The Noose of Samuel Burrows, page 9
Receiving his last rites, his thoughts would have swirled around his head about how something so simple could get out of hand so quickly. Allen would have been hoping for some last-minute reprieve but as he approached the steps towards Burrows, he knew that that time had passed. For Allen, like many who climbed those fateful steps across the country, his crime was one of a mixture of greed, ignorance, or in some cases, abject poverty, where a gift from the devil came in many forms. Now it was time for his soul to depart as Satan waited patiently in the wings for his reward.
Allen would become another successful conviction for the Bank of England in their battle against the counterfeiters and utterers of newly distributed £1 and £2 notes that were rushed into circulation during the Napoleonic Wars. The war with France was taking its toll on all aspects of the country regardless of social standings. It was a policy that would have grave consequences for thousands of individuals and was heightened further by William Pitt the Younger’s latest policy of the introduction of Income Tax in 1799. Yet it was the introduction of lower-value pound notes that would be the undoing of Joseph Allen.
Gold withdrawals were becoming a major issue in 1797 as fears of a French invasion swept across the country. In order to deal with this, the British government banned the withdrawal of gold as currency and urged the Bank of England to find another means where currency could be distributed while keeping the gold reserves within the bank itself. The Bank of England had to tread carefully as smaller denominations were needed. With this in mind, the bank rushed forward with plans to introduce smaller amounts of the British pound in the form of bank notes. Prior to this, the Bank of England had produced notes from the value of £5 upwards but the need to stabilise the economy meant that they hastily rushed the production of £1 and £2 notes. The haste to do so meant that these cruder notes were far easier to counterfeit and the smaller amounts than previously produced meant that they were far easier to circulate.2
Soon, gangs of forgers would begin their work creating counterfeit £1 and £2 notes. While this was considered to be a capital crime, the idea of counterfeiting notes was nothing new. The only difference between the eighteenth and the early nineteenth century was the sheer scale of the offence. The crime of ‘uttering’, or the distribution of fake money, was a capital crime dating back to 1725. But while the Bank of England may have unwittingly allowed for the explosion of the crime with their new notes from 1797, it was also their responsibility to track down any forged notes and those who either made or distributed them. It was a responsibility that the bank took extremely seriously, using any means at their disposal, and with both crimes considered to be capital crimes, they had a whole series of punishments at their disposal.
Thomas Glover was perhaps one of the busiest men in England during this time. As the Bank of England’s note inspector, he would travel the country inspecting forged notes at almost every instance.3 His expert knowledge of banknotes could determine one’s guilt. He was only one of the invaluable resources that the bank would use in order to catch the culprits. The other, and possibly more formidable, resource used was the law itself.
Where possible, deals with those who were caught uttering notes were made. The process was relatively simple. The bank would ask those who were caught to tell them where they got the notes from and from there hopefully they could get to the main source. Deals would include a lighter sentence including transportation or time in prison rather than the ultimate punishment of death.
One such deal by the Bank of England was attempted in Chester long before Joseph Allen faced his own trial. It would serve as a warning to all within the area that it would be better for them to cooperate.
Mary Lloyd found herself in a terrible situation. She was a widow with a young family to look after. In Georgian Britain this was about as bad as it could possibly get. Relying heavily on poor relief, it would still be almost impossible for her to make ends meet. That was until her encounter with a forger who encouraged her to utter counterfeit notes. When she was eventually caught and put on trial in October 1800 there would be only one outcome. For Mary’s actions, she was now facing death by hanging at Chester’s Gallows Hill in Boughton.
As Mary awaited her impending execution, there was plenty of action going on behind the scenes as the Bank of England’s solicitors pushed for her punishment. The Sheriff of Chester Castle, where Mary was incarcerated, felt some sympathy towards her situation. Believing her to be worthy of some mercy, he wrote to the Duke of Portland explaining her case. Another letter was also written. James Mansfield, the Chief Justice for Chester, explained his decision to execute Lloyd, saying that ‘he knew nothing about the case that merited a respite’. However, Mansfield asked that the bank should write to the Sheriff if they thought that there was any reason to reconsider the decision.4
The bank duly replied to the Sheriff and it would turn out that deals had previously been made with Lloyd. She had repeatedly been given the opportunity by the bank to appear as a crown witness against the forgers. However, Mary had declined this offer ‘in the most insolent manner’.5 In doing so, the bank declared Lloyd to be a willing accomplice in the crime and that it was only when she received her death sentence that she had finally wanted to reveal her sources.
The next correspondence on 22 October 1800 was sent by the Sheriff to the bank’s solicitors, which revealed that Lloyd had been executed. She was now the cautionary tale to those in the Chester area that uttering illicit bank notes came at the ultimate price.
Two years later, Thomas Rushton was facing a similar fate. A former brewer from Liverpool, he too had been uttering counterfeit notes. However, in his case, he was more than prepared to talk. Convicted in Chester and sentenced to fourteen years’ transportation, he wrote to the bank’s solicitors at Freshfields:
I before mention’d in a Letter to Mr. Ward, Constable of the Castle Chester, that the one Pound Notes was hid in Liverpool, I mentioned the Place where they were hid and who I supposed found them. The particulars of that information in my Letter has I suppose been laid before you or the directors of the Bank of England – if these notes can be found, I can point out I conceive how the Person I had them from may be convicted, who is one of the Makers and now in London, I have got the original note they were made from.6
The fate of Rushton was far different to that of Lloyd. While his transportation to Van Diemen’s Land would still go ahead, he at least had the opportunity to make a new life for himself. Rushton would be swiftly pardoned in 1804 and would never serve his fourteen years. Instead, Rushton and his brewing knowledge would be used to its fullest as he was swiftly relocated to Australia, going on to become a key member of the colony’s new expanding brewing community as the government used beer in its fight against illegal shipments of spirits, especially rum.7
These two opposing stories allow us to know just how hard the Bank of England fought against the scourge of counterfeiting in the county of Cheshire but it also shows us that negotiating with the bank did have its advantages. Those who remained silent such as Mary Lloyd would face the fullest force of the law.
The case of Mary Lloyd would have reverberated around the county, and indeed the country as a whole, yet the issue facing the Bank of England was still growing. Joseph Allen would simply become its latest case and he would be prosecuted in the same way as hundreds of other accused criminals across the kingdom. In 1817, the same year as Allen was facing his trial, a total of 142 other such cases were being brought forward for the crime of uttering and counterfeiting banknotes, involving a total of £29,521 in counterfeit notes. Of the 142 individuals prosecuted that year, 32 just like Allen would face the noose with a further 95 being convicted of possession facing either hefty stints in prison or the more favoured option of transportation.8
If the cases of Lloyd and Rushton were a warning to anyone uttering illegal bank notes then it was a warning that Joseph Allen did not heed. The 39-year-old farmer from Crowton was facing a jury of his peers at Chester Assizes and he knew that some kind of punishment was awaiting him.
Suspicions first came to light regarding Allen when forged notes were passed to Mr Nicolson, a solicitor from Warrington. Samuel Woodward was paid £9 by Allen for joinery work completed at his new farm. Every note that he received from Allen was a £1 denomination. Woodward, not thinking that anything was particularly wrong with the transaction, then used £8 over a period of time to pay a Mrs Okell for potatoes. Woodward and Okell were unwitting participants in Allen’s uttering and it was only when Mrs Okell attempted to use the notes herself that she realised what had happened.9
All of her notes were returned to her by traders refusing to accept them. Confused, Mrs Okell sought help and approached Mr Nicolson. It was only then that he revealed to her that the notes that she had in her hand were potential forgeries. Now, Mr Nicolson went on his own hunt to find the source of the illicit notes. It would not take long to track them down to one main source in the area.
Joseph Allen was described in court as ‘a character of extraordinary goodness’ who was married with seven young children. Prior to his trial, he was the kind of man the whole village admired greatly and widely trusted. As a businessman, his ‘character stood so exceedingly high, that large sums of money had been advanced to him without any other security being required from him but his word’.10
As Allen stood before the jury he must have believed that his good character would hold some sway. After all, it was not as if he had forged the notes himself. Instead, he acquired them elsewhere. How could it even be proved that he had done this intentionally? However, any hope that he had that things would go his way soon came crashing down as Thomas Glover, the inspector of notes for the Bank of England, gave his evidence. What was revealed took any gleam of Allen’s good character away.
Glover revealed exactly how the forged notes were different from legitimate notes in circulation. He quickly identified that the ink used for the forgeries had more brown than black ink in an attempt to make it look more frequently used and that the paper used to produce the note was harsher than the real ones used by the bank. Of all the notes that were gathered during the investigation, more than 100 were proven to have been uttered by Allen. While Allen used the notes freely, it also appeared that he was enriching himself with them rather than being the victim of obtaining these notes through an illicit source.
Allen’s farm provided further proof that he was profiting from the uttered notes. This was not a simple case of survival through tough times such as Mary Lloyd, but of a man who knew exactly what he was doing. In the previous year, Allen had rented a farm where he lived and worked that was valued at £30 per annum. Yet as his uttering grew, he later moved to another property, which was valued at between £200 to £300 per annum. It was a move that all but sealed his eventual fate when the authorities came to visit him.
Once inside his property, constables found fourteen £1 notes on his desk. The backs were marked with the name ‘Joseph Jelly’. More notes were found in a drawer that were torn yet perfectly clean and new. They had no appearance of ever being in circulation. It was enough to apprehend him.11
What Allen did not know was that the name on the back of his notes would also be damning evidence against him at his trial. Joseph Jelly and Samuel Allen were responsible for printing the notes. Allen was Joseph’s brother and it was this family connection that made it all too easy for the notes to be produced and uttered into the local economy. As the two men saw their fortunes change, more and more notes were produced, with Joseph Allen’s reputation within his community being used to gain the trust of those who he dealt with at farmers’ markets across Manchester and Cheshire.
Joseph Jelly and Samuel Allen had already been arrested and placed on trial by the time Joseph Allen was arrested himself. Jelly was tried in Lancaster but subsequently escaped from his cell. Samuel was transported to Van Diemen’s Land for fourteen years for his offence. With this in mind, Joseph must have been expecting a similar punishment as his five-hour trial was drawing to its conclusion.12
Sir William Garrow, the Chief Justice of Chester, waited for the jury to reach their decision. Finding Allen guilty, the court erupted, forcing the Cryer of the Court to silence them. Placing a black cap on his head, Garrow stared at Allen, who began to sob and grow ever more agitated. Sir William Garrow, in a sombre tone, revealed his sentence saying:
To see a man that had filled such a respectable situation and guilty of such a great crime, it is now up to God to show mercy as there is no chance of any on earth.13
Sentenced to death, Allen returned to Chester Castle to await his date with Samuel Burrows.
Burrows was experiencing a lull when it came to his regular executions. Since his meeting with William Wilson, he had hardly appeared on top of Chester City Gaol for nearly two years. Times were becoming difficult for the Burrows family, with money desperately running low. Yet he was not alone by any stretch of the imagination. The previous year was known as ‘the year without summer’ as 1816 experienced the wettest and most unpredictable weather seen. The impact on Chester was also felt as yet another poor harvest forced inflation to spike. A desperate situation for many prior to 1816 had now grown even worse. Like many, the Burrows family were also impacted. As the price of food rose ever higher, his retainer was becoming increasingly worthless and far from what he was accustomed to.14
Samuel had kept a close eye on the Joseph Allen case. He would find himself hanging around the Golden Eagle pub, just a stone’s throw away from the Castle, listening to the conversations of those who had attended the trial. Returning home, he would let Mary know everything that was happening even though he knew that there was a greater likelihood of an alternative punishment to execution. Both knew exactly how important it was for Sammy to return to the gallows. With money rapidly running out, it had become a case of survival for the Burrows.
When the announcement came that Allen was to be executed, Burrows breathed a faint sigh of relief yet he knew that there would be many who would probably try to prevent it. The situation was becoming more frequent. He opted to give it a few days before properly thinking about his return to the top of Chester City Gaol. When the death warrant for Allen was finally released, Burrows got busy again. He tested the drop a few times once the gallows were erected in order to ensure that it was still working properly after all these years. With the lever in his hand, he felt good about himself. It was a mixture of excitement and relief but finally Burrows was back and the whole city could see him in action once again.
On Saturday, 10 May 1817, Joseph Allen awoke for the final time before being given a hearty breakfast. Receiving religious comfort, he was reported to have said, ‘Dear, dear, what a great change I shall shortly undergo.’15 He would reside in the Castle until midday in order to be exchanged at the Gloverstone before his slow parade through the streets.
Travelling down Bridge Street, Allen could see the crowds but, unlike other execution parades, this one felt more sedated. Instead of cheers, he saw faces full of sorrow. It was almost as if those who lined the streets felt more sorry for him than other criminals who had passed them by. Even the ballad mongers who roamed the streets sang in lowered tones when reciting their sorrowful ballad of Joseph Allen. Everyone was feeling the economic stresses for themselves following 1816. The empathy was genuine from the Cestrian onlookers and, given the opportunity, many would have done the same as Allen. To many, he was simply doing whatever he could to survive.
Burrows, of course, did not see things the same way. This was his livelihood and whatever people thought about the law was irrelevant to him. Allen had broken the law and it really was as simple as that. As the crowd arrived to witness Allen’s final moments, they had no time for Burrows’ usual antics. Regardless of what he believed, he was savvy enough to sense the mood of the crowd was firmly against him.
When Burrows pulled the lever and Allen dropped, there was almost silence, which was eventually broken with small sounds of weeping. It did not take the crowd too long to disperse as Allen was left to hang for another hour before eventually being cut down. Burrows was told to be careful with the body and to place it in the coffin that had been bought by some gentlemen from Weaverham. With help, Burrows placed the coffin on a hearse, where it was taken back to be with his family before burial.16
For Burrows, it was an odd feeling. It was a nice coffin, unlike some of the others he had previously seen, and to see the coffin slowly move away from him in a specially made hearse had taken him aback. Perhaps the crowd was right, perhaps not all crimes are equal. Burrows did not dwell on it too long. It was time for some much-needed cash and a well-deserved drink or two.
Joseph Allen’s family was left all but destitute from the moment of his arrest. The larger farm that he had rented from the uttered money was too large for the young family to manage and with no means of paying the larger rent, they were forced to move out. The community gathered to help them form a collection to make sure that they were in a better financial situation. When Joseph arrived back in Weaverham the community ensured that he was buried in the churchyard. There was no ill will towards the family or to Allen himself for his crime especially when, only one week after she had buried her son, Joseph’s mother passed away with what the local community said was a broken heart.17
Chapter 10
The Road to Near Ruin
The Execution of John Connor Galltegfa, Ruthin, 1822
BURROWS HAD FIRMLY established himself as the city’s executioner. With his new-found infamy and more money in his pocket than he had ever had in his life, he had also found a new way to spend it. Samuel was always a drinker but now he had taken it to even more extreme levels as he was becoming more dependent on it.
