Victorian Crime. Murder at the Mill

Sunday the 8th August 1830 was a nice hot sunny summers Sunday. On this Sunday morning the owner of Hallgarth Mill, wealthy farmer Stephen Oliver and his wife decided to go to Durham and spend the day with relatives. Working for the Oliver's were 19 year old Thomas Clark and pretty 17 year old Mary Ann Westhorpe, they also lived at the mill.

 Before the Oliver's left the mill on the Sunday morning Stephen put £130 in his pocket and left nearly £40 in silver and sovereigns locked in a draw in his bedroom. As they were leaving they told Thomas and Mary to keep working until they returned home. Mary spent the morning carrying milk to Pittington, Thomas on the other hand spent his time watching the other teenagers enjoying themselves in the nearby stream.

Getting more and more bad tempered with the heat of the day a group of girls heard Thomas shouting at Mary to let the pigs out to feed. When Mary had said she had already done it Thomas had yelled back at Mary not to speak unless spoken to or he would be straight with her by the evening

What happened next is unknown but at six o'clock Thomas was seen in fields nearby the mill bending down and then as he stood up he walked towards Sherburn, where he walked into two pitmen. His face covered in blood and his shirt all ripped one of the men asked Canny man, what's the matter with you' Thomas told them six men had forced their way into the mill and attacked him and Mary, he had escaped after being smashed in the face by a poker but he was worried about Mary she might be dead they had to get help. The two pitmen went with Thomas to the mill but the door was jammed, they pushed harder and opened the door enough to look inside. Mary's body was lying with her head smashed in and her throat cut from ear to ear, beside the fireplace was the poker and covered in blood a kitchen knife.

The Oliver's returned to find constable Anthony Smith and a crowd gathered around their home. When the Oliver's searched they found the draws in their bedroom had been smashed and their savings stolen. When he was asked what had happened Thomas told the constable he and Mary had answered a knock at the door to a tall Irishman wanting a light for his pipe. When they had opened the door further to let him in five more Irishmen had pushed their way in and attacked him and Mary with knives and pokers. After being beaten around the head he had escaped from the mill without any cuts or bruises. Thomas said all the men were wearing sailor jackets but no one else had seen these men and they were never found. They did however find the box with the stolen money in the field where Thomas was seen bending down at around six o'clock, so he became the suspect.

It was then assumed that while the Oliver's were gone Thomas was going to steal their money but Mary must have seen him. Being caught for robbery would have meant transportation for life to Australia, so he decided to keep Mary 'quiet' and hide the money until later. On Thursday 25th February 1831, 19 year old Thomas faced trial at Durham court, due to large interest in the case the court was full to overflowing. After more than 40 witnesses and two days the jury retired to consider their verdict. It took them just 22 minutes to come back with a verdict of guilty. Thomas showed no emotion as Mr Justice Littledale placed the black cap on his head and sentenced him to death. The judge also told Thomas Your time in this world will be short and I therefore exhort you to make the best of it by praying for mercy at the hands of the Almighty.

The time for Thomas was short his execution was set for Monday and as this was a public hanging more than 15,000 people gathered to watch. At midday Thomas was lead sobbing to the scaffold and as the rope went round his neck and the crowd went quiet Thomas could be heard saying Gentlemen I die for another mans crimes. I am innocent. Then the trap door opened and Thomas went down, still his punishment was not over. In accordance with the customs of the time his body was given to surgeons for dissection in the name of research, it was returned days later to friends for burial.

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