Damn His Blood (47 page)

Notes

Abbreviations

The following commonly cited publications have been abbreviated:

CFP – Case for the Prosecution

TWM
– E. Lees,
The Worcestershire Miscellany

TOM –
E. Lees,
The Oddingley Murders

TTC –
T. Eaton,
The Trial of Thomas Clewes

PP – Papers Formerly in the Possession of the Reverend Reginald Pyndar

Inq – Inquisition on the Body of the Reverend George Parker at the Parish of Oddingley
, 25 June 1806

WNC –
T.C. Tuberville,
Worcestershire in the Nineteenth Century

Archives:

WRO – Worcester Records’ Office

BCA – Birmingham City Archives

NA – National Archives

BRO – Berkshire Records’ Office

HO – Home Office files at the National Archives

EPIGRAPHS

1
‘Tis a sad thing to die …’,
Letter from Arian Elwood to Bishop Compton
, 28 October 1697, DRO, Chanter 757.

2
‘I fled, and cried out DEATH! …’ John Milton,
Paradise Lost
.

INTRODUCTION

1
‘Expect the French every dark night’, William Pitt the Younger, quoted from a letter to Josiah Wedgwood on 10 October 1803 by his son. From R.C. Litchfield,
Tom Wedgwood: The First Photographer
.

2
‘Mysterious conspiracy’,
Caledonian Mercury
, 6 February 1830 ‘Strange case’,
Morning Chronicle
, 2 February 1830,
Examiner
, 7 February 1830.

3
‘If ever there was a secluded, humble, quiet-looking village …’, Mary Sherwood,
The Oddingley Murders: An Account of the two Murders in Oddingley, Worcestershire
.

PROLOGUE

This account of events in Oddingley on 24 June 1806 and the movements of characters is chiefly drawn from E. Lees,
The Worcestershire Miscellany
, E. Lees,
The Oddingley Murders
, T. Eaton,
The Inquest Held Upon the Remains of Richard Heming
and the unpublished brief for the prosecution held at WRO ref. 899.749, BA/10106. The primary source of information about Parker’s murder comes from
Inquisition on the Body of the Reverend George Parker at the Parish of Oddingley
, 25 June 1806, kept at the NA, ASSI 5/126/23.

1
‘The most vivid flashes of lightning’,
Berrow’s Worcester Journal
, 19 June 1806.

2
Solar eclipse in Worcestershire, mentioned in
Worcester Herald
, 14 June 1806.

3
Day by which rents were due to Lord Foley, Galton papers, BCA MS3101/A/B/5/4.

4
‘peep-shows, toy-stands, waxworks …’ Thomas Hardy,
The Mayor of Casterbridge
and ‘a schoolboy let loose from school …’, G. Hazlitt,
New Monthly Magazine and Literary Journal
Vol. X.

5
Information about Worcestershire’s fairs from W. Pitt,
General View of the Agriculture of the County of Worcester with Observations on its Means of Improvement
.

CHAPTER 1

1
Descriptions of Worcester. Its ‘forty or fifty master glovers’ T.C. Tuberville,
Worcestershire in the Nineteenth Century
and ‘a fine and flourishing city’, from Robert Southey,
Letters from England by Don Manuel Alvarez Espriella
.

2
Pen sketch of Oddingley, ‘most beautiful… one combination of noble hills …’, from W. Pitt,
General View of the Agriculture of the County of Worcester
, while the name of fields across the parish come from the tithe survey,
Agreement for the Commutation of Tithes in Oddingley
, 16 January 1838, WRO.

3
Statistics regarding the fluctuations in the price of wheat in 1805 come from T.C. Tuberville,
WNC
.

4
Wasps in London parks,
Morning Chronicle
, 21 September 1805.

5
Gunfire on the northern French coast,
Worcester Herald
, 17 August 1805.

6
The woodcut of Parker features in
Broadsheet on the Oddingley Murders
by W. Wright of Birmingham, WRO ref. X705.627, BA/5312/1.

7
‘… tossing up a penny piece’, Thomas Alsop,
CFP
.

8
Biographical details about Parker’s childhood from T. Eaton,
The Trial of Thomas Clewes
, and about Charles Howard from Gordon Goodwin,
Dictionary of National Biography
.

9
‘… an occasional visitor can pick up but few’ and Worcestershire’s provincialisms, W. Pitt,
General View of the Agriculture of the County of Worcester
. The Worcestershire accent is perhaps best displayed in the writing of local author Fred Archer whose many works on rural life in the nearby Vale of Evesham beautifully capture local dialogue.

10
‘… to pass through the artificial boundaries of a parish …’, Adam Smith quoted in Asa Briggs
How They Lived
.

11
Details of Parker’s first years in the parish come from the Oddingley parish records, WRO ref. b850, BA/4038.

12
‘At Worcester I became acquainted with a clergyman …’, A. Richards,
The Extraordinary Adventures of Benjamin Sanders, Button Maker of Bromsgrove
.

13
Anecdotes of Parker’s popularity among the labouring classes in Oddingley, from John Chellingworth in E. Lees,
TWM
, William Chance and William Colley,
CFP
.

14
Details of the nationwide split between the Church and King enthusiasts, and Painites or Jacobins comes from Roger Wells,
Insurrection: The British Experience 1795–1803
.

15
‘I believe that revolution inevitably must come’, Robert Southey, quoted in Mike Jay,
The Unfortunate Colonel Despard
.

16
England’s last view of Nelson as he disappears into the sea fog by the Needles, taken from Tom Pocock,
Horatio Nelson
.

17
‘… a genteel-dressed man’, Highwayman’s attack on John Hilcox,
Worcester Herald
, 2 April 1805.

18
An account of the ‘extraordinary and interesting discovery’ of the robber’s den in Trench Wood comes from
Berrow’s Worcester Journal
, 3 October 1805.

19
‘… inherited all the romantic terrors of the ancient chase’, Theodore Galton,
Madeleine de S. Pol
.

20
‘We trust we shall shortly have to publish their apprehension’,
Berrow’s Worcester Journal
, 3 October 1805.

CHAPTER 2

1
Details of Elizabeth Fowler’s daily routine are drawn from Elizabeth Jones,
CFP
.

2
Details of the storm on 9 January and the spring-time weather from
Berrow’s Worcester Journal
, 16 & 23 January 1806,
Hampshire Telegraph
and
Sussex Chronicle
, 7 April 1806 &
Morning Chronicle
, 1 May 1806.

3
Physical observations of Captain Evans taken from Mary Sherwood,
Sequel to the Oddingley Murders
; Mary Sherwood,
The Oddingley Murders;
E. Lees,
TWM
& Theodore Galton,
Madeleine de S. Pol
.

4
A good brief account of the history of Oddingley parish and its connections with the Foley family is to be had in the Victoria County History,
A History of the County of Worcester
. The legend about Odd and Dingley appears in ‘Oh! Dingley, Dingley, spare my breath’, E. Lees,
TWM
and names of local woods – Bow Wood, Thrul Wood, Oakley Wood and Goose Hill Wood – all come from the tithe survey,
Agreement for the Commutation of Tithes in Oddingley
, 16 January 1838, WRO.

5
Physical description of Thomas Clewes comes from the
Observer
, 14 March 1830. Other supplementary details appear in E. Lees,
TWM
. His move to Netherwood Farm is charted in the Oddingley tax records, WRO ref. 206.2091, BA/4609.

6
On the etymology of Netherwood, John Noake,
The Rambler in Worcestershire
.

7
‘a very cross one’, ‘Testimony of John Clewes’,
Information and Examinations of Witnesses
, ASSI 6/1/2.

8
‘one who regarded the cottagers’, Theodore Galton,
Madeleine de S. Pol
.

9
‘[I] was hung up half an hour or more’, E. Lees,
TOM
.

10
Physical descriptions of John Barnett come from
Berrow’s Worcester Journal
, 18 March 1830 and the
Observer
, 14 March 1830.

11
‘The tenant farm system was well established …’, the voluminous records regarding tenants’ contracts for farms in Oddingley have survived and they chart the changing fortunes of farmers like Barnett, Clewes and Evans. All details are housed at BCA in the Galton Papers, MS3101/A/B/5/4.

12
Oliver Goldsmith quoted in Asa Briggs,
How They Lived
.

13
Account of the footpads’ attack on John Williams is from T.C. Tuberville,
WNC
&
Worcester Herald
, 12 April 1806.

14
Account of Elizabeth Fowler’s discovery of the shotgun, Elizabeth Jones,
CFP
.

15
Description of St James’ Church, John Noake,
The Rambler in Worcestershire
.

16
‘Every parish officer thinks he has a right to make a round bill’, Francis Grose, quoted in Roy Porter,
English Society in the Eighteenth Century
.

17
Details about tithe law, examples of moduses, compounding the tax and William Wilberforce’s claim that one clergyman had been forced to supplement his income with a job as a weaver are all taken from Eric Evans,
A Contentious Tithe
.

18
‘The poor, in general, exclaim loudly against the dearness of provisions’, T.C. Tuberville,
WNC
.

19
‘… corn, hay and all other things growing’,
Glebe Terrier
, WRO ref. 721.091, BA/2358.

20
Cost of wages data taken from the diary of Richard Miles, cited in W. Pitt,
General View of the Agriculture of the County of Worcester with Observations on its Means of Improvement
.

21
‘Suckling Pig’, a ballad, taken from Malcolmson & Mastoris,
The English Pig
.