Shooting Victoria
Page 59
186: … “the all engrossing topic of conversation amongst all classes”: Times 1 June 1842, 6.
186: … the Duchess hurried back with her brother-in-law to the Palace, where, bursting into tears, she fell upon Victoria, who calmly caressed and reassured her: Times 1 June 1842, 7; Ipswich Journal 4 June 1842,1.
186: Robert Peel belied his usual coolness in an emotional meeting with the Queen: Bloomfield 44.
186: … an excellent rendition, according to a reporter for the Morning Chronicle: 31 May 1842, 5.
187: “When her Majesty goes abroad among the people for the purpose of taking recreation or exercise,” John Russell said in Parliament that afternoon, “there is not one among her subjects who has less reason to fear an enemy in any single individual of the millions who constitute her subjects”: “Attack on Her Majesty.”
187: … at around 4:30, the gates opened: Times 1 June 1842, 6.
188: … bursting into applause at the end of every line, and screaming “deafening acclamations” at the song’s command “Scatter her enemies”: Times 1 June 1842, 6.
188: … Elena da Feltre, called by a critic an “abortion” and “utterly worthless and common-place”: Times 1 June 1842, 6.
188: … “relying with confidence in the generous loyalty of her people with a determination not to be confined as a prisoner in her own palace”: “Attack on Her Majesty.”
188: … “the feeling now was of a deeper cast”: Martin 1:121n.
188: … speakers at hundreds of congratulatory meetings across the country waxed enthusiastically about Victoria’s chivalric heroism: her calmness and resolution; her “kindness … consideration … generosity”: Thus the tea-merchant Richard Twining and a colleague, W. S. Jones, at a meeting of the East India Company; Times 4 June 1842, 6.
188: … “we feel sure that it is no flattery to say that a finer instance of mingled heroism and generosity than this would be difficult to find”: Morning Chronicle 1 June 1842, 5.
189: … her action he thought “very brave, but imprudent”: Greville 2:96.
189: … it was his understanding that the queen would be prudent and stay at home: TNA PRO MEPO 3/18.
189: The Globe, for instance, held that “the Queen’s bravery is more impressive when contrasted with the ministers’ apathy”: quoted in Morning Chronicle 3 June 1842, 4.
190: For years Rowan’s younger and in effect junior co-commissioner Richard Mayne had favored a detective branch: Cobb 95.
190: … Waterloo veteran Charles Rowan, the prime mover behind the military structure of the police when the department was formed in 1829: Gregory.
190: … the Commissioners forwarded a memorandum to Graham at the Home Office: For the fullest information on the formation of the detective branch, see Browne 120–122.
190: … that omniscient knowledge of crime and criminals that Charles Dickens, who later became most enthusiastic and vocal fan of the detective branch, declared to be one of their strongest assets: Dickens, Amusements 265–282; 356–369.
190: Mayne had probably long had a list in mind for this occasion: Cobb 95. 190: Senior Inspector: Ascoli 118–19.
Chapter 11: Powder and Wadding
191: Her precarious state did not prevent the police from searching their Tottenham Court lodgings: Freeman’s Journal 2 June 1842, 2.
192: … “the disagreeable condition of perpetually collecting pewter pots”: Examiner 11 June 1842, 376.
192: … “his only motive could be like Oxford to ensure a situation for life”: TNA PRO MEPO 3/18.
192: … Oxford himself claimed that “If they had hanged me, there would have been nothing of the kind again”: Times 4 June 1842, 6; Morning Chronicle 20 June 1842, 6.
192: … his imitator, Francis: Morning Chronicle 13 June 1842, 3.
192: The procedure “flatters the diseased appetite for éclat and notoriety”: Examiner 11 June 1842.
192: … William Clarkson, a hardheaded, “rough, bluff, testy personage”: Robinson 75.
194: … the “most perfect sangfroid”: Liverpool Mercury 3 June 1842, 175.
195: But the sheriffs only admitted those with written orders: Times 18 June 1842, 7.
195: “A child’s marble—why, gentlemen, the very gravel path he was treading might have furnished him with a stone smooth or angular, quite adequate to the purpose in view”: Times 18 June 1842, 7. For various (and varying) accounts of the trial, see Times 18 June 1842, 7–8; Morning Chronicle 18 June 1842, 7; “John Francis.”
196: … for the last two weeks he had been taken in hand by a creator and purveyor of a treatment for stammering, Thomas Hunt”: Boase, “Thomas Hunt” 280; Times 25 June 1842, 8.
196: … “a piece fired off with ball sounds somewhat sharper than blank cartridge”: Times 18 June 1842, 7.
196: … the powder was “well rammed down”: Times 18 June 1842, 7.
196: … “what I want to know is, whether a pistol fired from the spot where the prisoner stood, if only loaded with wadding, would cause injury to the Queen?”: Times 18 June 1842, 7.
196: “At seven to nine feet the wadding of the pistol would wound the skin or any exposed part, such as the face, or set fire to the dress”: Morning Chronicle 18 June 1842, 7.
197: He became “ten times better off than he was before he committed the act”: Times 18 June 1842, 7.
197: “I know that the books state, and so do my learned friends, that you must give evidence of the pistols being loaded beyond powder and wadding”: Times 18 June 1842, 8.
197: “… though there were no ball or destructive materials,” he instructed the jury, “yet there might have been powder and wadding”: Times 18 June 1842, 8.
198: … “we find the prisoner Guilty on the second and third counts”: Times 18 June 1842, 8.
198: That verdict, according to a court reporter, “rendered Mr. Clarkson’s objection immaterial”: Times 18 June 1842, 8.
198: “John Francis, you stand convicted of high treason: what have you to say why the court should not give you judgment to die according to the law?”: Times 18 June 1842, 8.
199: … a jaded population, which “seems to require stimulants of an extraordinary nature to arouse it.… Poor Daly was only shot. He was not cut up!”: Morning Chronicle 20 June 1842, 6.
200: The prosecution’s witnesses methodically established all of Cooper’s actions on the fifth of May, from his confrontation with Moss to his eventual apprehension: For full (and at times varied) accounts of Cooper’s trial, see the Times 20 June 1842, 7–8; Morning Chronicle 20 June 1842, 6–7; “Thomas Cooper.”
200: … he “should have his father up out of his grave, as there was no use in his lying there”: Times 20 June 1842, 8.
200: Cooper’s odd behavior had all begun with a bout of “putrid fever”: Times 20 June 1842, 8.
201: … “he once bought a silver watch for 14s., and picked it to pieces. He then sold it for 7s.”: Morning Chronicle 20 June 1842, 6.
201: … the “regimen and restraint” of Newgate had had a deeply therapeutic effect on his client: Times 20 June 1842, 8.
201: … “every person who had arrived at the age of discretion must be considered sane until he was proved to be otherwise”: Times 20 June 1842, 8.
202: … Cooper was ordered to stand: Morning Chronicle 20 June 1842, 7.
202: “You had better listen to me. You had better listen to me, prisoner, instead of shaking your fist at any one there”: Morning Chronicle 20 June 1842, 7.
202: … Cooper burst into a frenzied rage and tried to tear an inkwell out of the bar of the dock: Morning Chronicle 20 June 1842, 7.
202: … he instead again shook his fist and hurled threats of vengeance against the all witnesses: Times 20 June 1842, 8.
202: When returned to his cell after his trial, he collapsed into a seat, moaning and weeping: Morning Chronicle 20 June 1842, 6.
203: … the Times on the next day ran an editorial that predicted, based on Justice Tindal’s “grave and solemn” w
ay of passing verdict, that Francis would indeed be executed: Times 18 Jun 1842, 6.
203: … “there could be no pretence for entertaining a single thought to her prejudice or against her sacred person”: Morning Chronicle 20 June 1842.
203: The reporter for the Morning Chronicle reporting this scene held that Francis was weak-minded and impressionable: Morning Chronicle 20 June 1842, 6.
203: Cooper expected no reprieve; he wished death to come as soon as possible: Times 1 July 1842, 6.
203: … Cooper generally reverted to his natural state of rage, sputtering curses and threats of violence against the Metropolitan Police: Times 1 July 1842, 6; Era 26 June 1842, 8.
203: His only regret was that he could not hurt them or the witnesses against him: Era 26 June 1842, 8.
203: Francis received the news with “heart-rending despair”: Era 26 June 1842.
204: John Francis Senior sent his petition for clemency to the Queen via Home Secretary Graham: TNA PRO HO 45/3079.
204: Francis’s sister Jane wrote her own petition, and sought a different avenue to the Queen: TNA PRO HO 45/3079.
204: At least three other groups drew up petitions to Graham or the Queen: TNA PRO HO 45/3079.
204: Almost certainly against Cooper’s wishes, his mother drew up a petition for her son as well: Era 26 June 1842, 8.
204: “I am directed to express to you [Graham’s] regret that there is no sufficient ground to justify him consistently with his public duty in advising her Majesty to comply with the prayer thereof”: Era 26 June 1842,11.
204: It was a scene of “a most distressing character,” according to a witness: Era 3 July 1842.
205: On Saturday 1 July, Peel reported the decision to Prince Albert: Charlot 221.
205: “Norfolk Island is scarcely safety—prolonged agony it certainly is”: Browning and Browning 6:28.
205: … “the feeling that he is to be executed is very painful to me,” Victoria wrote in her journal. And when she learned of the commutation she wrote “I of course am glad”: RA VIC/MAIN/ QVJ/1842,1 July 1842.
205: A convict ship, the Marquis of Hastings, had arrived in Portsmouth on 24 June: Caledonian Mercury 30 June 1842, 4.
206: Two days later … he was clapped in heavy irons and one of Newgate’s chief jailers conveyed him by the Southwestern Railway to Gosport: Examiner 9 July 1842, 445.
206: On the eighteenth, he embarked: “Convicts and Convict Ships sent to Tasmania.”
206: “The opinion is that he will not long survive the hardships consequent on the fulfillment of his sentence,” wrote a writer in the Examiner: Examiner 9 July 1842.
Chapter 12: Hunchbacked Little Miscreant
207: … on either side of the Mall, two or three deep … : Times 4 July 1842, 4.
207: He hardly saw himself as a human being: Ipswich Journal 16 July 1842, 1, qtd. from the Globe.
207: … [he was] tired to death of his life: Era 10 July 1842, 7.
208: His arms were atrophied sticks: Ipswich Journal 16 July 1842, 1, qtd. from the Globe.
208: His eyes sunk into his head. His expression was permanently careworn and weary: Times 5 July 1842, 5.
209: “I shall never be otherwise than I am”: Ipswich Journal 16 July 1842, 1, qtd. from the Globe. 209: … but the painstaking work was simply too exhausting for his pitiful limbs: Freeman’s Journal 7 July 1842, 3; qtd. from the Globe.
209: … his apprenticeship to a cheesemonger resulted in failure, as did a job as an errand boy at Her Majesty’s Stationery Office: Morning Chronicle 7 July 1842, 5.
209: Two months before, he had come across in this way several articles on Edward Oxford: TNA MEPO 3/19A; Morning Chronicle 6 July 1842, 5; an example of such an article, appearing a month before, appears in the Weekly Dispatch 5 June 1842, 271.
210: But he suffered greatly from the insults and disrespect of his younger brothers: 1841 England Census (mistranscribed as “John Bonn”); Examiner 9 July 1842, 442.
210: His mother fell ill with worry; his father frantically took a full description of the boy to Clerkenwell police station and pressed them to find him: Morning Chronicle 5 July 1842, 3; 7 July 1842, 5.
210: Four days later, Bean’s employer Mr. Hilton spotted him lurking outside his business: Morning Chronicle 7 July 1842, 5.
210: … he bought his pistol from a neighbor, Mr. Bird: Times 5 July 1842, 5; Morning Chronicle 5 July 1842, 3; 6 July 1842, 5.
210: … he had sold off his meager collection of books, including his Bible, to get it: Times 5 July 1842, 5.
210: … probably not worth the three shillings he paid: Annual Register 84:120; Times 5 July 1842, 5.
210: Bird noticed Bean’s “childish glee”: Annual Register 120.
211: Bean then brought the pistol to a neighbor to clean it: Times 5 July 1842, 5; Morning Chronicle 5 July 1842, 3.
211: … a few fragments of a clay smoking-pipe: Morning Chronicle 26 August 1842, 4; Martin 1:124.
211: He again lived on the streets, sleeping where he could—in abandoned houses, in fields—on the outskirts of Islington: Times 5 July 1842, 5.
211: … he had survived last week on only eight pence: Era 10 July 1842, 7.
211: “Dear Father and Mother”: “John William Bean”; Times 5 July 1842, 5. Several variations of this letter appeared in the newspapers, but this one is a transcription of the actual letter, read aloud at Bean’s trial.
212: The four had come and gone from the palace: Times 1 July 1842, 6; 2 July 1842, 6.
212: The carriages were all covered landaus: “John William Bean.”
212: Leopold rode with them. Times 4 July 1842, 5; Martin 1:123.
212: … “genteel-looking,” of normal size and stature, and very nattily dressed: Morning Chronicle 4 July 1842, 5; TNA PRO MEPO 1/19A.
213: … some could see the light blue or maybe pale green bonnet of the Queen: “John William Bean.”
213: He clearly saw the hammer drop and heard the click: Times 4 July 1842, 4.
213: “Look here, Fred,” he exclaimed, “this chap is going to have a pop at the Queen”: Morning Chronicle 4 July 1842, 5.
214: “He did not walk so fast as my brother wished,” said Frederick Dassett: “he is a cripple”: “John William Bean.”
214: Dassett “certainly appeared to me,” one member of the crowd later said, “to be disposed to excite the mob”: “John William Bean”; TNA PRO MEPO 3/19A.
214: It was a hoax, some shouted—the gun wasn’t loaded! Others called out to Dassett to give the boy back his pistol, and to let him go: “John William Bean”; Morning Chronicle 26 August 1842, 4.
214: “put it into your pocket and run away with it”: Times 4 July 1842, 4.
214: Dassett presented pistol and Bean to P.C. Thomas Hearn, explaining what had happened: Times 4 July 1842, 4.
214: … an officer with much more experience on the force and particularly with guarding the Queen: Morning Chronicle 26 August 1842, 4; “John William Bean.”
214: … “large numbers actually clambered the sharp-pointed railings”: Times 4 July 1842, 4.
215: … “otherwise my arm would have been broken”: Times 4 July 1842, 4.
215: … Partridge dismissed Dassett’s story of the hunchbacked dwarf as “shamming”: Martin 1:124.
215: … joined by Inspector George Martin, who took custody of the pistol: Morning Chronicle 26 August 1842, 4.
215: … at least six hundred of the Queen’s loyal subjects”: Morning Chronicle, 4 July 1842, 5.
215: Three thousand, according to the Times: Times 4 July 1842, 4.
216: One of the first there was Daniel O’Connell; Times 4 July 1842, 4.
216: Graham personally complimented him … for his meritorious behavior: Times 4 July 1842, 4.
216: Within a day, they were to be dismissed from the force: Morning Chronicle 5 July 1842, 3.
217: “Description of a boy”: Times 4 July 1842, 4.
217: … a reporter … identified the “ex
ceedingly agitated and flushed” boy: Times 4 July 1842, 4.
217: … some newspapers the next day were able to report the certain capture of the assailant: Times 4 July 1842, 4; Morning Chronicle 4 July 1842, 5.
217: At Smithfield, an inspector was particularly enthusiastic: Morning Chronicle 5 July 1842, 3.
218: … a hunchbacked man was walking down the road dividing E and F Divisions, when he was spotted simultaneously by two officers on either side of the street: Morning Chronicle 5 July 1842, 3.
218: “… the number of little deformed men ‘detained,’ to use a mild phrase, was astonishing”: Illustrated London News, qtd. Lock 73.
218: Punch caught the absurdity of the moment: Punch 3 (1842): 23.
218: … P.C. Henry Webb, lingered after muster and reminded Penny that the description in the route paper matched the description a distraught John William Bean Senior had given the police nearly three weeks before of his son: Morning Chronicle 5 July 1842, 3.
218: His state of undress, in Victorian terms—no coat, waistcoat, or cap: Morning Chronicle 5 July 1842, 3.
218: When Webb touched Bean’s shoulder, he realized the boy was trembling uncontrollably: Times 5 July 1842, 5.
219: As they left the house, Bean’s alarmed mother, Sally, came upon them: Times 5 July 1842, 5.
219: … the resemblance between the two was striking: Morning Chronicle 5 July 1842, 3.
219: The Dassetts had to be called in … to identify Bean as the one who assaulted the Queen: Times 5 July 1842, 5.
219: Charles Dassett and Webb then had the honor of signing the sheet charging Bean with “attempting to shoot at Her Majesty”: Times 5 July 1842, 5.
219: “I suppose Cooper is hanging now”: Freeman’s Journal 7 July 1842, 3; qtd. from The Globe 5 July 1842.
219: Cooper’s sullen passivity about his fate had vanished two days before the end, and he quaked as he walked to his death: For accounts of Cooper’s execution, see the Times 5 July 1842, 6, and the Morning Chronicle 5 July 1842, 3.
220: … Bean was run at a trot within a phalanx of A Division officers: Newcastle Cour ant 8 July 1842, 3.
220: Attendance at this examination was fuller and more formidable than the day before: Era 10 July 1842.