Greenacre, or the Edgeware-Road murder. Presenting an authentic and circumstantial account of this most sanguinary outrage of the laws of humanity; and showing, upon the confession of the culprit, the means he resorted to, in order to effect his bloody purpose; also his artful and fiendlike method of mutilating his murdered victim, the inhuman manner in which he afterwards disposed of the mangled body and limbs, and his cold-blooded disposal of the head of the unfortunate female, on the eve of thier intended marriage; with a full account of the facts which led to the discovery of the atrocious deed, his apprehension, trial, behaviour at the condemned sermon, and execution / Written by C.J. Williams.

  • Greenacre, James, 1785-1837.
Date:
[1837?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Greenacre, or the Edgeware-Road murder. Presenting an authentic and circumstantial account of this most sanguinary outrage of the laws of humanity; and showing, upon the confession of the culprit, the means he resorted to, in order to effect his bloody purpose; also his artful and fiendlike method of mutilating his murdered victim, the inhuman manner in which he afterwards disposed of the mangled body and limbs, and his cold-blooded disposal of the head of the unfortunate female, on the eve of thier intended marriage; with a full account of the facts which led to the discovery of the atrocious deed, his apprehension, trial, behaviour at the condemned sermon, and execution / Written by C.J. Williams. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Jove would strive lo guard her helpless offspring ! Hav¬ ing already acted as he had done by his deluded young wife and son, we do not wonder at his conduct in this af¬ fair ; but it is a matter of astonishment, lhat Gale could be induced to act thus cruelly ; he must have held a po¬ tent sway over the mind and the affections of this woman, or she never could have submitted to cast away the tender feelings which Nature has implanted in the bosom of ev_ e;y mother, and which leads them through the smiles of Fortune and the perils and privations of Poverty, to cherish and guard their infants in their helplessness. That he had acquired a power of this kind over her is evident, by her patient submission to his brutal determi¬ nation, when he was about to marry the unhappy Mrs. Frown ; for on that occasion he removed her from him with as little remorse as a slave-owner leads his bond-wo¬ man to the slave-market, and seems to have left her to shift for herself without a pang. His previous kindness had made her love him, his protection in the time of need had rendered her grateful; but it is scarcely probable, that a man so subtle, so completely an adept in duplicity, would allow her to become acquainted with his crimes; his knowledge of the world would naturally suggest to him, that if she knew the secrets of his career in guilt, that he would be arming her with a dangerous weapon, which, when he chose to discard her, she might wield against him : it is, therefore, probable, nay, even almost certain, that she had been kept in ignorance of his matrimonial connexion in America ; nor is it likely that he would con¬ fide to her gnv secret which might at any time militate against his interest ; much less was it probable, that by such a weak and needless confidence he would place him¬ self in jeopardy, where he could derive no benefit, while he rendered himself liable to suffer for any act committed against the laws. Mrs. Hannah Brown, at the time she became acquainted with Greenacre, was about forty-seven years of age, living in Union Street, at the back of Middlesex Hospifal. She°, on quitting servitude, had purchased a mangle, and being a powerful woman, and capable of great exertion, she ob¬ tained a respectable livelihood as a laundress. She was a person of good address, pleasing manners, and of sober and discreet habits, and very generally respected in the neighbourhood where she resided. She dressed well, and could afford at times to partake of the amusements with ■which London abounds; these things, however, excited no surprise, because she was a person who had saved a