JONATHAN SMITHERS.
EXECUTED FOR ARSON AND MURDER.
ON Monday morning, May the 28th, 1832, a fire broke out in the lower part of the house, No. 398, Oxford-street, in the occupation of Mr. Jonathan Smithers, a tobacconist, which was attended with very serious consequences. At about six o’clock the police ascertained the existence of a conflagration at the lower part of the house, by the sudden issue of a large quantity of smoke and flame from the shop and house doors, and from the fan-light over the latter; and proceeding immediately to the spot, they found Mr. Smithers endeavouring to make his escape into the street by means of the area, communicating with the kitchen. All his efforts to gain the footway, and those of the people, who had in a few moments assembled, to force the railings of the area, however, proved unavailing, and Mr. Smithers was at length compelled to retire through the kitchen; and making his way up the stairs, which were on fire, he succeeded in reaching the shop, from which he rushed into the street, much burnt about his face and hands, and with his clothes on fire in many places. The sudden admission of air to the house through the shop door tended to increase the fury of the flames; and before any alarm could be conveyed to the inmates, who were asleep within, nearly the whole of the lower part of the premises was on fire. Mr. Smithers was immediately conveyed to the Middlesex Hospital, in order that the wounds which he received might be dressed; and almost before he had quitted the spot, the lodgers and other remaining occupants of the house had been made acquainted with their dangerous situation. Their first impulse was to escape by the stairs; but this they found to be utterly impracticable; and the scene which soon presented itself to the by-standers in the street was of the most heart-rending description. At almost every window were to be seen persons, male and female, bewailing their dreadful situation, and imploring aid with uplifted hands. The servant-girl at the third-floor window made signs that she would throw herself into the street, but was entreated to endeavour to descend to a lower floor, before she made so hazardous an attempt to save her life. The cries which were addressed to her prevailed, and she soon appeared at the second-floor front room, having experienced considerable difficulty in making her way down the staircase. Several men then ranged themselves under the window to catch her in her descent; and the girl, exerting her courage, presently found strength of mind to throw herself out, and alighted safely in the arms of one of those below. The man was knocked down, and considerably hurt, but the girl walked away comparatively uninjured.
But the worst part of our narrative is yet to be related. The second floor of the house was occupied by an elderly lady, named Twamley, and her family, consisting of two daughters, Eliza and Caroline, an orphan boy about eleven years of age, named Farengo, the nephew of the young ladies, and a Miss Thomasin, their niece. When this family became sensible of their danger, all hopes of escaping by the staircase had vanished, and they ran from window to window in a state of mind bordering on distraction Miss Eliza Twamley held the boy in her arms, and appeared more alarmed for his safety than her own. Terror-stricken, she remained at the window, unable to adopt any decisive course, until at length the flames caught what clothes she had on. The boy seized hold of the window, but was precipitated to the ground on his head—his aunt at the same moment appeared to be suffocated by the smoke, and fell back immediately under the window, a prey to the flames. Mrs. Twamley, it appears, was seventy years of age, and was in the last stage of chronic asthma,—unable to get out of bed. Her daughter Caroline heroically endeavoured to save her from the impending danger: seizing her in her arms, with strength increased by the frightful nature of her position, she raised her from the bed, and bore her through the window to some leads at the rear of the house, from which she hoped to be able to escape, or at which she thought they might remain until the flames should be extinguished. Her position was seen by some of the neighbours living at the back; and they called to her to beware of an abyss which lay in her path, and which separated the leads of Smithers’ house from others at the rear of some other premises, and that they would rescue her from her perilous situation. A ladder was procured, and raised against the place where she stood; but before efficient aid could be rendered her, overcome by fright, she dropped to the leads below, with her mother in her arms. The distance which they fell was from twelve to fourteen feet; and both ladies were materially injured. Mrs. Twamley was immediately conveyed to a place of safety, where medical aid was procured; but death put an end to her sufferings after a period of two hours. Miss Twamley also received such medical assistance as her injuries required.
The other inmates of the house, whose escape we have not mentioned, were Miss Thomasin, M. Guissamere, a Frenchman, a Mr. Davis, and Mrs. Smithers; all of whom succeeded in quitting the house by the back premises. The engines, during the time occupied by these occurrences, had reached the spot, and instantly playing upon the burning house, succeeded in extinguishing the flame, and preventing them from extending to the adjoining premises, but not until they had completely destroyed the house in which they had originated, and every article of furniture and stock which it contained. Immediate search was then made for the remains of Miss E. Twamley; and they were discovered at the very spot at which she had been seen to fall, presenting a dreadful and melancholy spectacle. The arms and feet were entirely burned off, and the intestines protruded from the body, through some wound which had been caused by the falling upon her of some rafters. Her remains were immediately wrapped in blankets, and conveyed to the workhouse.
On the following day, Tuesday, a coroner’s inquest was held on the body of Miss Twamley; and in the course of the inquiry disclosures of a most painful nature were made, tending to show that the house had been wilfully set on fire, and that means had been adopted to secure this object of a nature which left no doubt of the intention of the incendiary; and, further, that Mr. Smithers was the person to whom suspicion of guilt of this diabolical act attached. The main points upon which this suspicion rested were these:—It appeared from the statements of the various witnesses, that Mr. and Mrs. Smithers had lived for some time upon bad terms, and that frequent quarrels had taken place between them upon the subject of some property belonging to the latter, and of which the former desired to possess himself. On the night of Sunday, the 27th of May, Mr. Davis, the lodger, was let in by Smithers himself at about twelve o’clock, and he went down to the water-closet, which was situated at the bottom of the kitchen stairs. He observed a quantity of shavings about the stairs, and saw that his landlord was engaged in doing something with the shavings, the precise nature of which he appeared anxious to conceal. The servant had gone to bed early; and, contrary to custom, she had been directed to occupy an upper room on the third floor, instead of her usual apartment (the kitchen), and her master and mistress had their bed prepared in the back parlour. Smithers, about ten days before the fire, had purchased two sacks full of shavings; and these had been deposited, apparently with some object, in a vaulted cellar at the back of the house, with a quantity of old baskets and boxes, and other rubbish of the same description. On the day after the fire, a minute examination of the premises was made by Mr. Abrahams, a surveyor; and the discoveries which he made at once proved the fire to have been intentionally caused. He ascertained that the conflagration had originated at the bottom of the kitchen stairs, immediately in front of the water-closet, where the remains of burned shavings were distinctly perceptible. In the back vaults, adjoining the kitchen, there were even stronger proofs. A species of devil, formed of gunpowder pressed into a card, was found, communicating by a train to a heap of shavings at one end, and to a mass of easily ignitable rubbish at the other. Fire had been communicated to the shavings, which were placed upon a wooden shelf or dresser; but, in consequence of the interposition of a piece of greased paper which had been placed among them—apparently with a view of increasing the volume of flame, but which, in truth, had had the effect of extinguishing it altogether—the train of powder was not ignited, and the whole remained, affording distinct evidence of the act of incendiarism.
These, with other corroborating circumstances, were deemed of so suspicious a nature, that a verdict of wilful murder was returned by the coroner’s jury, in the case of Miss Twamley, against Mr. Smithers, who was still in the hospital, and a warrant for his apprehension was issued.
At an inquest held on the body of Mrs. Twamley, a verdict was returned that she had died from fright; but the poor boy Farengo subsequently also died from the injuries which he had received; and in this case also a verdict of wilful murder was returned.
On Tuesday, the 12th of June, Smithers was removed to Newgate to await his trial upon the charge upon which he was already in custody, from Middlesex Hospital, where he had been confined by the injuries which he had received.
On Friday, the 6th of July, he was put upon his trial upon an indictment charging him with the murder of Miss Eliza Twamley, and of the boy Charles Richard Napoleon Farengo. The facts which had been disclosed before the coroner were again proved in evidence; and, after a lengthy inquiry, a verdict of “Guilty” was returned at two o’clock in the morning. Sentence of death was immediately pronounced upon the wretched man, and he was ordered for execution on the following Monday.
Upon his being conveyed to his cell after his conviction, he was repeatedly urged to confess the justice of the result of the trial, but he steadily persevered in avoiding giving any direct answer to the question; and although he never asserted his innocence of the crime, he could not be prevailed upon to make a confession. His demeanour throughout the trying scene of his receiving sentence, and from that time up to the period of his execution, was remarkable for the extreme coolness which it displayed. On Sunday his wife had her last interview with him, and although their meeting was of an affecting nature, the feelings of neither party appeared to be so much worked upon as is common upon such occasions. The wretched man conversed with her freely, and declared that from his boyhood he had always thought that he should die upon the scaffold. He had conceived the idea while playing with other boys in a churchyard, and it had never forsaken him.