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n Miss Mary Blandy continued to introduce the ‘lovenphiltre’ into her father’s food during the summer of 1751. Her lover,nCranstoun, wrote a letter to her,
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n“I am sorry there are such occasions tonclean your pebbles. You must make use of the powder to them, by putting it intonanything of substance, wherein it will not swim a-top of the water, of which Inwrote to you in one of my last. I am afraid it will be too weak to take offntheir rust, or at least it will take too long a time.”n
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nMary read betweennthe lines. She had been putting the powder into her father’s tea but it seemsnthat it had floated and the old man had been put off from drinking it. That isnwhy the tea had been left undrunk and why the servants had taken it instead,nalthough no suspicion arose when they became ill after consuming it.
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| Miss Mary Blandy |
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nSo, Marynchanged her method – ‘anything of substance’, Cranstoun had said, so shenturned instead to her father’s oatmeal, stirring the powder into his waterngruel. The servants noticed a white residue in the bottom of the gruel pan andnhid the pan away, unwashed. Mr Blandy came into the kitchen one morning, to getnhot water for his shave, and he dropped hints to his daughter that he suspectedna friend of his had been poisoned in the coffee house. His tea, he said, had a badntaste and he suspected there was something untoward with it.
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| Miss Molly [sic] Blandy |
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nAlarmed, Mary wentnto her room, took Cranstoun’s letters and the packet containing the powder andnthrew them onto the fire. Susan Gunnel, the maid, noticed what was going on andnthrew heavy coals onto the fire and when her mistress went out of the room, shenrecovered what remained unburned from the hearth, including the packet ofnpowder. Miss Blandy, in a show of concern, sent for the famous Dr Addington,nwho arrived and with typical directness told her that her father was beingnpoisoned. She denied it, of course, but dashed off a note to Cranstoun,
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n“DEARnWILLY, My father is so bad that I have only time to tell you that if you do notnhear from me soon again, don’t be frightened. I am better myself. Lest anynaccident should happen to your letters be careful what you write. My sincerencompliments, I am ever, yours.”n
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nThe clerk who was charged with posting thisnnote handed it over at once to the doctor. The servants produced the gruel pannand the packet of powder, and Mr Benjamin Norton, an apothecary, confirmed thatnlove philtre was really white arsenic. Dr Addington pulled no punches. He toldnMary outright,
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n“If your father dies, you will inevitably be ruined.”n
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nNorton ordered Mary from her father’s bedside and placed Gunnel on watch, withnstrict orders to admit no one. Nevertheless, old Mr Blandy asked for hisndaughter and when she came, he told her that he suspected Cranstoun of thenwhole sorry business and she could not be to blame. In tears, she beggednforgiveness, and the old man replied,
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n“I bless thee, and hope that God willnbless thee and amend thy life. Go, my dear, go out of my room. Say no more,nlest thou shouldst say anything to thy own prejudice.”n
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nDr Addington askednMr Blandy directly whom he thought was to blame for his poisoning,
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n“A poornlove-sick girl, I forgive her. I always thought there was mischief in thosencursed Scotch pebbles.”n
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| Miss Blandy begs her Father’s Pardon |
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nIt was enough for the shrewd old doctor who tooknthe law into his own hands and had Mary Blandy put under lock and key in hernown room, with a guard on the door. Sadly, nothing could be done for the oldnlawyer and on August 14th, Mr Francis Blandy died in his bed. Itnjust so happened that the guard placed on Miss Blandy’s door, Mr Herne, hadnworked as a humble clerk for her father some years before and who had once hadnhis aspirations for the hand of the attorney’s daughter politely rejected bynthe ladder-climbing lawyer.
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nMr Herne abandoned his sentry duty, to go and dig angrave for his former employer, he said, which convenience gave Miss Blandy thenopportunity to escape into the street and over Henley Bridge. Dressed only in anhalf-sack and a petticoat without hoops, she was immediately recognised by hernneighbours and forced to take refuge from the assembling mob in the Angelntavern. Mr Alderman Fisher, called as a juryman for the inquest andnpost-mortem, brought a closed carriage (‘to preserve her from the resentmentnof the populace’) to the Angel and persuaded the fugitive to return to hernhome with him.
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| Capt. William Henry Cranstoun |
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nLater in the day, Dr Addington, assisted by other medical men,nperformed the autopsy, and the inquiry concluded that Francis Blandy had beennpoisoned and murdered by his daughter, who had administered arsenic to himnconcealed in his food and drink. The mayor and coroner issued the constablesnwith a warrant to detain the prisoner and convey her to Oxford prison to awaitnthe due process of law.
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nThat evening, Mr Francis Blandy was buried, in thenpresence of Norton, the apothecary, Littleton, his clerk, and Harman, hisnfootman; none of his relatives attended. Miss Blandy was given leave to packnher essentials, including her caddy of fine Hyson tea, and a former servant,nMrs Dean, was engaged to act as her maid. At four o’clock in the Saturday morning, a landau and four containing thentwo ladies and two constables left Henley for Oxford Castle, arriving there atnabout eleven.
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| Miss Mary Blandy takes tea at Oxford Castle |
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nMiss Blandy was given the finest apartments in the keeper’snhouse, where she took tea twice a day, walked in the castle garden’s in thenafternoon and played cards in the evening. Her privacy was respected, andnalthough great sums of money were offered, no one was allowed to see hernwithout her permission. In genteel seclusion, she waited for the date of herntrial to be set.
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