Executions at Tyburn were a public spectacle, and on occasions many miscreants were hanged at the same time. We have already seen how, in Chapter 1, a total of eleven executions took place on the one day, much to the satisfaction of the mob. Female executions were common, but far less common were multiple executions where all those hanged were female. One such occasion is the subject of this chapter.
Catherine Conway
Catherine, who was forty-five years of age, had been born in Kilkenny, Ireland. When she was just fourteen, she married Richard, much to the disapproval of her parents. The newly-weds moved to Waterford, where Catherine eventually produced no less than ten children.
Some time around 1743, one of Catherine’s sons, a sailor, fell seriously ill at Portsmouth. Catherine and her husband immediately travelled to that city to take care of him but, once he had recovered, they did not return to Ireland but travelled up to Liverpool instead, where two more of their children were now living.
Five years later, in 1748, Catherine received the news that her eldest son, John, had died abroad, whilst serving on a ship. She and her husband then went to London in order to collect any wages that might have been due to him. They had little trouble in collecting the money, most of which was taken by Richard who then spent it on drink and other women. The problem was that this gave Richard an idea about making still more money.
According to the story Catherine would later tell the authorities, Richard had discovered that another sailor, William Noble, had also died on board the same ship that John had served on. Richard suggested to Catherine that she should represent herself as William’s mother, draw up a will naming her as beneficiary and then claim the wages due to his estate. After some discussion, Catherine agreed to the plan.
A fake will was drawn up, dated 9 July 1744. After all, it would not do to place a recent date on the forgery in case that aroused suspicion. Catherine and Richard then travelled down to Chatham, presented the will to the naval authorities and, on 2 July 1748, received the sum of £20 1s 6d, being the wages due to William Noble. Once again, Richard pocketed most of the money and then promptly disappeared. Catherine then returned to her family in Liverpool.
The fraud was soon discovered when the real family of William Noble came forward. Catherine was traced to Liverpool, arrested and placed into jail there. Days later, a writ was served which ordered that she be transferred to Newgate, pending her trial for uttering a forged will. That trial took place in April 1749 and, having confessed her guilt, Catherine was duly sentenced to death. As for Richard Conway, the supposed instigator of the crime, he was never traced.
Margaret Harvey
Margaret was also an Irish girl, having been born in Dublin, in 1725. When she was about sixteen years old, she married John Harvey, at St Patrick’s church, also in Dublin.
John earned his living as a sailor and, consequently, spent long periods away from home. A jealous man, he managed to convince himself that, whilst he was at sea, his wife had been seeing other men. Though there was no truth in this, Margaret was unable to convince John that she had been faithful to him and a series of arguments followed. These grew ever more serious and on some occasions, John had even been known to pull a knife on Margaret and cut her about the head.
This situation persisted for some time, until one day, when John was back at sea, a female friend told Margaret that she knew of another man who wanted to be with her. He would treat her fairly and kindly and would support her if only she would leave her husband and live with him. Tired of all the arguments and assaults from her husband, Margaret agreed to move in with the other man.
When John Harvey returned from sea the next time he found that all his suspicions were now proven. His wife was cohabiting with another man. Declaring that he wanted nothing more to do with Margaret, John left Ireland and moved to London.
It wasn’t very long before the new man in Margaret’s life discarded her. He told her that he had had what he wanted from her and was no longer attracted to her. Since her parents were now dead, Margaret had no one to support her. Somewhat reluctantly, she decided to move to London, try to find her husband, and attempt a reconciliation.
Margaret had no luck in tracing John, so took a position as a servant in Marylebone Street. She did not, however, stay there for very long. One day she spent some time in the company of a group of sailors and some women, where large quantities of drink were consumed. She decided that she had had enough of servitude and vowed never to return to the house, taking lodgings instead in St Giles Pound.
On 14 June 1749, Margaret was again in the company of some sailors and the group went drinking in various establishments around Tower Hill and Wapping. Soon, all were very drunk and one of the sailors then suggested to Margaret that she should relieve a passing gentleman, Robert Lane, of his gold pocket watch. Margaret did steal the watch and chain from Robert, but in her drunken state she was so obvious in her actions that Robert raised the alarm and chased after her. Margaret seemed to be getting away until she turned into Russell Street, off Covent Garden. That street was a cul-de-sac. Margaret was seized there and handed over to the authorities. With the evidence of Robert Lane, there was little difficulty in convicting her of theft, and she too was sentenced to death.
Elizabeth Banks
Elizabeth had been born in Weymouth, but her parents both died when she was very young. As a result, Elizabeth was taken into the care of the parish, who decided, when she was old enough, to apprentice her to a mistress. This woman treated her very badly and, at the age of ten, Elizabeth ran away, to Dorchester.
The young girl only stayed in Dorchester for a few days before she befriended a wagon driver, who told her that he was travelling to London. Elizabeth persuaded him to give her a lift and was eventually dropped off outside the Black Bull Inn, on Piccadilly. The landlady of that public house took an immediate liking to the attractive ten year old and Elizabeth was invited to stay in her house. In fact, she went on to live in comfort there for seven years.
At the age of seventeen, Elizabeth, used to the atmosphere of a public house, took a position in another such establishment, in St Mary Le Strand, where she stayed for four or five years. During that time she married her first husband and together they moved into Russell Court, off Drury Lane, where Elizabeth gave birth to four children. Sadly, over the next few years, Elizabeth’s husband and all four of her children died, leaving her alone again.
Elizabeth returned to employment in the licensed trade and worked in various public houses around The Strand. After nine or ten years she married her second husband, but he was only a labourer, making very little money.
On 2 May 1750, a young girl named Frances Mercer was found wandering, in a state of undress. She told those who came to her aid that a woman had stripped her, taken her clothes, placed them into a bundle and walked off with them. The woman was still in the vicinity and was soon arrested. That woman was Elizabeth Banks. She was charged with stealing the child’s clothing but, since this had taken place on the King’s highway, it was deemed to be highway robbery.
In her defence, Elizabeth claimed that Frances had been with another woman who was carrying a bundle of clothing. The woman said she had to visit someone inside a certain house and offered Elizabeth 2d to watch the child and the bundle. The woman then simply disappeared, and when Elizabeth was arrested she was merely looking for the woman to hand the clothing back. It was a weak story at best, and did nothing to explain how Frances had been found almost naked.
The Executions
In fact, two other women were also sentenced to death and due to be hanged at the same time. Judith Archer had been found guilty of stealing £28 from a gentleman named William Finch, and Mary Ryan had been sentenced to death for housebreaking; but both had been reprieved, and sentenced to be transported instead. For Catherine Conway, Elizabeth Banks and Margaret Harvey, there was to be no such escape.
On the morning of 6 July 1750, all three women were placed into a cart at Newgate prison and taken to the place of execution at Tyburn. All three seemed, rather naturally, to be deeply distressed, but according to the account of the Ordinary of Newgate, none said anything of merit before the nooses were tied to the triple beam, the cart driven away, and the three women left to strangle slowly to death.