ASSASSINS AND TURKEYS
A full and authentic report of the trial of john bellingham, esq. At the Sessions' House, in the Old Bailey, on Friday, May 15, 1812, for the murder of the right honourable spencer perceval, Chancellor of the Exchequer...
London.
Printed by Charles Squire...for Sherwood, Neely, and Jones, 1812.
First edition.
iv, 92pp.
[Bound with:] The trial of Humphry Finnimore, Esq; (reputed to be worth Forty Thousand Pounds) Who was Tried at the Quarter Session...and Convicted of Felony, In stealing of Five Turkies, the Property of Thomas Humphries... London. Printed for B. White...and J. Sewel, 1779. First edition. iv, 42pp. Without half-title. ESTC T68704.
8vo. Contemporary gilt-ruled half-calf, marbled paper boards, contrasting green morocco lettering-piece. Rubbed, lower joint starting, remnants of paper shelf-label to foot of spine. Title page and verso of terminal leaf of first mentioned work browned, scattered spotting.
[Bound with:] The trial of Humphry Finnimore, Esq; (reputed to be worth Forty Thousand Pounds) Who was Tried at the Quarter Session...and Convicted of Felony, In stealing of Five Turkies, the Property of Thomas Humphries... London. Printed for B. White...and J. Sewel, 1779. First edition. iv, 42pp. Without half-title. ESTC T68704.
8vo. Contemporary gilt-ruled half-calf, marbled paper boards, contrasting green morocco lettering-piece. Rubbed, lower joint starting, remnants of paper shelf-label to foot of spine. Title page and verso of terminal leaf of first mentioned work browned, scattered spotting.
A curious pairing of the trial proceedings for two remarkably disparate crimes; the first for the assassination of Prime Minister Spencer Perceval, the second for the theft of a rafter of turkeys.
Perceval was shot dead on 11th May 1812 in the lobby of the House of Commons. His assassin, John Bellingham, had been arrested for debt in the Russian city of Arkhangelsk in 1804. His repeated appeals for assistance from the British ambassador went unheeded and he remained imprisoned until 1809. Upon his release Bellingham returned to England resolved to gain redress, though all his calls for justice would go unanswered. Exasperated and enraged by his continued failure, Bellingham, viewing the government as the author of all his woes, decided on the extreme course of assassinating the Prime Minister - an act he carried out, candidly, with pistols. He was tried on 15th May, found guilty of murder and executed three days later. Throughout proceedings he expressed no remorse.
The trial of Humphry Finnimore in 1779 was rather less sensational. A labourer based in the Parish of Lambeth, with - as the prosecution were insistent upon emphasising - a personal fortune in excess of 40,000 pounds, stood accused of the theft of five turkeys from a local landowner. In an atypical conclusion, the justices disagreed with the jury's guilty verdict and petitioned them to reconsider. The verdict was confirmed, leading the magistrates to successfully petition the king and obtain a full pardon for Finnimore.
£ 450.00
Antiquates Ref: 27496
Perceval was shot dead on 11th May 1812 in the lobby of the House of Commons. His assassin, John Bellingham, had been arrested for debt in the Russian city of Arkhangelsk in 1804. His repeated appeals for assistance from the British ambassador went unheeded and he remained imprisoned until 1809. Upon his release Bellingham returned to England resolved to gain redress, though all his calls for justice would go unanswered. Exasperated and enraged by his continued failure, Bellingham, viewing the government as the author of all his woes, decided on the extreme course of assassinating the Prime Minister - an act he carried out, candidly, with pistols. He was tried on 15th May, found guilty of murder and executed three days later. Throughout proceedings he expressed no remorse.
The trial of Humphry Finnimore in 1779 was rather less sensational. A labourer based in the Parish of Lambeth, with - as the prosecution were insistent upon emphasising - a personal fortune in excess of 40,000 pounds, stood accused of the theft of five turkeys from a local landowner. In an atypical conclusion, the justices disagreed with the jury's guilty verdict and petitioned them to reconsider. The verdict was confirmed, leading the magistrates to successfully petition the king and obtain a full pardon for Finnimore.
