Category Archives: Trials

1871: Lawyer dies after using wrong pistol for demonstration

Clement L. Vallandigham, whose prepping for court didn’t go entirely to plan

Clement L. Vallandigham (1820-71) was a prominent Ohio lawyer and politician who served in Congress prior to and during the Civil War.

A pacifist by nature, Vallandigham made several inflammatory speeches against the war and those he deemed responsible for it, including Abraham Lincoln. In May 1863, Vallandigham was arrested and temporarily interned, before being deported to the Confederacy. The following year he sneaked back into the United States via Canada, with the aid of a new hairstyle and a false moustache.

After the war, Vallandigham returned to his native Ohio and to practising law. In June 1871 he was in the town of Lebanon, acting as lead defence counsel in a murder case. His client, a Hamilton ruffian named Thomas McGehan, was charged with shooting another man in the stomach during a bar room fight. Vallandigham’s line of defence was quite simple: the victim had in fact shot himself while trying to withdraw his pistol while rising to stand.

At breakfast one morning, Vallandigham showed his legal team how he intended to demonstrate this in court – but made a fatal error:

“Mr McBurney [another lawyer] had expressed some doubts as to the possibility of Myers [the victim] shooting himself in the manner described by Mr Vallandigham, when the latter said ‘I will show you in a half a second’. He picked up a revolver and putting it in his right pocket, drew it out far enough to keep the muzzle touching his body, and engaged the hammer. The weapon exploded and sent its deadly missile into the abdomen at a point almost corresponding with that in which Myers was shot. Mr Vallandigham immediately exclaimed that he had taken up the wrong pistol… There were two revolvers on the table, one loaded and the other unloaded. Unfortunately Mr Vallandigham seized the former.”

Vallandigham was carried to bed and doctors were summoned but they were unable to locate the bullet or stem his internal bleeding. He died some 12 hours later. His corpse was packed in ice and returned to his home in Dayton for burial. Vallandigham’s wife Louisa, who was attending her brother’s funeral at the time of her husband’s demise, was grief stricken; she died from a heart attack seven weeks later. Vallandigham’s client, Thomas McGehan, was retried twice and eventually acquitted.

Source: The Stark County Democrat (Ohio), June 22nd 1871. Content on this page is © Alpha History 2019-23. Content may not be republished without our express permission. For more information please refer to our Terms of Use or contact Alpha History.

1633: Women actors are “notorious whores”, writes Prynne

A contemporary drawing of William Prynne, right, apparently being reacquainted with his severed ears

William Prynne (1600-1669) was an English lawyer and writer, famous for his provocative and controversial essays. One of the most Puritan of the Puritans, Prynne was not afraid to take aim at popular figures, culture or conventions.

One of Prynne’s earliest and best known works was Histriomastix, a 1633 attack on just about anything considered fun. Historiomastix strongly criticised parties, masquerade balls, country fairs, mixed dancing, feast days, wakes, sports, even hairstyles and colourful stained-glass windows.

Much of this particular text, however, is a condemnation of theatrical performances and those responsible for them. Plays, Prynne claims are “the chief delight of the Devil”, wanton and immoral displays of debauchery filled with:

“…amorous smiles and wanton gestures, those lascivious complements, those lewd adulterous kisses and embracements, those lustful dalliances, those impudent, immodest painterly passages… they are the very schools of bawdery, real whoredoms, incests, adulteries, etc.”

As to those who regularly attend the theatre, they are:

“…adulterers, adulteresses, whoremasters, whores, bawds, panders, ruffians, roarers, drunkards, prodigals, cheaters, idle, infamous, base, profane, and godless persons.”

Histriomastix was especially severe on actors and actresses. The ranks of male actors, Prynne claimed, were filled with “Sodomites” who spent their time writing love letters and “chasing the tails” of “players boys”. As for actors of the opposite gender, Prynne offered a simple but biting four-word assessment:

“Women actors, notorious whores.”

This anti-thespian tirade soon got William Prynne into trouble. One woman who quite enjoyed masked balls, mixed dancing and the occasional acting role was Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I.

The queen had appeared in a speaking role in a prominent play not long after the publication of Histriomastix, and she took Prynne’s slurs personally. In 1634, Prynne was hauled before the star chamber, charged with seditious libel against the queen and others, and found guilty. He was fined £5000, stripped of his academic degrees, given two days in the pillory and sentenced to have the tops of his ears clipped off with shears.

If that wasn’t enough, hundreds of copies of Histriomastix were rounded up and burned before Prynne’s eyes as he languished in the pillory.

Source: William Prynne, Histriomastix, London, 1633. Content on this page is © Alpha History 2019-23. Content may not be republished without our express permission. For more information please refer to our Terms of Use or contact Alpha History.

1351: A chicken pasty – an “abomination to all mankind”

In 1351, a London cook named Henry de Passelewe was called before the mayor and city aldermen, accused of selling another Londoner, Henry Pecche, a dodgy chicken pasty. Henry told the court that on January 13th:

“..he bought of the aforesaid Henry de Passelewe… two capons baked in a pasty; and that he and his companions, being hungry, did not perceive that one of the said two capons was putrid and stinking, until they had eaten almost the whole thereof, whereupon they opened the second capon, which he produced here in court.”

The court members examined the capon and:

“..found it to be foul and stinking and an abomination to all mankind; to the scandal, contempt and disgrace of all the city; and the manifest peril of the life of the same Henry and his companions…”

Henry de Passelewe was ordered to spend a day in the pillory, with the “putrid and stinking capon” held in front of him.

Source: Letterbook of Edward III, f.194, cited in Memorials of London and London Life in the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries, 1868. Content on this page is © Alpha History 2019-23. Content may not be republished without our express permission. For more information please refer to our Terms of Use or contact Alpha History.

1846: James Brown finds John Kerry in bed with his wife

In October 1846, the Sunday Times reported that James Brown had appeared in court charged with assaulting John Kerry, after finding Kerry in bed with his wife. The Browns had been married for four years but often quarrelled.

According to James Brown he had left London on business – but returned after receiving an anonymous letter informing him of John Kerry’s dalliances with his wife:

“Determined to sift the matter he came to London, and on proceeding to the bedroom of his lodgings, he heard his wife and Kerry talking together in a loving and affectionate manner. Feeling satisfied that they were on the bed together, he burst open the door [and] commenced beating both of them, giving Kerry a sound drubbing.”

James Brown’s wife refused to press the charge of assault against her husband, however Brown was convicted of assaulting John Kerry and fined three pounds or two months’ imprisonment.

Source: The Sunday Times (London), October 25th 1846. Content on this page is © Alpha History 2019-23. Content may not be republished without our express permission. For more information please refer to our Terms of Use or contact Alpha History.

1891: Oysters lead to teenage pregnancy, twins

In February 1891, a Mr Lee Viner of London sued Ernest Franks, a travelling salesman from Fulham, for the seduction of his teenaged daughter, Maud.

According to testimony given by Franks and others, Maud Franks had caught his eye at a metropolitan railway station. She was 18 while Franks was 66 and married. He obtained Maud’s address and later sent her notes and presents, asking for a meeting. When she agreed, he took her to an oyster house off Oxford Street.

The seduction occurred after Franks bought her oysters, champagne and brandy and soda. The end result of this liaison was that Maud Viner fell pregnant and delivered twins. According to one press report, the presiding judge said that:

“..the proceedings in this case were about the most foolish he had ever heard of. Nothing could be more ridiculous than for an old man like the defendant to go trotting about after a young girl like the plaintiff’s daughter. It had been stated in evidence that the defendant caught a cold while looking for the young girl at the Empire [Club]. It served him right. It would have been a good thing if he had caught a few more colds in such discreditable adventures.”

The jury found for the plaintiff, Mr Viner, who was awarded damages of 100 pounds. The fate of Maud Franks and her illegitimate twins is unknown.

Source: Various, inc. Liverpool Mercury, February 9th 1891. Content on this page is © Alpha History 2019-23. Content may not be republished without our express permission. For more information please refer to our Terms of Use or contact Alpha History.

1671: John Bold passes water in a Wigan well

John Bold was one of Wigan’s naughtier historical residents. According to the records of Wigan’s Court Leet, he appeared several times before local magistrates during the late 17th century. Bold was twice sued for assault, first by Robert Casson in 1669 and again by William Scott three years later. In 1670 Bold was bound over and ordered to behave appropriately, after residents testified that he had assaulted Peter Leigh and abused Richard Markland and his wife.

Bold was also accused of swearing ten times at the Mayor of Wigan. He appeared again in 1671, after four witnesses testified that:

“John Bold, gentleman, did in a very rude, foul and beastly manner abuse the stone well in the Wallgate by pissing in the same, to the great loss and detriment of the neighbourhood…”

Source: Leet Records, Wigan, rolls 32-34 (1669-72). Content on this page is © Alpha History 2019-23. Content may not be republished without our express permission. For more information please refer to our Terms of Use or contact Alpha History.

1884: Joe Quimby shoots his wife, gets a governor’s pardon

In March 1884, several newspapers reported that a West Virginia man, Joe Quimby, had shot dead his wife while drunk:

Quimby was duly charged with murder. In September, he appeared before a Mason County judge and was sentenced to 15 years’ hard labour. But in October 1891 Quimby, then less than halfway into his sentence, was given a governor’s pardon that generated considerable controversy at the time.

According to the papers of West Virginia governor Aretas B. Fleming, Quimby was pardoned on vague medical grounds because he “only hobbles about the place [the prison] doing nothing”. Quimby’s pardon was granted against the express wishes of the prison superintendent.

Source: Jamestown Weekly Alert, March 14th 1884; Public Papers of A. B. Fleming, October 23rd 1891. Content on this page is © Alpha History 2019-23. Content may not be republished without our express permission. For more information please refer to our Terms of Use or contact Alpha History.

1617: William Zane too free with his private member

In 1617, Somerset magistrates heard several charges against William Zane, a horse-breaker from the village of Long Sutton, near Somerton. Zane had committed a series of public indecencies involving women and young girls. The worst of these was the seduction of Ann West, with whom he had fornicated after promising marriage. He later collected a ten pound dowry from her parents.

According to testimony, their sexual affair was revealed when Zane arrived at the West home and:

“..called for Ann West, she being then at the street door, and because she came not presently unto him, he came forth to her and pulled her into the chamber by the arm, then having his private members showing out of his breeches.”

This was not the first time Zane had been free with his genital endowments. Several weeks earlier he:

“..came into the house of William Parsons, being one of his neighbours, finding the wife of William sitting at her work, drawed out his private member and laid it upon her shoulder and wished aloud that her shoulder was another thing…”

On another occasion, Zane thrust his hand under the skirts of a young girl, making her cry. When the girl’s mother confronted Zane in public and dressed him down, he responded by sneaking into her yard and soiling her clean washing with “filthy ordure and dung of people”.

The magistrates found Zane guilty and sentenced him to a series of public whippings. He was also ordered to repay the ten pounds to Ann West’s parents and to pay two shillings a week for the upkeep of her child. Ann West was also sentenced to a whipping for premarital fornication.

Source: Somerset Quarter Session Rolls, n.27, 1617. Content on this page is © Alpha History 2019-23. Content may not be republished without our express permission. For more information please refer to our Terms of Use or contact Alpha History.

1900: Harry Potter – bully, thief, hobby horse rider

In January 1900, a Chester Castle magistrate heard a charge of theft laid against Harry Potter, described as “a respectable boy of eleven”. According to the prosecution, Harry Potter had accosted and robbed a much smaller boy named Joseph Goodwin:

“Goodwin, who was only seven years of age, was sent on Thursday by his mother to buy some groceries, and was given [three shillings and sixpence] to pay for them… Potter asked him if he had any money [and] without further parley put his hand in Goodwin’s pocket, bringing out two shillings in silver. With his plunder Potter then took his departure… spending the money upon bottles of ginger beer and trips on hobby horses, etc.”

Harry Potter pleaded guilty to the charge and the magistrate sentenced him to “six strokes of the birch rod”, expressing his hope that this would “have a salutary effect upon him.”

Source: The Cheshire Observer, January 13th 1900. Content on this page is © Alpha History 2019-23. Content may not be republished without our express permission. For more information please refer to our Terms of Use or contact Alpha History.

1864: George Harrison’s costly ferry ride

In 1864, George Harrison of Liverpool took a Ferry ‘Cross the Mersey – without a Ticket to Ride – and found himself before the beak in Birkenhead:

Source: Liverpool Mercury, August 25th 1864. Content on this page is © Alpha History 2019-23. Content may not be republished without our express permission. For more information please refer to our Terms of Use or contact Alpha History.