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'Intimate Crime' in Early Modern England and Wales, C.1660-1760

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‘Intimate Crime’ in Early Modern England and Wales, c.1660-1760 Anna Louise Field A dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of History, Archaeology and Religion Cardiff University February 2018 i Summary Intimacy was essential to criminal activity in the early modern period. The uses and abuses of intimacy – in physical, local, and emotional terms – are located firmly within the criminal record. Historians of crime, gender, social relations, emotion, sexuality, and the body have illustrated the wider social and cultural contexts in which intimacy would have been understood and transacted, yet their questions have not explicitly addressed intimacy as a practice. The present thesis brings intimacy to the fore and develops a suitable analytical framework for discussing its contemporary significance. I consider the textual content of both original and familiar source material, namely depositional evidence from the Welsh Great Sessions, informations sworn before the warden of the London Mint, along with printed trial summaries, crime pamphlets, and broadside ballads. Such a diverse source base stands the thesis in stark contrast to other histories of emotion that have considered ‘emotional communities’. Instead, I explore the vibrant ‘social worlds’ of contemporaries who desired to seek the truth, gain closure, or even distance themselves from the shocking and tragic events that often accompanied serious criminal offences. The ambitious geographical and chronological breadth of the present study expands on recent historiography of crime in early modern Wales. Not only do I herein provide cultural analyses of male-male homicide and coinage offences – topics not before considered in a similar depth by scholars of early modern and eighteenth-century Wales – I have also consulted cases from all three Welsh circuits over the period of an entire century. Throughout, I re-imagine the boundaries of family, friendship, and community in the light of their flexibility as contemporary categories, from metropolitan London to rural Merionethshire. ii Declaration This work has not been submitted in substance for any other degree or award at this or any other university or place of learning, nor is being submitted concurrently in candidature for any degree or other award. Signed A. Field (candidate) Date 01.02.2018 Statement 1 This thesis is being submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of PhD. Signed A. Field (candidate) Date 01.02.2018 Statement 2 This thesis is the result of my own independent work/investigation, except where otherwise stated, and the thesis has not been edited by a third party beyond what is permitted beyond Cardiff University’s Policy on the Use of Third Party Editors by Research Degree Students. Other sources are acknowledged by specific references. The views expressed are my own. Signed A. Field (candidate) Date 01.02.2018 Statement 3 I hereby give consent for my thesis, if accepted, to be available online in the University’s Open Access repository and for inter-library loan, and for the title and summary to be made available to outside organisations. Signed A. Field (candidate) Date 01.02.2018 Statement 4: Previously approved bar on access I hereby give consent for my thesis, if accepted, to be available online in the University’s Open Access repository and for inter-library loans after expiry of a bar on access previously approved by the Academic Standards & Quality Committee. Signed A. Field (candidate) Date 01.02.2018 iii Contents Summary i Declaration ii Contents iii Acknowledgements iv Prefatory note v Abbreviations vi Introduction The Historical Study of Intimacy and Crime 1 Chapter One 35 ‘Intimate Murder’: A Reconsideration of ‘Domestic’ Relations in Cases of Homicide Chapter Two 68 Brothers, Fellows, and Superiors: the Role of Masculine Friendship in cases of Manslaughter Chapter Three 104 Witnesses, Victims, and Communities: Authority and the Search for ‘Truth’ under the 1624 Concealment Act Chapter Four 136 Venture a Life to Serve a Friend: Crimes against the Coin and Betrayed Intimacies Conclusion 179 The Intimate Worlds of Early Modern England and Wales Bibliography 194 iv Acknowledgements First and foremost, I wish to thank the Arts and Humanities Research Council for providing me with a generous stipend which helped me to both undertake research and pay my rent. I also want to thank the helpful and friendly staff at the National Library of Wales and The National archives, and the anonymous peer reviewers for Cultural and Social History who made comments on a shorter article version of chapter four. Their feedback helped me enormously in refining my ideas and writing style for the entire thesis. My gratitude extends to my supervisors: Garthine Walker, Elaine Chalus, Mark Williams and Martyn Powell, who have read numerous chapter drafts and provided me with extensive guidance and comments. I’m sure there’s a budding PhD project somewhere in analysing Mark’s marginalia, which kept me chuckling even when I doubted the plausibility of my arguments. I have incurred many debts to other members of academic staff in the History department at Cardiff who have not only offered their honest professional advice, but have also recognised when I could do with a coffee and a chat (and sugary snacks). To Mr. Kingswood and Mr. Mainwaring (whom I suppose I should call Ben and Andy these days). This teaching double act are a credit to the profession and keep the humour alive in the study of history, and whose spirit I try to bring to all seminars I teach – even when my students are too hungover to appreciate a decent pun. Abby and Jazz, who both understand the unique pain of completing a PhD. I hope that you come out of the process as unscathed as possible. I will be waiting for you on the other side with armfuls of cats and wine. Ol’ Bernie would be proud. My oldest and best friends made during my first eighteen years in Worcestershire; I can't thank you enough for plying me with drinks, memes, and laughs. I’m grateful for how patient you’ve been – especially over these last few years when I didn't return to the shire for months on end and then disappeared pretty much as soon as I arrived. For my family: Gordon Baker, whose interest in the past has influenced mine; Gwen Scammell whose misbehaviour and gin-drinking capability I can confirm is genetic. Dad, Jo, Laura, and Ella, who have waited (im)patiently for this all to be over, and have humoured my conversations on gender and murder during family gatherings. For my little sister Luchia and niece Lainey, who will hopefully see this as an example that girls can achieve anything they set their mind to. Mum (the most practical woman in the world), whose strength continues to fill me with awe. You have taught me that the times when you feel the most out of your depth are the times that help you become the best version of yourself. Finally, I want to dedicate this to my Cardiff Gals (and guys). In seven years, I have made a new family. While some of you have now left and others arrived, this place and the people I’ve met here will always be home. v Prefatory Note Dates follow old style but the year is taken to begin on January 1. Capitalisation has been standardised but I have retained contemporary spellings and use of punctuation. I have also retained original spellings of place names in quotations, but have used modernised spellings retrospectively in the body of the thesis. Place names that have since changed have kept their contemporary name, i.e. Trelawynd (current name) is referred to as Newmarket. I have expanded contractions such as ‘examinant’ and ‘deponent’. Where the same name is spelled differently in one case, I have used the name given first in deposition preamble, or the spelling that is used most often over the course of the text. For the accused, I have used the spelling given on the indictment. I have used the Latin term billa vera when referring to indictments laid before Latin ceased to be used as a formal language of the court in 1733. I have used true bill thereafter. vi Abbreviations NLW GS National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth, Great Sessions Gaol Files OBP Old Bailey Proceedings OA Ordinary’s Account TNA MINT The National Archives, London, Royal Mint records 1 Introduction The Historical Study of Intimacy and Crime At daybreak on September 11th, 1750 in Llanrug, a small town about four miles from Caernarfon in North Wales, a woman named Rebecca Morgan went out to milk as usual. Unusually, however, on this particular morning her husband Evan Thomas seemed keen to accompany her. The couple set off to complete the duty together and soon approached a bank near the local millpond. Yet the animals were never milked. Rebecca never returned. Instead, three days later, Evan found himself in front of the Justice of the Peace for the county denying that he had murdered his wife.1 The inquest into Rebecca’s death took place on September 15th, the day after her husband was first examined. There, the coroner’s jury found that she had suffered three blows to the back of the head with a shoemaker’s hammer and her body left floating in the millpond.2 While the coroner’s inquest stated the culprit of the crime was ‘person[s] unknown’, Evan was prosecuted as a suspect. The grand jury found a true bill of indictment and remanded him in gaol.3 It took six months in prison until he finally confessed to striking the fatal blows.4 The confession sealed his fate.
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