SAMUEL WILD MITCHELL.
EXECUTED FOR MURDER.
THIS wretched man was hanged for the murder of his daughter, Sarah Mitchell, a girl about twelve years of age. He was a spinner living in Spitalfields, and he had brought the girl up as an apprentice to his trade. It would appear that frequent disputes took place between him and his wife, in consequence of which he became subject to frequent violent bursts of passion. It was on the occasion of his having excited himself to a degree of rage amounting to madness, that he committed the crime for which he was hanged. The girl was sitting at her work, when her father came into the room, and suddenly attacking her, cut her throat through the windpipe with a razor, which he held in his hand. He immediately afterwards ran from the house, but was apprehended subsequently on the same evening, when he made a full confession of his crime. On his trial, which took place at the Old Bailey on the 11th of January, 1805, he presented a miserable aspect. Almost bereft of reason by the dreadful deed which he had committed, he seemed for some time unconscious of what was passing around him. His hair was grey, and his head was covered with an old miserable nightcap.
Evidence as to the fact of the murder was adduced, and the prisoner’s confession was also read. He said—“I had a daughter named Sally, and my wife had a daughter named Elizabeth, who at one time did live with me, but whom I afterwards took to my apartment, where I instructed her in the art of weaving, and we lived all together: this said daughter of my wife’s caused some uneasiness, as I thought; and I thought my wife was more indulgent of her faults, and favoured her more than she ought, which was the reason of our separation on the 17th of December last; my wife also took with her Sarah Mitchell, whom I loved with the most ardent affection, which vexed me a great deal, as I saw there would be a continual dispute. I could not bear the little girl coming to see me, as coming on a visit. I resolved that neither my wife nor me should possess her. I seized the moment of the mother going away; the child was sitting by the fire winding quills. I took the razor from the drawer; my affection made me almost lay it down again, but my resolution overcame that. I turned round, and cut her throat. I was too resolute to make a faint attempt; the child was dead in a moment; she neither made noise nor resistance. When I had done the deed, the child fell. As I went out, I saw her blood; then I ran down stairs. After this act was done to my child, Sarah Mitchell, I went to a man named Bell, where I had lived, and left word for him to run and secure my master’s work; then I went to Mr. Dellafour, and my friends at Wapping.”
The prisoner, on his being called on for his defence, at once admitted that he was guilty of the crime imputed to him, but declared that he was led on to its commission by a mind which had been deranged by the frequent quarrels which he had with his wife.
The jury having found him guilty, the prisoner was asked what he had to say for himself, why sentence of death should not be passed according to law? He distinctly replied, “I have nothing to say.”
The awful sentence, that he was to be hanged on the succeeding Monday, and his body afterwards dissected and anatomized, was immediately pronounced by the recorder; which the prisoner heard without any visible emotion. The court was crowded in almost every part, and particularly with ladies; and not only the women, but even the jury, the counsel, and nearly all present, were melted into tears. During the whole trial the prisoner appeared calm, but not insensible. He was very attentive to the evidence, and appeared frequently to utter a low ejaculation.
On the morning after his trial, this unhappy man expressed a desire to see his wife, that they might exchange forgiveness. The day following (Sunday) she came to visit him in Newgate, but was so ill that she was obliged to be conveyed in a hackney-coach, supported between two friends. As soon as the distressing interview was over, he applied himself devoutly to prayer, in which he continued nearly the whole of the day. On that day he was extremely solicitous to obtain Dr. Ford’s promise to publish to the world that he died in the faith of the Church of England; as it had been generally understood that he belonged to the sect denominated Methodists. At half-past six o’clock on Monday morning Mitchell’s cell was unlocked, and the Ordinary attended him to the chapel to prayers; which being concluded, he returned to the Press-yard, and there walked for some time, holding two friends by the arms; meanwhile his mind was occupied with his unhappy situation; and he begged of all around him to pray with him. The unhappy man blessed the memory of his murdered child, and trusted the sacrifice he was about to make would, in some degree, expiate his crime in heaven, which he did not despair to see.
His last petition was to the sheriffs, to request that, after the surgeons had practised upon his body, his mangled remains might be given to his daughter, for burial; which request the sheriffs promised should be complied with.
The wretched being seemed to attend with much earnestness and fervour to the clergyman, and he was seen to clasp his hands together the instant the rope was fixed. After the drop fell he appeared to feel great pain, as he swung round twice, which was occasioned by the violence of the convulsive struggles he sustained.
He suffered before Newgate, January the 14th 1805, and, after hanging the usual time, was taken to St. Bartholomew’s hospital for dissection.