The Murderous Quaker

This is for Sandra of Sandra's Scribbles (link on left) who expressed an interest in hearing about a murder that took  place in her neck of the woods:-

The year was 1845. The newspaper headlines were full of the murder of Sarah Hart, a young woman who lived in Salt Hill, Slough, Berkshire. Sarah had got involved with a married man called John Tawell and had a long-standing affair. She claimed that he was the father of her two children. She repeatedly wrote to Tawell requesting money for the upkeep of herself and the children. Tawell was very worried that his wife would discover his involvement with this young woman.

He called to visit Sarah on New Year’s Day, 1845 and murdered her by giving her a drink of prussic acid. A neighbour heard Sarah’s screams of agony and went to find out what was happening. The neighbour saw a man dressed in Quaker garb hurriedly leaving Sarah’s house. The neighbour sent for the police and the police ascertained that a man clad in similar clothes had been seen at Slough railway station boarding a train to London. The police wasted no time and used, for the very first time, the newly installed telegraph system to inform the London police. When Tawell’s train arrived at Paddington station, he was greeted by a welcoming committee who promptly arrested him.

Tawell, although a Quaker, certainly did not live by their teachings and was a convicted criminal out on probation after serving a long prison sentence for fraud. At his trial a chemist who owned a shop in Bishopsgate in the City of London stated that Tawell, whom he recognised, had purchased prussic acid on the 1st January.

His defence council claimed that Sarah had met her death accidentally and had actually died due to eating apple pips. Apples had been found in her room. However, the prosecution showed that the only way this could have happened would have been if Sarah had removed the pips, crushed them and distilled them and then drunk the liquour! On the  14th March 1845 the jury found Tawell guilty and he was sentenced to be executed at Aylesbury on the 28th March. His execution was not carried out in or outside a prison but from the County Hall which had a large iron balcony outside the upper floor. A beam jutted out from the wall immediately above the balcony and there was a trap door in the floor. Huge crowds gathered to see Tawell meet his fate. The executioner, known for using a short drop, had made it even shorter than usual and Tawell took ten minutes to die from slow strangulation.

 

Finally thanks to my friend Angel  - link on top right, for the delightful tag she has just made me.