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March, 2014:

The Gallows at Dorchester

Mar 23rd, 2014
by Dorset Ancestors.
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In Speed’s plan of Dorchester published in 1610, the gallows prominently illustrated as two uprights with a connecting crossbeam, was marked at the junction of what today is Icen Way and South Walks. In an earlier time, Icen Way was known as Gaol Lane and started at the Gaol then on the corner of High East Street; the final section leading to the gallows was known as Gallows Hill and for many men, women and children the journey along Gaol Lane was their last.

This final journey along the narrow lane from jail to gallows was for some, heretics and traitors, even more of an ordeal. Dragged by their heels by horses frightened by the crowd to be strung up and disembowelled while still alive, their quartered remains boiled before being despatched to outlying villages as a warning to others.

Dorchester the county town was host to the Assizes, sentences handed down were quickly executed, and in those days the theft of a few shillings would merit a death sentence. Following the Assizes there was a barbaric spectacle thought by government to improve the morals of the people. Actually, the opposite was true, the crowds often numbering thousands drank too much and degenerated into a drunken rabble shouting, cursing and jeering at those unfortunate beings who, to use the term of the times, were to be “turned-off.”

Nearly a century later the Dorchester gallows was moved to the Roman amphitheatre then as now known as Maumbury Rings. The young Mary Channing was brought here in 1703 and burned alive in front of a crowd said to number thousands. (See ‘Mary Channing – a path to the gallows’ in our Archived Articles section-Ed.) Females found guilty of crimes that are more serious were frequently burned alive presumably this was considered more humane than hanging, drawing and quartering, the fate endured by men.

Death by hanging was in practice death by slow strangulation; not until the early years of the 19th century was the longer drop allowed.

The Lent Assizes at Dorchester in 1801 tried 48 cases mostly for theft. Several people found guilty of minor offences were ordered to be transported. (See ‘Transported to such place beyond the seas’ in Archived Articles – Ed.) Ten were sentenced to death including one woman, Lydia Hiskins; she had stolen a bank note.

By the mid 19th century the long drop had been in use for nearly fifty years and the gallows had been arranged at the entrance to the prison in North Square and later moved inside the prison to a spot with views overlooking the meadows by the river.

One of the last public executions at the prison entrance was that of Martha Brown, which was witnessed by a young Thomas Hardy and is said to have haunted him all his life. (See Elizabeth Martha Clarke – “a most kind and inoffensive woman.” Published 24th December 2009 in Real Lives category.)

“Hang Fairs” held below the jail would attract people to Dorchester from all over the county. By daybreak all the best vantage points were taken and the spectators occupied their time drinking, fiddling and dancing. Two centuries on and the public was still attracted to these dreadful spectacles, viewed by many as a free entertainment.

The Royal Mail coach from London pulled in to the King’s Arms at about 9.30 a.m. after a 13-hour journey from London and its arrival determined the time of execution, usually stayed in case there was a last minute reprieve from London.

The last public execution at Dorchester was in 1863. Two men, Preedy and Fooks, were to die on the same day. The Vicar of Fordington, The Rev. Henry Moule, was concerned about Preedy and frequently visited the man in jail. Following the executions The Rev, Moule published a book entitled ‘Hope against Hope,’ an account of Preedy’s life and his repentance. (See ‘The Prisoner a Padre Befriended’ published 9th February 2010 in the Real Lives category.)

This double execution drew thousands from far and wide. It was reported that two brothers erected a grandstand on the meadows and charged for seats. Their enterprise was so well supported that the stand collapsed under the weight of the spectators who all subsided into the mud below.

For year’s the saddler’s shop now long closed but then in High East Street supplied the new rope needed for the gallows. This was always the best quality hemp and probably supplied from Bridport.

In the Dorchester Gallery at the CountyMuseum there are on display two lead weights each about the size of a brick, engraved with the word “Mercy.” Silvester Wilkins was a very light man and even with the benefit of the long drop he faced a lingering death, the weights were a humane gesture from the Governor of the jail. Wilkins was executed in 1833.

Six Roman Catholics were executed on a charge of high treason during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I and then there were the 13 prisoners condemned by Judge Jeffreys, who suffered on the old Gallows Hill. The thirteen were hung in succession one after the other, their bodies treated in the manner reserved for traitors. The quarters of 12 men were distributed in Dorchester and the body of one man handed to his friends by order of the Judge.

There is reference in the Weymouth and Melcombe Regis records to a bill of costs in connection with a gallows erected at Greenhill. It reads: “Disbursements for the gallows, burning and boiling the rebels executed per order of this town – £15 14s. 3d.” It is reported that the horrible preparations for the final disposal of the bodies went on in the sight of the victims. These horrors would have been repeated at Dorchester, Lyme Regis and other towns in the county.

The last execution at Dorchester was of David Jennings who had murdered a night watchman. Jennings was 21 years old when he was executed in 1941.

 

 

The Manor of Owermoigne

Mar 16th, 2014
by Dorset Ancestors.
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When the Saxon Harold Goodwinson (King Harold II) was defeated at Senlec Ridge near Hastings in 1066, it was the beginning of William of Normandy’s conquest. Battles raged around the country before the population was fully brought under Norman rule. One such battle took place in 1067 on an area we now call the Moigne Downs, near Dorchester.

Domesday Book records land here about, including the manor of Owers, was owned by Matthew Moretania and like most of the Saxon landowners he was soon to be dispossessed of his lands including the Manor of Owers, which was granted to the Norman general le Moigne who with his troops had attacked and defeated the town of Dorchester.

The Moigne family built and settled in the Manor House of Moignes Court during the reign of King Henry III, when they were the owners of the Manor until the reign of Henry V; it is believed that originally tea nor House was thatched like Woodsford Castle. The manor passed down through Ralph, William, Henry, Joyhn, Henry and Sir John Moigne, the latter having no male issue resulting in parts of the estate being sold off; the rest passed to the Stourton family through one of the heiresses of t he Moignes.

Records from the time of the reign of Edward I (1272-1307) state that “Ralph Moyne has the Manor of Owers of the Lord the King, by sergeantry of the Royal Kitchen. His ancestors held these tenements from the time of King Henry the First by the aforesaid service.”

At an investigation held before Justices at Sherborne in 1278 William Moignes stated that the family had held the lands from the time of Henry I, in recognition of the service to the Monarch. William Moignes also claimed the right to impound anything washed up by the sea; to inflict fines for breaches of the statutory price of bread and beer, and to hold pleas of wrongful distress and to keep gallows at Winfrith and Owermoigne. This record adds that all the ancestry from time immemorial had enjoyed these privileges. The gallows stood on the way to the sea on a hill still known today as Gallows Hill; William Moigne was master of life and death in the Hundred of Winfrith.

Henry le Moigne, along with many other Knights from Dorset, was called to arms on several occasions to fight the Scots; these Knights were paid for their service by gifts of land and this added greatly to the wealth of the Moigne family.

The last of the Moignes was Sir John, who was Sheriff of Dorset in 1389. He married Joan, a daughter and heir of the Mandeviles of Marsh wood – they had two daughters but no sons.  The younger daughter, Hester, married Sir William Bonvil of Somerset. In 1408 part of the Manor was purchased by John Herring Esq., Thomas Hody and Henry Gouys, but a large part passed to the Stourton family on the marriage of Sir John’s eldest daughter, Elizabeth, to Sir William Stourton.

During the reign of Henry VIII the Manor of Owers was owned by William Baron Stourton. His son Sir Charles, Lord Stourton, brought disgrace on the family while Sir Charles was involved in a lawsuit with a Mr Hartgill and his son who he lured to Stourton Castle ostensibly for a meal and to express his regrets and forgiveness. This was on the 12th of January 1557; father and son were never seen again.

Their bodies were later found buried under the floor of a cellar in the castle. During the trial of Sir Charles it was revealed that while at the table the guests were clubbed by servants and their throats cut.

Sir Charles was sentenced to hang. He appealed to Queen Mary I to make a change to the sentence, on the grounds of his quality and that he and all his family were Roman Catholics.  In view of his noble birth the Queen ordered that he be hanged by a silken halter. He and four of his servants were hanged and he was buried in St Mary’s Chapel in Salisbury Cathedral.

The Stourton family owned the Manor of Owermoigne until 1703 when it was purchased by William Wake, who was later to become Archbishop of Canterbury. He sold the Manor in 1732 to Sir Theodore Janssen a wealthy man of Dutch descent who came to England in 1680.  He was knighted by King William III and at the special request of George II, at the time Prince of Wales, he was made a Baronet in 1714. His son Sir Stephen was Lord Mayor of London in 1755.

William Janssen’s heiress married the Hon. Lionel Damer, third son of the Earl of Dorchester, but she died childless and in the 19th century the manor was sold to John Cree Esq. Subsequently the Cree family restored Moignes Court, a substantial part of which had been damaged by fire in the late 19th century; they re-built the church and provided a school.

 

Warmwell

Mar 7th, 2014
by Dorset Ancestors.
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This small village five miles south east of Dorchester has a Manor House, Mill and Mill House, a few thatched cottages and a Church to remind us of its place in history. Furthermore, for a period during World War II airmen of the Royal Air Force flew missions from a hastily built aerodrome here on an area that is now a quarry.

After the conquest the manor was granted to a Norman, Geoffrey de Warmwell; it later passed to the Newburghs and in the early 17th century came into the possession of the Trenchhard family. Sir Thomas Trenchard was the first in the family to hold it. Sir George Trenchard settled the manor on his son John and it passed to John Sadler through marriage to Jane, Sir John Trenchard’s daughter. The Richards family took possession of the Manor and Warmwell House in 1687, then held it for three generations until in 1806 William Richards sold the Warmwell property and the new owner’s daughter married Capt. Augustus Foster. The estate remained in the hands of the Foster family until 1935.

A Commercial Day Book and a Diary belonging to John Richards have survived from the 18th century and shine a light on business and social life at the time; we will be taking a closer look at these in another article.

John Sadler was a prominent London lawyer who held several offices during the Commonwealth period and for a time was Oliver Cromwell’s personal secretary. He was elected Town Clerk of London on 3rd of July 1649, an office he held until the 18th of September 1660, when he was declared incapable of office. He was nominated as MP for Cambridgeshire in 1653 and in 1659 he was MP for Yarmouth in the Isle of Wight. He was fluent in several Oriental languages.

On the Restoration he lost most of his properties and retired to Warmwell in 1662 in poor mental and physical health. On his deathbed, where he was attended by his wife, a local church minister and his servant, he foretold three major future events: the Plague, The Great Fire of London and the Monmouth Rebellion.

The Parish of Warmwell consists of almost 1,700 acres in a rectangular plan, with the village near the well-wooded middle area. Nearby is the source of a small brook which flows northwards to join a tributary of the River Frome.

The Parish Church of The Holy Trinity stands at the south end of the village. The Nave was built in the 13th century and the West Tower was built (or possibly rebuilt) in the 17th century. The church was restored in 1851 and in 1881 a new chancel was built.  Inside the church are monuments to members of the Richards family: William Richards 1833; William Richards 1803 and Margaret (Clavell) his wife 1817; Susanna and Edward, children of William and Margaret Richards 1803. In the churchyard a table-tomb to Henry Vie 1691 and there is an area looked after by the War Graves Commission, where there are memorials to those lost during World War II, mostly airmen but there are some to prisoners of war.

The present Warmwell House was built in the early 17th century, probably by Sir John Trenchard, who inherited the manor in 1618. The south-east side of the house is thought to include the remains of an earlier building.

Warmwell Mill dates from the late 18th century or early 19th century. In the mid-19th century the miller’s house was added. There are other listed buildings in the village: The Stables and the Lodge House which belong to the estate and Rose Cottages, a pair of estate cottages standing by the side of the road through the small village, which gets its name from a well of tepid water that is the source of the brook..