No More Learning

Upon this, greatly to her surprise, he related to the
whole company the following remarkable particulars : " While I was on-shore at Genoa, there was a Dutch man, a brother tar, of that very same name, under close confinement in the city, for having wounded
with his sneeker-snee, not only a native of the place,
REMARKABLE PERSONS. 187
but a gentleman of some distinction, so desperately, that after lingering in dreadful agonies for four days he died. As Summs was a particular acquaintance, myself, and three or four of my ship-mates, agreed to pay him a visit, to condole with him under his misfor tunes. When we got to the prison-door, and desired admittance, one of the keepers introduced us to our friend's gloomy habitation, where he lay in a very de
jected posture on the ground, with his head re clining upon his hand ; he raised himself, and saluted us in English; upon which we began to in quire into the grounds of the quarrel, and the cause of
his confinement. This he waved giving any particu lar account of; but said :—. ' My dear friends, I am con scious that I carried my resentment too far, and that death awaits me, as a punishment for my crime; It is not this, however, that renders me so dejected, so restless and uneasy ; — I have still a blacker crime to answer for, which haunts me every hour of my life. I am by extraction a Dutchman, my name James Summs ; and business calling me to London a few
years ago, I resided in Wapping for some consider able time. In this interval I paid my addresses to a young woman, whose name was Hannah Snell, and
qeorge ii. ]
188 MEMOIRS OF [georgb n.
was very successful and happy, as I then imagined, in my amours. In short, I married her; and, in pro cess of time, finding her with child, my love abated ; and, contrary to the ties of humanity, and the duty of a husband, I left her helpless and destitute of all the conveniences of life ; and for aught I know to the contrary, murdered her. But I hope all of you will be so charitable as to make inquiry after my poor distressed wife, and to acquaint her, if ever you should see her, that the thoughts of death do not distract my mind half so much as the conviction of the distress to which I so inhumanly exposed her; that I sincerely repent as much of my sin against her, as of that, in particular, which my life is to atone for, though my
crime, it is true, is of the deepest stain ; and could I
but hope she would pardon and forgive me, I should
die in peace. '
" After the fullest assurances that we would make
all the inquiries, and report him as he wished, we shook him by the hand, and took our last farewell. — Not one of us ever saw him after that melancholy visit ; but were informed, however, that he was not executed publicly, as malefactors are in London, but that he was sewed up in a large bag, in which was a
REMARKABLE PERSONS. 189
sufficient quantity of stones to make him sink, and then thrown headlong into the sea. "
Hannah listened with the utmost attention to this melancholy tale ; and, pondering on every little inci dent, she found the circumstances all concurred so far as to leave no question of the murderer being her unhappy husband ; and, on withdrawing from her
company, indulged in her grief for the untimely fate of the wretched partner of her bed.
Our adventurer went from Lisbon, the 3d of May, on-board the Eltham ; and, on the 1st of June follow ing, arrived, with the rest of her ship-mates, safe at Spithead. Overjoyed at the sight once more of her
native country, she went on-shore the very day of her arrival ; and took lodgings, together with several of her comrades, at the sign of the Jolly Marine and Sailor, in Portsmouth. The various adventures in this woman's life, until her return to her brother-in- law's house, in Wapping, where she was kindly wel comed, would furnish sufficient materials to fill a volume.
She now threw off her male attire, and resumed the petticoats ; and her story, and the wounds she had received in the King's service, induced some of her friends to present a petition in her favor to his Royal
vol. iv. 2 c
oeorge ii. ]
MEMOIRS OF [george n.
Highness the Duke of Cumberland, who procured a pension to be settled on her of one shilling per day for life.
Hannah Snell performed and sung several songs at the theatre in Godman's-fields, and died at the age of 56, in the year 1779-
JOHN SWAN & ELIZ. JEFFRYES.
George ii. ] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 191
Mr. Jeffries, at one time a capital butcher in London, retired to Walthamstow, in Essex, to live on his fortune ; and, being a widower, without chil dren, had taken his niece, Elizabeth Jeffries, to reside with him.
John Swan was brought up to the occupation of husbandry, and was engaged in the service of Mr. Jeffries, after having lived with several other persons.
A dreadful outcry being heard at Walthamstow, about two o'clock in the morning of the 3d of July, 1751, Mr. Buckle, a near neighbour of Mr. Jeffries,
awaked his wife, who said, "it is Miss Jeffries'
Mrs. Buckle, then going to the window, said, " There is Miss Jeffries in her shift, without shoe or stocking, at a neighbour's door. " On asking
the cause of her strange appearance at that unusual hour ? she exclaimed, " Oh ! they have killed him, they have killed him, I fear. " Desiring her to cover herself, she entreatingly said, " Don't mind me ; see
after my uncle. " Mr. Buckle went immediately to 2c2
tongue. "
192 MEMOIRS OF [george ii.
the house, and the door was opened to him by Swan. The first object was Mr. Jeffries lying on his right side, having three wounds on the uppermost part of his head. The visitor taking him by the hand, said, " My name is Edward Buckle ; if you cannot speak, signify to me on which Jeffries squeezed him by the hand. Some hours after this, Miss Jeffries de sired Mr. Buckle to send information through the country of the murder of her uncle, with an account of such effects as had been stolen ; which a Mrs. Martin said were, a silver-tankard, a silver-cup, and fifteen pewter-plates. Mr. Buckle said, " If I could light on Matthews, I would take him up. " No, said Miss Jeffries, do not meddle with him, for you will bring me into trouble, and yourself too, in so doing. Matthews, however, was taken into custody, and from his apprehension, and other circumstances, the following facts came to light. Having travelled from Yorkshire, in search of work, he was acci dentally met on Epping-forest by Mr. Jeffries, who, seeing him in distress, took him home to work as an assistant to Swan in the garden : the agreement being that he should have no wages, but his food only as
. ■, *' After he had been four days in this service, Miss
a gratuity.
george h. ] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 193 Jeffries sent him up stairs to wipe a chest of drawers
said,
would tell him. Swan being in the garden, Matthews went to him, and told his message ; on which Swan smiled, took him to an out-house, and promised, if he would knock the old miser, his master, on the head, he would give him 100/. Two days afterwards, Mr. Jeffries dismissed Matthews from his service, and gave him a shilling ; and Swan, about the same time, gave him half-a-guinea to purchase a brace of pistols, to murder their master.
Matthews being possessed of this cash, went to the Green Man at Low Layton, where he spent all his money, and then proceeded towards London, when, being overtaken on the road by Swan, the
latter asked him where he was going ? Matthews said to London : on which the other took him to Mr. Gall's, the Green Man and Bell, in Whitechapel, where they drank freely till night ; and, Swan being intoxicated, swore he would fight the best man in the house for a guinea. He likewise pulled off his great coat, and threw it on the fire; but the landlord taking
and some chairs; but presently following
" what will you do, if a person gave you a hundred pounds ;" he said, " any thing in an honest way;"
on which she desired him to go to Swan, and he
194 MEMOIRS OF [george n.
it off, and finding it very heavy, searched the pockets, in which he found a brace of pistols. This circum stance giving rise to unfavorable suspicions, both the men were lodged in the round-house for that night; and, being carried before Sir Samuel Gower the next day, he committed them to Clerkenwell Bridewell,
as disorderly persons.
Miss Jeffries being made acquainted with their
situation, gave bail for their appearance; and they all went to Gall's house, in Whitechapel, where she upbraided Matthews with bringing Swan into dif ficulty. He denied that he had done so ; on which she gave him a shilling, and desired Swan to tell him to meet them at the Yorkshire Grey, at Stratford. Matthews went as agreed upon, but found only Swan there, who gave him half-a-crown, and bade him meet him at six the next morning, at the Buck, on Epping-forest. This he did, and, by appointment,
came to Walthamstow on the Tuesday at ten o'clock at night.
following,
When Matthews arrived, he found the garden-door on the latch, and going into the pantry, hid himself behind a tub till about eleven o'clock, when Swan brought him some cold boiled beef. About twelve Miss Jeffries and Swan came to him ; when the latter
oeorge ii>] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 195
said, " Now it is time to knock the old miser, my master, on the head. " Matthews relented, and said, " I cannot find in my heart to do it ;" to which Miss Jeffries replied," You may be damned for a villain, for
Matthews,
Soon after this Matthews heard the report of a pistol; when, getting out of the house by the back way, he crossed the ferry, and proceeded to Enfield-chase.
It has been mentioned, that Miss Jeffries was found in her shift, after the commission of the murder. We have now to add, that she screamed out " Diaper ! Diaper ! for God's sake, help ! murder I fire ! thieves ! " The neighbour, Mr. Diaper, saw Miss Jeffries half-way out of her window, endeavouring to get down. Mr. Diaper and a Mr. Clarke entered the house, and searched diligently ; but could find no traces of any person having quitted the premises,
as there was a dew on the grass, which did not appear to be disturbed. Swan went to fetch Mr. Forbes, a
not performing your promise. "
provided with pistols, likewise damned
and said he had a mind to blow his brains out for the refusal. Swan then produced a book, and in sisted that Matthews should swear that he would not discover what had passed ; which he did, with this reserve, " not unless it was to save his own life. "
Swan, who was
196 MEMOIRS OP [george n.
surgeon, at Woodford, who observed congealed blood in the room, and examined the wounds, which, on the
trial, he declared to have been mortal. Swan appeared much frightened at the time; and said, he wished that he had died with his master, for that he would have lost his own life to have saved him. As there appeared no marks of any person having been in the house, but those belonging to the family, violent sus picions began to arise. Mr. Jeffries died in great
agonies, at eight o'clock on the following evening. Miss Jeffries was taken into custody on suspicion, and examined by two magistrates, to whom she
confessed that she heard the report of a pistol, and found her uncle murdered. No evidence arising to criminate her, she proved her uncle's will at Doctor's Commons, and took possession of his estate ; but the coroner's inquest having sat on the body, and some further circumstances of doubt arising, she and Swan were committed to prison ; and bills of indictment being found against them, they were put to the bar, and their counsel moved for an immediate trial. This was opposed by the counsel for the prosecution , on account of the absence of Matthews, who, it was presumed, would become a material evidence. The counsel on both sides used all the arguments in their
ceorge ii. ]
power; but the trial was deferred till the following assizes. In the interim, Mr. Gall, of the public-house in Whitechapel, resolved, if possible, to take Mat thews into custody ; and, conversing with one Mr. Smith, he told him that he had seen Matthews come out of the India-house ; when, on inquiry, it was found that he had engaged to enter into the service of the East-India Company, and was at a house in Abel's-buildings, Rosemary-lane. Being taken into custody on a warrant, he was admitted an evidence for the crown, and the trial of Swan and Jeffries came
on at Chelmsford, on the 11th of March, 1752, before
Judge Wright.
Miss Jeffries fainted repeatedly during the trial,
and was once in fits for the space of half-an-hour. The evidence of Matthews was exceedingly clear ; and many corroborative circumstances arising, the
jury found the culprits guilty, and they received sentence of death. After conviction, Miss Jeffries acknowledged the justice of her sentence ; and said, she had deliberated on the murder for two years past, but could find no opportunity of getting it executed, till she engaged Swan in the business; and they
jointly offered Matthews money to perpetrate it. Swan, for some time, expressed great resentment at
VOL. IV. 2 D
REMARKABLE PERSONS. 197
198 MEMOIRS OF [geobge n.
Miss Jeffries' confession ; but when he learnt that he was to be hung in chains, he began to relent, and seemed at length to behold his crime in its true light of enormity. On the day of execution they left the prison at four in the morning, Miss Jeffries being placed in a cart, and Swan on a sledge. The un happy woman had frequent fits during the journey ; but, before she came to the place of execution, her spirits became more composed. Swan appeared to be a real penitent, and joined with the utmost ear nestness in the prayers of the clergyman who attended them. Miss Jeffries told the clergyman, that she
had been seduced by her uncle, while his wife was living, and that he had given her medicines to procure abortion at two different times ; though, for the truth of this we have no evidence but her own declaration. She fainted just before she was tied up, nor had she recovered when the cart drew away.
They were executed near the six mile-stone, on Epping-forest, on the 28th of March, 1752 ; and the body of Miss Jeffries having been delivered to her friends for interment, the gibbet was removed to another part of the forest, where Swan was hung in chains.
Miss Jeffries and her uncle had not lived on the
george n. ] REMARKABLE PERSONS.
199
best terms for some time ; he frequently expressed himself displeased with her conduct, and the day fol lowing the murder, it was Mr. Jeffries' intention to have made a considerable alteration in his will, in favor of a daughter-in-law, named Martin, and to have provided for her and her family ; this, in all probability, acce lerated the fatal catastrophe. Miss Jeffries confessed
she went into her uncle's room to see if he were asleep, and took a silver-tankard, a silver-cup, and some silver- spoons, from off a chest of drawers ; and with Swan went into the kitchen and took some pewter and brass
utensils off the shelves, which they put in a new sack, for Swan to conceal, in order to give colour to a
supposed robbery of the house.
foe MEMOIRS OF £geobge h,
John TayLor having had the fortune to perform a few successful cures in disorders of the eye, became so puffed up with pride and vanity, that he consi dered himself superior to any operator or physician of his time : nor was his son the least inferior to his father in conceit. The latter resided many years in Hatton-garden, and followed his father's profession
of an oculist, with considerable reputation. In the
1761, Mr. Taylor published the life of his father, with the following pompous title :—
" The Life and extraordinary History of the Chevalier John Taylor, Member of the most cele brated Academies, Universities, and Societies of the Learned —Chevalier in several of the first Courts in
the World—Illustrious (by patent) in the apartments of many of the greatest Princes —Opthalmiater, Pon tifical, Imperial, and Royal — to his late Majesty —to the Pontifical Court — to the Person of her Imperial Majesty —to the Kings of Poland, Denmark, Sweden,
year
JOANNE S TAYL OR, memcus, In Optica expertissimus.
eEOBGE n. ] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 201
&c. — to the several Electors of the Holy Empire —to the Royal Infant Duke of Parma — to the Prince of Saxe-Gotha, Serenissima, brother to her Royal Highness the Princess Dowager of Wales — to the Prince Royal of Poland—to the late Prince of Orange — to the present Princes of Bavaria, Modena, Lorrain, Brunswick, Anspach, Bareith, Liege, Salts-
Hesse-Cassel, Holstein, Zerbst, Georgia, &c. — Citizen of Rome, by a public Act in
the name of the Senate and People —Fellow of that College of Physicians —Professor in Optics—Doctor in Medicine and Doctor in Chirurgery, in several Universities abroad — who has been on his Travels
upwards of thirty years with little or no interruption, during which, he has not only been several times in
every town in these kingdoms, but in every kingdom, province, state, and city of the least consideration — in every court — presented to every crowned head and Sovereign Prince in all Europe ; without exception, containing the greatest variety of the most entertain
ing and interesting adventures, that, it is presumed, has ever yet been published in any country, or in any
language. "
Notwithstanding this bombastic puff and quackery,
bourg, Middlebourg,
802 MEMOIRS OF [geobse it.
the work is nothing more than a farrago of nonsense, drawn up in the style of a novel, in which it appears he deserted his wife for eight years, and involved his son in 200/. expense by the perplexity of his affairs. By way of advertisement, the chevalier thus addresses his son :—" My Son, if you should unguardedly have suffered your name at the head of a work, which must make us all contemptible, this must be printed in as the best apology for yourself and father —
" TO THE PRINTER.
" My dear and only son having respectfully re presented to me that he has composed work entitled My Life and Adventures, and requires my consent for its publication notwithstanding, am as yet a stranger to the composition, and, consequently, can be no judge of its merit; am so well persuaded that my son every way incapable of saying ought of his father but what must redound to his honor and reputation and, so perfectly convinced of the goodness of his heart, that does not seem possible should err in my judgment, by giving my consent to the publication of the said work. And, as have long been employed in writing my own Life and Adventures, which will,
is it
:■
I
IIa
;
; I
it,
ik]
REMARKABLE PERSONS. 208
with all expedition, be published, it will be hereafter left with all due attention to the candid reader, whether the life of the father written by the son, or the life of the father written by himself, best deserves approbation.
" The Chevalier Taylor, Ophthalmiator, Pontifical, Imperial, and Royal.
" Oxford, Jan. 10, 176 1. "
" The above is a true copy of the letter my father sent me. All the answer I can make to the bills he sends about the town and country, is, that I have maintained my mother these eight years, and do at this present time ; and that, two years since, I was concerned in his affairs, for which I have paid near
200/. , as witness my hand,
"John Taylor, Oculist
" Hatton Garden, May 25, 1761. "
The Chevalier Taylor was son of an apothecary, residing at Norwich, where he was born. His father dying before he was six years old, he was left wholly to the care of his mother, a very careful, honest, and
industrious woman, who continued the business of her husband, by which means she supported herself and three young children. At the age of nineteen
204 MEMOIRS OP [georgb ii.
she sent the Chevalier to London, giving him thirty
to open his way into St. Thomas's Hospi tal, as a student in surgery, where he practised under
guineas
Cheselden, from whom he received the first rudiments of his art as an oculist.
Having arrived at the age of twenty-one, and tole rably well-skilled as a surgeon, he returned to Nor wich ; but was surprised and mortified to find the family-mansion, as he called mortgaged, by his mother, to defray the charges of his own brother's education.
the celebrated
He managed, however, to raise 200/. by the sale of the premises, and opened fine shop in Norwich, supplied with drugs of all sorts, from London, with an
stone, &c. &c. He had promised his mother moiety of the 200/. , but fine furniture and other expenses swept away the whole; and before the doctor could open in form, he was attended with more creditors than patients. Cutting for the stone he soon laid down, as his first attempt in that way proved unsuccessful, though the process was allowed, by good judges, to be well pursued. Though he
had at this time several pupils, who brought him round sum, yet his profuse way of living, in less
apparatus for cutting for the
in a
a
a
it,
ceorge ii. ] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 205
than six months, drove him into sanctuary, where he remained till his creditors could be prevailed on to sign a letter of license. He married a very agreeable woman, but without money ; and, during his retire ment, he got two wenches with child, while his wife was busy abroad conciliating his creditors. One of the girls was brought to bed about a fortnight before the other, and he found it no small difficulty to give security to the parish-officers. He persuaded the other, after her lying-in, being now upon the verge of a decampment, to put on boys' clothes, attend him as his page, and fly off with him to Holland ; which she did. But an accident there discovered her sex, which obliged the doctor to send her packing home again, the laws in Holland being very severe against such masqueradings.
The life of the Chevalier Taylor abounds in lewd tales of his amorous intrigues ; and is written in a vein of satire, rather exposing to censure the actions of his father, than placing them in a favorable light. The desertion of his mother, and the money he states to have expended on the chevalier's affairs,
gave rise to family quarrels.
Noticing the birth of his father, he says, " Between the hours of eleven and one, on the sixteenth day of
VOL. iv. 2 E
probably
206 MEMOIRS OF [geobge ii.
August, one thousand seven hundred and three, did nature and the midwife give our matchless hero to the world ; the sun and his mother being in labour at the same time, he travelling through an eclipse, and
she in travail of the illustrious doctor, who, at one instant with the sun, began to break out from dark ness, and, as the parish-records testify, came rushing into light with him. "
The younger Taylor's life of the Chevalier, proves him rather to have been a mere mountebank than a skilful operator ; and that, for the purpose of decep tion, he trained a man to act the part of a person blind ; but at Oxford the collusion was discovered, when the doctor and his confederate were put to flight,
with shame and disgrace*
The Chevalier Taylor died in 1772, aged sixty-
. '-,. i; -■-. . /
nine
-
George Taylor.
george ii. ] REMARKABLE PERSONS.
*■i i
207
•. ) 1
-
*— - . . . .
.
,
George Castor, 1
PUGILIST.
George Taylor, known by the name of George the Barber, sprang up surprisingly ; he beat all the chief boxers of his time, except Broughton, whom he very injudiciously challenged before he had attempted
■>
was, he was obliged very soon to give in. It was certainly an ill-advised and wrong step in him to commence boxer by fighting the standing champion ; for Taylor was not then twenty, and Broughton was in the zenith of his age and art. After this trial, in which he was himself with others ; but never had the temerity to engage
again with Broughton.
George Taylor was a strong able man, who, with a
skill extraordinary, aided by his knowledge of the back-sword, and a remarkable judgment in the cross- buttock fall, was able to contest with most of his
one of less celebrity ; the consequence
signally defeated, he greatly distinguished
opponents.
But Captain John Godfrey, in his 2e2
208 MEMOIRS OF [george n.
" Treatise on the Science of Defence," was of opinion, that he was not overstocked with that necessary ingre dient of a boxer, called a good bottom ; and suspected that blows, of equal strength with his own, too much affected and disconcerted him in many of his fights.
He, however, on most occasions, came off victo rious ; and Death, the great conqueror of all, closed his career on the 21st of February, 1750.
george ii. ] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 209
COMMONLY CALLED THE STRONG MAN.
Thomas Topham was born in London, about the
His father was a carpenter, and brought his son up to the same business, which he followed until he was about twenty-four years of age ; when, having saved a little money, he took a public-house, the sign of the Red Lion, at the corner of the City- road, opposite St. Luke's Hospital. Here he might have done well, and have saved money ; but his wife, from her coquettish behaviour, caused them to lead a very unhappy life ; and he, in consequence, neglect ing the business of his house, shortly failed .
He had often displayed amazing proofs of his strength ; and necessity now prompted him to adopt some plan whereby he might turn this qualification to account ; to which purpose he proposed to perform in public such feats as astonished every one who heard of the undertaking; doubting the thing as im possible to accomplish. His first public exhibition
year 1710.
210 MEMOIRS OF [ceorge 11.
was in Moorfields, where he opposed his own personal strength against that of a young and vigorous horse, which he accomplished, by placing his feet against the dwarf-wall, dividing Upper from the Lower Moor fields; nor could the whipping and urging the horse on, remove Topham from his position, but he com- pletly kept the animal in restraint by his powerful hold. Heafterwards pulled against two horses, but as his legs were placed horizontally, instead of rising parallel to the traces of the horse, he was jerked from his seat, and had one of his knees much bruised and hurt. By t\\e strength of his fingers he rolled up a very strong and large pewter dish ; and broke seven or eight short pieces of a tobacco-pipe by the force of his middle finger, having laid them on his first and third. He thrust the bowl of a strong tobacco-pipe under his garters, and his legs being bent, he broke it
to pieces by the tendons of his hams. —Another bowl
of this kind he broke between his first and second
finger, by pressing them together sideways. — He lifted a table six feet long, with half-a-hundred weight hanging at the end of holding in an horizontal position, with his teeth, considerable time. —These, and many other feats of strength, he exhibited at the price of one shilling admission for each person.
a
it,
it
cteoKbtaih]
REMARKABLE PERSONS. 211
" When- «t' Derby,- he applied to Alderman Cooper forpermission to display the different feats he pro posed;- : The alderman was surprised at his perform- aftce> and requested him to strip, that he might examine whether he was made like other men; when he disco
vered, that the usual cavities under the arms and hams of others were in him supplied with ligaments.
The injury he received from the two horses caused
him to limp a little in his walk. He was a well-made
man, but had nothing singular in his appearance. — The performances he exhibited at Derby, where the rolling up of a pewter-dish, of seven pounds weight, with as much apparent ease as a man rolls up a sheet of paper ; holding a pewter quart-pot at arm's length, and squeezing the sides together like an egg-shell ; lifting two hundred weight with his little finger, and moving it gently over his head : he also broke a rope fastened to the floor, that would have sustained twenty hundred weight. Holding11TM his teeth a piece of leather fixed to one end of an oak-table, which had
half-a-hundred weight suspended to and with two of the feet resting upon his knees, he raised the end with the weight higher than the part he held near his mouth. Mr. Chambers, vicar of All Saints, in Derby, who weighed twenty-seven stone, he took and raised
it,
212 MEMOIRS OP [GEORGE II.
with one hand, his head being laid on one chair, and his feet on another. Four persons, of fourteen stone each, sat upon Topham's body, and these he heaved at
At a blow he struck a round bar of iron, one inch in diameter, against his naked arm, and bent it like a bow. Knowing a little of music, he enter tained the company at Derby with Mad Tom; he also sung a solo, accompanied on the organ in St.
pleasure.
church ; and though he performed it with judgment, yet his voice seemed infinitely more terrible than mellow, and, in some instances, scarcely human. The ostler at the Virgin-inn, where Topham lodged, having insulted him, he took one of the spits from the kitchen mantle-piece, bent it round his neck
like a handkerchief, and left the ends sticking out; the man appeared so awkward in his iron cravat, as to excite the mirth and laughter of all who saw the in cumbrance he laboured under ; nor could he extricate himself until Topham condescended to relieve him. But these were only the common-place performances, when he went about purposely to exhibit; by way of frolic he would accomplish more surprising feats. — One night, observing a watchman fast asleep in his box, in Chiswell-street, he took both, and carrying
the load with the greatest ease, dropped the watch
Werburgh's
REMARKABLE PERSONS. 213
'man, box and all, over the wall of Tindall's burying- ground, leaving the man to extricate himself as well as he could. Sitting once at the window of a public- house, in the same street, a butcher going by from a slaughter-house, with nearly half an ox upon his back, Topham relieved him of his load, with so much ease and dexterity, that the fellow astonished, swore nothing
but the devil could have flown away with the beef. Observing some bricklayers removing part of a scaf
fold, previous to striking from small building, he, towards assisting them, grasped hold of one of the poles so rudely, that part of the front wall followed his Herculean tug the fellows conceiving had been
the effects of an earthquake, ran without looking be hind them into an adjoining field. Mr. Topham's joke had nearly proved of serious consequence, for one
of the poles in falling hurt him severely on his side.
gborgb ii. ]
an acquaintance of his on-board West Indiaman, in the river, and being presented
with cocoa-nut, he astonished one of the sailors by
Accompanying
close to his ear, with the same ease as we crack an egg-shell. A race taking place on the Hackney-road, fellow, with horse and cart, an
noyed the spectators much, by attempting to keep close to the contending parties; Topham, who was
VOL. IV.
cracking
2 F
it, a
a
a
a it
a
:
a
it
214 MEMOIRS OF [oborgbii.
into the road, seized the tail of the cart, and, in spite of all the fellow's exertions, in whipping his horse to get forward, drew them both back, with the greatest ease possible, to the
mortification of the man, who would have resented the indignity, but was naturally dismayed. At the
time he kept a public-house, two fellows, extremely quarrelsome, could not be appeased without fighting the landlord. Topham, to satisfy their desire, seized them both by the nape of the neck, and knocked their heads together, till they were perfectly sensible of their error, and very humbly begged his pardon.
But the greatest of all his exploits was performed in Bath-street, Cold-bath-fields, on the 28th of May, 1741, when, in honor of Admiral Vernon's taking
of Porto-Bello, he lifted three hogsheads of water,
weighing 1,836 pounds, in the presence of some thousands of persons.
The levity of his wife, and her illicit attachment to another person, were the source of much uneasiness to him; and, unfortunately, becoming the slave to
jealous passions, in a fit of frenzy, after beating her very severely, he put a period to his own existence, in the very flower of his age, not having completed,
his thirty-third year.
present, stepped
oeorob ». ] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 215
The impression he left on the minds of the people
in London was such, that his portrait,
some one or other of his feats, was painted on various
the metropolis ; there were many remaining, even up to the year 1 800 ; one in particular, over a public-house near the May-pole, in East
Smithfield, representing him in the act of pulling against two dray-horses.
signs throughout
displaying
2f2
216 MEMOIRS OF [otOROB n.
This Frenchman was master of a smuggling-vessel, that conveyed to the different shores of England con traband and exciseable articles; which, from the heavy customs imposed on them, rendered it a most profit
able trade to those who could, with impunity, import them free of duty. In one of these illicit trips, from Boulogne to the coast of Kent, while his vessel was hovering near Margate, for the purpose of landing his commodities as secret as possible, it was observed by some pilots, and mistaken for a ship in distress. To this end, and with a view of rendering any assistance that might be wanting, several of these pilots took a
boat, and made towards the vessel. De-la-Tour, conceiving them to be officers of the customs, with out any warning whatever, fired several shots into the boat, which killed one man, and desperately
wounded two others ; and then, without attempting to make a landing, stood out to sea.
On the boat's return to the land, with the dead body and wounded men, the survivors reported the
JEAN DE L. A
TOTTR, (Tried far Kracy. )
REMARKABLE PERSONS. 217
transaction, and described the ship in the best way they could; but, notwithstanding an armed vessel was immediately dispatched in pursuit of this supposed pirate, De-la-Tour contrived to elude the vigilance of his pursuers for a considerable length of time. The circumstance becoming widely known, every one was made acquainted with the description of the ship ; and De-la-Tour still carrying on his nefarious traffic, though he had changed the scene of his former trade, was taken, about four months after, by an English vessel, and brought to England, in order to undergo his trial for the murder. The identity of his person being ascertained by some of the men who were in
the boat at the time of the outrage, he was upon their evidence found guilty, and hanged in the year 1744.
ceorge ii. ]
MEMOIRS OF
[oBOBOsn.
These persons are associated together, on account of their being tried, condemned, and of suffering at the same time. Mr. Townley was descended from an ancient and honorable family, of some centuries resi
dence in Lancashire, and was the son of Richard Townley, of Townley-hall, in that county, who was tried for the share he had in the rebellion of 1715, but acquitted.
Young Mr. Townley being educated in the rigid principles of popery,* went abroad early in life, and, entering into the service of France, distinguished himself in his military capacity, particularly at the
siege of Philipsbourg. Coming to England, in 1742,
* The Townley family have suffered great persecution on the account of religion ; in the early part of the reign of Queen Eliza beth, one of their ancestors, living at Townley-hall, was compelled, for a considerable time, to pay a heavy monthly fine, to escape im prisonment as a recusant, and for having suffered the celebration of mass in his house, before his children and domestics.
REMARKABLE PERSONS. 219
he associated chiefly with those of the catholic reli gion ; and it was thought that he induced many of them to take an active part in the rebellion. When the Pretender came to Manchester, Townley offered his services ; when, being accepted, he was commis sioned to raise a regiment, which he soon completed; and, from his knowledge of military tactics, might have done the royal cause much mischief, but being made a prisoner at Carlisle, he was conducted to London, in order to take his trial for high-treason.
An act of parliament having passed in the year 174-6,
" to empower the king to remove the cause of action
against persons apprehended for high-treason, out of the county where the crime was committed;" his majesty granted to the judges commissions to try, in the counties of Cumberland, York, and Surrey, such rebels as had been committed to the prisons of those counties respectively.
On the 23d of June, 1746, at the Sessions held at St. Margaret's Hill, for the trials of the rebels, Colonel Francis Townley, of the Manchester regiment, was indicted for the part he had acted in the rebellion.
His counsel insisted that he was not a subject of Great Britain, being an officer in the service of the French king but this, the judges observed, was a cir
george ii. ]
220 MEMOIRS OF [george n.
cuinstance against him, as he had quitted his native country, and engaged in the French service, without the consent of his lawful sovereign. Some other mo tions, equally frivolous, being over-ruled, he was capitally convicted, and adjudged to die. After con viction, he behaved in the most reserved manner, scarcely speaking to any one but his brethren in
misfortune.
George Fletcher had been a linen-draper, at Strat
ford, near Manchester, managing the business for his mother, who, on her knees, endeavoured to persuade him not to engage with the rebels ; and offered him 1000/. on the condition that he would not embark in so desperate an enterprize ; but he was deaf to her entreaties, and so ambitious of serving the Pretender, that he gave his secretary, Mr. Murray, fifty pounds
for a captain's commission. Fletcher having induced a man named Maddox to enlist, he afterwards would have deserted; but Fletcher produced a handful of gold, and said he should not want money if he would fight for the Pretender, which induced Maddox to keep his station.
There were six others tried with Townley and Fletcher, at the Surrey Sessions, and after the sentence
of the law was passed, they all declared that they had
ceorgbii. ] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 221
acted according to the dictates of their consciences, and would again act the same parts, if they were put to the trial. When the keeper informed them, that the following day was ordered for their execution, they expressed a resignation to the will of God ; em braced each other, and took an affectionate leave of their friends.
On the following morning they breakfasted together, and having conversed till near eleven o'clock, were conveyed on three sledges from the New Goal, Southwark, to Kennington-common. The gibbet was surrounded by a party of the guards, and a block
and a pile of faggots were placed near it. The faggots were set on fire while the proper officers were removing the malefactors from the sledges.
After near an hour employed in acts of devotion, these unhappy men, having delivered to the sheriffs some papers, expressive of their political sentiments, then underwent the sentence of the law. They had not hung above five minutes, when Colonel Townley, yet alive, was cut down, and being placed on the block, the executioner, with an axe, separated his head from the body; his heart and bowels were then
taken out, and thrown into the fire ; and the other VOL. IV. 2 G
MEMOIRS OF [georce ii.
parties being severally treated in the same manner, the executioner cried out " God save King George. "
The bodies were quartered, and delivered to the keeper of the New Goal, who buried them : the heads of some were sent to Carlisle and Manchester, where they were exposed ; but those of Townley and
Fletcher were fixed on Temple-Bar, where they re mained until within these few years, when they fell down.
Among the rest that suffered with Townley and Fletcher, on Kennington-common, July 20, 1746, was young Dawson, so pathetically recorded by Shenstone. The print of the exposure of these persons' heads is extremely scarce ; the one copied in this work is in the collection of J. Goodford, Esq. of Yeovil, Somersetshire.
JAMES TURNER.
george ii. ]
REMARKABLE PERSONS. 223
Same* burner*
James Turner, a common beggar, whose sil vered locks and flowing beard gave him a patriarchal appearance, raised a considerable sum of money by the veneration generally directed towards aged people in distress. Turner, though an old man, was so well experienced in his profession, that he deemed it no trifling advantage to appear still older than he really was. To form some estimate of how much money this man obtained daily, it is necessary to state that Sir Joshua Reynolds, Mr. Nathaniel Hone, and many other celebrated painters, struck with the singularly reverend character of his aspect, wished to make studies from his head, and solicited him to sit to them. He, however, would not consent, unless
paid at the rate of one shilling per hour, which he asserted he always got by his profession of begging. Sir Joshua has often introduced the portrait of
Turner into his pictures, particularly in that of Count Uglioni, and his children, starved to death.
9o2
224 MEMOIRS OF [gkoboe ii.
Hone, likewise, made Turner the prominent feature in his picture of the Conjuror;* and painted his
portrait as he generally appeared, in the year 1751, which was engraved by Captain Baillie, in the year 1762.
One White, a paviour, getting far advanced in years, suffered his beard to grow to an immense size, and became the successor to Turner, in the service of portrait and historical painters. The Rev. Mr. Peters has introduced White's likeness in his pic ture of the Resurrection of a Pious Family. And Alefounder, the miniature-painter, has palmed on
the public White's portrait for that of Peter the
* Some difference existing between Sir Joshua Reynolds and Mr. Hone, the latter, in revenge, painted the figure of an old man, with a magic wand, conjuring from the flames various designs from old masters, which Sir Joshua had taken for models of some of his best pictures; and had afterwards destroyed the originals. On the death of Mr. Hone, in 1784, the whole of his collection of paintings, prints, and drawings, were sold by auction,
at Hutchins' rooms, in King-street, Covent-garden, when the picture of the Conjuror was purchased for sixty guineas, by an agent of Sir Joshua's, and consigned to the same destructive element that had consumed the old masters.
reorgb ii. ] REMARKABLE PERSONS. 225
Wild-boy, which is engraved as such by Bartolozzi,
though there are not less than three original resem
blances of that singular person, preserved by Falconet, Kent, and Drost.
MEMOIRS OF [george II.
Richard Turpin was the son of John Turpin, a farmer, at Hempstead, in Essex, and having received a common school-education, was apprenticed to a butcher in Whitechapel. His early youth was dis tinguished by the impropriety of his behaviour and the brutality of his manners; and, on the expiration of his apprenticeship, he married a young woman of
East Ham, in Essex, named Palmer ; but he had not long been married before he took to the practice of stealing his neighbours' cattle, which he used to kill and cut up for sale.
Having stolen two oxen belonging to Mr. Giles, of Plaistow, he drove them to his own house ; two of Giles's servants suspecting the robber, went to Turpin's, where they saw two beasts in size agreeing with those that had been lost. They could not iden tify their property, as the hides were stripped off ; but, understanding that Turpin was accustomed to dispose of his booty at Waltham-Abbey, they went thither, and saw the hides of the stolen cattle. No doubt
turpin, I Executed at York, 1733. )
Richard
REMARKABLE PERSONS. 227
now remained of Turpin being the robber, and a warrant was accordingly procured for his apprehen
sion ; but he, learning that the peace-officers were in search of him, made his escape from the back-window of his house, at the very moment they were entering at the door. He retreated to a place of security, and found means to inform his wife where he was con cealed ; on which she furnished him with money,
when he travelled into Essex, and connected himself with a gang of smugglers. For some time he was successful, but, by the vigilance of the excise-officers, he was ultimately deprived of all his ill-acquired gains.
Thrown out of this kind of business, he joined a gang of deer-stealers, whose depredations were principally committed on Epping- forest, and the parks in its neighbourhood ; but this not succeeding to the expectation of the robbers, they determined, as a more profitable pursuit, to commence house breakers. Their plan was to fix on houses that they presumed contained valuable property: and, while one of them knocked at the door, the others were to rush in, and seize whatever they might deem worthy of their notice. The first attack of this kind was at the house of Mr. Strype, an old man, who kept a
georqe iu]
2-28
MEMOIRS OF [george Ii.
chandler's shop at Watford, whom they robbed of all the money in his possession, without offering him any personal abuse. Turpin now acquainted his asso ciates that there was an old woman at Loughton, who was in possession of seven or eight hundred pounds ;
whereupon they agreed to rob her. On coming to the door, one of them knocked, and the rest forcing their way into the house, tied handkerchiefs over the eyes of the old woman and her maid. Turpin then demanded what money was in the house ; and the
owner hesitating to tell him, he threatened to set her on the fire if she did not make an immediate disco very. Still, however, she declined to give the desired information, when the villains actually placed her on the fire, where she sat till the tormenting pain com pelled her to discover her hidden treasure ; and they, taking possession of above 400/. , made their escape.
Some little time after this, they agreed to rob the house of a farmer, near Barking ; and, knocking at the door, the people declined to open it ; on which they broke it open, and, having bound the farmer, his wife, his son-in-law, and the servant-maid,
robbed the house of above 700/. Turpin was so much delighted, that he exclaimed, "Aye, this will
do, if it would always be so ;" and the robbers retired
they
GEOHQBii. ]
REMARKABLE PERSONS. 229
with tlieir prize, which amounted to above eighty pounds for each of them. This desperate gang, now flushed with success, determined to attack the house of Mr. Mason, the keeper of Epping-forest ; and the time was fixed when the plan was to be carried into execution ; but Turpin having gone to London, to
spend his share of the former booty, intoxicated himself to such a degree, that he totally forgot the appointment. Nevertheless, the rest of the gang resolved that the absence of their companion should not frustrate the proposed design ; and, having taken a solemn oath to break every article of furniture in Mason's house, they set out on their expedition. On
gaining admission, they discovered an old man sitting by the fire-side, whom they suffered to remain unmo lested; but Mr. Mason they kicked and treated in a very severe manner. His daughter escaped their notice and fury, by running out of the house, and taking shelter in a hog-stye. After ransacking the lower part of the house, and doing great mischief, they went up-stairs, where they broke every thing that fell in their way, and, among the rest, a china punch-bowl, from which dropped one hundred and
twenty guineas; this they made a prey of, and effected their escape. They now went to London in
vol. iv. 2 H
230 MEMOIRS OF [george n.
search of Turpin, with whom they shared the booty, though he had not taken an active part in the exe cution of the villany.
On the 11th of January, 1735, Turpin and five of his companions went to the house of Mr. Saunders, a rich farmer at Charlton, in Kent, between seven and eight in the evening, and having knocked at the door, asked if Mr. Saunders was at home. Being an swered in the affirmative, they rushed into the house, and found Mr. Saunders, with his wife and friends,
at cards in the parlour. They told the company that they should remain uninjured if they made no disturbance. Having made prize ofa silver snuff-box, which lay on the table, a part of the gang stood guard over the rest of the company, while the others attended Mr. Saunders through the house, and, breaking open his escritoirs and closets, stole above 100/. exclusive of plate. During these transactions, the servant-maid ran up-stairs, barred the door of her room, and called out " Thieves,"
with a view of alarming the neighbourhood ; but the robbers broke open the door of her room, secured her, and then robbed the house of all the valuable property they had not before taken. Finding some mince-pies, and bottles of wine, they sat down to
playing
REMARKABLE PERSONS. 231
regale themselves ; and, meeting with a bottle of brandy, they compelled each of the company to
drink a glass of it. Mrs. Saunders fainting through terror, they administered some drops in water to her, and recovered her to the use of her senses. Having staid in the house a considerable time, they packed up their booty, and departed, first declaring that if any of the family gave the least alarm within two hours, or advertised the marks on the stolen plate, they would return at afuture period and murder them. Retiring to a public-house at Woolwich, where they had concerted the robbery, they crossed the Thames
to an empty house in Ratcliffe Highway, and depo sited the stolen effects till they found a purchaser to take them off their hands.
ceorqe ik]
On the 18th of the same month, they went to the house of Mr. Sheldon, near Croydon, in Surrey, where they arrived about seven in the evening. They found the coachman in the stable,
attending his horses, and, after having secured him, they quitted the stable, and meeting Mr. Sheldon in the yard, they compelled him to conduct them into the house, where they stole eleven guineas, with the
jewels, plate, and other things of value, to a consider 2H2
232 MEMOIRS OF
[g EOUGK II.
able amount. They then returned Mr. Sheldon two guineas, and apologized for their conduct.
The next robbery they committed was upon the house of Mr. Lawrence, of Edgware, near Stanmore, in Middlesex, for which place they set out on the 4th of February, and arrived at a public-house in that village about five o'clock in the evening. From this place they went to Mr. Lawrence's, where they arrived
about seven o'clock, just as he had discharged some people who had worked for him. Having quitted their horses at the outer gate, one of the robbers going forward found a boy, who had just returned
from folding his sheep : the rest of the gang following, a pistol was presented, and instant destruction threat ened if he made any noise. They then took off his garters, tied his hands, and desired him to direct them to the door, and when they knocked to answer and bid the servant open it, in which case they would not hurt him. But, when the boy came to the door, he was so terrified that he could not speak ; on which, one of the gang knocked, and a man-servant opening the door, imagining it was one of the neighbours, they all rushed in, armed with pistols. Having seized Mr. Lawrence and his servant, they threw a
george n. J REMARKABLE PERSONS. 233
cloth over their faces, and taking the boy into another room, demanded what fire-arms were in the house ; he replied, only an old gun, which they discovered and broke in pieces. They then bound Mr. Law rence and his man, and made them sit by the boy ; and Turpin searching the gentleman, took from him a guinea, a Portugal piece, and some silver ; but, not being satisfied with this booty, they forced him to conduct them up-stairs, where they broke open a closet, and stole some money and plate. This was not sufficient to satisfy them, and they threatened to murder Mr. Lawrence, each of them destining him to a different death, as the savageness of his own na ture prompted him. At length one of them took a kettle of water from the fire, and threw it over him : but it providentially happened not to be hot enough to scald him.
In the interim the maid-servant, who was churning butter in the dairy, hearing a noise in the house, apprehended some mischief ; on which she blew out the candle, to screen herself; but being found in the course of their search, one of the miscreants com pelled her to go up-stairs, where he gratified his
brutal passion by force. They then robbed the house of all the valuable effects they could find, locked the
234 MEMOIRS OF ({george it.
family into the parlour, threw the key into the garden, and took their plunder to London.
The particulars of this atrocious robbery being re presented to the king, a proclamation was issued for the apprehension of the offenders, promising a pardon to any one of them who would impeach his accom plices, and a reward of fifty pounds was offered, to be paid on conviction. This, however, had no effect; the robbers continued their depredations as before ; and, flushed with the success they had met with, seemed to bid defiance to the laws.
On the 7th of February, six of them assembled at the White-bear Inn, in Drury-lane, where they agreed to rob the house of Mr. Francis, a farmer, near
Mary-le-bone. Arriving at the place, they found a servant in the cow-house, whom they bound fast, and threatened to murder him if he was not perfectly silent. This being done, they led him into the stable, where finding another of the servants, they bound him in the same manner.