The Liverpool Tragedy
Showing how a Father and Mother
barbarously Murdered their own Son.
A few days ago a sea-faring man, who had just returned to England after an absence of thirty years in the East Indies, called at a lodging-house, in Liverpool, for sailors, and asked for supper and a bed; the landlord and landlady were elderly people, and apparently poor. The young man entered into conversation with them, invited them to partake of his cheer, asked them many questions about themselves and their family, and particularly of a son who had gone to sea when a boy, and whom they had long given over as dead. At night the landlady shewed him to his room, and when she was leaving him he put a large purse of gold into her hand, and desired her to take care of it till the morning, pressed her affectionately by the hand, and bade her good night. She returned to her husband and shewed the accursed gold: for its sake they mutually agreed to murder the traveller in his sleep.
In the dead of the night, when all was still, the old couple silently creeped into the bed room of their sleeping guest, all was quiet: the landlady approached the bedside, and then cut his throat, severed his head from his body; the old man, upwards of seventy years of age, holding the candle. They put a washing-tub under the bed to catch his blood, and then ransacking the boxes of the murdered man they found more gold, and many handsome and costly articles, the produce of the East Indies, together, with what proved afterwards, to be a marriage certificate.
In the morning early, came a handsome and elegantly dressed lady, and asked, in a joyous tone, for the traveller who arrived the night before. The old people seemed greatly confused, but said he had risen early and gone away. “Impossible!” said the lady, and bid them go to his bed-room and seek him, adding, “you will be sure to know him as he has a mole on his left arm in the shape of a strawberry. Besides, ’tis your long lost son who has just returned from the East Indies, and I am his wife, and the daughter of a rich planter long settled and very wealthy. Your son has come to make you both happy in the evening of your days, and he resolved to lodge with you one night as a stranger, that he might see you unknown, and judge of your conduct to wayfaring mariners.”
The old couple went up stairs to examine the corpse, and they found the strawberry mark on its arm, and they then knew that they had murdered their own son, they were seized with horror, and each taking a loaded pistol blew out each other’s brains.
Just Published.—A Variety of Children’s Books, Battledores, Lotteries, and a quantity of Popular Songs set to Music. Cards, &c., Printed cheap.
The Arrest of the Prisoner.
“For murder, though it have no tongue, will speak with most miraculous organ.”
The prisoner was arrested while drinking with his companions in a public-house, and after two Magistrates had heard the evidence he was fully committed to the Assizes to be tried before my Lord Judge and a British Jury, at the County Hall.
THE TRIAL!
———
“Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein.”
———
At an early hour on the morning of the trial, the Court was crowded to excess, the Judge taking his seat at nine o’clock. The Prisoner on being placed at the bar, pleaded “Not Guilty,” in a firm tone of voice. The Trial lasted many hours, when, having been found ‘GUILTY.’ the learned Judge addressed the prisoner as follows:—
“Prisoner, you have been found guilty of a most cold-blooded Murder, a more deliberate murder I never heard of. You and your wife had been to a neighbouring town, and were returning home, when you did it. She was found in a ditch. I cannot hold out the slightest hope of mercy towards you in this case.” During this address the whole court was melted into tears. His Lordship then put on the black cap and passed the sentence as usual, holding out no hope of mercy to the prisoner.
The County Gaol.
The Home of the Good Man.
“Sundry blessings hang about his Throne, that speak him full of Grace.”
Letter Written by the Prisoner after his Condemnation.
Condemned Cell.
Dear Sister,
When you receive this you will see that I am condemned to die; my Father and Mother are coming to take their last farewell, and I should very much liked to have seen you, but knowing that you are on the eve of bringing into the world another to your family, I beg that you will refrain from coming; if that you do serious may be the consequences, therefore, dear Sister, do not attempt to come. I hope that no one will upbraid you for what I have done; So God bless you and yours; farewell! dear Sister, for ever.
J. WARD.
THE EXECUTION.
“A threefold cord is not quickly broken.”
The Execution of the above prisoner took place early this morning at eight o’clock, the people flocking to the scene at an early hour. As the period of the wretched man’s departure drew near, the chaplain became anxious to obtain from him a confession of the justice of his sentence. He acknowledged the justice of his sentence, and said he was not fit to live, and that he was afraid to die, but he prayed to the Lord for forgiveness, and hoped through the merits of his Saviour that his prayer would be heard. Having received the sacrament, the executioner was not long in performing his office. The solemn procession moved towards the place of Execution, the chaplain repeating the confession words, “In the midst of life we are in death.” Upon ascending the platform he appeared to tremble very much. The cap being drawn over his eyes and the signal given, the wretched man was launched into eternity. He died almost without a struggle. After the body had hanged the usual time it was cut down and buried according to the sentence in the gaol.
The Home of the Bad Man.
“One Sin doth another provoke.”
Copy of Verses.
Come all you feeling hearted christians, wherever you may be,
Attention give to these few lines, and listen unto me;
Its of this cruel murder, to you I will unfold,
The bare recital of the same will make your blood run cold.
Confined within a lonely cell, with sorrow I am opprest,
The very thought of what I’ve done, deprives me of rest;
Within this dark and gloomy cell in the County Gaol I lie,
For murder of my dear wife I am condemned to die.
For four long years I’d married been, I always lov’d her well,
Till at length I was overlooked, oh shame for me to tell;
By Satan sure I was beguiled, he led me quite astray,
Unto another I gave way on that sad unlucky day.
I well deserve my wretched fate, no one can pity me,
To think that I in cold blood could take the life away;
I took a stake out of the hedge and hit on the head,
My cruel blows I did repeat until she were dead.
I dragged the body from the stile to a ditch running by,
I quite forgot there’s one above with an all-seeing eye,
Who always brings such deeds to light, as you so plainly see,
I questioned was about it and took immediately.
The body’s found, the inquest held, to prison I was sent,
With shame I do confess my sin, with grief I do repent;
And when my trial did come on, I was condemned to die,
An awful death in public scorn, upon the gallows high.
While in my lonely cell I lie, the time draws on apace,
The dreadful deeds that I have done appear before my face;
While lying on my dreadful couch, those horrid visions rise,
The ghastly form of my dear wife appears before my eyes.
Oh may my end a warning be now unto all mankind,
And think of my unhappy fate and bear me in your mind;
Whether you are rich or poor, young wives and children love,
So God will fill your fleeting days with blessings from above.
A short time since, some of the moral-mending crew of Parsons, Magistrates, Quakers, Shakers, Puritans, Old Maids, and highly respectable, and, now retired from active business “Young Ladies,” who now assume a virtue, though they have it not, and a variety of other goodly persons ever ready to compound for sins they are inclined to, by exposing those they have no mind to, living not 50 miles hence, determined on reforming doings, manners, and customs:—
IN THIS TOWN!
and a meeting in consequence took place at “Rosebud Cottage” the residence of Miss Mary Ann Lovitt, when, as a first step, it was determined to remove the facilities and accommodation afforded a certain—You-know-what! crime very general in this neighbourhood by hunting out of the town:—
A CERTAIN LADY ABBESS!!
who keeps a very genteel house for the accommodation of “single young men and their wives” and one who never offends, or bores her patrons by asking for a sight of their ‘Marriage Certificates.’
At the meeting, the armchair was taken by the Rev. John —— —— —— B.A., of this parish, Mr. Churchwarden Smith, and Mr. J. Brown, the draper, supporting him on either side; when a variety of methods were suggested for the removal of the alledged social evil, one thought entreaty might best answer, another was for force, a third recommended the Religious Tract Society, while a fourth was for the aid of the Very Rev. Rowland H———l, Miss A. and Miss B. were both loud in their praise of the Rev. Jabez B———g, mention was made of the Society for the Suppression of Vice, at length the Reverend Divine Chairman was called on for his opinion, when he—conscious of the integrity and purity of his own life and experience! at once pronounced:—
A BURNING SHAME!!!
as the only effectual remedy for the ever increasing evil. This was indeed a harsh measure, and some of the worthies looked a variety of colours on the occasion, but as none had the moral courage for personal character sake to oppose the parson’s proposition, it was carried unanamously. A board bearing on it in legible characters:—
BEWARE OF A BAD HOUSE!!!!
was soon prepared, and with a lanthorn attached, was paraded before the house of the fair—but frail duenna’s mansion. It did not remain long in this position as the following letter from the lady abbess of the Agapemone! soon had its deserved effect:—
Gentlemen:—“If the board and lanthorne is not removed from the front of my house in one hour from this time, I will publish the name, profession, and address, of every gentleman—together with that of the lady accompaning him who has visited my “Establishment for Young Ladies” during the last six months. Some of your worships know on whom this would fall heaviest.”
Yours with thanks for past favours,
Aunt.
It is almost needless to say that the board and lanthorne were very soon removed, and, that, the old, and accommodating lady is doing a good business again:—
THUS CONSCIOUS DOES MAKE COWARDS OF US ALL.
“Who would have thought he had been a—
He was such—a nice young man.”
About a week since, a dashing young blade, dressed in the very height of the prevailing fashion, having long black and curly hair, together with a pair of out-and-out slap-up whiskers and moustaches, and calling himself Count de Coburgh Aingarpatzziwutchz, and professing to be a foreigner and a man of enormous fortune, and one of the haut ton! took up his lodging at the principal inn, The —— Arms, in this town, where the swell foreigner looking blade soon made a great stir among the ladies of the place; the old, the young, the tall, the short, the fair, and the dark, were all alike smitten over head and ears in love with the distinguished visitor, but none seemed to make so much impression upon his heart as Mary Jane Jemima S——w, the youngest of the landlord’s daughters of The —— Arms Inn, of this town. She is well known in this neighbourhood to be very handsome, with light brown hair all in ringlets, light blue eyes, a fine aquiline nose, and of a tall and commanding figure, aged about sweet 17 years of age, and very tender.
The foreign Count! soon won the affections of the young lady, and while she was all cock-a-hoop at the thought of having such a fine handsome young blade for a husband, all the other women of the town, old and young, were ready to tear out her eyes and boil them in their own blood with womanly vexation and revenge, and spoke of the intended bridegroom as the Count Don’t-know-who!
On Thursday the bells of the old parish church rang merrily ding!-dong!!-ding!!! and the happy couple were married, our old and respected Rector officiating; assisted by his Curate, Rev. Mr. ——, and all the parish was gay from one end to the other.
A few hours after the ceremony had taken place, whilst the happy couple were feasting on all of the very best with their friends and relations, a stranger, fat and greasy, and looking like a master or journeyman butcher in his Sunday clothes, and about forty years of age, and black whiskers, made his appearance, and not being acquainted with the occasion that brought the party together, without hesitation exclaimed, loud enough to be heard by all in the room, “Well, brother-blade, you are a lucky fellow! the business about Sal Saunders is all settled to our satisfaction, the lawyer made a good job of it for you, poleaxed the lot on the other side in prime style, and skinned ’em alive, so you may now return home to Whitechapel and put on your blue apron and steel.”—The company stood aghast, the bride fainted, and all was confusion. At length it came out that the newly-married man had a wife and four children at home, and that his visit to the above town was in consequence of a woman swearing a child to him. In the midst of the confusion which this discovery occasioned, the bridegroom and his brother slaughterman from Whitechapel—which is in London—made a sudden retreat, and—have not since been heard of.
THE EFFECTS OF LOVE.
SAD SHOCKING NEWS!
CRUEL SEDUCTION: Dreadful Warning to all Young
Women in this Neighbourhood to Beware of
Young Men’s Deluding and Flattering
Tongues.
The following melancholy account of her cruel seduction and desertion by her base lover was forwarded to that very worthy man Mr. —— a churchwarden, well-known and respected by all in this neighbourhood by Miss S——h W——r, the night before she committed suicide.
Young lovers all I pray draw near,
Sad shocking news you soon shall hear,
And when that you the same are told,
It will make your very blood run cold.
Miss S——h W—— Is my name,
I brought myself to grief and shame,
By loving one that ne’er loved me,
My sorrow now I plainly see.
Mark well the words that will be said,
By W—— E—— I was betray’d,
By his false tongue I was beguil’d
At length to him I proved with child.
At rest with him I ne’er could be,
Until he had his will of me,
To his fond tales I did give way,
And did from paths of virtue stray.
My grief is more than I can bear,
I am disregarded every where,
Like a blooming flower I am cut down,
And on me now my love does frown.
Oh! the false oathes he has sworn to me,
That I his lawful bride should be,
May I never prosper night, or day,
If I deceive you, he would say.
But now the day is past and gone,
That he fix’d to be married on,
He scarcely speaks when we do meet,
And strives to shun me in the street.
I did propose on Sunday night,
To walk once more with my heart’s delight,
On the Umber’s banks where billows roar,
We parted there to meet no more.
His word was pledged unto me,
He never shall prosper nor happy be,
The ghost of me and my infant dear,
They both shall haunt him every where.
William dear when this you see,
Remember how you slighted me,
Farewell vain world; false man adieu,
I drown myself for love of you.
As a token that I died for love,
There will be seen a milk-white dove,
Which over my watery tomb shall fly,
And there you’ll find my body lie.
These cheeks of mine once blooming red,
Must now be mingled with the dead,
From the deep waves to a bed of clay,
Where I must sleep till the Judgement Day.
A Joyful rising then I hope to have,
When Angels call me from the grave
Receive my soul, O Lord most high,
For broken hearted I must die.
Grant me one favour that’s all I crave,
Eight pretty maidens let me have,
Dress’d all in white a comely show,
To carry me to the grave below.
Now all young girls I hope on earth,
Will be warned by my untimely death,
Take care sweet maidens when you are young,
Of men’s deluding—flattering tongue.
SHOCKING RAPE
AND
DREADFUL MURDER OF TWO LOVERS.
Showing how John Hodges, a Farmer’s Son,
Committed a Rape upon Jane Williams,
and afterwards murdered her and
her lover, William Edwards,
in a field near Paxton.
This is a most revolting murder. It appears Jane Williams was keeping company, and was shortly to be married to William Edwards, who was in the employment of Farmer Hodges. For some time a jealousy existed in John Hodges, who made vile proposals to the young girl, who although of poor parents was strictly virtuous. The girl’s father also worked on Farmer Hodges’ estate. On Thursday last she was sent to the farm to obtain some things for her mother, who was ill; it was 9 o’clock in the evening when she set out, a mile from the farm. Going across the fields she was met by the farmer’s son, who made vile proposals to her, which she not consenting to, he threw her down, and accomplished his vile purpose. In the meantime her lover had been to her house, and finding she was gone to the farm, went to meet her. He found her in the field crying, and John Hodges standing over her with a bill-hook, saying he would kill her if she ever told. No one can tell the feelings of the lover, William Edwards. He rushed forward, when Hodges, with the hook, cut the legs clean from his body, and with it killed the poor girl, and then run off. Her father finding she did not return, went to look for her, when the awful deeds were discovered. Edwards was still alive, but died shortly afterwards from loss of blood, after giving his testimony to the magistrates. The farmer’s son was apprehended, and has been examined and committed to take his trial at the next assizes.
Thousands of persons followed the unfortunate lovers to the grave, where they were both buried together.
COPY OF VERSES.
Jane Williams had a lover true
And Edwards was his name,
Whose visits to her father’s house,
Had welcome now became.
In marriage soon they would be bound,
A loving man and wife,
But John Hodges, a farmer’s son
With jealousy was rife.
One night he met her in the fields,
And vile proposals made;
How can I do this wicked thing,
Young Jane then weeping said.
He quickly threw her on the ground,
He seized her by surprise,
And did accomplish his foul act
Despite her tears and cries.
Her lover passing by that way,
Discovered her in tears,
And when he found what had been done
He pulled the monster’s ears.
Young Hodges with the bill-hook,
Then cut young Edwards down;
And by one fatal blow he felled
Jane Williams on the ground.
There side by side the lovers lay
Weltering in their blood:
Young Jane was dead, her lover lived,
Though ebb’d away life’s flood.
Old Williams sought his daughter dear,
When awful to relate,
He found her lifeless body there,
Her lover’s dreadful fate.
Now in one grave they both do lie,
These lovers firm and true,
Who by a cruel man were slain
Who’ll soon receive his due.
In prison now he is confined,
To answer for the crime.
Two lovers that he murdered,
Cut off when in their prime.
A Funny DIALOGUE
BETWEEN A
FAT BUTCHER
And A MACKEREL
In Newport Market
Yesterday.
Butcher.—Well, Mr. Mackerel, pray let me ask you how you come to show your impudent face among those who don’t want to see you or any of your crew?
Mackerel.—That my company is not agreeable to many such as you I very well know; but here I am, and will keep my place in spite of you. Don’t think to frighten me with your lofty looks, Mr. Green. You are an enemy to the poor, I am their true friend, and I will be in spite of you.
Butcher.—I will soon see the end of you and your vain boasting. What’s the poor to me?
Mackerel.—I and thousands of my brethren are come to town for the sole good of the industrious poor. We will soon pull down your high prices, your pride and consequence, and Melt your fat off your overgrown Carcass. I am their sworn friend, and although you are biting off your tongue with vexation, yet I am determined they shall have a cheap Meal—good, sweet, and wholesome—put that in your pipe and smoke it.
Butcher.—Aye, aye. You are a saucy set, confound you altogether. Oddzbobs, I wish the Devil had the whole of your disagreeable tribe.
Mackerel.—I would advise you, Mr. Green, not to show your teeth when you can’t bite. Millions of my friends are on their way to town to make the poor rejoice. We have had a fine seed time, everything looks promising. Meat must and will come down. The poor will sing for joy, and you may go hang yourself in your garters.
Catnach, Printer, 2, Monmouth Court,
Cards, Bills, &c., Printed on Low Terms.
Catnach, to the day of his retirement from business in 1838, when he purchased the freehold of a disused public-house, which had been known as the Lion Inn, together with the grounds attached at Dancer’s Hill, South Mimms, near Barnet, in the county of Middlesex, worked and toiled in the office of the “Catnach Press,” in which he had moved as the pivot, or directing mind, for a quarter of a century. He lived and died a bachelor. His only idea of all earthly happiness and mental enjoyment was now to get away in retirement to a convenient distance from his old place of business, so to give him an opportunity occasionally to go up to town and have a chat and a friendly glass with one or two old paper-workers and ballad-writers, and a few others connected with his peculiar trade who had shown any disposition to work when work was to be done. To them he was always willing to give or advance a few pence or shillings, in money or stock, and a glass—
“Affliction’s sons are brothers in distress;
A brother to relieve, how exquisite the bliss!”
But Jemmy knew the men that were “skulkers,” as he termed them, and there was no coin, stock, or a glass for them. He invariably drank whiskey, a spirit not in general demand in England in those days. Gin was then, as now, the reigning favourite with the street folks. When the question was put to him in reference to his partiality to whiskey, he always replied—the Scotch blood proudly rising in his veins, and with a strong Northumberland burr, which never wholly forsook him, particularly when warmed by argument or drink—that, “He disdained to tipple with ‘stuff,’ by means of which all the women of the town got drunk. I am of Catnach. Yes! there’s Catnach blood in me. Catnach—King Catnach—Catnach, King of the Picts. We descend in a right straight line from the Picts. That’s the sort of blood-of-blood that flows in the veins of all the true-bred Catnachs.” Jemmy would be for continually arguing when in his cups, and the old and the more artful of the street-folk would let him have all the say and grandeur that he then felt within him on the subject, well knowing that they would be much more likely to have their glasses replenished by agreeing with him than by contradicting him. Even in his sober moments Jemmy always persisted, right or wrong, that the Catnachs, or Catternachs, were descended direct from a King of the Picts. Yet, what is somewhat anomalous, he was himself a rigid churchman and a staunch old Tory, “one of the olden time,” and “as full of the glorious Constitution as the first volume of Blackstone.”
On Catnach’s retirement from the business, he left it to Mrs. Annie Ryle, his sister, charged, nevertheless, to the amount of £1,000 payable at his death to the estate of his niece, Marion Martha Ryle. In the meanwhile Mr. James Paul acted as managing man for Mrs. Ryle. This Mr. Paul—of whom Jemmy was very fond, and rumour saith, had no great dislike to the mother—had grown from a boy to a man in the office of the “Catnach Press.” He was therefore, well acquainted with the customers, by whom he was much respected; and it was by his tact and judgment that the business was kept so well together. He married a Miss Crisp, the daughter of a publican in the immediate neighbourhood.
Catnach did not long enjoy or survive his retirement. After the novelty of looking, as the poet Cowper puts it, and no doubt in his case found it, “Through the loop-holes of retreat, to see the stir of the Great Babel, and not feel the crowd,” had worn itself out, “James Catnach, Gentleman, formerly of Monmouth Court, Monmouth Street, Printer,” grew dull in his “Old Bachelor’s Box;” he was troubled with hypochondriasis, and a liver overloaded with bile, and was further off than ever from being a happy man. He had managed to rake and scrape together—as far as we can get any knowledge—some £5,000 or £6,000, although £10,000 and upwards is mostly put down to him. However, he had grabbed for and caught a fair amount of “siller and gold,” but it failed to realize to him—
An elegant sufficiency, content,
Retirement, rural quiet, friendship, books,
Ease and alternate labour, useful life,
Progressive virtue, and approving Heaven!
No! all he had realized was that unenviable position so popularly known as of a man not knowing what to do with himself. His visits to town were now much more frequent and of longer duration, and for hours he would sit and loiter about the shops and houses of his old neighbours, so that he might catch a glimpse, or enjoy a friendly chat with his old friends and customers. At length he got sick at heart, “wearied to the bone,” and sighed for the bustle of London Life.
From the following letter written to his sister, Mrs. Ryle, in 1840, and now before us, we glean something of his state of mind and bodily health:—
July, 4th, 40.
Dear Sister,—
I have been very ill for these last three weeks. I was obliged to send for Dr. Morris to cup me, which did some good for a few days, since then the pains have gone into my breast and ribs, and for the last three days I have kept my bed, and could take nothing but a little tea and water-gruel. I wish you to procure me 6 Bills to stick on my window shutters, outside and in, “This House to be Let,” and send them with ½lb Tea as soon as possible—but do not send them by Salmon’s Coach, for he will not leave them at Jackson’s as Wild does, but sends a boy with it, which costs me double porterage. I feel the loss of my jelly now I am so ill, and can eat little or nothing, it would have done my throat good. I have a great crop of black and red berries [currants] if you choose I will send them up, and you can make some jelly for us both; let me know as soon as you can, say Wednesday morning and I will make the Postwoman call for the parcel at Jackson’s. I also wish you to enquire of Carr what is the lowest he will take for the rooms over Mrs. Morgan, by the ½ year.
I have nothing more to say but to be remembered to Mary and Paul, and remain
Pray send a paper of the execution of the Valet, and the trial of Oxford—Mrs. Westley has not sent me 1 paper since I was last in town—neither has Thornton.
Mrs. Ryle,
2 & 3, Monmouth Court,
Compton Street, London.
Ultimately Catnach hired the rooms he speaks about in the body of his letter to his sister, which were on the first floor of No. 6, Monmouth Court. All the vacant space in his old premises being now fully occupied by Mrs. Ryle, and her assistants, now “the humble cottage fenc’d with osiers round,” which to his leisure afforded no pleasure, was entirely deserted, and in London he fretted out the remaining portion of his life. He soon grew peevish, and his brain got a little out of balance, then he listlessly wandered in and out of the streets, courts, and alleys, “infirm of purpose.” On stormy days and nights to stand and view the lightning from Waterloo Bridge was his special delight, and wonder. His temper and liver were now continually out of order, and which whiskey, even “potations pottle deep,” failed to relieve. At length he died of jaundice, in the very London court in which he had muck’d and grubbed for the best part of his life, on the first day of February, 1841. Like other great men of history he has several locales mentioned as his final resting-place—Hornsey, Barnet, South Mimms, &c.
Urbes, certarunt septem de patria Homeri,
Nulla domus vivo patria fuit.
Seven cities strove whence Homer first should come, When living, he no country had nor home:—Tom Nash, 1599.
Seven Grecian cities vied for Homer dead,
Through which the living Homer begged his bread.
Seven cities vied for Homer’s birth, with emulation pious,—Salamis, Samos, Colophon, Rhodes, Argos, Athens, Chios.
—From the Greek.
But Catnach lies buried in Highgate Cemetery, in one of the two plots that Mrs. Ryle purchased sometime previous to her brother’s death. The official number of the grave is 256, Square 29, over which is placed a flat stone, inscribed:—
IN MEMORY OF
JAMES CATNACH,
Of Dancer’s Hill.
DIED 1st FEBRUARY, 1841,
Aged 49.
ANNE RYLE,
Sister to the above, and widow of Joseph Ryle, who died in
India, 10th October, 1823. She died 20th April, 1870,
Aged 75.
Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord.
The freehold in the other plot of ground, after Catnach’s death, was transferred to Mr. Robert Palmer Harding, the accountant of London, who married Catnach’s niece. The stone records the death of Elizabeth Cornelia, third daughter of Robert Palmer Harding and Marion Martha Harding, born 9 June, 1848, died 8 of November, 1848; and Greville, second son of the above, born 29 May, 1856, died 3 September, 1856. This grave is now numbered 5179. We have been thus minute in respect to Catnach’s grave, from the circumstance of our having received so many contradictory statements as to its whereabouts. But however, we have removed all doubt from our mind by a personal visit to the Highgate Cemetery where under the guidance of the very civil and obliging superintendent of the grounds, Mr. W. F. Tabois, we were conducted to the spot we required, then introduced to Mr. Marks, the sexton, “here man and boy thirty years,” and whom we found very intelligent and communicative on various subjects—
“From grave to gay, from lively to severe.”
After Catnach’s death, Mr. James Paul entered into partnership with Mrs. Ryle, and then the business was carried on under the title and style of A. Ryle and Paul. In 1845 the partnership was dissolved, Mr. Paul receiving £800 in settlement. He then entered into the public line taking the Spencer’s Arms, at the corner of the Monmouth Court. A son that was born to him in 1847, he had christened James Catnach Paul. He died in the year 1870, just six weeks after Mrs. Ryle, and lies buried in the next grave but one to Catnach and his sister.
After Mr. Paul had left the business it was carried on as Ryle & Co., and ultimately became the property of Mr. W. S. Fortey, who still carries on the old business in the same quarter.
For the purpose of clearing up, if possible, some contradictory statements, a few years ago we made personal search through the musty-fusty red-tapeism of Doctor’s Commons for the Will and Testament—or “Last Dying Speech” of “James Catnach, of Dancer’s Hill, South Mimms, in the county of Middlesex, Gentleman, formerly of Monmouth Court, Monmouth Street, Printer,” an office copy of which, together with Probate and Administration Act, we give below, by which it will be seen that the Personal Effects are sworn to as under three hundred pounds. But this gives us no idea of the value of his “Freehold, Copyhold, or Leasehold Estate” mentioned in the body of the Will.
“Extracted from the principal Registry
of Her Majesty’s Court of Probate.
“In the Prerogative Court of Canterbury—
“This is the last Will and Testament of me JAMES CATNACH of Dancers Hill, South Mimms in the County of Middlesex Gentleman formerly of Monmouth Court Monmouth Street Printer I direct that my just debts funeral and testamentary expences be paid as soon as conveniently may be after my decease and subject thereto I give devise and bequeath all my real and personal Estate whatever and wheresoever and of what nature or kind soever to my Sister Anne the Widow of Joseph Ryle now residing in Monmouth Court aforesaid her heirs executors and administrators according to the nature and qualities thereof respectively In trust nevertheless for her Daughter Marion Martha Ryle her heirs executors administrators and assigns respectively when she shall attain the age of twenty one years absolutely with power in the meantime to apply the rents interest dividends or proceeds thereof for and towards the maintenance education and advancement of the said Marion Martha Ryle and notwithstanding the private means of my said Sister may be adequate to such purpose but if the said Marion Martha Ryle shall depart this life before she shall attain the age of twenty one years then I give devise and bequeath all my said real and personal Estate to my said Sister her heirs executors administrators and assigns absolutely I hereby direct that during the minority of the said Marion Martha Ryle it shall be lawful for the said Anne Ryle her heirs executors administrators to demise or lease all or any part of my freehold copyhold or leasehold Estate for any term consistent with the tenure thereof not exceeding twenty one years so that on every such demise the best yearly rent be reserved that can be obtained for the property which shall be therein comprised without taking any fine or premium and so that the tenant or lessee be not made dispunishable for waste I hereby nominate constitute and appoint my said Sister sole Executrix of this my Will and hereby revoking all former and other Wills by me at any time heretofore made I declare this to be my last Will and Testament. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand the twenty second day of January one thousand eight hundred and thirty nine—JAMES CATNACH—Signed and acknowledged by the above named James Catnach as and for his last Will and Testament in the presence of us present at the same time who in his presence and the presence of each other have hereunto set our names as Witnesses—William Kinsey 13 Suffolk St. Pall Mall Solr.—Wm. Tookey his Clerk.”
[The Probate and Administration Act.]
“Extracted from the principal Registry
of Her Majesty’s Court of Probate.
“In the Prerogative Court of Canterbury—
April, 1842.
“JAMES CATNACH—On the second day of April administration (with the Will annexed) of the Goods Chattels and Credits of James Catnach formerly of Monmouth Court Monmouth Street Printer but late of Dancers Hill South Mimms both in the county of Middlesex Gentleman deceased was granted to William Kinsey Esquire the Curator or Guardian lawfully assigned to Marion Martha Ryle Spinster a Minor the Niece and usufructuary Universal Legate until she shall attain the age of twenty one years and the absolute Universal Legatee on attaining that age named in the said Will for the use and benefit of the said minor and until she shall attain the age of twenty one years have been first sworn duly to administer Anne Ryle Widow the Sister sole Executrix Universal Legatee In trust and the contingent universal Legatee named in the said Will and also the natural and lawful Mother and next of kin of the said minor having first renounced the probate and execution of the said Will and the Letters of administration (with the said Will annexed) of the goods of the said deceased and also the Curation or Guardianship of the said Minor and consented (as by Acts of Court appear)—
EFFECTS UNDER THREE HUNDRED POUNDS.
It is gratifying to be able to record that what the late Mr. Catnach was to the masses in the way of news provider some fifty years ago, the penny papers are now, with this exception, that the former tended to lower and degrade their pursuit after knowledge, the latter, on the contrary, improve and elevate them while they amuse and instruct all who peruse their contents. With the march of intellect, and the thirst for knowledge blended with the desire for truth, out went, to a great extent, the penny broad-sheet. Several persons made the attempt to revive it long after the death of the great original Jemmy Catnach, but without success.
Footnotes
1 Friendly Lead, a gathering at a low public-house, for the purpose of assisting some one who is “in trouble,” i.e., in prison, or who has just “come out of trouble,” or who is in want of a “mouthpiece” to defend him, and so forth.
2 This is an error—See page 76.
3 The numbers at the close of the Poll on Saturday, 24th March, at three o’clock, stood as under:—
| Sir Francis Burdett | 5,327 | |
| J. Cam Hobhouse, Esq. | 4,884 | |
| Hon. W. Lamb | 4,436 |
4 Mr. George Skelly—Alnwick.
5 At an interview which we had in 1877 with Née. Elizabeth Catnach, the last survivor of the family of John and Mary Catnach, she informed us that the MS. book alluded to above, remained in the family for many years, and was last known to be in the possession of the sister Mary—Mrs. Haines, of Gosport, to the date of about 1863.
6 Pitts, a modern publisher of love garlands, merriments, penny ballads,
“Who, ere he went to heaven,
Domiciled in Dials Seven!”—
G. Daniel’s “Democritus in London.”
7 The late John Camden Hotten’s Introduction to the new edition of “Life in London.” Chatto & Windus: Piccadilly.
8 Our thanks are due, and are hereby given to Mr. Crawford John Pocock, of Cannon Place, Brighton, for the loan and use of his—what we feel almost inclined to consider—unique copy of Catnach’s broadside of “Life in London.”
9 The above copied, verbatim At our request, by Mr. George Skelly, of Alnwick.
10 E. L. Blanchard, in an article entitled, “Vanished Theatres,” in the Era Almanack, 1877.
Little Boys and Girls will find
At Catnach’s something to their mind,
From great variety may choose,
What will instruct them and amuse;
The prettiest plates that you can find,
To please at once the eye and mind,
In all his little books appear,
In natural beauty, shining clear,
Instruction unto youth when given,
Points the path from earth to heaven.
He sells by Wholesale and Retail.
To suit all moral tastes can’t fail.
THE
Royal Book.
OF
Nursery Rhymes.
A present for little Masters and Misses.
A Good Book to Instruct and Amuse.
Pussy-Cat, pussy-cat, where have you been?
I’ve been up to London to look at the queen.
Pussy-cat, pussy-cat, what did you there?
I frighten’d a little mouse under the chair.
London:
Published by Ryle and Paul,
2 & 3, Monmouth Court, Seven Dials.
A Pair of Snuffers.
A mouth I have got, that’s not whiter than ink.
And all I devour doth most nauseously stink;
So much valued am I, that by none I’m refused,
And the light shines the brighter whenever I’m used.
A Watch.
My form is beauteous to allure the sight
My habit gay, of colour gold & white,
When ladies take the air, it is my pride,
To walk with equal paces by their side,
I near their persons constantly remain,
A favourite slave, bound in a golden chain.
A Wheelbarrow.
No mouth, no eyes, nor yet a nose,
Two arms, two feet, and as it goes,
The feet don’t touch the ground,
But all the way the head runs round.
And tho’ I can both speak and go alone,
Yet are my motions to myself unknown.
A Salamander.
What all consumes best pleases me,
I covet that which others flee,
Strange thing to tell, unhurt I lie
And live, where all the world would die.
“THE CATNACH PRESS,”
(ESTABLISHED 1813.)
WILLIAM S. FORTEY,
(Sole Successor to the late J. Catnach.)
Printer, Publisher,
AND
WHOLESALE STATIONER,
2 & 3, MONMOUTH COURT,
SEVEN DIALS, LONDON, W.C.
The Cheapest and Greatest Variety in the Trade of Large Coloured Penny Books; Halfpenny Coloured Books; Farthing Books; Penny and Halfpenny Panoramas; School Books; Penny and Halfpenny Song Books; Memorandum Books; Poetry Cards; Lotteries; Ballads (4000) and Hymns; Valentines; Scripture Sheets; Christmas Pieces; Twelfth Night Characters; Carols; Book and Sheet Almanacks, Envelopes, Note Paper, &c.
W. S. FORTEY begs to inform his Friends and the Public generally, that after 19 years service he has succeeded to the business of his late employers (A. Ryle & Co.), and intends carrying on the same, trusting that his long experience will be a recommendation, and that no exertion shall be wanting on his part to merit a continuance of those favours that have been so liberally bestowed on that Establishment during the last 46 years.
1859.
THE LIFE,
TRIAL, CHARACTER, CONFESSION, BEHAVIOUR,
AND
EXECUTION
OF
JAMES WARD,
Aged 25, who was hung in the front of the Gaol,
For the wilful Murder he committed on the
Body of his own Wife.
To which is added a Copy of Affectionate Verses
which he composed in the Condemned Cell
The night before his
EXECUTION.
PRINTED AT LONDON.
PRICE ONE PENNY.