Execution of the Warwickshire Murderer, George Gardner, for Shooting His Sweetheart, Sarah Kirby
The condemned criminal, George Gardner, a ploughman, on Monday suffered the last penalty of the law at Warwick. The execution took place at ten o’clock, before the county gaol, and was performed by Smith, of Dudley. The murder was a most unprovoked and cold-blooded one, by which Sarah Kirby, his fellow-servant, was shot dead while she was standing at her washing-tub, on the 23rd of April last. Both she and the man Gardner were employed at a roadside farm, on the confines of the county, and she was a very good-looking, well-conducted, pious girl. He was a very great blackguard and a sot. Soon after he went to the farm where the murder took place she complained to Miss Edge, the housekeeper, that he annoyed her very much by his attentions, and his attempts to kiss her. Mr Edge, her master, hearing of this, called them both into the parlour, and told him he must not repeat his conduct to her, whereupon Gardner said, “Well, if I can’t have her, no one else shall.” No further complaints were made after this, though there is reason to believe he continued his suit. He amused himself by looking at her as she undressed at night through a chink in the wall which separated their bedrooms. The only complaint he had against her was that she would not draw him the proper quantity of beer; but the truth was that he wanted more than his fair share. On the morning of the murder he was at work in the plough-field, his master being absent at a cattle fair, and he made remarks to the other labourers which showed him to be contemplating some act of violence, saying he wished he had “some one” before him—he would kill them, and so on; but he appears to have left his work and returned to the house without causing any suspicion to arise in their minds that he was about to commit the crime of murder. Having reached the house, he asked this poor girl to fetch him his master’s double-barrelled gun for shooting rooks. He had been in the habit of using it for this purpose before, and no surprise was felt by the girl or by Miss Edge, the housekeeper, who saw her hand the loaded gun to him, Miss Edge remarking, “Mind, it is loaded, George.” He said, “Yes, ma’am, I know it is,” and tried it by taking off the cap and letting the hammer down. Finding it all right, he followed Kirby to the wash-house, and shot her in the back of the neck. He afterwards threatened Miss Edge, and there is no doubt that if she had not concealed herself he would have shot her. He then escaped with the gun, and was taken by the police on his way to Oxford. Some delay took place in the execution; and from the bad adjustment of the rope or some other cause, the criminal died very hard, struggling much, until at last he hung motionless in the air. The crowd contained a large proportion of women, but was orderly in the extreme, and began to disperse as soon as the drop fell. Gardner died penitent, confessing his crime. The following confession was made by Gardner before his execution:—“I did not want to pay my addresses to Sarah Kirby, but she would never draw me the proper quantity of beer, and that vexed me. I did not know the master was away on the 23rd of April, and the witness who said I asked him where he was will have to suffer for his perjury. I tried my luck in the field by throwing up the “spud” of the plough, which came down with the point in the earth. If it had fallen flat I should not have killed her, but as it came down point foremost I left the field with the determination to do it. I should have killed Miss Edge if I had got near her, and it’s a good job no one stopped me before I sold the gun.”
Verses on the Execution of George Gardner, for Shooting Sarah Kirby
Harkness, Printer, 121, Church Street, Preston.
The solemn knell does most awful sound,
Oh God in pity on me look down,
Forgive my sins and compassion take,
And grant me fortitude to meet my fate.
Oh what numbers approach to see
A wretched man upon the tree,
My time is come, and I must be soon,
A prey to worms in the silent tomb.
When I was scarce eighteen years of age,
As ploughman to Mr Edge I did engage,
He unto me was both good and kind,
But murder entered my wicked mind.
She would’t give me beer enough for weeks,
When to take her life I a plan did seek,
I pointed the gun one fatal day,
And with the same took her life away.
When from my labour I did return,
To do her harm my heart did burn,
I took the gun right speedily,
But little thinking she was to die.
Though fellow-servants I did not her like,
That was the reason I took her life,
That was the reason I did her kill,
Maidens never marry against their will.
My bosom heaves and borne down with woe,
The grave lies open and I must go,
To sleep with death till the Judgment day,
When God will pardon me I firmly pray.
It was cursed Satan led me astray,
It was Satan tempted me one day,
It was Satan prompted my guilty mind,
So slay Sarah Kirby both good and kind.
Young men and maidens ere ’tis too late,
Oh take a warning by my fate,
Trust in your Saviour who reigns above,
And never kill whom you cannot love.
It was well for me had I never been born,
To die a death of public scorn,
In youth and bloom on the fatal tree,
Oh God in mercy look down on me.
Petitions have in my favour been
Sent from Warwick town to my gracious Queen,
But alas no mercy is there for me,
And I must die on the fatal tree.
Three weeks I have lain in a gloomy cell,
Where my dreadful sufferings no one can tell,
To gain me pardon my friends have tried,
But oh, alas, it has been denied.