniel Gonzalez Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, [email protected]
    Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 2002 The culture of crime: representations of the criminal in eighteen-century England Daniel Gonzalez Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations Part of the English Language and Literature Commons Recommended Citation Gonzalez, Daniel, "The culture of crime: representations of the criminal in eighteen-century England" (2002). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 112. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/112 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please [email protected]. THE CULTURE OF CRIME: REPRESENTATIONS OF THE CRIMINAL IN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY ENGLAND A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of English By Daniel Gonzalez B.A., Bucknell University, 1992 M.A., McNeese State University, 1995 M.F.A., McNeese State University, 1995 May 2002 Acknowledgments First, I owe a tremendous amount of gratitude to my dissertation director, Dr. Jim Borck, for his continuing encouragement and friendship during this lengthy process. Dr. Elsie Michie has also been a strong voice of encouragement, and without the guidance and support of both of these mentors, this dissertation would never have been completed. When I grow up to be a professor, I want to be just like them; they have helped me more than either can ever know.
    [Show full text]