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Trial of Mary Fitzpatrick

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Crown vs Mary Fitzpatrick
CourtYork Winter Assizes
Decided11 November 1882 (1882-11-11)
Case history
Prior action(s)Charge:
Wilful murder
Robbery with violence
Court membership
Judge(s) sittingSir Henry Hawkins JP
Keywords
Robbery
Penal servitude
Six years

The trial of Mary Fitzpatrick of November 1882, before Justice Henry Hawkins, was an English murder and robbery case at the York Winter Assizes in the assize courts at York Castle, which drew much attention in contemporary newspapers. It followed the death of 24-year-old glass blower James Richardson, who was last seen alive in the company of rag sorter Mary Fitzpatrick,[1] aged 23, and was next seen dead in the water without his watch and chain. The Coroner's Court returned a verdict of "wilful murder."

Fitzpatrick and Richardson lived in slum areas of Leeds; Fitzpatrick was tried by at least five aristocrats.[1] She was convicted of robbery, and sentenced to penal servitude for six years. At the time of the trial she had two young children.

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Henry Hawkins, 1st Baron Brampton

Henry Hawkins, 1st Baron Brampton

Henry Hawkins, 1st Baron Brampton,, known as Sir Henry Hawkins between 1876 and 1899, was an English judge. He served as a Judge of the High Court of Justice between 1876 and 1898.

Assizes

Assizes

The courts of assize, or assizes, were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes exercised both civil and criminal jurisdiction, though most of their work was on the criminal side. The assizes heard the most serious cases, most notably those subject to capital punishment or later life imprisonment. Other serious cases were dealt with by the quarter sessions, while the more minor offences were dealt with summarily by justices of the peace in petty sessions.

York Crown Court

York Crown Court

York Crown Court is a Crown Court venue which deals with criminal cases at York Castle in York, England. It is a Grade I listed building.

York Castle

York Castle

York Castle is a fortified complex in the city of York, England. It consists of a sequence of castles, prisons, law courts and other buildings, which were built over the last nine centuries on the south side of the River Foss. The now ruined keep of the medieval Norman castle is commonly referred to as Clifford's Tower. Built originally on the orders of William I to dominate the former Viking city of Jórvík, the castle suffered a tumultuous early history before developing into a major fortification with extensive water defences. After a major explosion in 1684 rendered the remaining military defences uninhabitable, York Castle continued to be used as a gaol and prison until 1929.

Ragpicker

Ragpicker

A ragpicker or chiffonnier is someone who makes a living by rummaging through refuse in the streets to collect material for salvage. Scraps of cloth and paper could be turned into cardboard, broken glass could be melted down and reused, and even dead cats and dogs could be skinned to make clothes.

Slum

Slum

A slum is a highly populated urban residential area consisting of densely packed housing units of weak build quality and often associated with poverty. The infrastructure in slums is often deteriorated or incomplete, and they are primarily inhabited by impoverished people. Although slums are usually located in urban areas, in some countries they can be located in suburban areas where housing quality is low and living conditions are poor. While slums differ in size and other characteristics, most lack reliable sanitation services, supply of clean water, reliable electricity, law enforcement, and other basic services. Slum residences vary from shanty houses to professionally built dwellings which, because of poor-quality construction or lack of basic maintenance, have deteriorated.

Leeds

Leeds

Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is governed by a metropolitan borough named after the city, the wider county having devolved powers. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines.

Aristocracy (class)

Aristocracy (class)

The aristocracy is historically associated with "hereditary" or "ruling" social class. In many states, the aristocracy included the upper class of people (aristocrats) with hereditary rank and titles. In some, such as ancient Greece, ancient Rome, or India, aristocratic status came from belonging to a military class. It has also been common, notably in African societies, for aristocrats to belong to priestly dynasties. Aristocratic status can involve feudal or legal privileges. They are usually below only the monarch of a country or nation in its social hierarchy. In modern European societies, the aristocracy has often coincided with the nobility, a specific class that arose in the Middle Ages, but the term "aristocracy" is sometimes also applied to other elites, and is used as a more generic term when describing earlier and non-European societies. Some revolutions, such as the French Revolution, have been followed by the abolition of the aristocracy.

Robbery

Robbery

Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or by use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person of that property, by means of force or fear; that is, it is a larceny or theft accomplished by an assault. Precise definitions of the offence may vary between jurisdictions. Robbery is differentiated from other forms of theft by its inherently violent nature ; whereas many lesser forms of theft are punished as misdemeanors, robbery is always a felony in jurisdictions that distinguish between the two. Under English law, most forms of theft are triable either way, whereas robbery is triable only on indictment. The word "rob" came via French from Late Latin words of Germanic origin, from Common Germanic raub "theft".

Penal labour

Penal labour

Penal labour is a term for various kinds of forced labour which prisoners are required to perform, typically manual labour. The work may be light or hard, depending on the context. Forms of sentence involving penal labour have included involuntary servitude, penal servitude, and imprisonment with hard labour. The term may refer to several related scenarios: labour as a form of punishment, the prison system used as a means to secure labour, and labour as providing occupation for convicts. These scenarios can be applied to those imprisoned for political, religious, war, or other reasons as well as to criminal convicts.

Mary Fitzpatrick, perpetrator

Mary Fitzpatrick (b.1855–1859) née Corcoran, alias Mary Anne Gollagher, was born in Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, England. She was the daughter of Richard Corcoran (b.ca.1829) a greengrocer and labourer, and his wife Catherine née Connor (b.ca.1832), both from County Mayo.[2] Richard and Catherine married in Leeds in 1850.[3] in 1851 the young couple were living at 8 Dufton's Yard with a number of Irish lodgers.[nb 1][4] They were "respectable" Roman Catholics and "migrants from famine-torn Ireland ... a poor family struggling to make ends meet."[2] They were living at 162 York Street, Leeds in 1861,[5] and at 72 York Street in 1876.[6]

Mary's younger siblings were: Amy (b.ca.1865), and Michael (b.ca.1868).[7] The 1881 Census shows Mary's parents Richard and Catherine living at 15 Orange Street;[nb 2] Richard had lost his greengrocer trade and been a labourer since before 1851.[8] By 1876 he was a hawker.[6] The yards inhabited by the Corcoran family were ginnels or alleys inside the slum area around the edge of Quarry Hill.[9] They were living in the Quarry Hill area, where at that time, many houses had "no piped water supply or proper sewerage system ... Sometimes there weren't even any ... outside toilets; people used a bucket which could be emptied on a common midden."[10]

Mary was attending school by the age of six years, so that she was sufficiently literate to sign her marriage certificate.[5][6] By the time she was 15 years old, she was working as a mill hand, "a hard and dangerous job for a child." Mary and her family had no recorded offences before Mary married.[2][7] She married Irish iron puddler Thomas Fitzpatrick (b.ca.1857), son of flour miller Patrick Fitzpatrick, at St Patrick's Chapel, York Road, Leeds, on 1 May 1876.[6][11] They had two children, one named John (b.ca.1876), and in 1881 the Fitzpatrick family was boarding at New Yard, Workington, Cumberland.[2][12] By the time of her 1882 trial, Mary was living in Lemon Street, Quarry Hill, and was separated from her husband,[1][13] who had emigrated to America amid the negative pre-trial publicity.[2]

Fitzpatrick's criminal record

After Mary's children were born, she began drinking. In 1879 she was sentenced to seven days' imprisonment for riotousness, and then to four months and two months for stealing flannel and handkerchiefs respectively.[2] On Thursday 10 June 1880 at Dewsbury Borough Court, three young women, including one Mary Fitzpatrick, were charged by the Mayor, Alderman John Bates, with obstructing a footpath at 6.30pm on 3 June, in School Road, Daw Green. Fitzpatrick was fined 5 shillings and costs.[14] Under the name of Corcoran, on 21 June 1880 at York, she was convicted of felony.[15] She was committed to two months imprisonment for stealing a scarf and hat. After being released, she was then caught under a bed at the scene of a robbery, however she was not convicted on that occasion. She was placed under police supervision, and apprehended again in September of the same year as a "suspect person". She remained out of prison for a year or more, but her marriage had broken up by 1881.[2] At her 1882 trial, the judge said that she had already been convicted of three felonies in total,[15] and the Derby Daily Telegraph reported that Fitzpatrick had a "loose character".[16]

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Leeds

Leeds

Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is governed by a metropolitan borough named after the city, the wider county having devolved powers. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines.

Greengrocer

Greengrocer

A greengrocer is a person who owns or operates a shop selling primarily fruit and vegetables. The term may also be used to refer to a shop selling primarily produce. It is used predominantly in the United Kingdom and Australia.

County Mayo

County Mayo

County Mayo is a county in Ireland. In the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, it is named after the village of Mayo, now generally known as Mayo Abbey. Mayo County Council is the local authority. The population was 137,231 at the 2022 census. The boundaries of the county, which was formed in 1585, reflect the Mac William Íochtar lordship at that time.

Alley

Alley

An alley or alleyway is a narrow lane, path, or passageway, often reserved for pedestrians, which usually runs between, behind, or within buildings in the older parts of towns and cities. It is also a rear access or service road, or a path, walk, or avenue in a park or garden.

Slum

Slum

A slum is a highly populated urban residential area consisting of densely packed housing units of weak build quality and often associated with poverty. The infrastructure in slums is often deteriorated or incomplete, and they are primarily inhabited by impoverished people. Although slums are usually located in urban areas, in some countries they can be located in suburban areas where housing quality is low and living conditions are poor. While slums differ in size and other characteristics, most lack reliable sanitation services, supply of clean water, reliable electricity, law enforcement, and other basic services. Slum residences vary from shanty houses to professionally built dwellings which, because of poor-quality construction or lack of basic maintenance, have deteriorated.

Quarry Hill, Leeds

Quarry Hill, Leeds

Quarry Hill is an area of central Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is bounded by the Leeds Inner Ring Road in the east and north and the Leeds – York / Hull railway in the south. The area falls within the City and Hunslet ward of Leeds City Council.

Iron puddler

Iron puddler

An iron puddler was a worker in iron manufacturing who specialized in puddling, an improved process to convert pig iron into wrought iron with the use of a reverberatory furnace.

Workington

Workington

Workington is a coastal town and civil parish at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. The town was historically in Cumberland. At the 2011 census it had a population of 25,207.

Dewsbury

Dewsbury

Dewsbury is a minster and market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Calder and on an arm of the Calder and Hebble Navigation waterway. It is to the west of Wakefield, east of Huddersfield and south of Leeds.

York

York

York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a minster, castle, and city walls. It is the largest settlement and the administrative centre of the wider City of York district.

Felony

Felony

A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law to describe an offense that resulted in the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods, to which additional punishments including capital punishment could be added; other crimes were called misdemeanors. Following conviction of a felony in a court of law, a person may be described as a felon or a convicted felon.

Immorality

Immorality

Immorality is the violation of moral laws, norms or standards. It refers to an agent doing or thinking something they know or believe to be wrong. Immorality is normally applied to people or actions, or in a broader sense, it can be applied to groups or corporate bodies, and works of art.

James Richardson, victim

James Richardson's father was Charles Richardson (Hunslet ca.1819 – Hunslet Carr 8 June 1880),[17] a coal miner who eventually died of tuberculosis, and his mother was Mary Richardson née Howden (b. Hunslet ca.1820) who managed a grocery shop and was illiterate.[18][19] Charles and Mary married in Leeds in 1838.[20] Between 1861 and 1871, the family lived at 31 Balm Lane, Hunslet, and then at least from 1881 at Taylor's Place, Low Road, Hunslet Carr.[19][21][22]

Richardson (Hunslet 16 July 1858 – Hunslet 15 August 1882), born at 3 Carr Place, Hunslet,[18] was the youngest of eight siblings. They were William (b.ca.1839) a coal miner and later a broker, Elizabeth (b.ca.1843) a flax spinner, John (b.ca.1844) a coal miner, Mary (b.ca.1847) a flax spinner, Charles (b.ca.1849) a brick maker, and Emily (b.ca.1854) and Sarah (b.ca.1856), both flax spinners.[19][21][22]

Richardson was a glass blower,[16] or glass bottle maker, most likely an employee of Alfred Alexander & co., Hunslet Glass Works, in South Accommodation Road.[19][21][22] He was 24 years old when he died.[23]

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Coal mining

Coal mining

Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United Kingdom and South Africa, a coal mine and its structures are a colliery, a coal mine is called a 'pit', and the above-ground structures are a 'pit head'. In Australia, "colliery" generally refers to an underground coal mine.

Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in which case it is known as latent tuberculosis. Around 10% of latent infections progress to active disease which, if left untreated, kill about half of those affected. Typical symptoms of active TB are chronic cough with blood-containing mucus, fever, night sweats, and weight loss. It was historically referred to as consumption due to the weight loss associated with the disease. Infection of other organs can cause a wide range of symptoms.

Grocery store

Grocery store

A grocery store (AE), grocery shop (BE) or simply grocery is a store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday U.S. usage, however, "grocery store" is a synonym for supermarket, and is not used to refer to other types of stores that sell groceries. In the UK, shops that sell food are distinguished as grocers or grocery shops.

Hunslet

Hunslet

Hunslet is an inner-city area in south Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is 1 mile (1.6 km) southeast of the city centre and has an industrial past.

Broker

Broker

A broker is a person or firm who arranges transactions between a buyer and a seller for a commission when the deal is executed. A broker who also acts as a seller or as a buyer becomes a principal party to the deal. Neither role should be confused with that of an agent—one who acts on behalf of a principal party in a deal.

Flax

Flax

Flax, also known as common flax or linseed, is a flowering plant, Linum usitatissimum, in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in regions of the world with temperate climates. Textiles made from flax are known in Western countries as linen and are traditionally used for bed sheets, underclothes, and table linen. Its oil is known as linseed oil. In addition to referring to the plant, the word "flax" may refer to the unspun fibers of the flax plant. The plant species is known only as a cultivated plant and appears to have been domesticated just once from the wild species Linum bienne, called pale flax. The plants called "flax" in New Zealand are, by contrast, members of the genus Phormium.

Spinning (textiles)

Spinning (textiles)

Spinning is a twisting technique to form yarn from fibers. The fiber intended is drawn out, twisted, and wound onto a bobbin. A few popular fibers that are spun into yarn other than cotton, which is the most popular, are viscose, and synthetic polyester. Originally done by hand using a spindle whorl, starting in the 500s AD the spinning wheel became the predominant spinning tool across Asia and Europe. The spinning jenny and spinning mule, invented in the late 1700s, made mechanical spinning far more efficient than spinning by hand, and especially made cotton manufacturing one of the most important industries of the Industrial Revolution.

Brick

Brick

A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term brick denotes a unit primarily composed of clay, but is now also used informally to denote units made of other materials or other chemically cured construction blocks. Bricks can be joined using mortar, adhesives or by interlocking. Bricks are usually produced at brickworks in numerous classes, types, materials, and sizes which vary with region, and are produced in bulk quantities.

Glass bottle

Glass bottle

A glass bottle is a bottle made from glass. Glass bottles can vary in size considerably, but are most commonly found in sizes ranging between about 200 millilitres and 1.5 litres. Common uses for glass bottles include food condiments, soda, liquor, cosmetics, pickling and preservatives; they are occasionally also notably used for the informal distribution of notes. These types of bottles are utilitarian and serve a purpose in commercial industries.

Alley

Alley

An alley or alleyway is a narrow lane, path, or passageway, often reserved for pedestrians, which usually runs between, behind, or within buildings in the older parts of towns and cities. It is also a rear access or service road, or a path, walk, or avenue in a park or garden.

Background to alleged crime

Richardson's "drunken state"

Hunslet Feast, on Penny Hill off Church Road, 1850
Hunslet Feast, on Penny Hill off Church Road, 1850

Richardson's mother Mary last saw him between eleven and twelve o'clock midday on the day of the Hunslet Feast, Tuesday 15 August 1882, when he "left home in company with a young man named James Ramsden", and his elder brother William saw him wearing his silver watch and gold Albert chain on the afternoon of that day, at the Feast. At that time, the Feast was on Penny Hill, adjacent to St Mary's Church in Hunslet.[13] Richardson "spent his time in going from one public-house to another, the result being that in the evening he was in a very drunken state."[15] The glass blower Benjamin Ryan (b.ca.1857) was a colleague of James, and an erstwhile boarder with his family.[22] He saw Richardson on the night of 15 August. "He left him at the Exchange Inn, about ten minutes to ten, when the deceased was drunk. [Ryan] wanted to take his watch and guard for safety, but the deceased refused to give them to him."[13]

Last known movements of victim

Former Royal Exchange pub, where Richardson was seen
Former Royal Exchange pub, where Richardson was seen
Former George IV pub, where Richardson was seen with Fitzpatrick
Former George IV pub, where Richardson was seen with Fitzpatrick

Richardson and Fitzpatrick were seen at two public houses together.[24] When Ryan saw them, [Fitzpatrick], who seemed to be sober, was standing at the bar of the taps in the [Exchange] public house," a place for working class men only at that time.[13] "At ten minutes to ten ... [James] was alone, and [Fitzpatrick] was standing at the counter. She appeared to be sober, and in [Ryan's] opinion, did not know Richardson." This might raise the question of whether Fitzpatrick was not in the inn for fun, but was planning to follow a selected stranger with a view to theft.[25]

Fitzpatrick was seen drinking alongside Richardson later that evening.[16] By ten-thirty, Richardson and Fitzpatrick were spotted by a public house waiter, Samuel Holdsworth, "standing together in the passage of the George IV inn. Both of them were drinking (the former being the worse for liquor), but they did not speak to one another. When [Richardson] left the house, [Fitzpatrick] followed him. He saw both of them walking together along Church Street, and saw [Fitzpatrick] take hold of [Richardson's] arm,[13] because he was "walking unsteadily."[25] They were walking in the direction of the Hunslet Old Mill Dam.[24] Richardson's brother William last saw him at 11.30 p.m. that night in Balm Street, where they had lived as children.[nb 3][25] James Richardson was never seen alive again after the night of 15 August,[1] and Fitzpatrick was the last person to see him alive.[2]

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Death of victim, and robbery

Hunslet Old Mill Dam where the body was found in 1882
Hunslet Old Mill Dam where the body was found in 1882

Richardson died between Tuesday 15 August which was the night of Hunslet Feast, and the following Saturday.[1] His body was found on Saturday 19 August 1882 in the Old Mill Dam near Hunslet Old Mill.[24] He had died before his body entered the water. [25]

Richardson's watch and chain

Wellington Inn, Hunslet, where the inquest took place
Wellington Inn, Hunslet, where the inquest took place

The body of James Richardson was found on Saturday 19 August in the Old Mill Dam on the River Aire at Hunslet Carr.[1][13] Fitzpatrick was found either in possession of Richardson's watch and chain, or it was still with the pawnbroker Thornton of Kirkgate, Leeds.[16] Either way, after being caught, she said that Richardson had given the watch to her.[15][2] It would later be alleged that after the death of Richardson, Fitzpatrick "pawned a watch and guard,[2] and finger ring belonging to him."[1] Fitzpatrick had pledged the gold chain at Thornton's on Saturday 19 August, "which she asked an advance of 5s. She stated that her husband had pawned the guard several times for £2 10s, but she only wanted a few shillings to make some small purchases. She pledged it for 5s in the name of Mary Mochan of 4, Spring Street, and said her husband's name was Thomas Mochan. She was accompanied by another woman." On Monday 21 August, an unknown person pawned Richardson's watch at the same pawn shop. "The next morning [Fitzpatrick] again went to the shop and obtained a further advance of 18s on the chain, stating that her husband had been locked up and fined."[13] Fitzpatrick knew that the chain was solid gold.[25]

Richardson's brother William, now a broker, identified the pawned silver lever watch and gold chain as James Richardson's; he "produced a hand-book belonging to his brother, containing the number of the watch." The body was without the watch and chain, and without Richardson's gold ring and silk handkerchief when it was viewed at the Wellington Inn, Hunslet.[13]

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Remand

Fitzpatrick is apprehended

Fitzpatrick was held in Armley Gaol before her trial.
Fitzpatrick was held in Armley Gaol before her trial.

On being taken into custody, Fitzpatrick asked: "What am I going to be charged with?"[15] revealing that she "evidently knew something of Richardson's demise."[2] She then absconded, thus increasing suspicion of her guilt,[25] and was apprehended by Detective Easby in Hull on Saturday 9 September 1882. At Leeds, Fitzpatrick was indicted for wilful murder and robbery. Messrs Mellor and Banks were Counsel for the prosecution, and Vernon Blackburn was Counsel for the defence. "With considerable emotion," she pleaded not guilty.[15] On Monday 11 September she was charged at Leeds Police Court in Leeds Town Hall before Mr Bruce with wilful murder and theft.[2] After hearing witness statements, the Court ordered that she be remanded for another week for further collection of evidence.[13] Mary was remanded in custody on 11 September 1882 on a charge of robbery with violence, and murder.[16][1] Another report said that she was indicted for "having wilfully caused the death."[1] On Monday 18 September she was back in the Town Hall, and charged on remand with wilful murder and stealing the deceased's property.[26] On 20 September 1882, Fitzpatrick was charged on remand at Leeds Town Hall, firstly with wilful murder, and secondly with stealing and pawning a watch and guard.[27] At the inquest held at the Wellington Inn, Hunslet on Thursday 26 September 1882, the Leeds borough coroner found "injuries to the head" and returned a verdict of wilful murder.[23][28]

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HM Prison Leeds

HM Prison Leeds

HM Prison Leeds is a Category B men's prison, located at Gloucester Terrace in the Armley area of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England, which opened in 1847. Leeds Prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service, and is still known locally as Armley Gaol, the historical name for the prison.

Robbery

Robbery

Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or by use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person of that property, by means of force or fear; that is, it is a larceny or theft accomplished by an assault. Precise definitions of the offence may vary between jurisdictions. Robbery is differentiated from other forms of theft by its inherently violent nature ; whereas many lesser forms of theft are punished as misdemeanors, robbery is always a felony in jurisdictions that distinguish between the two. Under English law, most forms of theft are triable either way, whereas robbery is triable only on indictment. The word "rob" came via French from Late Latin words of Germanic origin, from Common Germanic raub "theft".

Murder

Murder

Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. This state of mind may, depending upon the jurisdiction, distinguish murder from other forms of unlawful homicide, such as manslaughter. Manslaughter is killing committed in the absence of malice, brought about by reasonable provocation, or diminished capacity. Involuntary manslaughter, where it is recognized, is a killing that lacks all but the most attenuated guilty intent, recklessness.

Arrest

Arrest

An arrest is the act of apprehending and taking a person into custody, usually because the person has been suspected of or observed committing a crime. After being taken into custody, the person can be questioned further and/or charged. An arrest is a procedure in a criminal justice system, sometimes it is also done after a court warrant for the arrest.

Leeds Town Hall

Leeds Town Hall

Leeds Town Hall is a 19th-century municipal building on The Headrow, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Planned to include law courts, a council chamber, offices, a public hall, and a suite of ceremonial rooms, it was built between 1853 and 1858 to a design by the architect Cuthbert Brodrick. With the building of the Civic Hall in 1933, some of these functions were relocated, and after the construction of the Leeds Combined Court Centre in 1993, the Town Hall now serves mainly as a concert, conference and wedding venue, its offices still used by some council departments. It was designated a Grade I listed building in 1951.

Trial

Fitzpatrick was removed from Armley Gaol on 3 November 1882,[29] and her trial, on the capital charge of wilful murder,[27] began on Saturday 4 November 1882 at the Yorkshire Winter Assizes in the assize courts at York Castle, with the Grand Jury being sworn in at York Guildhall. The judge was Sir Henry Hawkins JP who, having presided over numerous murder trials, was known as Hanging Hawkins.[30][31][32] He processed to York Minster where he was met by the Dean of York, clerics and choristers, and an organ voluntary was played as they all moved up the aisle. Then, fully robed, he processed to York Castle in the state carriage of the High Sheriff of Yorkshire Sir Henry Day Ingilby of Ripley Castle, "accompanied by the High Sheriff and the High Sheriff's chaplain ... attended by the usual retinue of trumpeters and halbertmen" in livery.[30] Hawkins was joined on the bench by Ingilby. The jury's foreman was Sir William Cayley Worsley, Baronet, of Hovingham Hall. The jury also included at least five aristocrats: the Honourable Reginald Parker of Askham Hall in Askham Bryan, the Hon. Payan Dawnay of Beningbrough Hall, the Hon. Miles Stapleton of Carlton Towers, Sir Reginald Graham, Baronet, of Norton Conyers House and Sir Henry Monson de la Poer Beresford Peirse, Baronet, of Bedale Hall.[1]

Court findings

Beforehand, the judge informed the jury that he expected them to give a true bill, or clear indictment, in all cases on that day.[1] On Monday 6 November, a true bill for wilful murder had been returned against Fitzpatrick at the Yorkshire Assizes.[33] However, when the case resumed on Saturday 11 November, Judge Hawkins said that, "he could not say there was no evidence for the jury, but it was by no means so strong as in many cases. There was however the evidence that prisoner was last seen in the deceased's company, and that she had his watch." The jury found the prisoner not guilty of murder, but found her guilty of "stealing from the person."[15][2]

Sentence

When sentencing Fitzpatrick, Justice Hawkins commented as follows:[15]

"The prisoner had been convicted of the most daring and impudent robbery. That she stole the watch the jury were satisfied, but how much violence she applied was not shown. He (his lordship) was satisfied that she stole it. If she had never been in trouble of this sort before he would have passed a different sentence than he was about to pass. He found that not only was the prisoner leading the life of a common person, and walking about the streets and drinking with men, but on three different occasions she had been convicted of felony. Under these circumstances it would be idle for him to pass a sentence upon the prisoner that he would on an ordinary woman. There was no crime that required more suppressing than that of robbing from the person in the public streets. It should be put down with a strong hand."[15]

Fitzpatrick was sentenced to penal servitude for six years. As the guards took her away, she called out to the gallery, "Father!" and, "Oh dear, oh dear, I never stole the watch and guard."[15][2]

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HM Prison Leeds

HM Prison Leeds

HM Prison Leeds is a Category B men's prison, located at Gloucester Terrace in the Armley area of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England, which opened in 1847. Leeds Prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service, and is still known locally as Armley Gaol, the historical name for the prison.

Capital punishment

Capital punishment

Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that the person is responsible for violating norms that warrant said punishment. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in such a manner is known as a death sentence, and the act of carrying out the sentence is known as an execution. A prisoner who has been sentenced to death and awaits execution is condemned and is commonly referred to as being "on death row".

Assizes

Assizes

The courts of assize, or assizes, were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes exercised both civil and criminal jurisdiction, though most of their work was on the criminal side. The assizes heard the most serious cases, most notably those subject to capital punishment or later life imprisonment. Other serious cases were dealt with by the quarter sessions, while the more minor offences were dealt with summarily by justices of the peace in petty sessions.

Henry Hawkins, 1st Baron Brampton

Henry Hawkins, 1st Baron Brampton

Henry Hawkins, 1st Baron Brampton,, known as Sir Henry Hawkins between 1876 and 1899, was an English judge. He served as a Judge of the High Court of Justice between 1876 and 1898.

Hanging judge

Hanging judge

"Hanging judge" is a colloquial phrase for a judge who has gained notoriety for handing down punishment by sentencing convicted persons to death by hanging, or otherwise imposing unusually harsh sentences. Hanging judges are officers of the court with mandates, as opposed to extralegal lynch law.

Arthur Purey-Cust

Arthur Purey-Cust

Arthur Perceval Purey-Cust was a Church of England cleric and author who served as Dean of York from 1880 to 1916.

Choir

Choir

A choir is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which spans from the medieval era to the present, or popular music repertoire. Most choirs are led by a conductor, who leads the performances with arm, hand, and facial gestures.

Pipe organ

Pipe organ

The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks, each of which has a common timbre and volume throughout the keyboard compass. Most organs have many ranks of pipes of differing timbre, pitch, and volume that the player can employ singly or in combination through the use of controls called stops.

Voluntary (music)

Voluntary (music)

In music a voluntary is a piece of music, usually for an organ, that is played as part of a church service. In English-speaking countries, the music played before and after the service is often called a 'voluntary', whether or not it is so titled.

Robe

Robe

A robe is a loose-fitting outer garment. Unlike garments described as capes or cloaks, robes usually have sleeves. The English word robe derives from Middle English robe ("garment"), borrowed from Old French robe, itself taken from the Frankish word *rouba, and is related to the word rob.

Procession

Procession

A procession is an organized body of people walking in a formal or ceremonial manner.

Carriage

Carriage

A carriage is a private four-wheeled vehicle for people and is most commonly horse-drawn. Second-hand private carriages were common public transport, the equivalent of modern cars used as taxis. Carriage suspensions are by leather strapping and, on those made in recent centuries, steel springs. Two-wheeled carriages are informal and usually owner-driven.

Imprisonment and later life

It is not known where Fitzpatrick served her sentence, but she only served four years. She wrote home from prison, and to her husband and others, with "protestations of innocence." After three years she was eligible for release on licence, and in 1886 was transferred from jail to the East End Refuge, Fulham. Her parents had left Leeds, so at the age of 30 years, around 1889, with the help of a charity she travelled to America to rejoin her husband. Nothing is known of her life after that.[2]

Source: "Trial of Mary Fitzpatrick", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2023, January 25th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trial_of_Mary_Fitzpatrick.

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Notes
  1. ^ Dufton's Yard was adjacent to 17 Marsh Lane on the east side of Quarry Hill
  2. ^ Orange Street was a yard adjacent to 57 York Street, in the Quarry Hill area of Leeds
  3. ^ This evidence of Richardson's last movements does not match the rest, because it places his last-seen action at 11.30 p.m. as going away from the Mill Dam
References
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "The charge". York Herald. British Newspaper Archive. 6 November 1882. p. 6 col3. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Williams, Lucy (2018). Criminal Women, 1850–1920: Researching the Lives of Britain's Female Offenders. Grub Street Publishers, Pen & Sword Books. ISBN 978-1526718617. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  3. ^ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 1 September 2019. Marriages Jun 1850 Conner Catherine and Richard Corcoran Leeds XXIII 541
  4. ^ 1851 England Census 2320/676 p40
  5. ^ a b 1861 England Census 3380/85/p.2
  6. ^ a b c d "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 21 August 2019. Marriages Jun 1876 Fitz Patrick Thomas Leeds 9b 742a. The marriage certificate says: First May 1876 at St Patrick's Chapel (Roman Catholic), York Road, Leeds, Thomas Fitzpatrick bachelor and puddler 19 years, son of flour miller Patrick Fitzpatrick, of Craven Street Leeds, and Mary Corcoran spinster 20 years, daughter of hawker Richard Corcoran, of 72 York Street Leeds. Both signed the register; witnesses were John Hall and Mary Ryan.
  7. ^ a b 1871 England Census 4554/41/p.7
  8. ^ 1881 England Census 4519/56 p.7
  9. ^ Sheerin, Joseph (12 September 2014). "Leeds Streets that Have Completely Disappeared". Leeds List. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  10. ^ "Discovering Leeds, poverty and riches: the working classes". Leodis. Leeds City Council. 2003. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  11. ^ "St Patrick's Chapel, York Road". Leeds Indexers. 2003. Retrieved 2 September 2019. St Patrick's Chapel was completed in 1832, on the north side of Quarry Hill; by 1893 it had been converted as part of St Patrick's School.
  12. ^ 1881 England Census 5178/136 p.36
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Alleged murder by a woman at Leeds". Hull Packet. British Newspaper Archive. 15 September 1882. p. 5 col6. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  14. ^ "Obstructing a footpath". Dewsbury Reporter. British Newspaper Archive. 12 June 1880. p. 3 col3. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Alleged wilful murder and robbery at Leeds". York Herald. British Newspaper Archive. 11 November 1882. p. 6 col6. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  16. ^ a b c d e "Murder by a woman in Leeds". Derby Daily Telegraph. British Newspaper Archive. 12 September 1882. p. 4 col2. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  17. ^ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 19 August 2019. Deaths Jun 1880 Richardson Charles 62 Hunslet 9b 193. The death certificate says: Eighth June 1880 Hunslet Carr, Charles Richardson, male, 62 years, coal miner, phthisis. (Informant) W Richardson, son, present at death, Hunslet Carr, Hunslet. Registered ninth June 1880.
  18. ^ a b "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 19 August 2019. Births Sep 1858 Richardson James Hunslet 9b 258. His birth certificate says: "Sixteenth July 1858 (at) 13 Carr Place, James, boy, (father) Charles Richardson, (mother) Mary Richardson fermerly Howden, (father's occupation) coal miner, (informant) X the mark of Mary Richardson mother 13 Carr Place Hunslet, (registered) nineteenth July 1838." Note the date error on the certificate. The death certificate and trial reports confirm year of birth as 1858.
  19. ^ a b c d 1861 England Census 73/3367/32/p.12
  20. ^ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 1 September 2019. Marriages Sep 1838 Richardson Charles and Howden Mary Leeds 23 322
  21. ^ a b c 1871 England Census 83/4512/37/p.16
  22. ^ a b c d 1881 England Census 18/4487/156/p.27
  23. ^ a b "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 19 August 2019. Deaths Sep 1882 Richardson James 24 Hunslet 9b 200. The death certificate says: 1882 19 August found in the River Aire near the old dam, Hunslet. James Richardson, male, 24 years, glass bottle maker, Taylor Place, Hunslet Carr. Injuries to the head, wilful murder by some persons or persons unknown. Certificate received from John C. Malcolm, Coroner for Leeds Inquest, held 21 August and adjourned to the 4, 12 and 26 September 1882. (Registered) twenty-eighth September 1882.
  24. ^ a b c "Alleged murder at Leeds". Yorkshire Gazette. British Newspaper Archive. 18 November 1882. p. 3 col4. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  25. ^ a b c d e f "Alleged murder at Leeds". Leeds Times. British Newspaper Archive. 16 September 1882. p. 2 col4. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  26. ^ "The alleged murder in Leeds". York Herald. British Newspaper Archive. 19 September 1882. p. 3 col6. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  27. ^ a b "The alleged murder by a woman in Leeds". Sheffield Independent. British Newspaper Archive. 21 September 1882. p. 3 col6. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  28. ^ "A verdict of wilful murder". Leeds Times. British Newspaper Archive. 30 September 1882. p. 3 col3. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  29. ^ "Winter Assize County no..3". Yorkshire Gazette. British Newspaper Archive. 28 October 1882. p. 1 col3. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  30. ^ a b "Yorkshire Assizes". York Herald. British Newspaper Archive. 4 November 1882. p. 3 col5. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  31. ^ Jones, Catherine (26 August 2013). "St George's Hall judge Sir Henry Hawkins". Liverpool Echo. The Trust Project. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  32. ^ Stephen, Herbert (1912). "Hawkins, Henry". Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement. p. 228.
  33. ^ "Rowland Soer Smith". Leeds Mercury. British Newspaper Archive. 7 November 1882. p. 4 col4. Retrieved 19 August 2019.

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