Portuguese Honeymoon Tragedy

In 1914 a newly married Portuguese couple's marriage ended in tragedy when the husband shot his wife dead on an ocean liner.  He was convicted of murder at Liverpool Assizes, but his death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. 

At the end of 1913 Alberto Coelho, a 32 year old confectioner married his wife Josephine in Oporto. The couple then boarded the Deseado, a Royal Mail steamer sailing from Liverpool to Rio, where Alberto had business interests. At first, they seemed as happy as any other newlyweds would be, but on 7th February, two days into the voyage, Alberto shot Josephine twice while she was sitting in the vessel's social hall. She slipped under the table and died instantly.

Coelho pictured in the Liverpool
 Evening Express 31/3/1914

Coelho, showed no resistance as he was placed in irons. As the killing had taken place in international waters on board a British-owned vessel, he was subject to the law of its home country. On arrival in Rio, he was handed to the British consul before being placed in a local prison to await the return journey. His wife was buried at a service attended by most of the crew. 

On 31st March the Deseado arrived back at Liverpool and Coelho, who spoke no English, was charged with murder. He replied through an interpreter that he had intended to take his own life. He was removed straight to the Police Court in Dale Street, where he was remanded in custody. He was described as a swarthy well-built man with dark hair, a heavy dark moustache and wearing respectable clothing. 

On 9th April Coelho was back at the police court for a committal hearing. It emerged that the ship's surgeon Dr Segar had refused to attend, and give evidence. This led to summons being issued. A cello player in the ship's band described how Coelho had been talking to his wife amicably, then left briefly and came back with the pistol before shooting her dead. When Dr Segar arrived at court five days later, he said death was instant and a bullet had struck Josephine in the heart. Coelho was committed to the Assizes, reserving his defence.

Just ten days after the committal, Coelho was brought up before Justice Bray at St George's Hall. When the charge was read to him by the Clerk of the Court, Sir Herbert Stephens, Coelho replied firmly in English "Not Guilty". The defence did not dispute the facts of the case, but argued that Coelho was insane at the time of the killing. They pointed to there being no apparent motive or any signs of a disagreement. Coelho's brother described that he had acted irrationally the previous year, often wandering aimlessly through the streets of Rio, saying that he was being followed by a large dog. 

Doctors from Walton Gaol told the court that Coelho had appeared rational during interviews and showed no signs of insanity. Although Coelho's counsel pleaded that he had delusions and was not responsible for his actions at the time of the killing, the jury took half an hour to find him guilty of murder.

After Justice Bray had passed the death sentence it was interpreted to Coelho. He replied that he was not guilty and that Josephne had planned on committing him to an asylum on arrival in Rio. He then held his head in his hands before being taken down to the cells.

The verdict was quickly seized upon by the Portuguese media, who appealed to the British Government to show magnanimity and grant a pardon as it had been a crime committed in a fit of passion. Prime Minister Bernardino Machado was petitioned by the League for the Defence of the Rights of Man to pursue this. Demands were also made for the recall of Portugal's consul in Rio, who had handed Coelho to his British counterpart. 

On 11th May an appeal was heard at the Court of Criminal Appeal. Coelho's lawyers argued that the verdict was unreasonable and that Justice Bray had misdirected the jury. They also submitted that Coelho had never been to England and had no knowledge of English laws. These arguments were dismissed and the appeal judges concluded that the defence had failed to prove insanity, therefore the conviction could not be quashed. 

Coelho's execution was scheduled for 14th May. He was due to be hanged alongside Joseph Spooner, who had killed his daughter and admitted his guilt from the beginning. However, due to the petitions still being considered by the Home Secretary, it was deferred. Spooner's execution went ahead as planned and later that day, Coelho was notified that his sentence had been commuted to life imprisonment. By the end of that decade, he had been released and deported to Portugal.   

Ship's Captain & Mate Guilty

A captain and First Mate who mistreated a crew member were found guilty of his manslaughter in their trial at St Georges Hall.

On 1st September 1892 the Watchman left New York bound for various ports in Brazil. It had a crew of ten and was on a voyage scheduled to last several months. Amongst the crew was George Orr, who became a target or the brutality of the First Mate Patrick Fitzgerland. Orr and another sailor named Judson were regularly beaten with rope ends and belaying pins for little or no reason. On one occasion the Captain, William Crawford, ordered Fitzgerald to stop but he refused to do so, saying he would 'swing for it' one day.

Crawford got directly involved in the cruel behaviour and on 10th December he handcuffed Orr to the mizzen mast with hands above his head for several hours. After being briefly released, he was tied up again overnight wearing light clothing, his pants being allowed to fall down. Judson heard Orr being beaten and on waking up at 7am, he saw the poor man in a bunk breathing heavily and covered in scratches and black and blue bruises. He died a few moments later.

When the vessel reached Rio Grande a special naval court was commissioned, which ordered Crawford and Fitzgerald to be sent to England for a manslaughter trial. They arrived in Liverpool on 10th May 1893 aboard the Dryden and were immediately remanded in custody.

A the assizes trial in August, evidence was first heard from a seaman named Judson. Under cross examination Judson he that he and Orr had left the ship for two days at Rio Grande, due to their being no grog on board. However he denied that Orr was in any way  a loafer and said he was afraid to tell the captain about the extent of Fitzgerald's brutality. A German seaman called Karl Vogt said that Orr was beaten every day for two months, and that he never saw him refuse orders. He did accept though that Orr was weak and had not realised there was an underlying heart problem.

Another crew member, Harry Gamble, testified to seeing Orr tell Fitzgerald he was too weak to work after being released from irons, leading to a further beating. Under cross examination, Gamble admitted that Orr had told him back in New York that he had a weak heart. Gamble stated that he had been one of two seamen that had carried Orr to a bunk and washed him down. He also said that no other crew members apart from the captain and mate had beaten him.

The deposition that had been made in Rio by Crawford was then read out. This said that Orr was put in irons for stowing away and refusing orders, and that he believed the cause of death to be solely as a result of heat disease. Fitzgerald's deposition said that he had never hit Orr, only shaken him and that he disobeyed orders. 

A surgeon believed the cause of death to be exposure, which would have been accelerated by heart problems. The ships log recorded cause of death as heart disease.

In their closing submissions, defence counsel said that Orr had refused orders, other crew members would not allow him to work with them due to his personal hygiene, and that nobody was liable for his death. In summing up, Judge Hopwood said that a captain has powers but must use them in moderation. He told the jury to determine if his powers were used in the reasonable cause of preventing a mutiny. 

After deliberating for twenty minutes, the jury found both crew members guilty with a recommendation for mercy. Defence counsel pointed out they had already been in gaol on remand for six months. However in his sentencing remarks, Hopwood said that the matter was very serious as no mention of punishment was made at all in the log book. Both Crawford and Fitzgerald were sentenced to nine months imprisonment with hard labour.

Eggs Dispute Ends in Death

A dispute between seamen over eggs ended with one of them dying on their ship's arrival in Liverpool and his attacker being convicted of manslaughter.

On 1st January 1867 the Caboceer docked at Aveiro in Portugal and in the afternoon the crew members were given leave to go ashore by the captain. That evening, back on the vessel, a dispute arose over ownership of a quantity of eggs that had brought aboard. This ended with 36 year old first mate Evan Matthias pulling the hair of able seaman Miles Dempsey, with so much force that his head bled. He then dragged Dempsey onto the deck and knelt on his chest with great force and hit him with a belaying pin.

Ten days later, twenty year old Dempsey complained of pains in his chest and was unable to resume his duties. He remained bedbound until the vessel arrived at Liverpool's King's Dock on 23rd February. He was taken to the workhouse hospital while Matthias was arrested and charged with assault. On the 28th Dempsey died, leading to Matthias being committed for a manslaughter trial at the assizes.

At the trial on 29th March evidence was heard that Matthias claimed all of the eggs were his, while other crew members had said they were to be shared out equally. It was also heard that Dempsey had a cold when he joined the Caboceer and this worsened when he spent a night on deck in the rain. The workhouse doctor said that he had dropsy and exhaustion, with a postmortem revealing chronic disease in the heart. In his opinion, death was accelerated by excitement occasioned by the assault. 

After the jury returned a verdict of guilty, sentence was deferred until the following day. Mr Justice Mellor told Matthias that taking all factors into consideration, Dempsey would probably not have died if he was in good health. However, he added that the jury had come to the right conclusion in points of law and that violence on ships was too common. He then imposed a sentence of five months imprisonment with hard labour. 

Dental Extraction Gone Wrong

When a seaman died after fighting with a fellow crew member, no charges were brought about when it was found the death was a result instead of a failed dental procedure. 

The Balasore, courtesy of State Library of South Australia
 - PRG 1373/13/32

On 17th November 1906 the Balasore of Eyre, Evans & Co arrived in Liverpool from San Francisco. One of the shipmates, a 23 year old Barbadian named Samuel Archer, was taken to hospital feeling ill and died later that day. 

Enquiries established that during the voyage Archer had been in a fight with Italian Luigi Cocini and received a broken arm as well as broken teeth. Towards the end of he voyage, Archer had asked a fellow crew member to extract some teeth, which went badly and resulted in a broken jaw.

A postmortem revealed that Archer died from shock as a result of the broken jaw, and not in relation to injuries sustained in the fight which had occurred on 24th October. As a result of this, an inquest returned a verdict of accidental death and Cocini was discharged.

Portuguese Wife Killer Repreived

A Portuguese man who shot his wife dead on board a British steamer was sentenced to death but had his sentence commuted to life imprisonment

On 5th February 1914 newly married couple Alberto Coelho and Josephine Quelhas set sail from Lisbon bound for Rio on board the Royal Mail steamer Deseado. The voyage to South America had began in Liverpool. Coelho was a confectioner and also man of substance who owned a substantial amount of property in Brazil. However Josephine had only agreed to go there with him if they were married. 

Travelling in first class accommodation, they appeared happy but soon it became apparent that all was not well. At around 1230pm on 7th February, when the vessel was 170 miles west of Madeira, Josephine Coelho was sat alone in the social hall. Her husband came in and shouted 'You have made me miserable' before shooting her twice from point blank range. A cellist named Francis Chamberlain pulled Josephine from under the table where she had fallen and found there was a bullet wound in each breast. The ship's surgeon, Dr Segar was called but he confirmed that Josephine was dead and there was no hope of recovery.

Two brave passengers managed to restrain Coelho, who was a well built man, on deck. He showed no resistance as he was put in irons and placed in a guard room. That evening Josephine was buried at sea in a service attended by most of the crew and passengers.

On arrival in Rio two weeks later, Coelho was handed to the British consul who wanted nothing to do with him. He was then taken to a local jail and held there until the Deseado began her return voyage to Liverpool. When the vessel arrived there on 31st March Coelho was arrested and responded through an interpreter 'I intended to kill myself but in Rio they say that I am mad.' Respectably dressed and sporting his thick dark moustache, 32 year old Coelho was initially remanded for a week by magistrates.

The Daily Post reported that Coelho had a dejected appearance as he stood in the dock at the police court a week later. The court first heard that Dr Segar was offered expenses of £3 per day but refused to come from London to give evidence unless he was subpoenaed. The magistrate then gave orders for a summons to be issued. Francis Chamberlain then gave evidence as to Coelho shooting his wife from a range of abut one yard. This was corroborated by a bandmaster named Harry Akers. 

On 14th April the police court proceedings resumed with Dr Segar in attendance. He claimed not to have received a message about attending court then went on to say that death was as a result of a bullet to the heart. Coelho was committed to the assizes for trial and chose to reserve his defence.

Coelho appeared before Justice Bray on 24th April. His defence counsel Mr Rigby Swift did not dispute the facts of the case. Instead, it was suggested simply that no sane man who was happy with his wife could have shot her in broad daylight in front of three or four witnesses. The prisoner's brother Carlos was called to give evidence that he had suffered delusions. He stated that Coelho had neglected his business and often walked aimlessly around Rio saying he was being followed by a large dog. Carlos said that the family were not happy with the marriage to Josephine, who he described as a woman of 'loose character.'

Dr Griffiths from Walton Gaol said that he had not found Coelho to be showing any signs of insanity. Instead he was described as perfectly rational although he had claimed to have no recollection of the killing until he woke up in irons. After an impassioned plea by Mr Rigby Swift that Coelho was not responsible for his actions the jury retired, but after an hour found him guilty of murder. 

On being told of the verdict Coelho replied that Josephine had wanted to put him in an asylum on arrival in Rio. After Justice Bray had passed the death sentence he put his head in his hands and made a remark in Portuguese, before being quickly taken down below.

News of the sentence created shockwaves in Coelho's native Portugal, where nobody had been executed since 1846. On 28th April a demonstration organised by the League of Defence for the Rights of Man in Lisbon was attended by 40,000 people who called upon Prime Minister Bernardino Machado to intervene. He issued a statement however saying that he could not interfere with English law.

On 11th May at the Court of Criminal Appeal Mr Rigby Swift argued that the verdict was unreasonable in line with the evidence. He argued that doctors who had attended to Coelho whilst under guard and in Rio had not been called, but the appeal was dismissed by the Lord Chief Justice who said 'You have no evidence here that the condition of his mind was such that he could not control his actions.'  However he did go on to offer some hope, saying that the Home Secretary had the power to exercise a prerogative and that this was a case he thought fit to do so.

The comments of the Lord Chief Justice were enough to have the execution, set for 14th May, deferred. On that day Joseph Spooner was hanged at Walton Gaol for the murder of his daughter in Edge Hill, but communication was received that Coelho's sentence had been commuted to life imprisonment. 

Mother Pleads For Her Seaman Son's Killer

A seaman who killed his friend in a fight on a ferry in the Irish Sea was jailed despite the victim's mother pleading for his release as everybody had suffered enough.

In the summer of 1953 two young men who had been away at sea for some time on a voyage to Australia and South America returned to Liverpool and were paid off. One of them was Robert Humphries from Bray in County Wicklow and he invited twenty year old Robert Thomas, of Irlam Road in Bootle, to spend some time with his family. 

On the day they set sail for Dublin aboard the MV Munster, they began drinking at 1130am and continued this on board. At around midnight a fight broke out that led to Humphries going overboard as a result of a push by Thomas, according to some eye witnesses.

Crew members placed Thomas in a straitjacket and passed out. He was lifted onto a stretcher and woke up a few minutes later, repeatedly asking where his friend was. On arrival at Dublin, detectives boarded and arrested Thomas, charging him with murder on the high seas. After his first court appearance he was taken to hospital for treatment on a suspected broken nose.

On 2nd February 1954 Thomas was tried at Dublin's Central Criminal Court, where prosecutors alleged he had drank up to twenty pints of beer. A doctor who had seen him half an hour after the incident told the court he felt Thomas was incapable of forming any intent to murder and that when he came around he had no recollection of what happened.

A key witness was passenger Martin Connolly, who said a fight broke out between five or six men, including Thomas.  He then told how when Humphries tried to pacify him he was pushed away but fell over the rail into the sea. Under cross examination, Connolly described Thomas as 'drunk out of his mind.'

Thomas himself could not remember much about what happened, only that he had got into a fight with some people but insisted he did not touch his friend. He was found guilty of manslaughter rather than murder and there was then a sensational development when Humphries' mother entered the witness box. Rather than call for a tough sentence she said 'There has been trouble enough without any more. No matter what happens now it won't bring my son back so will you please let him go home.' Earlier in the trial Thomas's father had said that the two men were very close and Humphries referred to him and his wife as 'mom' and 'pop'

Mrs Humphries' pleas were ignored by Judge Murnaghan however who sentenced Thomas to six years penal servitude, telling him 'I can not overlook the fact that you allowed yourself to get so drunk that you had your friend killed.' He did grant a certificate of appeal however and the sentence was later reduced to three years.

Captain Killed Over Vinegar

A seaman who complained of a lack of vinegar stabbed his captain to death after he felt he was given extra work as a punishment for his request.

On 8th June 1872 the Mora sailed from Demerara in British Guyana for Liverpool. On board was an able seaman named William Davies who was from Finland, then part of the Russian Empire. As was often the case with foreign sailors who registered with a British vessel in Victorian times, Davies had taken an Anglicised name. 

Early on in the voyage Davies complained to the Captain, William Draycott, that the crew did not have sufficient ration of vinegar. Draycott responded by saying that they had double rations of lime and refused to offer any financial compensation for the lack of vinegar.

When Davies was on the forecastle on 26th June he was ordered to go aloft and do some work on the rigging, which he did so. He was soon told however to do some more work, this time in the topgallant yard. Davies took exception to this, saying that Draycott was putting too much responsibility on him. He then told the captain that one of them would end up killing the other.

Draycott challenged Davies to a fight and called other crew members together to ensure that it was fair. After the captain struck the first blow, Davies took out a knife and stabbed him in the shoulder. Some crew members restrained him but he broke away and plunged the knife into Draycott's shoulder. 

Twelve hours after the incident Draycott died of his injuries and when the vessel arrives in Liverpool two weeks later Davies was arrested and charged with murder, appearing at the Liverpool assizes on 23rd August. Davies didn't deny what he did, claiming he was acting in self defence and some crew members told the court that the captain had a 'fighting attitude' and had threatened to kick his head off. 

In summing up, Mr Justice Willes said that this case was definitely one of manslaughter and could even be murder, as the use of a knife could not be justified if he was only being threatened by Draycott's fists. The jury erred on the side of caution but Davies was shown no mercy by the judge, who sentence him to twenty years imprisonment. 

Killed Over Coal

A dispute between two trimmers on board a Liverpool registered vessel led to one of them being gaoled for sixteen years.

At 4pm on On 8th January 1905 German Emil Baumann finished his four hour shift on board the Booth Line's Caereuse, which was sailing from Barbados to New York. He was challenged by his relief William Maguire, who felt he had not left sufficient coal to last the half hour it would take him to clean out the furnace.

About twenty minutes later Baumann appeared at the stoke hole and taunted Maguire, refusing to send any more coal down to him. He then challenged Maguire to a fight and the two men went onto the forecastle. Another seaman named James Mackay then saw Maguire fall down clutching his chest which had blood pouring out of it. The ship's doctor was called but Maguire was dead within minutes, with wounds in his chest and abdomen.

An inquiry in New York ruled that there was sufficient grounds to extradite Baumann to the United Kingdom and on 20th February he appeared before Mr Justice Wills at the Liverpool Assizes. Baumann claimed that Maguire had first come at him with a knife, but the witness Mackay said that only the German had a weapon. 

When the jury deliberated, Baumann was saved by the fact Maguire had willingly left his post to fight him. This led to him being found guilty only of manslaughter but the judge said it was very near to murder. He was then sentenced to sixteen years penal servitude.

Crockery in the Witness Box

When a Chinese crew member of a British vessel was killed in the 1920s, many of the witnesses at the subsequent trial took the oath by smashing crockery.

On 28th July 1925 an argument broke out amongst Chinese crew on the Sunderland registered steamer Palm Branch, which was sailing from St Thomas in Jamaica to Liverpool. The result of this was that one of them, Sing Looh ended up overboard. A boat was lowered but the search for him was abandoned after two hours.

On arrival in Liverpool on 11th August police boarded and after speaking to the Captain detained six of the crew. They then charged firemen Cheong Fook and Cheong Mo Fook, who were unrelated, with murder on the high seas. Cheong Mo Fook claimed that he had been hit over the head with a basin by Sing Looh and he had subsequently slipped into the water. Other witnesses though  said that the chief engineer had separated them and Cheong had then assaulted Sing Looh and threw him overboard with the help of his accomplice.

At the trial on 5th November two interpreters were required, one to interpret the evidence from Shanghainese to Cantonese, then another to translate into English. The Chinese witnesses took the oath by smashing crockery, the broken pieces of which littered the witness box. Cheong Mo Fook was found not guilty and discharged.

Missing Log Spares Ship's Officer From Death

An officer on board a vessel bound for South America was lucky to be found guilty of manslaughter when not all the evidence was made available at the trial.

On 29th July 1875 Second Mate James Collins was in charge of the watch on board the Princess Alexandra which was sailing from Liverpool to the Peruvian port of Callao via Le Havre in France. At 8am boatswain John Christian asked for orders but was sworn at by 29 year old Collins and began to retreat. Collins then picked up a handspike and struck Christian on the back of the head and he died about four hours later.

On arrival back at Liverpool Collins was taken into custody by the river police, telling them ' I am guilty but only in my own defence, until this happened I had always been a harmless and inoffensive man.'

Collins was charged with murder and tried in March 1876 at the Liverpool Assizes, where the evidence given was quite sketchy.One Swedish crew member stated that Collins asked Christian why he was doing nothing and he replied that he was awaiting orders, leading to the attack. It was admitted by both him and an American seaman named Frank Smith that Collins wasn't popular amongst the crew, most of whom were foreign and had been taken on board in France.

In his defence Collins said that he had only intended to strike Christian on the hand and that he needed to maintain order in the absence of the First Mate and Captain as he felt threatened by the other crew members. His defence counsel pleased that there had been no malice aforethought and in an ill-founded moment of passion picked up the nearest thing to hand which turned out to be something that caused death.

In summing up Justice Brett said there was no evidence of provocation that would justify reducing the crime to manslaughter. The question was whether the weapon was used in such a way that death could reasonably be expected to result. Although it was a formidable weapon, the judge said that if it was used to strike the side of the head or body then death could not have been expected. Justice Brett also questioned why senior officers had not given evidence and commented that part of the log was missing and crucially that which should have documented what happened on the watch.

The jury returned a verdict of manslaughter and the judge said prior to sentence; 'I am of the opinion that officers of merchant ships are to be supported in maintaining the discipline. But I am also of the opinion that the crew of the merchant ship are entitled to ample protection against the tyranny of their officers. When an officer shows an act of violent passion as you have done it must be shown that the crew are to be protected.

After telling Collins that he was lucky to have been found guilty only of manslaughter Justice Brett sentenced him to fifteen years imprisonment. Collins thanked the jury for sparing his life as he left the dock, also saying that the crew would have killed him if they could.

Seaman Acquitted of Stabbing Due to Insanity

A seaman who carried out a stabbing in the Gulf of Florida was arrested and charged with murder on arrival in Liverpool, but later acquitted as he was insane at the time of the act.

On 29th March 1845 the Mountaineer set sail from New Orleans bound for Liverpool. 30 year old Michael Moore had joined a few days before as an able seaman and went about his duties satisfactorily, although there were some concerns about his mental state. He often told others that they were conspiring to throw him overboard and he expressed regret that he had ever joined the vessel.

Just over two weeks into the voyage on 14th April at about 1pm, when the ship was in the Gulf of Florida, the chief mate William Barrow was taking up the anchor watched by Moore and boatswain John Campbell. Without warning Moore stabbed Campbell in the stomach and then went for Barrow, but Campbell managed to push him out of the way. Other crew members quickly rounded on Moore and managed to secure him and retrieve the knife. Campbell had a large wound in the stomach and he died that evening.

On arrival at Liverpool Moore was handed to the police and after being charged with murder he appeared at the assizes on 23rd August before Baron Rolfe. Crew members gave evidence as to what they had witnessed and a acknowledged that Moore had no prior quarrels with Barrow or Campbell.

Dr Chalmer,  a surgeon from Kirkdale gaol then gave evidence, saying that Moore had told him he suffered from yellow fever whilst in New Orleans. Believing him 'to be scarcely in possession of all his faculties' Moore then spent a week in hospital under supervision and appeared better on release. Dr Chalmer then said that inflammation of the brain arising from the fever could give rise to states of monomania, lack of reasoning powers and hallucinations. After hearing the judges summing up, the jury took no time to acquit Moore on the grounds of insanity

Flogged to Death for Falling Asleep

A ship's captain who gave a severe flogging to a crew member who had fallen asleep on duty was found guilty of manslaughter and transported for life.

In the early hours of 2nd May 1845 cooper William Angus was at watch with three others on board the brig Challenge which was heading for Liverpool from West Africa. He heard a noise and on going to investigate, found that fellow watchman, 28 year old fisherman Ben Johnson, had came off his ladder having fell asleep.

The ship's captain George Hill then flogged Johnson with a rope and continued to kick and beat him for about ten minutes. However Johnson managed to escaped into the roundhouse but Hill ordered that he be hauled out of his refuge. The captain then threw a bucket of water over his head and hit him with a canoe paddle on the face and shoulders.

Johnson never spoke after this incident and was covered in blood, with severe cuts to the nose, lip and neck. He was left on deck and at around 10am Hill administered him some spirits but he died about an hour later. The cook and chief mate were called to examine the body, as Hill believed the neck could have been broken. Neither of the other two could be certain of this, but both were of the opinion that when the ship reached Liverpool, crew members would be reporting their captain over the death.

Hill ordered that the body be thrown overboard then he rubbed out an account that the chief mate had written onto a slate of the events. He then directed the chief mate to record that Johnson had gone asleep whilst on watch and fell off a ladder, so was given three or four lashes. The chief mate was then ordered to record that in the morning the captain asked how he was due to the injuries having been sustained during the fall, but he died soon afterwards and was given a formal burial.

When the vessel reached Liverpool on 3rd June crew members informed the police and Hill was apprehended. On 22nd August he appeared before Baron Rolfe at the South Lancashire Assizes charged with murder. The Liverpool Mercury described the 26 year old as being 'able to read and write in a superior manner.' After crew members had given their evidence, local surgeon Dr Archer was called to give his opinions. He explained that if the injuries described by Hill had been sustained in a fall, then it would have been impossible for Johnson to escape after the flogging due to paralysis. As such he concluded that if the crew members version of events was believed, then Johnson's death was as a result of the mistreatment by Hill.

Hill's defence counsel Mr Wilkins claimed that he was a victim of  'a wicked and infamous conspiracy' by the crew and that 'such falsehood was never before laid before a jury'. It was maintained that measures of severity were required on board to keep the crew in check and that if Hill had caused the death, he was hardly likely to ask the cook and chief mate to examine the body knowing that they may report him.Concluding his speech Wilkins said that 'the story had been trumped up by those wicked and designing men with the object of destroying the unfortunate man at the bar.'

The judge summed up by saying that the jury had to consider the relationship between the captain and witnesses in determining who was telling the truth, and then decide if the crime was murder or manslaughter. After an hour and a half deliberation the jury returned a verdict of manslaughter, leading to Hill replying 'You are about to punish a man who is as free from crime as anyone in the court.'

In addressing Hill prior to sentence, Baron Rolfe said that his crime was 'only just short of murder' due to the character of the violence used. He then said that if this had been a conspiracy by crew members then it was 'a scene of wickedness and depravity greater than I have ever witnessed'. Saying that the jury had determined that the crew members were 'witnesses of truth' Hill, an unmarried Yorkshireman, was then sentenced to transportation for life. He arrived at Tasmania on 16th May 1846 aboard the convict ship China.

Seaman Killed on Emigrant Ship

A crew member on board an emigrant ship was killed by another who was convicted of manslaughter in what today would be seen as a racially aggravated attack.

On the morning of 16th July 1864 the Raymond sailed from Queenstown in Ireland bound for New York, carrying mainly emigrant passengers. The voyage was a long one and she was still at sea on 16th September, when a disagreement broke out between 21 year old John Bennett and John West, who was twice his age.

Bennett had seen West with a knife on deck and said to others around him 'If the black beast has a knife I'll knock his head off'. West turned around and told Bennett that he was just minding his own business and he should mind his, leading to Bennett throwing a punch. Someone shouted out that if they were going to fight West should put the knife down which he did.

Despite the knife having been thrown down, Bennett was seen to keep hold of a marlin spike that was used for ropework and during the struggle West was stabbed. After the two men were separated West was seen staggering on the deck with his bowels protruding. Bennett was immediately put in irons and said he had acted in self defence by stabbing him with the marlin spike. When asked what had happened West said he was stabbed by a knife not the marlin spike and a search of Bennett found no knife on him, just an empty sheath attached to his belt. 

There was no surgeon on board the ship and West had to be operated on by fellow crew members, who gave him brandy and laudanum to try and ease the pain. They put his entrails back in and sewed the wound, but he was unable to keep any food down him and died the following day. 

On arrival at New York, Bennett was handed over the British Consul. Although there were dozens of witnesses to the incident, the captain didn't have the authority to detain any of them and not surprisingly nobody volunteered to return to the British Isles to give evidence. Bennett was sent back on the mail steamer Persia, while the two crew members who witnessed the incident remained in New York until the Raymond was ready to set sail again.

Bennett arrived in Liverpool on 26th November and was taken into custody by Detective James Graham. Due to the two witnesses sailing back on the Raymond via Antwerp, he was unable to appear at the following month's assizes and instead had to wait until 27th March the following year to be tried before Mr Justice Mellor.

When the chief mate Thomas Cunningham gave his evidence he said he had seen Bennett paint West's jaw white a few weeks before the incident, but had believed it to be a joke. He also said that prior to throwing the punch Bennett had called him a 'black son of a bitch' and had not been attacked. Under cross examination though he admitted that Bennett had a reason to have the marlin spike in his hand at the time and also that West was about half as strong again.

The ship's master Lawrence Lenders told how he was attracted by a large crowd and cries of female passengers and when he got to the scene Bennett was boasting 'I told you I'd let them out for you.' When Lenders asked Bennett why he had done what he did he replied 'because he was annoying me.' In respect of the wound, the master said it was too large to have been cut with a marlin spike and he believed that a knife had been used which was thrown overboard.

In addressing the jury on behalf of Bennett, his defence counsel Charles Russell said there had been no evidence of prior ill feeling between the two men and no premeditation. As such he suggested that a manslaughter verdict would be more appropriate. In summing up the judge said that for a manslaughter verdict there had to be some form of reasonable provocation, leading to the jury deliberating for an hour before finding Bennett guilty of manslaughter.


In his pre sentencing remarks the judge said that this case was 'a very serious one for manslaughter' and that his life had been spared by the jury's decision. Telling Bennett that he deserved a 'long period of penal servitude' he then sentenced him to fifteen years. Bennett then said he was satisfied with the verdict but that Lender's evidence about him saying 'he would let them out' was false. The judge then interrupted and said that his sentence was very reasonable under the circumstances and that if he had anything else to say he should raise it with the Home Secretary.

Sea Captain Cleared

The captain of a vessel who struck a crew member for not carrying out an instruction was cleared of killing him due to there being no conclusive evidence as to the cause of death.

On 22nd November 1883 the Estrelia sailed from Cork to Liverpool on a voyage that took two days. When the vessel was about two miles from the mouth of the River Mersey the captain John Martin gave orders to the second mate John Sullivan to set the main topsails.

Sullivan, who was under the influence of drink, refused and was punched in the face by Martin, causing him to fall to the deck, hitting a metal spar as he did so. On arrival in Liverpool Sullivan went to the North Dispensary where his swollen jaw was bound up and he was told to return there the next day. He failed to do this and three days later the 60 year old was found dead at his home in Rose Place.

On the same day that Sullivan had died Martin had appeared at the police court on a charge of assault and was allowed to pay £3 to settle the matter. He now faced arrest again, being taken into custody to attend the coroner's inquest. After a postmortem revealed that Sullivan died from pressure on the windpipe as a result of a fractured jaw, leading to a manslaughter verdict being returned.

After Martin was charged with manslaughter he was given bail set at £50. He then surrendered himself to the Liverpool assizes on 7th February 1884. During his trial sufficient doubts were raised about Sullivan's health in general, as it was shown he had kidney disease brought on by excessive alcohol consumption.

Mr Aspinall, defending, said that the evidence was not sufficient to justify a conviction and the jury returned a verdict of not guilty, leading to Martin's release from the dock.

Stabbing Over Grog

An Indian man who stabbed a fellow sailor to death after a quarrel in 1862 had a lucky escape from the hangman's noose after being convicted of manslaughter.

John Lloyd (probably an Anglicised name that he was given) was a native of Madras who joined the Ethiopian on 11th October at New Calabar in what is now Nigeria for a voyage to Liverpool. That evening he was acting steward and got into a row with another crew member, Benjamin Jack, who he believed had drank too much grog.

Jack, who was much bigger and stronger, pushed Lloyd in the chest causing him to fall backwards by about four feet. Lloyd then went into the pantry and got a carving knife, an act that was seen by another crew member James Barber, who told him to be careful. Lloyd said he wouldn't do anything and returned to the deck where Jack was holding a winch handle. Seeing the knife, Jack dropped the winch handle and tried to get it from Lloyd, but a struggle ensued during which Jack was stabbed.

Lloyd then hurried to the medicine cupboard and took all the laudanum that was on board. The captain came to deck and found Jack's body, which had blood protruding from a throat wound. After being put in irons the second mate ordered crew to prepare a coffin so that Jack could be buried at sea, leading to Lloyd joking that two would be needed due to the laudanum he had taken. Lloyd then suffered a mentally torturous voyage to Liverpool, having survived his suicide attempt but knowing a murder charge awaited him on arrival.

Lloyd was tried at the South Lancashire Assizes before Mr Justice Blackburn on 18th August 1863. Fellow crew members gave evidence as to what they had seen and Jack's difficult character, while Lloyd insisted he had the knife already as he the argument began. His defence counsel suggested a manslaughter verdict was more appropriate due to the provocation, but in summing up the judge said that if Lloyd had got the knife out of the pantry with the intention of causing harm then it was murder.

After a few minutes deliberation a manslaughter verdict was returned and the judge told Lloyd that he was lucky, as there had been no justification to get the knife and the presence of others on the ship would have protected him from an attack by Jack. He was then sentenced to a term of penal servitude for ten years.

A Barbarous Sea Captain

A shocking case of cruelty on a vessel sailing from Barbados to Liverpool led to the captain of the ship being hanged in public at Kirkdale.

The Martha and Jane was a Sunderland registered vessel that sailed from Hartlepool to Calcutta in 1856, then on to Demerara and Barbados, where she underwent repair and a change of crew. On 29^th April 1857 an able seaman named Andrew Rose joined the crew but ran away after being beaten by the second mate, Charles Seymour, who found fault with his work. Rose remained at large for a few days but was captured by police and returned to the ship and put in irons.

On 11^th May the ship sailed for Liverpool and Rose was briefly freed, but he was suffering from diarrhoea and frequently beaten with a rope and whip by Seymour, Rogers and the chief mate William Miles for dirtying the decks. One Sunday morning, Rose was on deck singing a hymn and Rogers forced an iron bolt into his mouth, then Seymour and Miles secured it with a rope tied behind his head, leaving Rose like that for an hour and a half.

As the days went on the sadism increased with Rogers whipping Rose then setting a dog on him to bite the wounds, which covered his whole body as his clothes had been thrown overboard due to being soiled. Most of the time he remained in chains but on one occasion asked to go to the bows to relieve himself, a request which was refused. After doing what he had to do on deck, Rose was beaten by the two mates and then held down, while Rogers got a wooden stick and shoved the excrement up his nose and into his mouth shouting ‘isn’t it nice.’

A few days later Rose was put in a water cask by Rogers and rolled up and down the deck, then cast over the side of the ship for twelve hours. As the poor man begged for some food or drink, Rogers told him he wished he would drown or hang himself. When Rose replied that he wished Rogers would do it for him, the captain put a rope around his neck and hoisted him above deck, leaving him dangling for two minutes. As he was cut down his skin was black, his eyes were protruding and foam was protruding from the mouth. Rogers mocked that another half a minute and Rose would have been dead.

Two or three days later on the morning of 5^th June, Rose crawled along the deck until he could move no more, then laid down and died. When fellow crew members found him an hour or two later his wounds were maggot infested and they were loathe to touch him. At the order of Rogers, his body was hauled by a rope along the deck and thrown overboard. On 9^th June the ship arrived in Liverpool, where Rogers, Seymour and Miles were arrested, the three of them claiming that they had only been reported as the crew wanted 10 shillings a day for attending court.

The trial took place on 20^th August, with witnesses telling the court that Rose had been beaten daily voyage, including twelve times on one day. They had never seen him neglect his duty or orders and he got on well with the rest of the crew. Even though his contract stipulated he would receive meat and tea, his daily meals consisted of just dry bread and water. Three doctors were called and stated that if the witnesses were truthful, then Rose’s death would have been directly caused or accelerated by his treatment. In defence, it was claimed that any sores on Rose’s body were as a result of sleeping in fields in Barbados, while the defence counsel tried to suggest that the Martha and Jane wasn’t a British ship, therefore it wasn’t subject to British laws. Rogers defence was that any punishment was to keep discipline and that it was illogical to disable an able seaman when the ship was already short on crew. Miles and Seymour’s defence was that they were simply following the captain’s orders.

The judge took two hours to sum up, pointing out that the three defendants were of enough intelligence to know that what they were doing could eventually have fatal consequences. After an hours deliberation the jury found all three guilty of murder and there were cheers from the public benches when a guilty verdict was returned, although there was a recommendation for mercy. Passing sentence, the judge described Rose’s treatment as barbarous and it was right that their lives should be ‘forfeited to the laws of this country.’ No emotion was shown by any of the men and as they were taken to the cells word reached those gathered outside what had happened, leading to more cheering.

There were hopes all three convicts may be reprieved but two days before the execution word came from the Home Office that although Seymour’s and Miles’s sentences would be commuted to life imprisonment, Rogers would still be hanged. The following day Rogers’s wife and three of his five children visited him in the condemned cell, where he visibly shook as he was bade goodbye. They were then taken in a cab to their hotel in Lord Nelson Street, while Seymour and Miles remained with Rogers at his request. He accepted his fate and was prepared for it, believing his prayers of repentance would be acknowledged by the Redeemer. He did not however, accept that his actions had been directly responsible for Rose’s death. His main concern was for his children and the stigma such a horrible fate as his would have on them. That Friday night prison philanthropist Mr Wright arrived to see another prisoner, having been under the impression all three were reprieved. On hearing he was mistaken, he agreed to stay overnight to comfort Rogers, who then slept far better than previously.

Crowds began to gather at 6am on 12^th September, the morning of the execution and the Liverpool Mercury reported that a black man was seen on Walton Road asking for directions to the gaol. The paper said that the crowd was much more of ‘sober appearance’ than previous, with many passing the time before noon reading newspapers. On the periphery though, ‘shoeless and stockingless urchins’ spent their time rolling in mood and fighting each other with caps, presenting an ‘incongruous scene’. It meant the 200 police on duty were not totally unoccupied especially as noon drew near, the paper reporting that ‘a great portion of the scum of society were to be seen in large masses’ travelling up Walton and Vauxhall Roads in he direction of the gaol. There were also a number of seamen present of varying ranks, expressing little sympathy for Rogers and showing only regret that his two mates had been reprieved.

The 40,000 strong crowd was swelled by spectators arriving on trains from Rochdale and Manchester, and omnibuses from Liverpool were full to capacity. One 70 year old had come from Bolton and told a reporter it was such a terrible case that he would gladly have made the rope himself and he had seen his first hanging at Ipswich in 1804. Despite the early hour many were drunk, one man who was ‘in an advanced stage of intoxication’ staggered and fell into a gutter, while another fell asleep under a hedge and missed what he had gone there for.

Rogers refused a final breakfast, preferring to just have some milk. He remained in the prison chapel most of the morning and just after noon he was taken to the scaffold, accompanied by the prison chaplain and Mr Wright. As the rope was placed around his neck he said ‘Lord receive my spirit, Lord save me’ before the bolt was drawn. Calcraft had calculated everything perfectly and there were convulsions for just a few seconds.  Sailors in the crowd were heard to say ‘serves him right’ and as there was a surge towards the scaffold, one man had his arm broken and was taken to the Northern Hospital. After an hour Calcraft re-appeared and cut down the body, which was buried that evening in the gaol grounds. The clothes were given to Mr Allsop of the Crystal Palace waxworks in Lime Street, where  a model of Rogers was being put on display the following Tuesday.

High Seas Killer Swims For It

A seaman who killed his officer tried to swim his way to freedom but was captured and brought to Liverpool to face trial, where he was shown some leniency by the judge.

43 year old William Brown joined the Regina as a boatswain in the autumn of 1867 for a voyage to Sierra Leone. It was there on 4th January that Joseph Dunlop, an Antwerpian who had adopted a British surname, joined the vessel as an able seaman.

The Regina with its nine man crew set sail from the Sherbo River on 7th February and the sailing was without incident until the early morning of 3rd March when Brown, Dunlop and a Dane named Nordholm were together on deck. Dunlop was refusing to carry out Brown's instruction to pump the ship, instead challenging him to a fight, leading to the Captain going on deck to calm both men down.

As Dunlop was heading to his bunk, Brown got hold of an iron bar and struck him five times with it in full view of Chief Officer John Thomas. Half an hour later, Dunlop was found dead by Thomas in the forecastle and an examination of the body revealed a gash above the eye and fractures to the skull. He was buried at sea and Brown was then locked in a cabin, but not put in irons.

When the vessel came within 10 miles of the North Wales coast, Brown made a dash for it by making a rope out of his bed linen and clambering out of his window and down the side of the ship. The man at the wheel saw this and raised the alarm, leading to a boat being launched and Brown being captured as he made his desperate bid for freedom.

On 17th April 1868 the Regina arrived in Liverpool, where Brown was taken into custody by the river police. Violently shaking, he asked if transportation was still ongoing and said that he did it in self defence but was sure to be hanged or transported. He appeared before Mr Raffles the stipendiary magistrate and was committed for trial at the Summer Assizes.

At this trial, Brown claimed self defence although the only provocation was that Dunlop had refused to carry out a duty. In summing up though Baron Kelly directed the jury to find him guilty of manslaughter and due to Brown's previous good character, he received a fairly lenient term of twelve years penal servitude.

Shooting on the High Seas

An American seaman who shot his superior on the high seas was hanged in 1875 after the jury's recommendation for mercy was not upheld.

Edward Cooper was born in New Orleans but went away to sea in his teens, usually working on ships out of Liverpool owned by Messrs Ferguson of South Castle Street. In January 1875 he set sail on he Coldeck set for Valpairaiso in Chile.

On  24th April in the early evening the Coldbeck was near Cape Horn when Edward Jones, the boatswain, went to the forecastle and ordered 33 year old Cooper to help put up one of the sails. Cooper refused, saying he was drinking tea and when Jones told him again, he produced a revolver. Jones told him to put it down and fight like a man on the deck, but Cooper responded by shooting him in the chest in front of another seaman and went to his bunk.

Other sailors raced to the forecastle, where Jones was bleeding heavily and saying' Lord have mercy on my soul, I am done for.' He was carried to his cabin but soon died and Cooper was placed in chains by the captain, responding by saying the shooting was inevitable once Jones was put in charge.

The Coldeck continued its voyage to Valpairaiso where the revolver was placed in a sealed package by the British consul. Cooper was then brought back to Liverpool aboard the Iberian, which arrived in Liverpool on 23rd July. He was handed over to the river police by Captain Brown and appeared in the police court that afternoon, where he was remanded for a week. The following Friday he reappeared at the police court where he was committed to trial at the Assizes.

Cooper stood trial on 14th August, with the Liverpool Mercury describing him as 'of intelligent appearance.' The jury heard how he was of good character and had never caused any of his captains any trouble before. Fellow seamen told of the orders that were given to him and that they had not been done so in an unreasonable manner. As such Cooper's claim that he acted in self defence was not upheld and he was found guilty of murder, but with a recommendation of mercy. He showed no emotion as he was sentenced to death and was then taken to Kirkdale gaol to await his fate.

Whilst in gaol, Cooper received very few visitors, being a single man with no family or friends in Liverpool. One of his visitors was a passenger who was on the Iberian that brought him back to England. Unable to read or write, he had never heard of the Lord's Prayer but turned to Catholicism whilst in the condemned cell, regularly being attended to by Father Bonte.

The Sailor's Home petitioned the Home Secretary for his reprieve, but Cooper didn't hold out much hope and his only wish was that he could be shot instead of hanged. On 4th September confirmation was received from the Home Secretary that his sentence would not be commuted and he was hanged two days later by Marwood (left) alongside William Baker.  Cooper maintained his coolness throughout the process, wishing goodbye to all as the noose was placed around his neck. The following morning Mercury reported that his dead body even had a slight smile on his face. As was normal practice, his corpse was then covered with quicklime and placed in a black coffin then buried in the precints of the prison.

Murder of a Sea Captain

In 1888 a seaman stabbed his captain to death whilst on a voyage to Liverpool but escaped the hangman's noose when the death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.

On 5th March that year the Dovenby Hall left San Francisco bound for Liverpool carrying a cargo of grain. On board was a crew of 23, including Steward Charles Arthur, a 34 year old native of Barbados who had lived in Liverpool for a number of years.

Arthur had been on the outbound voyage and remained quiet for most of it, but in San Francisco there was a disagreement between the Captain, David Bailey, and a number of crew members that led to many leaving the ship and the recruitment of a new Chief Mate. On 30th March, Arthur was reprimanded by the 54 year old Captain and ordered to perform  menial duties on deck, temporarily relinquishing his role as a Steward.

Being forced to go on deck was the culmination of a week of berating for supposedly not carrying out his duties properly and the following morning Arthur snapped. One of the jobs he had to do as Steward was take a cup of tea to the Captain in his cabin at 5am but when he did so, he plunged a carving knife into Bailey's stomach as he lay in bed. The Chief Mate and a sailmaker heard screams and ran to the cabin, managing to disarm Arthur and then capturing him as he tried to jump overboard. Captain Bailey died from his injuries 24 hours later and was buried at sea, with the Chief Mate safely guiding the vessel back to Liverpool, arriving on 28th June.

Arthur, who had been held in irons for the rest of the voyage was handed over to the river police on arrival and appeared to be on good terms with the crew, most of whom shook hands with him as he was taken away. On being charged with murder he responded that he had done it, but 'under great provocation.' Standing by the quayside were Captain Bailey's wife and nephew, who heard about his terrible fate for the first time.

At the trial on 3rd August crew members told how the Captain had regularly complained about Arthur's work and threatened him. However, in summing up the judge said that the only grounds for a reduction of the charge to manslaughter were if Arthur had actually been assaulted himself. As it had been admitted that Bailey was lying in his bed at the time and the knife had been removed from the pantry, the jury had no option but to conclude that he was guilty of wilful murder.

Arthur was of previous good character and the jury recommended mercy due to the provocation. Following submissions from his family and the Seamen's Institute, a reprieve was granted and his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.

.

Beaten To Death At Sea

In 1868 the First Mate of a ship that arrived in Liverpool from the Caribbean sentenced to life imprisonment after his brutal treatment of one of the crew members led to his death.

On Tuesday 19th May the Lydia arrived in the town, having sailed from Yarmouth in Nova Scotia, Canada via Jamaica. Four Crew members told police that on 28th April the First Mate Ansell Larkin had intervened in an argument between two crew members. One of them, Scottish sailor Daniel McDonald was struck in the face by Larkin and the following day went missing on deck as he tried to avoid being put to work due to his injuries.

When McDonald was found hiding under a lifeboat by Larkin, he was beaten with rope and an iron belaying pin, before being kicked in the face and chest, leaving open wounds all over his body. All of this was watched and encouraged by the Captain Dennis Schofield. He was then kicked and Larkin forced him to work even though he could barely walk or open his eyes because they were so swollen, which made standing to steer the vessel impossible. McDonald spent most of the next two days in his bunk where he was unable to eat and died on Saturday 2nd May, being buried at sea.

Larkin was tried on 20th August, with crew members disputing the logbook version of events surrounding the death, stating that they had only signed it as they were scared of the consequences of no doing so. Larkin's defence, however, told the court that the witnesses could not be trusted and Larkin had a difficult job during the voyage keeping them in order. They claimed that the injuries to McDonald had actually been caused by another sailor.

In summing up, the judge Baron Kelly said that six of seventeen crew members had given plausible evidence that was consistent with each other, yet the Defence hadn't been able to call any members to contradict this, even though all of them were on or around the deck at the time. It took the jury fifteen minutes to convict Larkin of manslaughter and he was sentenced to penal servitude for life, the judge telling him 'I cannot find words to express my horror of the merciless and cruel way in which you have dealt with one of your fellow creatures.'