William Frederick Horry

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William Frederick Horry , also Fred Horry (born December 17, 1843 in Boston (Lincolnshire) , † April 1, 1872 in Lincoln ), was the first murderer to be executed by William Marwood , the later executioner of London, and the first to be with the Long fall method was hanged. Horry was hanged at Lincoln Castle in Lincoln , England , at the age of 28 for the murder of his wife Jane Horry on April 1, 1872 .

prehistory

Fred Horry was born in Boston to brewers William Horry and Elizabeth Bland. He had two younger siblings, Thomas and Hannah. After school he did an apprenticeship at the Parker Brewery in Burslem. He stayed at the George Hotel on Nile Street, where he met his future wife, Jane, who worked there. After getting married in early 1867, the couple took over the George Hotel in Burslem, Staffordshire with £ 800 support from Fred's father . By early 1871, the couple had become estranged over Horry's alcoholism and allegations of Jane's alleged infidelity. Horry continued to live at the hotel while Jane and her three children moved to Boston to live with Horry's father in March. Horry had tried to visit his family, but due to his abusive behavior, he was barred from further visits. Unable to run the business on his own, he sold the hotel and moved to Nottingham . In 1872 Horry unsuccessfully asked his wife one last time to return to him with the children. He then traveled to Nottingham on Saturday, January 13, 1872, bought a revolver and ammunition, and returned to Boston the following day to murder his wife. After two unsuccessful visits to his father's house, he met Jane on the afternoon of January 14th and shot her. He then allowed himself to be arrested without resistance. On January 15, a first questioning by the coroner took place in which Horry confessed everything.

judgment

Assize Court, Lincoln Castle

During the trial in the Assize Court at Lincoln Castle on March 13, 1872, Horry pleaded temporary insanity due to his alcoholism and excessive jealousy, but prosecutors successfully argued that the crime had been planned and carried out willfully. He was sentenced to death by hanging on Easter Monday, April 1st, and was held in a cell at Lincoln Castle pending execution.

The murder and the impending execution not only met with great local interest, national newspapers such as The Times also reported on the trial. During the executions, pamphlets with bloody details of the crimes that the convict had been accused of were often sold to the public who had gathered to watch. In connection with Horry's conviction, the leaflet informed of a “sad and terrible tragedy in Boston, Lincoln County, that occurred in January. A young man, William Frederick Horry, with feelings of jealousy in his chest, cruelly murdered his dear wife. On Monday he went to his father's house and at three o'clock in the afternoon he shot his wife with a revolver when she came into the dining room. "

You feeling Christians pay attention,
And for one moment list to me.
While unto you I'm going to mention,
A sad and dreadful tragedy,
At Boston, in the county of Lincoln,
As no doubt you must have heard,
Of the sad case I now mention,
Which in January has occurred.
O list to the Boston crime with sorrow,
And your pity I now crave,

For the sake of poor Jane Horry,
Who now lies in her lonely grave.
A young man, William Frederick Horry,
With jealous feeling in his breast,
His darling wife he cruelly murdered,
O let us hope she is now at rest.
He went to his father's house on Mondy
And at three o'clock in the afternoon,
With a revolver he shot his wife dead,
As she was entering the dining room.

execution

William Marwood, before 1883

William Marwood , a cobbler from Horncastle , had never hanged anyone before, or assisted in an execution, but convinced Lincoln authorities to use a new method of hanging through the long case he had developed . The governor and the sheriff were empowered to choose an executioner themselves, since at that time there was no Prison Commission to appoint officially appointed executioners. Marwood hoped his method would be a more humane killing than the standard case practiced for centuries, as the rope length was measured based on height and weight so that the delinquent quickly died of a broken neck instead of suffocation. The new gallows with trap door was erected in the courtyard behind the Assize Court. The execution went without complications and Marwood subsequently hanged 176 more people using this method, after he had been appointed executioner of London and Middlesex in 1874 .

Graves of convicted criminals in the Lucy Tower of Lincoln Castle

Horry was buried in a simple grave in the Lucy Tower of Lincoln Castle, along with many other criminals' graves. The tombstone, which only bears the initials of the convict and the date of death, is well preserved.

Horry's friends donated a tomb for him and his wife Jane in Burslem, Staffordshire, which is a cenotaph , at least as far as the husband is concerned, since he is not buried there. The well-preserved granite obelisk bears the names and dates of the married couple in the middle part, along with a motto, and the following inscription on the base: This monolith was erected in affectionate remembrance of the above named WF Horry by his Staffordshire friends. (This monolith was erected in loving memory of the aforementioned WF Horry by his friends from Staffordshire).

literature

  • Navdeep Rehill: William Frederick Horry . In: Britain's Heroes and Villains . Grosvenor House Publishing, 2013, ISBN 1781488223 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
  • J. Dodsley: Annual Register - A Revue of Public Events at Home and Abroad, for the year 1872 . Rivingtons, London, 1873, p. 19 ( limited preview in Google book search).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b William Frederick Horry - History in the making . www.capitalpunishmentuk.org. Retrieved January 13, 2013.
  2. ^ The English Hangmen 1850-1964 . www.capitalpunishmentuk.org. Retrieved January 13, 2013.
  3. ^ North Staffordshire Coalfield: William Frederick Horry (1843–1872) . Retrieved March 23, 2015
  4. ^ The Times, January 18, 1872; January 23, 1872; March 14, 1872; March 25, 1872; April 2, 1872; April 5, 1872, on www.robshistory.co.uk ( September 20, 2014 memento on the Internet Archive )
personal data
SURNAME Horry, William Frederick
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Horry, Fred
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British killer
DATE OF BIRTH December 17, 1843
PLACE OF BIRTH Boston (Lincolnshire)
DATE OF DEATH April 1, 1872
Place of death Lincoln