|
The Red Barn Murder
was a notorious murder committed in Polstead, Suffolk,
England, in 1827.
A young woman, Maria Marten, was shot
dead by her lover, William Corder, the son of the local
squire. The two had arranged to meet at the Red Barn, a
local landmark, before eloping to Ipswich. Maria was
never heard from again.
Corder fled the scene and although he
sent Marten's family letters claiming she was in good
health, her body was later discovered buried in the barn
after her stepmother claimed she had dreamt about the
murder.
Corder was tracked down in London,
where he had married and started a new life. He was
brought back to Suffolk, and, after a well-publicised
trial, found guilty of murder. He was hanged in Bury St.
Edmunds in 1828; a huge crowd witnessed Corder's
execution.
The story provoked numerous articles
in the newspapers, and songs and plays. The village
where the crime had taken place became a tourist
attraction and the barn was stripped by souvenir hunters.
The plays and ballads remained popular throughout the
next century and continue to be performed today.
Murder
Maria Marten (born 24 July 1801) was
the daughter of Thomas Marten, a molecatcher from
Polstead, Suffolk. In March 1826, when she was 24, she
formed a relationship with the 22-year-old William
Corder (born 1803).
Marten was an attractive woman and
relationships with men from the neighbourhood had
already resulted in two children. One, the child of
William's older brother Thomas, died as an infant, but
the other, Thomas Henry, was still alive at the time
Marten met Corder. Although Thomas Henry's father wanted
nothing more to do with Marten after the birth, he
occasionally sent money to provide for the child.
Corder was the son of a local farmer,
and had a reputation as something of a fraudster and a
ladies' man. He was known as "Foxey" at school because
of his sly manner. He had fraudulently sold his father's
pigs, and, although his father had settled the matter
without involving the law, Corder had not changed his
behaviour.
He later obtained money by passing a
forged cheque for £93, and he had helped a local thief,
Samuel "Beauty" Smith, steal a pig from a neighbouring
village. When Smith was questioned by the local
constable over the theft, he made a prophetic statement
concerning Corder: "I'll be damned if he will not be
hung some of these days".
Corder had been sent to London in
disgrace after his fraudulent sale of the pigs, but he
was recalled to Polstead when his brother Thomas drowned
attempting to cross a frozen pond. His father and three
brothers all died within 18 months of each other and
only William remained to run the farm with his mother.
Although Corder wished to keep his
relationship with Marten secret, she gave birth to their
child in 1827, at the age of 25, and was apparently keen
that she and Corder should marry. The child died (later
reports suggested that it may have been murdered), but
Corder apparently still intended to marry Marten.
That summer, in the presence of her
stepmother, Ann Marten, he suggested that she meet him
at the Red Barn, from where he proposed that they elope
to Ipswich. Corder claimed that he had heard rumours
that the parish officers were going to prosecute Maria
for having bastard children.
He initially suggested they elope on
the Wednesday evening, but later decided to delay until
the Thursday evening. On Thursday he was again delayed:
his brother falling ill is mentioned as the reason in
some sources, although most claim all his brothers were
dead by this time.
The next day, Friday, 18 May 1827, he
appeared at the Martens' cottage during the day, and
according to Ann Marten, told Maria that they must leave
at once, as he had heard that the local constable had
obtained a warrant to prosecute her (no warrant had been
obtained, but it is not known if Corder was lying or was
mistaken). Maria was worried that she could not leave in
broad daylight, but Corder told her she should dress in
men's clothing so as to avert suspicion, and he would
carry her things to the barn where she could meet him
and change before they continued on to Ipswich.
Shortly after Corder left the house,
Maria set out to meet him at the Red Barn, which was
situated on Barnfield Hill, about half a mile from the
Martens' cottage. This was the last time she was seen
alive. Corder also disappeared, but later turned up and
claimed that Marten was in Ipswich, Great Yarmouth, or
some other place nearby, and that he could not yet bring
her back as his wife for fear of provoking the anger of
his friends and relatives.
The pressure on Corder to produce his
wife eventually forced him to leave the area. He wrote
letters to Marten's family claiming they were married
and living on the Isle of Wight, and gave various
excuses for her lack of communication: she was unwell,
had hurt her hand, or that the letter must have been
lost.
Suspicion continued to grow, and
Maria's stepmother began talking of dreams that Maria
had been murdered and buried in the Red Barn. On 19
April 1828 she persuaded her husband to go to the Red
Barn and dig in one of the grain storage bins. He
quickly uncovered the remains of his daughter buried in
a sack. She was badly decomposed but still identifiable.
An inquest was carried out at the
Cock Inn at Polstead, where Maria was formally
identified, by her sister Ann, from some physical
characteristics: her hair and some clothing were
recognizable and a tooth she was known to be missing was
also missing from the jawbone of the corpse. Evidence
was uncovered to implicate Corder in the crime: his
green handkerchief was discovered around the body's
neck.
Capture
Corder was easily discovered; Mr
Ayres, the constable in Polstead, was able to obtain his
old address from a friend, and with the assistance of
James Lea, an officer of the London police force who
would later lead the investigation into Spring Heeled
Jack, he tracked Corder to a ladies' boarding house,
Everley Grove House, in Brentford.
Corder was running the boarding house
with his new wife, Mary Moore, whom he had met through a
newspaper advertisement that he had placed in The
Times (which had received more than 100 replies).
Lea managed to gain entry under the pretext that
he wished to board his daughter there, and surprised
Corder in the parlour. Thomas Hardy noted the Dorset
County Chronicle's report of his capture:
…in parlour with 4 ladies at
breakfast, in dressing gown & had a watch before him
by which he was 'minuting' the boiling of some eggs.
Lea took him to one side and informed
him of the charges; Corder denied all knowledge of both
Maria and the crime. A search of the house uncovered a
pair of pistols supposedly bought on the day of the
murder; some letters from a Mr. Gardener, which may have
contained warnings about the discovery of the crime; and
a passport from the French Ambassador, evidence which
suggested Corder may have been preparing to flee.
Trial
Corder was taken back to Suffolk
where he was tried at Shire Hall, Bury St. Edmunds. The
trial started on 7 August 1828, having been put back
several days because of the interest the case had
generated. The hotels in Bury St. Edmunds began to fill
up from as early as 21 July and, because of the large
numbers that wanted to view the trial, admittance to the
court was by ticket only. Despite this the judge and
court officials still had to push their way bodily
through the crowds that had gathered around the door to
gain entry to the court room.
The judge, Chief Baron Alexander, was
unhappy with the coverage given to the case by the press
"to the manifest detriment of the prisoner at the bar".
The Times, nevertheless, congratulated the public
for showing good sense in aligning themselves against
Corder.
Corder entered a plea of not guilty.
The exact cause of death could not be established. It
was thought that a sharp instrument, possibly Corder's
short sword, had been plunged into Marten's eye socket,
but this wound could also have been caused by her
father's spade when he was exhuming the body.
Strangulation could not be ruled out as Corder's
handkerchief had been discovered around her neck, and,
to add to the confusion, the wounds to her body
suggested she had been shot.
The indictment charged Corder with "…murdering
Maria Marten, by feloniously and wilfully shooting her
with a pistol through the body, and likewise stabbing
her with a dagger." To avoid any chance of a mistrial,
he was indicted on nine charges, including one of
forgery.
Ann Marten was called to give
evidence of the events of the day of Maria's
disappearance and her later dreams. Thomas Marten then
told the court how he had dug up his daughter, and
George Marten, Maria's 10-year-old brother, revealed
that he had seen Corder with a loaded pistol before the
alleged murder and later had seen him walking from the
barn with a pickaxe. Lea gave evidence concerning
Corder's arrest and the objects found during the search
of his house.
The prosecution suggested that Corder
had never wanted to marry Maria, but that her knowledge
of some of his criminal dealings had given her a hold
over him, and that his theft previously of the money
sent by her child's father had been a source of tension
between them.
Corder then gave his own version of
the events. He admitted to being in the barn with Maria
but said he had left after they argued. He claimed that
while he was walking away he heard a pistol shot and
running back to the barn found Maria dead with one of
his pistols beside her. He pleaded with the jury to give
him the benefit of the doubt, but after they retired it
took them only 35 minutes to return with a guilty
verdict. Baron Alexander sentenced him to hang and
afterwards be dissected:
That you be taken back to the
prison from whence you came, and that you be taken
from thence, on Monday next, to a place of Execution,
and that you there be hanged by the Neck until you
are Dead ; and that your body shall afterwards be
dissected and anatomized ; and may the Lord God
Almighty, of his infinite goodness, have mercy on
your soul!
Corder spent the next three days in
prison agonising over whether to confess to the crime
and make a clean breast of his sins before God. After
several meetings with the prison chaplain, entreaties
from his wife, and pleas from both his warder and John
Orridge, the governor of the prison, he finally
confessed. He strongly denied stabbing Maria, claiming
instead he had accidentally shot her in the eye after
they argued while she was changing out of her disguise.
Execution and dissection
On 11 August 1828, Corder was taken
to the gallows in Bury St. Edmunds, apparently too weak
to stand without support. He was hanged shortly before
noon in front of a huge crowd; one newspaper claimed
there were 7,000 spectators, another as many as 20,000.
At the prompting of the prison governor, just before the
hood was drawn over his head he weakly asserted:
I am guilty - my sentence is just
- I deserve my fate - and may God have mercy on my
soul
After an hour his body was cut down
by Foxton, the hangman, who according to his rights
claimed Corder's trousers and stockings. The body was
taken back to the courtroom at Shire Hall where it was
slit open along the abdomen to expose the muscles. The
crowds were allowed to file past until six o'clock when
the doors were shut. According to the Norwich and
Bury Post, over 5,000 people queued to see the body.
The following day the dissection and
autopsy were carried out in front of an audience of
students from Cambridge and physicians. A battery was
attached to Corder's limbs to demonstrate the
contraction of the muscles, the sternum was opened and
the internal organs examined.
There was some discussion as to
whether the cause of death was suffocation, but since it
was reported that Corder's chest was seen to rise and
fall for several minutes after he had dropped, it was
thought probable that pressure on the spinal cord had
killed him.
Since the skeleton was to be
reassembled after the dissection, it was not possible to
examine the brain, so instead the surgeons contented
themselves with a phrenological examination of the skull.
Corder's skull was asserted to be profoundly developed
in the areas of "secretiveness, acquisitiveness,
destructiveness, philoprogenitiveness, and imitativeness"
with little evidence of "benevolence or veneration".
The bust of Corder held by Moyse's
Hall Museum in Bury St. Edmunds is an original made by
Child of Bungay, Suffolk, as a tool for the study of
Corder's phrenology. The skeleton was reassembled and
exhibited in the West Suffolk Hospital.
Several copies of his death mask were
made, a replica of one is held at Moyse's Hall Museum.
Artefacts from the trial and some which were in Corder's
possession are also held at the museum. Corder's skin
was tanned by the surgeon George Creed, and used to bind
an account of the murder.
Until 2004, Corder's skeleton was on
display in the Hunterian Museum in the Royal College of
Surgeons of England, where it hung beside that of
Jonathan Wild. In response to requests from surviving
relatives, Corder's bones were removed from display and
cremated.
Rumours
After the trial, doubts were raised
about both the story of the stepmother's dreams and the
fate of Maria and William's child. The stepmother was
only a year older than Maria, and it was suggested that
she and Corder had been having an affair, and the two
had planned the murder to dispose of Maria so that it
could continue without hindrance. Since her dreams had
started only a few days after Corder married Moore, it
was suggested that jealousy was the motive for revealing
the body's resting place and that the dreams were a
simple subterfuge.
Further rumours circulated about the
death of Corder and Marten's child. Both claimed that
they had taken their dead child to be buried in Sudbury,
but no records of this could be discovered and no trace
of the burial site of the child was ever found. In his
written confession Corder admitted that on the day of
the murder he and Marten had argued over the possibility
of the burial site being discovered.
Popular
interest
The case had all the elements to
ignite a fervent popular interest: the wicked squire and
the poor girl, the iconic murder scene, the supernatural
element of the stepmother's prophetic dreams, the
detective work by Ayres and Lea (who later became the
detective Pharos Lee in stage versions of the events)
and Corder's new life which was the result of a lonely
hearts advertisement. As a consequence, the case created
its own small industry.
Plays were being performed while
Corder was still awaiting trial and, after the execution,
an anonymous author published a melodramatic version of
the murder—a precursor of the Newgate novels—which
quickly became a best-seller. Along with the story of
Jack Sheppard and other highwaymen, thieves and
murderers, the Red Barn Murder was a popular subject for
penny gaffs, cheap plays performed for the entertainment
of the lower classes in the gin-soaked atmosphere of the
back rooms of public houses.
After the execution, James Catnach
managed to sell over a million broadsides (sensationalist
single sheet newspapers). Catnach's sheets gave details
of Corder's confession and the execution, and included a
sentimental ballad supposedly penned by Corder himself,
but more likely to have been the work of Catnach himself
or somebody in his employ. It was one of at least five
ballads about the crime that appeared directly following
the execution.
Owing to the excitement around the
trial and the public demand for entertainments based on
the murder, many different versions of the events were
set down and distributed, making it hard for modern
readers to discern fact from melodramatic embellishment.
Good records of the trial exist from the official
records, and the best record of the events surrounding
the case is generally considered to be that of James
Curtis, a journalist who spent time with Corder and two
weeks in Polstead interviewing those concerned. Curtis
was apparently so connected with the case that when
asked to produce a picture of the accused man, an artist
for one of the newspapers drew him rather than Corder.
Pieces of the rope which was used to
hang Corder sold for a guinea each. Part of Corder's
scalp with an ear still attached was displayed in a shop
in Oxford Street. A lock of Maria's hair sold for two
guineas. Polstead became a tourist venue with visitors
travelling from as far afield as Ireland; Curtis
estimated that 200,000 people visited Polstead in 1828
alone.
The Red Barn and the Martens' cottage
excited particular interest. The barn was stripped for
souvenirs, down to the planks being removed from the
sides, broken up and sold as toothpicks. It was planned
to be demolished after the trial, but it was left
standing and eventually burnt down in 1842. Even Maria's
gravestone was eventually chipped away to nothing by
souvenir hunters. Pottery models and sketches were sold
and songs composed, including one mentioned in the
Vaughan Williams opera Hugh the Drover.
Corder's skeleton was put on display
in a glass case in the West Suffolk Hospital, and
apparently rigged with a mechanism that made its arm
point to the collection box when approached. Eventually,
the skull was replaced by a Dr. Kilner who wanted to add
Corder's skull to his extensive collection of Red Barn
memorabilia. After a series of unfortunate events,
Kilner became convinced the skull was cursed and handed
it on to his friend Hopkins. Further disasters plagued
both men and they finally paid for the skull to be given
a Christian burial in an attempt to lift the supposed
curse.
Interest in the case did not quickly
fade. Maria Marten; or The Murder in the Red Barn,
which existed in various anonymous versions, was a
sensational hit throughout the mid-1800s and may have
been the most performed play of the 19th century;
Victorian fairground peepshows were forced to add extra
apertures to their viewers when exhibiting their shows
of the murder to cope with the demand. The plays of the
Victorian era tended to portray Corder as a cold-blooded
monster and Maria as the innocent he preyed upon; her
reputation and her children by other fathers were
airbrushed out, and Corder was made into an older man.
Charles Dickens published an account of the murder in
his magazine All The Year Round after initially
rejecting it because he felt the story to be too well
known and the account of the stepmother's dreams rather
far-fetched.
Although diminished, the fascination
continued into the 20th century with five film versions,
including the 1935 Maria Marten or Murder in the Red
Barn, starring Tod Slaughter, which was only
released in the US after some scenes were cut. A
fictionalized account of the murder was produced in 1953
for the CBS radio series "Crime Classics". The incident
has inspired a number of contemporary musicians: No
Roses by the Albion Country Band, released in 1971,
included the traditional song "Murder of Maria Martin";
more recently, "Murder in the Red Barn", a song by Tom
Waits (co-written with his wife Kathleen Brennan) from
his 1992 album Bone Machine, and Kathryn Roberts
and Sean Lakeman's "The Red Barn" on the 2004 album "2"
have commemorated the event. The song "Maria Martin"
included on the folk album White Swans Black Ravens
was recorded live in Moyse's Hall Museum. Swavesey
Village College Theatre Company produced a stage
adaptation in 2000, and later revived the production in
2006. The latest revival toured to theatres and received
critical acclaim.
In November 2007 a report of a fire
that nearly destroyed Marten's still-standing cottage
was on the front page of the East Anglian Daily Times.
Firefighters saved 80% of the thatched roof at Marten's
former home after a chimney fire threatened the "iconic
Suffolk cottage", now run as a bed and breakfast.
References
-
Brown, Margaret (Ed.) (1999). The Letters of
Charles Dickens: 1865–1867 Vol 11. Clarendon
Press, 598. ISBN 0198122950.
-
Cairns, David (1999). Advocacy and the Making
of the Adversarial Criminal Trial 1800–1865
(Oxford Studies in Modern Legal History).
Clarendon Press, 230. ISBN 0198262841.
-
Caulfield, Catherine (2005). The Man Who Ate
Bluebottles: And Other Great British Eccentrics.
Icon Books Ltd, 224. ISBN 1840466979.
-
Curtis, James (1828). The Mysterious Murder
of Maria Marten. London: William Clowes.
-
Donaldson, Willie (2004). Brewer's Rogues,
Villains and Eccentrics. Phoenix Press, 736.
ISBN 0753817918.
-
Gatrell, V. A. C. (1996). The Hanging Tree:
Execution and the English People, 1770–1868.
Oxford Paperbacks, 654. ISBN 0192853325.
-
Hardy, Thomas (2004). in Greenslade, William:
Thomas Hardy's 'Facts' Notebook. Ashgate
Publishing, Ltd., 365. ISBN 1840142359.
-
Hindley, Charles [1869] (1969). The History
of the Catnach Press. Detroit: Singing Tree
Press.
-
Langbein, John H. (2003). The Origins of
Adversary Criminal Trial (Oxford Studies in
Modern Legal History). Oxford University
Press, 376. ISBN 0199258880.
-
Mackay, Charles (1995). Extraordinary Popular
Delusions and the Madness of Crowds.
Wordsworth Editions Ltd, 748. ISBN 1853263494.
-
Maclaren, Angus (1997). The Trials of
Masculinity: policing sexual boundaries,
1870–1930. University of Chicago Press, 307.
ISBN 0226500675.
-
Neuburg, Victor (1977). Popular Literature: A
History and Guide. Routledge, 302. ISBN
0713001585.
-
Picard, Liza (2006). Victorian London: The
Tale of a City 1840—1870. St. Martin's Press,
384. ISBN 0312325673.
Wikipedia.org
WILLIAM CORDER
Executed 11th of August, 1828, for the Murder of Maria
Marten, in the Red Barn, the Crime being revealed to the Victim's Mother
in Three Dreams
THE murder for which this most
diabolical criminal merited and justly underwent condign punishment was
as foul and dark a crime as ever stained the annals of public justice.
Maria Marten, the victim of his offence, was born in July, 1801, and was
brought up by her father, who was a mole-catcher, at Polstead, in
Suffolk, where she received an education far superior to her situation
in life. Possessed of more than ordinary personal advantages -- a pretty
face and a fine form and figure -- it is little to be wondered at that
she was beset by admirers, and that, artless and inexperienced as she
was, she should have imprudently fixed her affections upon an unworthy
object. An unfortunate step ruined the character of the young woman, and
a second mishap with a gentleman of fortune, residing in the
neighbourhood of her father's house, left her with a child -- which at
the time of her death was three and a half years old. About the year
1826 she formed a third liaison, with the man who became her deliberate
murderer, William Corder.
William Corder was the son of an
opulent farmer at Polstead. Having become acquainted with the girl
Marten, the consequence of an illicit intercourse which took place
between them was a child. From that time he became much attached to her,
and was a frequent visitor at her father's house. The child died within
a short period of its birth, and from the circumstance of its having
died suddenly, and of Corder having taken it away at night and disposed
of its body in a manner which he would never explain, an idea was
entertained that it had come unfairly by its death. However strongly
this notion may have taken possession of the public mind, after the
apprehension of Corder, it does not appear that any real evidence was
ever produced publicly to support the impression which had got abroad;
but certain it is that the unhappy girl made use of the circumstance as
a means of endeavouring to procure the father of the child to fulfil a
promise which he had made that he would make her his wife. On the 18th
of May, 1827, Corder called at the house of old Marten, and expressed
his willingness that the ceremony should be performed; and he said that,
in order that no time should be lost, and that the marriage might be as
private as possible, he had made up his mind to have it celebrated by
licence instead of by banns.
The next day was appointed for the wedding, and he
persuaded the unhappy girl to dress herself in a suit of his clothes, so
as to secure the greatest secrecy, and to accompany him to a part of his
premises called the Red Barn, where she could exchange them for her own,
and from whence he would convey her in a gig, which he had in readiness,
to a church at Ipswich. The girl consented to this singular proposition,
and Corder immediately quitted the house, and was soon after followed by
his unhappy victim, who carried with her such part of her own clothes as
would be necessary to appear with in church. In the course of a
conversation which took place between Corder and the mother of the girl,
before their going away, the former repeatedly declared his intention to
make the girl his lawful wife, and he urged, as a reason why she should
go with him immediately, that he knew a warrant had been issued against
her for her bastard children.
Within a few minutes after Corder had
quitted the house he was seen by the brother of the girl to walk in the
direction of the Red Barn, with a pickaxe over his shoulder; but from
that time nothing was ever heard of the unfortunate girl, except through
the fictitious communications received from Corder, who still remained
at his mother's house at Polstead. The return of Maria Marten had been
expected to take place within a day or two after the time of her
quitting her father's house; but as she had before occasionally
exhibited considerable irregularity in the duration of her visits to
Corder, and as also there was an understanding that the latter should
procure her a temporary lodging, little anxiety or alarm was at first
felt at her prolonged absence.
A fortnight elapsed, however, and then her mother
proceeded to question Corder upon the subject, when he declared that she
was quite safe and well, and that he had placed her at some distance,
lest his friends might discover the fact of his marriage, and exhibit
displeasure at the circumstance. Thus from time to time he put off the
inquiries which were made of him; but in the month of September he
declared he was in ill-health, and quitted Suffolk with the avowed
object of proceeding to the Continent; and it is not a little remarkable
that before he left Polstead he expressed great anxiety that the Red
Barn should be well filled with stock -- a desire which he personally
saw fulfilled. He took with him about four hundred pounds in money; and
several letters were subsequently received by his mother, who was a
widow, and also by the Martens, in which he stated that he was living at
the Isle of Wight with Maria.
It was remarked that, although he represented his
residence to be in the Isle of Wight, his letters always bore the London
postmark. At length strange surmises and suspicions began to be
entertained, in consequence of no personal communication having yet been
received from his supposed wife. The parents of the unhappy girl became
more and more disturbed and dissatisfied; and the circumstances which
eventually led to the discovery of this most atrocious crime are of so
extraordinary and romantic a nature as almost to manifest an especial
interposition of Providence in marking out the offender.
In the course of the month of March,
1828, Mrs Marten dreamed on three successive nights that her daughter
had been murdered and buried in the Red Barn. Terrified at the
repetition of the vision, an undefined suspicion, which she had always
entertained, that her daughter had been unfairly dealt with, appeared
fully confirmed in her own mind; and so lively were her feelings, and so
convinced was she of the truth of the augury, that on Saturday, the 19th
of April, she persuaded her husband to apply for permission to examine
the Red Barn, with the professed object of looking for their daughter's
clothes.
The grain which had been deposited in the barn had by
this time been removed, and, permission having been obtained, the
wretched father proceeded to the accomplishment of the object he had in
view. He applied himself to the spot pointed out to his wife in her
dream as the place in which her daughter's remains were deposited; and
there, upon digging, he turned up a piece of the shawl which he knew his
daughter had worn at the time of her quitting her home.
Alarmed at the discovery, he prosecuted his search
still further, and when he had dug to the depth of eighteen inches, with
his rake he dragged out a part of a human body. Horror-struck he
staggered from the spot; but subsequent examination proved that his
suspicions were well founded, and that it was indeed his murdered
daughter, the place of deposit of whose remains had been so remarkably
pointed out. The body, as may be supposed, was in an advanced state of
decomposition; but the dress, which was perfect, and certain marks in
the teeth of the deceased, afforded sufficient proofs of her identity.
As may be imagined, the whole
neighbourhood was in an uproar of confusion at this most extraordinary
circumstance, and information was immediately conveyed to the coroner,
in order that an inquest might be held. By the time a coroner's jury had
assembled, a surgical examination of the body had taken place; and Mr
John Lawden, a surgeon, proved that there were appearances yet remaining
sufficient to indicate that the deceased had come to her death by
violent means.
He said that there was a visible appearance of blood
on the face and on the clothes of the deceased, and also on a
handkerchief which was round the neck; that the handkerchief appeared to
have been tied extremely tight, and beneath the folds a wound was
visible in the throat, which had evidently been inflicted by some sharp
instrument. There was also a wound in the orbit of the right eye; and it
seemed as if something had been thrust in which had fractured the small
bones and penetrated the brain. When the body was found it was partly
enveloped in a sack, and was clothed only in a shift, flannel petticoat,
stays, stockings and shoes.
No sooner had the body been discovered
than all eyes turned to Corder as the murderer. Information having been
dispatched to London, Lea, an officer of Lambeth Street, was forthwith
sent in pursuit of the supposed offender. With a loose clue only, he
traced him from place to place, until at length he found him residing at
Grove House, Ealing Lane, near Brentford, where, in conjunction with his
wife, whom he had married only about five months before, and to whom, it
was said, he had introduced himself through the medium of a matrimonial
advertisement, he was carrying on a school for young ladies.
It was necessary to employ a degree of stratagem to
obtain admission to the house; but at length Lea represented that he had
a daughter whom he wished to put to school, and he was shown into a
parlour, where he found the object of his search sitting at breakfast
with four ladies. He was in his dressing-gown, and had his watch before
him, with which he was minuting the boiling of some eggs.
The officer called him on one side, and informed him
that he had a serious charge against him; he also inquired whether he
was not acquainted with a person named Maria Marten, at Polstead, but he
denied that he had any knowledge of such a person even by name. He was
then secured. Upon his house being searched, a brace of pistols, a
powder-flask and some balls were found in a velvet bag, which, on its
being subsequently seen by Mrs Marten, was immediately identified by her
as having been in the possession of her daughter at the time of her
quitting her house for the last time.
A sharp-pointed dagger was also found,
and this was identified by a person named Offord, a cutler, as being one
which he had ground for the prisoner a few days before the murder was
committed. The prisoner, immediately on his apprehension, was conducted
to Polstead, in order that he might undergo an examination before the
coroner; and the most lively interest was exhibited by the vast crowds
of people who had assembled to catch a glimpse of him on his being
brought into the town. On his appearance before the coroner he was
dreadfully agitated; and the circumstances which we have described
having been deposed to by various witnesses, a verdict of wilful murder
was returned against William Corder.
Thursday, 7th of August, in the same year, was
appointed for the trial of this malefactor, and the anxiety to witness
the proceedings in court, or to obtain early information in reference to
the case, which almost universally prevailed, was strongly manifested by
the assemblage of hundreds of well-dressed persons of both sexes round
the front and back entrances to the shire hall, Bury St Edmunds, as
early as five o'clock in the morning of that day. The rain fell in
torrents, but many persons braved the weather and remained without
shelter until nine o'clock, when the Lord Chief Baron (Alexander)
arrived, to try the prisoner.
At the moment his Lordship gained admission to the
court the scene which presented itself beggars description. The
barristers who attended the circuit, amongst whom were to be observed
the counsel for the prosecution and the defence, in vain struggled
against the pressure of the opposing crowd, and many of them, at the
moment they had almost attained their object, were carried back in an
exhausted state to the extremest verge of the assembled multitude. When
his Lordship had taken his seat on the bench the names of the jury who
had been summoned to try the prisoner were called over; but the crowd
was so great, and the sheriff's force so ineffective, that it was almost
impossible to make way for them into the court. They were, after the
lapse of nearly an hour, brought over the heads of the crowd into the
passage leading into the hall, some with their coats torn, their shoes
off, and nearly fainting.
Nor was the curiosity of the public
confined to the courthouse. Hundreds had early assembled at the door of
the jail and along the road leading thence to the shire hall, anxious to
catch a glimpse of the accused. He left the jail at a quarter before
nine o'clock, having previously attired himself with much care in a new
suit of black, and combed his hair over his forehead, which he had
previously worn brushed up in front. On account of the number of
challenges made by the prisoner, it was some time before a jury was
empanelled. At length, however, the prisoner was arraigned upon the
indictment preferred against him. He pleaded not guilty.
The evidence adduced differed but slightly in effect
from the circumstances which we have detailed. Proof was given that at
the time of the discovery of the body of the deceased marks were
distinctly visible, which showed that she had received a pistol-shot or
gun-shot wound; and it was also proved, by the brother of the deceased
girl, that the prisoner, at the time of his quitting the house of old
Marten on the day of the murder, carried a loaded gun.
He declared that he deeply deplored the death of the
unfortunate female in question; and he urged the jury to dismiss from
their minds all that prejudice which must necessarily have been excited
against him, by the foul imputations which had been cast upon him by the
public press. He admitted that the evidence which had been adduced, was
sufficient to create some suspicion against him; but he trusted that the
explanation which he should give of the circumstances, would at once
explain, to their satisfaction, the real bearings of the case.
He then proceeded to say, "No man
regrets more sincerely than I do the death of the unfortunate Maria, the
circumstances attending which I am now about to state; and much have I
to regret, that I for a moment concealed them, but I did so because I
was stupefied and horror-struck at the time, and knew not how to act.
You have heard of the nature of my connection with the unfortunate
Maria; that connection was contrary to the will of my mother, and to
conceal her situation, I took lodgings for her at Sudbury, where she was
confined. In the usual time she returned to her father's house; in a
fortnight after which the infant died -- not, as has been intimated, by
violence, but a natural death. Being anxious to conceal the circumstance
from my friends and neighbours, it was agreed between her father, and
mother, and myself, that Maria and I should bury the child in the fields,
and we took it away for that purpose. After this Maria returned to my
house at Polstead; and by means of a private staircase I took her to my
own room, where she remained concealed for two days. The pistols which
have been spoken of were hanging up in the room loaded. I had before
that shown her the use of them, and on returning to her father's, she,
by some means unknown to me, contrived to get the pistols into her
possession. It is well known that at that period Maria was much
depressed in spirits, and was anxious that I should marry her, although
I had reason to suspect that she was at the time in correspondence with
a gentleman in London by whom she had had a child. My friends objected
to the match, and I declined it at the time. But although poor Maria's
conduct was not altogether free from blame, I was much attached to her,
and at length agreed to her wishes; and it was arranged that we should
go to Ipswich and obtain a licence for that purpose. Whether I did or
did not say anything about a warrant having been issued by the parish
officers for her apprehension, I cannot now pretend to say; but if I did,
it must have been because such a report was abroad at the time, It was
agreed that Maria should go in male attire to the Red Barn so often
mentioned in the course of the trial. You have heard from the mother of
the unfortunate Maria, that she and I had had words, As we proceeded to
the Barn she was in tears. To that Barn we had often repaired before,
and frequently passed the night there. When we reached the Barn, words
arose, and Maria flew into a passion. I told her that if we were to be
married, and to live together, she must not go on so. Much conversation
ensued, and on changing her dress, she at length told me, that if we
were married we should never be happy together -- that I was too proud
to marry her and take her to my mother's, and that she did not regard
me. I was highly irritated, and asked her, if she was to go on this way
before marriage, what was I to expect after? She again upbraided me, and
being in a passion, I told her I would not marry her, and turned from
the Barn, but I had scarcely reached the gate when a report of a pistol
reached my ear. I returned to the Barn, and with horror beheld the
unfortunate girl extended on the floor, apparently dead: I was for a
short time stupefied with horror, and knew not what to do. It struck me
to run for a surgeon; and well would it have been for me had I done so.
But I raised the unfortunate girl, in order, if possible, to afford her
some assistance; but I found her altogether lifeless; and, to my horror,
I discovered that the dreadful act had been committed by one of my own
pistols, and that I was the only person in existence who could tell how
the fatal act took place The sudden alarm which seized me suspended my
faculties, and I was some time before I could perceive the awful
situation in which I was placed, and the suspicions which must naturally
arise from my having delayed to make the circumstance instantly known.
I, at length, found that concealment was the only means by. which I
could rescue myself from the horrid imputation; and I resolved to bury
the body as well as I was able. Having done so, I subsequently accounted
for her absence in the manner described by the witnesses, saying
sometimes one thing to one person, and at other times other things to
another. 1 may be asked why, if innocent of the crime imputed to me, I
felt it necessary to give those answers? To which I answer, that some
persons are driven to do acts from fear which others do from guilt,
which is precisely the case with me in this instance. It may be asked,
too, why I have not called evidence to prove the facts I have stated;
but, gentlemen, I put it to you whether things do not sometimes take
place which are only known to the parties between whom they happen; and
what direct proof can I give when the only person who knew of these
facts is no more? I can for the same reason give no direct proof of the
unhappy woman's having got possession of my pistols. I say pistols,
because I found the other loaded pistol in the unfortunate Maria's
reticule. As to the stabs and other wounds described by the witnesses, I
can only say that no stab or cut was given by Maria or my self; and I
firmly believe that the surgeons would never have sworn to them, were it
not for the circumstance, of a sword having been found in the room in
which I was arrested. If any stab did appear on the body, it must have
been done with the instrument used in disinterring it."
Having concluded his address by a strong appeal to
the jury upon the probabilities of the case, a number of witnesses were
called, who spoke to the prisoner's good character. The Lord Chief Baron
summed up, and a verdict of "Guilty" was re turned. At this point the
prisoner was first observed to raise his handkerchief to his eyes; and
during the subsequent passing of the sentence of death, he seemed to be
dreadfully affected. On his return to the jail, he seemed to recover his
spirits; but the only desire which he expressed was, that he should he
permitted to see his wife. To this request an immediate assent was given,
and at two o'clock on the Saturday afternoon, she was admitted to the
prisoner. The meeting between her and her wretched husband was of a most
affecting character, and it did not terminate until near an hour had
elapsed. During that evening, the prisoner was constantly attended by
the reverend chaplain of the jail; but notwithstanding the religious
exhortations which he received, he exhibited no inclination to make any
confession of his crime. On the following day the prisoner attended
chapel in the customary manner, and during the performance of the
service he appeared deeply affected. On his return to his cell, he threw
himself upon his bed and wept bitterly for a considerable time. In the
course of the afternoon, it was hinted to him that his defence could
scarcely be believed; but in answer he said that, "Confession to God was
all that was necessary, and that confession to man was what he called
popedom or popery, and he never would do it." It was subsequently
suggested to him that he must have had great nerve to dig the grave
while the body lay in his sight, when his reply was, " Nobody knows that
the body lay in the barn and in sight, whilst I dug the bole;" but then,
suddenly checking himself, he exclaimed, "O God! nobody will dig my
grave." In the course of the afternoon, he had a second and last
interview with his wife, and the scene was truly heartrending. He
expressed the most anxious fears with regard to the manner in which she
would be in future treated by the world; and implored her, should she
ever marry again, to be cautious how she accepted a proposition reaching
her through the equivocal medium of a public advertisement. The parting
scene was most dreadful, and the wretched woman was carried away from
the cell in a state of stupor. After Mrs Corder had retired, Mr Orridge,
the worthy governor of the jail, made the strongest efforts to induce
the unhappy prisoner to confess, pointing out to him how greatly be
would add to his crime, should he quit the world still denying his guilt.
Corder then exclaimed, "O sir, I wish I had made a confidant of you
before, I often wished to have done it, but you know, sir, it was of no
use to employ a legal adviser and then not follow his advice." Mr
Orridge said that there was no doubt that was very proper, up to the
time at which he was convicted, but that now all earthly considerations
must cease. The wretched prisoner then exclaimed, "I am a guilty man,"
and immediately afterwards made the following confession:--
"Bury Jail, August 10, 1828 -- Condemned Cell,
Sunday Evening, Half-past Eleven."
"I acknowledge being guilty of the death of poor Maria Marten, by
shooting her with a pistol. The particulars are as follows:-- When we
left her father's house we began quarrelling about the burial of the
child, she apprehending that the place wherein it was deposited would be
found out. The quarrel continued for about three-quarters of an hour
upon this and about other subjects. A scuffle ensued, and during the
scuffle, and at the time I think that she had hold of me, I took the
pistol from the side-pocket of my velveteen jacket and fired. She fell,
and died in an instant. I never saw even a struggle. I was overwhelmed
with agitation and dismay -- the body fell near the front doors on the
floor of the barn. A vast quantity of blood issued from the wound, and
ran on to the floor and through the crevices. Having determined to bury
the body in the barn (about two hours after she was dead), I went and
borrowed the spade of Mrs Stowe; but before I went there, I dragged the
body from the barn into the chaff-house, and locked up the barn. I
returned again to the barn, and began to dig the hole; but the spade
being a bad one, and the earth firm and hard, I was obliged to go home
for a pick-axe and a better spade, with which I dug the hole, and then
buried the body. I think I dragged the body by the handkerchief that was
tied round her neck. It was dark when I finished covering up the body. I
went the next day and washed the blood from off the barn floor. I
declare to Almighty God I had no sharp instrument about me, and that no
other wound but the one made by the pistol was inflicted by me. I have
been guilty of great idleness, and at times led a dissolute life, but I
hope through the mercy of God to be forgiven.
"W. CORDER."
Witness to the signing by the said William Corder,
"John ORRIDGE."
On the next morning the confession was read over to
the prisoner, and he declared that it was quite true; and he further
said, in answer to a question put to him by the under-sheriff, that he
thought the ball entered the right eye.
He subsequently appeared much easier in his mind, and
attended service in the chapel immediately before his being carried out
for execution. He still wore the clothes in which he was dressed at the
time of his trial. As allusions were made to his unhappy situation in
the prayers which were read, he appeared convulsed with agony; and when
the service was over, although he appeared calm, his limbs gave up their
office, and he was obliged to he carried to his cell.
At a few minutes before twelve o'clock he was removed
from the dungeon in which he had been confined, and conveyed to the
press-room, where he was pinioned by the hangman, who had been carried
down from London for the purpose of superintending the execution. He was
resigned, but was so weak as to be unable to stand without support. On
his cravat being removed he groaned heavily, and appeared to be
labouring under great mental agony. When his wrists and arms were made
fast, he was led round towards the scaffold; and as he passed the
different yards in which the prisoners were confined, he shook hands
with them, and speaking to two of them by name, he said, "Good bye, God
bless you!" They were considerably affected at the wretched appearance
which he made; and "God bless you!" "May God receive your soul!" were
frequently uttered as he passed along. The chaplain preceded the
prisoner, reading the usual Burial Service, and the governor and
officers walked immediately after him. The prisoner was supported up the
steps which led to the scaffold; he looked somewhat wildly around, and a
constable was obliged to support him while the hangman was adjusting the
fatal cord. A few moments before the drop fell he groaned heavily, and
would have fallen, had not a second constable caught hold of him.
Everything having been made ready, the signal was given, the fatal drop
fell, and the unfortunate man was launched into eternity. He did not
struggle; but he raised his hands once or twice, as if in prayer; the
hangman pulled his legs, and he was in a moment motionless. In about
nine minutes, however, his shoulders appeared to rise in a convulsive
movement; but life, it seemed, had left him without any great pain. Just
before he was turned off, he said, in a feeble tone, "I am justly
sentenced, and may God forgive me."
Mr Orridge then informed the crowd that the prisoner
acknowledged the justice of his sentence, and died in peace with all
men. Thus did this unhappy man terminate, by an ignominious death, a
life which, judging from his age and healthy appearance, might have been
prolonged to an advanced period in comfort and independence.
The mob collected on this occasion was computed to
amount to upwards of seven thousand persons, and occupied every spot of
ground from which a glimpse of the final scene of the wretched man's
life could be obtained. A considerable portion of the persons collected
were women and as soon as the execution was over, they dispersed from
before the drop, and proceeded to the Shire Hall, where a large number
of persons had assembled in order to obtain a view of the body.
At two o'clock the body was exposed on the table in
the centre of the Shire Hall; it was naked from the navel upwards. The
crucial operation had been performed and the skin of the breast and
stomach turned back on each side. The body measured, as it lay, five
feet five inches in length, and presented a very muscular appearance.
The face and throat were somewhat swollen and discoloured, the right eye
was open, and the left partially so; the mouth was also open
sufficiently to show the teeth. The body was taken to the hospital the
next day to be dissected, in pursuance of the sentence.
After the execution a spirited bidding took place for
the rope which was used by the hangman; and as much as a guinea an inch
was obtained for it. Large sums were offered for the pistols and dagger
which were used in the murder, but they became the property oil the
sheriff of the county, who very properly refused to put them up to
public com petition. A. piece of the skin of the wretched malefactor,
which had been tanned, was exhibited for a long time afterwards at the
shop of a leather-seller in Oxford-street.
We regret to say that little credit is to be attached
to the confession which was made by the unhappy man on the night before
his execution; for, taking the case in all its bearings, there can be
little doubt that the murder was the result of premeditation.
The pistols which the wretched malefactor carried
with him had, according to the testimony of witnesses who were called
for the defence, long been in his possession; but we are at a loss to
know with what object he should have carried them in his pocket, loaded
as they were, on the day of the murder, unless with a preconceived
intention of taking away the life of his unhappy paramour. Upon
consideration of the main features of the case, we fear that, revolting
as such a conclusion must be to all persons possessing the common
feelings of humanity, it must be supposed that the unhappy Maria Marten
was enticed by her bloodthirsty assassin to the Red Barn, for the sole
purpose of being there murdered. Corder's possession of the gun and the
pistols, as well as the circumstance of his having been seen carrying
the pick-axe to the barn, all tend to confirm this belief; and if a
motive be looked for sufficient to induce the commission of this most
heinous offence, a second murder, namely that of the infant child of the
malefactor and his victim, and a desire to conceal a secret which he
knew to be in the possession of the latter, and which might have been
employed by her to the detriment of her seducer, may be at once
assigned. There can be little hesitation in imputing so fearful an
addition to his offence as that to which we have alluded to a man, whose
cold-blooded villainy shines though every passage of his connection with
his miserable victim, and of his subsequent life. His conduct in buoying
up the anxious and inquiring hopes of the girl's mother after the
murder, in so long residing on the very spot where his crime had been
committed, probably in the daily habit of visiting the very barn, which
was at once the scene of the death, and the grave of the wretched girl,
exhibit him to have possessed a heart callous to the feelings of a man.
Frightful, however, as was his crime against society, awful as was the
expedient to which he resorted to get rid of what he deemed an annoyance
and an obstruction to his wishes and comfort, he committed a no less
dreadful offence against the welfare and happiness of the woman whom be
made his wife, in permitting her to enter into the bonds of matrimony
with him -- a wretch, for whom even the punishment which be received at
the hands of justice was scarcely retributive; knowing, as he did, that
accident, one false step of his own; a persevering inquiry as to the
place of abode of the girl Marten, would at once and for ever blast the
hopes which she might have formed of future peace and domestic felicity.
The mode in which he proceeded in this new insult to humanity, at once
exhibited a heart upon which the recollection of past guilt could
produce no effect.
The advertisement which he caused to be inserted in
the paper was in the following form:
"A private gentleman, aged twenty-four, entirely
independent, whose disposition is not to be exceeded, has lately lost
the chief of his family by the hand of Providence, which has occasioned
amongst the remainder circumstances the most disagreeable to relate. To
any female of respectability, who would study for domestic comfort, and
who is willing to confide her future happiness to one in every way
qualified to render the marriage state desirable, as the Advertiser is
in affluence; many happy marriages have taken place through means
similar to this now resorted to. It is hoped none will answer through
impertinent curiosity; but should this meet the eye of any agreeable
Lady who feels desirous of meeting with a sociable, tender, kind; and
sympathising companion, she will find this advertisement worthy of
notice. Honour and secrecy may be depended upon. As some little security
against idle application, it is requested that letters may be addressed
(postpaid) A.Z., care of Mr Foster, stationer, 68, Leadenhall street,
with real name and address, which will meet with most respectful
attention,"
The following curious conversation in reference to
his marriage is related to have taken place after his conviction.
Attendant: Pray, Mr Corder, may I ask whether it is
true that it was by advertisement that you were first introduced to Mrs
Corder? -- Corder: It is perfectly true.
Did you receive any answers to it? -- I received no
less than forty-five answers, and some of them from ladies in their
carriages.
Really! well, that surprises me. -- It may well
surprise you, as it did myself, but I missed of a good --
Pray how was that? -- I will tell you. In one of the
answers which I received, it was requested that I should attend a
particular church on an appointed day, dressed in a particular way, and
I should there meet a lady wearing a certain dress, and both
understanding what we came about, no further introduction would be
necessary.
But how could you know the particular lady, as there
might be another lady dressed in the same way? -- Oh, to guard against
any mistake, the lady desired that I should wear a black handkerchief,
and have my left arm in a sling; and in case I should not observe her,
she would discover me and introduce herself.
And did you meet her? -- I did not; I went to the
church, but not in time, as the service was over when I got there.
Then as you did not meet her, how could you tell that
she was a respectable woman? -- Because the pew-opener told me that such
a lady was inquiring for a gentleman of my description, and that she had
come in an elegant carriage, and was a young woman of fortune. [Here the
prisoner sighed heavily.]
Then you never saw her afterwards? -- No, never; but
I found out where she lived, and who she was; and would have had an
interview with her, were it not that I was introduced to Mrs Corder, and
we never parted until we were married.
Pray, sir, was that long? -- About a week
We have reason to believe that this last assertion,
like many of those made by the wretched man, was totally untrue; and
that in reality he had been introduced to Mrs Corder at a sea-port town,
in the course of the summer before the marriage. They afterwards met at
the shop of a pastry-cook in Fleet-street, and subsequently, singularly
enough, the young lady having answered the advertisement, her next
meeting with her future husband took place at the same shop. Mrs Corder,
whose maiden name was Moore, previously to her marriage kept a school in
the neighbourhood of Gray's-inn-lane, and was very respectably connected.
The Newgate Calendar |
