In the year 1785, the Duke of Rutland was appointed lord-lieutenant of Ireland; and directly after his arrival in Dublin, Hatfield followed him, and taking up his abode at a hotel in College-green, acquainted the landlord with his pretended connexion with the viceroy, and declared that he was only prevented from proceeding at once to the Castle, by the circumstance of his carriage, and horses, and servants, not having yet arrived. A month was passed by the lodger in a pretended continued state of disappointment at the non-appearance of his equipage, and at the expiration of that period the landlord took the liberty of presenting his bill, which amounted to upwards of sixty pounds. Mr. Hatfield was in nowise confused, but said that although, fortunately, his agent was then in Ireland holding a public situation, he was, at that time, on a visit in the country, from which he would not return for three days. The landlord was satisfied; but on the fourth day he again made his appearance, and having been now directed to a gentleman at the Castle, he forthwith proceeded to him with his account. The answer was of a nature most unsatisfactory to his wishes; for the supposed agent very frankly told him, that he was the dupe of an impudent impostor; but he received some consolation from his being informed that others had suffered as well as he. His guest, however, was one who was no longer welcome at his table, but being under the necessity of driving him from his own house, he provided him with other lodgings in the Marshalsea, to which he was conveyed by virtue of a writ issued at his instance. On his entering the jail, Hatfield whispered the keeper and his wife, “to be sure and keep it a profound secret that he was a relation of the viceroy, as it might not be agreeable to his Excellency, that it should be known that he was in prison;” and the people, astonished at the discovery, which they then made for the first time, conducted him to the best apartment, had a table provided, and continued to furnish him with all the necessary commodities for his support during the ensuing three weeks. In the meantime, however, he had again petitioned the Duke for fresh supplies, and his Grace, being apprehensive that he might continue his impositions in Dublin, released him on condition of his quitting Ireland; and in order to be assured that this stipulation was obeyed, he sent a servant to see him on board the next vessel sailing for Holyhead.
He next visited Scarborough, and there practised similar impositions; but his frauds being discovered, he was arrested and lodged in jail, where he now continued for a period of eight years and a half. At the expiration of that time, a Miss Nation, of Devonshire, paid his debts and procured his liberation; and furthermore bestowed her hand on him in marriage. He then had the good fortune to obtain admission into a respectable firm at Tiverton as partner, and continued to live during about three years in apparent respectability; but then, having put up as a candidate for the borough of Queenborough, his real character was discovered, and he was made a bankrupt. He now retired, leaving his second wife and two children behind him; and nothing more was heard of him until the year 1802, when he drove up in a carriage to the Queen’s Head Inn, at Keswick, and assumed the name of Colonel the Hon. Alexander Augustus Hope, brother of the Earl of Hopetoun, and member for Linlithgow. Unfortunately some evil genius directed his steps to the once happy cottage of poor Mary, the only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robinson, an old couple, who kept a small public-house at the side of the beautiful lake of Buttermere, Cumberland; and who, by their industry, had amassed a small property; and poor Mary of Buttermere, whose charms have since become so celebrated from Wordsworth’s sweet poem in which they are described, was doomed to become the victim of his villanous schemes. During a short stay at Buttermere, he contrived to wheedle himself into the good graces of poor Mary; but he was not to be satisfied with the possession of a country girl, when higher game came in view. On his first arrival at Keswick, he became acquainted with an Irish gentleman named Murphy, a member of the then existing Irish House of Commons, who with his family, and accompanied by a young lady, possessed of a considerable fortune, and no less personal attractions, was on a tour through the justly admired lakes of England. The affable condescension with which his advances were received, induced him to suppose, that his address and manners were not displeasing to the young lady, or her guardian, and he resolved to improve upon the opportunity which presented itself. Quitting the society of the gentle Mary, therefore, he returned to Keswick, and, ere long, he had so far ingratiated himself with the young lady, as to obtain from her a promise of her hand in marriage. Being known only by his assumed title, he was urged to write to Lord Hopetoun, to acquaint him with the intended union, and he promised instantly to comply with a request which appeared so reasonable. Writing letters, therefore, which by virtue of his pretended rank of M.P. he franked, he despatched them, and until answers were received, he proposed various trips to while away the time. The preparations for the marriage, however, occupied the time and attention of the young lady to too great a degree to permit her quitting Keswick, and Hatfield seized the opportunity to continue his courtship to the Beauty of Buttermere. In this manner some weeks elapsed, without any communication being received from the Earl of Hopetoun; and the frequent, and now prolonged, absences of the supposed colonel excited some degree of surprise among his Irish friends.
At length, on the 1st October 1802, a letter was received from Hatfield, dated Buttermere, by Mr. Murphy, in which a request was contained that a draft inclosed, purporting to be drawn by Col. Hope, on Mr. Crampt, a banker in Liverpool, might be cashed; and that gentleman, still having no good reason to doubt the integrity of his correspondent, immediately transmitted to him 30l., the amount of the check. On the 4th of the same month, however, Wood, the landlord of the Queen’s Head, where the whole party had been stopping, brought over intelligence from the village of Lorton, in Buttermere, that Colonel Hope had been married on the previous day to Mary Robinson. On inquiry it turned out that this was perfectly true, and that the marriage having taken place, the bride and bridegroom had gone into Scotland to spend the honeymoon; and it being now obvious, that the latter, whoever he might be, had acted most dishonourably towards his ward, Mr. Murphy determined to write to Lord Hopetoun, for the purpose of ascertaining how far he was entitled to the name and rank which he had assumed. Circumstances soon transpired, which induced a belief that he had no pretensions to the character which he had taken, and a warrant was issued for his apprehension. In the meantime, he had proceeded with his bride, as far as Longtown, on their wedding trip, but on reaching that spot, he pretended surprise at not meeting some friends, whom, he said, he had expected, and returned to Buttermere. He was there charged with having assumed a fictitious name, but he flatly denied the truth of the allegation; but the warrant being brought, by which he was alleged to have forged several franks, as M.P. for Linlithgow, he was committed to the care of a constable. He, however, found means to make his escape from this custody; and having with great boldness passed through several towns, where his person was known, he was at length apprehended within sixteen miles of Swansea, and committed to Brecon jail. Before the magistrates, he declared that his name was Tudor Henry, but his person being identified, he was sent to London to be examined. He was then transmitted to Cumberland, where he was charged with forging several franks, and also with forging the bill for which he had obtained cash at Keswick, and he was committed for trial; the charge for bigamy, which also stood against him, not being preferred.
He was indicted at the ensuing assizes at Carlisle, and tried before Sir A. Thompson, when the jury found him guilty, and he was sentenced to death.
A notion very generally prevailed that he would escape capital punishment, and the arrival of the mail was daily expected with the greatest impatience. No pardon arriving, however, September 3, 1803, (Saturday,) was at last fixed upon for the execution.
The gallows was erected on the preceding night, between twelve and three, in an island formed by the river Eden, on the north side of the town, between the two bridges. From the hour when the jury found him guilty, he behaved with the utmost serenity and cheerfulness. He received the visits of all who wished to see him, and talked upon the topics of the day with the greatest interest or indifference. He could scarcely ever be brought to speak of his own case, and he neither blamed the verdict, nor made any confession of his guilt. He said that he had no intention to defraud those whose names he forged; but was never heard to say that he was to die unjustly. The alarming nature of the crime of forgery, in a commercial country, had taught him from the beginning to entertain no hope of mercy.
By ten o’clock in the morning of September 3, his irons were struck off; and he then appeared as usual, and no alteration or increased agitation, whatever, was observed in his manner.
Soon after ten o’clock he sent for the “Carlisle Journal,” and perused it for some time, and a little after he had laid aside the paper, two clergymen attended him, and prayed with him. He afterwards wrote several letters and shaved himself, and at three o’clock he ate a hearty dinner with the jailor. Having afterwards drunk two glasses of wine, he partook of some coffee, and then set out for the scaffold. He was pinioned in the turnkey’s lodge, where he sent for the executioner and gave him some silver. He afterwards exhibited great composure, and when he came to the gallows, he asked whether that “was the tree he was to die on?” On being answered in the affirmative, he exclaimed, “Oh! a happy sight, I see it with pleasure.”
He then ascended the cart, which had been placed under the rope, and appeared perfectly cool and collected. Having himself assisted in completing the requisite preparations, he took leave of the sheriffs, and prepared himself calmly for his fate.
On his being turned off, great apprehensions were entertained that it would be necessary to tie him up a second time. The noose slipped twice, and he fell down above eighteen inches, and his feet at last were almost touching the ground; but his excessive weight, which occasioned this accident, speedily relieved him from pain. He expired in a moment, and without any struggle.