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n All this coming and going of strangers in the smallnvillage of Radlett had not gone unnoticed by the locals and before long MrnProbert received a visit from the local constabulary. Two Bow Street Runners,nMr Simmonds and Mr Ruthven, called on Mr Thurtell, placed him in handcuffs andnconveyed him to the Essex Arms Inn, Hertford, where the magistrates already hadnProbert and Hunt in custody. The accused were examined separately and there wasna great discrepancy in their accounts of what had occurred.
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| Map of Thurtell’s movements |
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nThurtell deniednknowing Mr Weare, he had not invited anyone to go shooting at Radlett, had onlynspent ten minutes walking with Hunt in Gill’s Hill lane, and knew nothing aboutnany gunshot. Mr Ruthven, the Runner, then showed him the pistol, which hadnbloodstains on it and remnants of Weare’s brains still in the barrel, one of anpair, the other discovered at Thurtell’s lodgings in London. Thurtell turnednpale and was visibly shaken. A witness, Cogswell, was produced who identifiednThurtell and Hunt as the gentlemen who had purchased a pair of pistols in hisnpawnshop on October 24th. Ruthven had also found a carpetbag and anbackgammon board at Hunt’s lodgings and a shirt, embroidered with a ‘W’, in thenstables at Probert’s cottage. Hunt, fearing that the game was up, made a dealnwith Mr Noel, Weare’s solicitor, that in return for immunity, he would show thenauthorities where Weare’s body was hidden. At 9 am on October 30th,nthe Justices and Hunt went to Hill’s Slough, Elstree, where a sack containingnthe naked corpse of William Weare was recovered.
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| The Pond at Elstree |
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nThe body was taken to the ArtichokenInn, Elstree, where on the next day, Hunt and Probert were brought before MrnBenjamin Rooke, the coroner. Probert flatly denied any knowledge of the murder,ngave a story that entirely contradicted that of Hunt, fell to his knees inntears before the magistrates and cried,
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n“I am totally innocent of thenmurder. I did not know of the man’s coming any more than the man in the moon.”n
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nNonetheless, Probert, Hunt and Thurtell were formally charged with the murdernof Mr William Weare, with Thurtell further charged with defrauding the CountynFire Office. There followed a period when evidence was gathered, fifty-fournwitnesses gave statements and a case was put together. Probert, in a bid tonescape the consequences of his involvement and save his own neck, turned King’snEvidence and his name was removed from the indictment. The coming trialnreceived a great deal of interest in the popular press, which set up a chain ofnone hundred ‘express horses’ to relay the news to London, and spectators fromnacross the country gathered at Hertford, where every available room was rentednout to the curious.
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| The Trial at Hertford |
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nOn January 6th 1824, Mr Justice Park (thenbad-tempered Judge already mentioned) struggled through the crush in thencourtroom and took his place at the bench. The prisoners were brought in andnProbert was formally acquitted and a request was made that Hunt should also benallowed to turn King’s Evidence but Park dismissed the move, and the jury wasnsworn in. Thurtell and Hunt stood in the dock and Probert was placed in the witnessnbox.
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| Pierce Egan – Recollections of John Thurtell – 1824 |
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nOn the first day, the testimonies of the various witnesses were presented,nand the cold-blooded actions of the murderer and his accomplices was emphasisedn– the singing of songs and the calmly taken meal –although there was somenunexpected humour too. Susan Woodruff, Probert’s cook, was asked about thensupper,
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n“Was it postponed?”n
n“No,” she answered, “It was pork.”n
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| Hunt, Probert and Thurtell |
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nWhen Thurtell took the stand he launched into ancarefully prepared, theatrical production, learnt by heart, full of gesturesnand bluster, but when he came to the evidence itself he resorted to his notesnand stumbled and muttered his way through, completely destroying the goodnimpression he had made and wearing the patience of the jury and the court, whonbecame so indifferent that open conversation broke out and Thurtell’s voice wasndrowned out. When Hunt was called, he was in such a poor state that he couldnbarely speak, and an officer of the court read out the paper that had beennprepared for him. Probert made such a bad impression that a reporter wrote,
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n“The face of Probert is marked with deceit innevery lineament; the eyes are those of a vicious horse, and the lips are thicknand sensual … His grammar was very nearly as bad as his heart.”n
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nAt the end of the second day, the jury retired for anmere twenty minutes to consider their verdict. In tears, the foreman returnednand gave a guilty verdict, the judge passed the death sentence, Hunt collapsednin sobs whilst, with characteristic bravado, Thurtell took a pinch of snuff henhad been holding in his fingers. The condemned men were taken to their cellsnand the crowds remained to watch the executions.
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| Thurtell in court |
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nOn the evening beforehand andnin recognition for his assistance in recovering Weare’s body, Hunt wasnreprieved and his sentence was commuted to transportation for life; he was sentnfirst to the hulk prison ship ‘Justitia’ and then to the ‘Countess ofnHarcourt’ which departed for Australia on March 16th. She landednat Botany Bay in due course, Hunt served his time, was released, married andnstarted a family, eventually became the Chief Constable of Paramatta, and diednin 1861.
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| The Execution of John Thurtell |
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nAt noon on Friday January 9th 1824, John Thurtell was takennout to the scaffold at Hertford, before a vast crowd, many of who werensympathetic toward him. A white cotton bag was placed on his head, and as thenchurch clock made its final strike of twelve the noose was put about his neck.nThe bolt was pulled, the drop opened and Thurtell died immediately. Some whonwere present say they heard his neck snap, like the crack of a pistol shot. Thenbody was put into a gig and taken to St Bartholomew’s Hospital, where DrnAbernethy public dissected it; crowds of thousands went to see the sight, andnit remained on display until it was too decomposed to risk the health of thenpublic by exhibiting it further.
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| Sketches made from Thurtell’s body |
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nWilliam Probert had originally intended taking a boxnand watching Thurtell’s hanging, but Rev Lloyd dissuaded him and pressed moneynfor a chaise to London on him. He found himself an outcast in society andnwandered the country with his wife, unable to find work as his itinerary wasnpublished in the press. In February 1825, he was living at Ruarden,nGloucestershire with his mother, when he stole a horse from a miller, MrnMeredith, a distant relative by marriage. He was arrested 120 miles away, innLondon, where he had sold the animal for twenty guineas. Meredith traced thenhorse to London and went there himself, where he identified it as his property.
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| Probert Trial – Proceedings of the Old Bailey 1825 |
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nProbert was brought to trial at the Old Bailey on April 7th 1825,nhis defence was that due to the constant publishing of his movements in thenpress he had not been able to get work or settle in peace, and had been forcednto steal the horse as he had no other means of finding money to feed hisnfamily. The jury’s verdict was guilty of horse-stealing, and he was sentencednto death. He remained in prison until June 20th 1825, when he wasntaken to the gallows, in much distress and with much shaking, where he wasnhanged before a great crowd of spectators, most of whom felt that he hadnfinally received the justice he had long deserved.
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| Probert Sentenced to Death |
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