John Tawell

343

Maureen Withey on 26th October 2020

Colonial Secretary Index. TAWELL, John. Per "Marquis of Wellington", 1815. 1815 Dec 16 - On list of convicts to be sent to Newcastle per "Estramina" (Reel 6004; 4/3494 p.286) 1818 Dec 7 - Servant to Isaac Wood at Sydney Academy. Petition for mitigation of sentence (Fiche 3190; 4/1856 p.265) 1820 Jan 1,3,6 - Clerk to Richard Brooks; former servant to Isaac Wood at Sydney Academy. Petition for mitigation of sentence (Fiche 3204; 4/1861 p.81) 1820 Jun 2-9 - Qualified to act as an apothecary. Granted a certificate of qualification to dispense medicines by the Medical Board (Reel 6049; 4/1744 p.75) 1822 Oct 3 - Apothecary of 18 Pitt Street. Testifying as to the character of William Taylor for a ticket of leave (Fiche 3228; 4/1868 pp.11, 13) 1822 Nov 7-1823 Jul 23 - On list of persons receiving an assigned convict (Fiche 3290; 4/4570D pp.20, 41, 63) 1825 May 9 - Signature in recommendation of Thomas William Middleton's memorial re retaining the situation of Inspector of Cattle (Reel 6062; 4/1782 p.48c) 1825 Oct 7 - His wife & two sons came free per "Lord Sidmouth" in 1823. Petition for mitigation of sentence (Fiche 3252; 4/1875 p.225). Reply, 10 Nov (Reel 6015; 4/3515 p.573) ------------------------------------------------------ 1828 Census index. John Tawell, age 44, F.S. Marq. Wellington, 1815, 7 years, protestant. Retired Apothecary, 22 Castlereagh St., Sydney. Has 884 acres of land, 75 of which are cleared and 37 cultivated. Has 1 horse and 1 cow. Mary Tawell, age 38, Came free, Lord Sidmouth, 1823, protestant. Wm. Hy. Tawell, age 17, came free, Lord Sidmouth 1823, protestant. -------------------------------------------------- THE CONVICT JOHN TAWELL. Since the murder of Lord William Russell by his valet, Couvoisier, in 1840, no event of a similar kind has produced so deep a feeling in the public mind as the "Salt-hill murder." The early history of the convict, and the more recent events of his life, throw around the affair an air of romance. Transported upwards of a quarter of a century since for having a forged Bank of England note in his possession, he thus escaped the scaffold for a series of forgeries upon a local bank: the remarkable feature in that extraordinary incident of his life being, that, though the Bank of England note found in his possession when taken into custody on the more serious charge, was a forged one, yet he was guiltless of knowing it to be forged. It was, however, employed as the mode of extricating him from the consequences of the capital offence, for which — as the law then stood, and the almost invariable execution of its sentence upon all who were brought within its condemnation — he would doubtless have been hanged. Tawell was, therefore, only too glad to plead guilty to a charge which involved transportation, to escape the gallows. In the land of his banishment his good conduct attracted the favourable notice of, and eventually obtained from the authorities a ticket of leave, enabling him to pursue any avocation he pleased for his own benefit, and finally emancipation. He had some knowledge of chemistry, and opened a shop as a chemist and druggist in the town of Sydney, combining with the sale of drugs advice as to the mode of using them. His trade increased; and having "made some money," he embarked it in a series of joint-stock trading speculations of a more extensive description, which also succeeded beyond his hopes. He subsequently purchased some shares in a whaler, and speculated in oil, in all which success crowned his exertions. After residing in Sydney about fifteen years, John Tawell left the colony, which he entered as an outcast, a wealthy man. He returned home, and to the neighbourhood in which he resided previous to his expatriation. His original offences against society, if not wholly forgotten, were well-nigh obliterated from the recollection of those who were acquainted with his early history. Such thought, and justly so, that the man who had redeemed his character in a penal colony by a course of industry and integrity, and who had returned home with the fruits of that industry and integrity, ought not to be placed beyond the circle of respectable society on account of offences for which he had repented, and was willing to atone by a future life of honesty and benevolence. Those who were young at the time of his departure from England, saw in John Tawell an intelligent, active, and prosperous man and knowing nothing which ought to deprive him of their respect, they received him to their circles, and co-operated with him in those benevolent exertions to which he was willing to contribute from his purse, and to aid by his personal exertions. One feature in his character at this season is remarkable; and it seems to have been the clue to, and the ruling desire of his life. Before the forgery on the Uxbridge Bank was discovered, Tawell was a member of the Society of Friends. He was, as a necessary consequence of his detection as a forger, expelled from that respectable and strictly moral community. Since his return to England, his efforts to obtain a restoration to the Society have been incessant. He subscribed to their schools and to those benevolent objects in which the members of that sect are known to take a peculiar interest. He dressed in their distinctive garb; attended regularly their meetings for worship; and in every external circumstance sought to be considered as identified with their body. With the characteristic caution of the members of that far-seeing sect, John Tawell was not permitted to be more than an outward court worshipper. In this we offer a willing tribute to the prudence, and zeal to preserve their body from reproach, by which the Society of Friends is characterised. By their undeviating prudence in such matters, they have, to a very considerable extent, been exempted from the pain of seeing their religious community brought under public odium, however ungenerous and unfounded, by the detection in their fellowship of those who dishonour and disgrace a religious profession by the commission of crime. By his first wife the wretched man had two sons, both of whom were dead. The eldest, who was married, practised as a surgeon in London, and after his death his widow was chiefly supported by the charity of Tawell; but it is currently reported that lately he has not been so liberal in his allowance, assigning the same reason as it is supposed he did to the unfortunate victim of his cruelty, Sarah Hart, namely, the embarrassed state of his affairs in Australia. On the death of Tawell's first wife, he took another decided step to evince his ardent desire to be yet more closely associated with the Society of Friends. He had been introduced to a lady, a member of that community, by whom the mental endowments and moral qualities which constitute the excellence of the female character, were possessed in a somewhat extraordinary degree. Mrs. Cutforth was then a widow, having a daughter, by her deceased husband, of about seven years of age. Mr. Cutforth had been extensively engaged in trade, and was for a considerable time successful. The failure of several firms led eventually, to his ruin; and although no imputation rested on his integrity, and no reproach was cast on his management, his health and spirits had sustained a shock from which they never recovered, and he gradually sunk into illness which terminated in death. His widow, aided by friends who knew her in prosperity, and respected her in adversity, opened a school in Northampton-square, at John-street, for the education of a few young ladies, chiefly members of Quaker families. The success which attended Mrs. Cutforth’s exertions for the respectable maintenance of herself and daughter, induced her to enter upon a larger establishment at Berkhampstead, which she was conducting with advantage when Tawell selected her as the object of his attentions, and eventually, against the advice and remonstrances of her best and most judicious friends, obtained her for his wife. They were married at the Registrar's office, Berkhampstead, in February, 1841, as the Friends refused to grant permission for the marriage to be celebrated in their meeting-house; and the contracting parties not choosing, for obvious reasons, to have recourse to any other religious body. The immediate consequence of Mrs. Cutforth's marriage to Tawall was, as usual in such cases, a "disowning" of her by a formal act of the "quarterly meeting" of "Friends," the rules of that body not tolerating a union which is not first sanctioned by its members. Although excommunicated, the lady (now Mrs. Tawell) continued to attend meetings, and visited, and was visited in return, by her former friends. The school was given up. Tawell's income was sufficient to maintain an establishment of respectability. They lived in considerable comfort and style. He was active in the parish as a participator in its public business, and as a promoter of objects of benevolence. It was, however remarked that there was an air of bustle and self-importance about the man which showed a wish to make himself conspicuous, probably prompted by a self consciousness that there was something to be done in the eye of man, to enable him to secure a position to which his right might be, some time or other, questioned. All this time, and while Tawell was endeavouring to earn back for himself reputation and respect, there was a deeply seated consciousness that he was in hourly danger of being exposed as a hypocrite and deceiver. During his first wife's illness, which terminated in her death, Sarah Hart, a young woman of some attractions had been her nurse. Immediately after, if not before her death, an illicit intercourse had commenced between this woman and her master. It was continued at different places. Two children were its fruits. An allowance of one pound a week seems to have been paid for her maintenance by her seducer. At length, wearied with the charge, or more probably prompted by fears of the effect upon his domestic peace and social position, should a discovery be made of his connexion with this woman, he planned and perpetrated her murder. This was detected in a manner so surprising, brought home to him by a body of circumstantial evidence so complete, as to leave no doubt of his guilt, the atrocity of which removes all sympathy for his fate. The Australian, 12 July 1845.

2

Carol J Baxter on 12th July 2020

John Tawell is the subject of a book called "The Peculiar Case of the Electric Constable" by Carol Baxter (Oneworld, 2013). Review comments include "As lively and readable as a crime novel" (The Times, London) and "Totally irresistible" (Independent, UK)

60

Eric Harry Daly on 1st January 2013

John Tawell was born abt 1784 in Norfolk, England, he is probably the son of John Tawell and Elizabeth Walker http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/browse.jsp?id=t18140216-58-defend590&div=t18140216-58#highlight John Tawell was first sentenced to death in 1814. He had been found guilty of forging a £10 note, a capital offence. His victims, Smith's Bank, were a Quaker company and opposed the death penalty. At their request, his sentence was downgraded, and instead he was transported to Australia, where he worked his sentence on coal ships before being moved to work in a convict hospital. He later found work as a clerk, and was pardoned in 1820 after his employers successfully petitioned on his behalf. As a free man, Tawell married and had two children. He enjoyed success as a shop owner selling pharmaceuticals. In 1831 the family returned to London but their health suffered in the bad atmosphere of the world’s largest city. The younger son, William, died in 1833 followed by their elder son, John, in 1838. Heartbroken, Tawell’s wife Mary also became ill and he employed a young nurse, Sarah, to care for her. Mary died in 1838 and Tawell began an affair with Sarah which resulted in the birth of two children. Three years later Tawell met and married a Quaker widow, Mrs Cutforth. He moved his potentially troublesome former lover, Sarah Hart, into a cottage at Salt Hill near Slough, making regular visits to her to pay a weekly allowance of £1 in child maintenance.   By 1843 Tawell was experiencing financial difficulties. He needed to reduce his financial burdens and decided that the best way to do that was to murder Sarah Hart.   The murder On 1 January 1845, Tawell purchased two bottles of Steele's Acid, a preparation used for the treatment of varicose veins containing the poison prussic acid. He caught the train to Slough and went to see Sarah.   During his visit, Tawell must have distracted Sarah long enough to tip the acid into her beer. A short time later her next door neighbour, Mrs Ashley, heard loud groans through the party wall. Mrs Ashley saw Tawell leave the house and went to see if Sarah was alright. She found her writhing on the floor, frothing from her mouth. Mrs Ashley raised the alarm but Sarah died before a doctor could attend.   The chase Reverend E. T. Champnes was among the first people to respond to Mrs Ashley’s call for help. The quick thinking cleric took a description of Tawell and raced to the train station. He got there just in time to see the suspect board the departing 7.42pm service. He was too late to stop the train.   Tawell may have thought he had got away with murder. At most other locations, that might have been the case but Slough was equipped with the telegraph.   The vicar consulted the station master, Mr Howell, who arranged for a message to be sent to Paddington. It read:   “A murder has just been committed at Salt Hill and the suspected murderer was seen to take a first class ticket to London by the train that left Slough at 7.42pm. He is in the garb of a Kwaker [sic] with a brown great coat on which reaches his feet. He is in the last compartment of the second first-class carriage.”   The telegraph did not have the letter ‘Q’ hence the odd spelling of the word ‘Quaker’.   At Paddington, the message was passed to the duty Sergeant, William Williams. He “put a plain coat over his police dress” and met the train as it entered the station. A few minutes later, Slough received a message from the capital:   “The up train has arrived and a person answering in every respect the description given by the telegraph came out of the compartment mentioned. The man got into a New Road omnibus and Sergeant Williams into the same.”   Sgt Williams sat in the conductor's seat of the bus and Tawell mistook him for the conductor. When he alighted at Prince’s Street he handed the Sergeant his fare. Tawell was followed by Sergeant Williams along the streets of London, as he went to a sweet shop in Cornhill and then on to the Jerusalem Coffee House. The Sergeant continued to follow him along Birchin Lane and in to his lodging house in Scott's Yard, before returning to Paddington. Here, Sergeant Williams visited a colleague, Inspector Wiggins of the Metropolitan Police at Paddington Green Police Station and the next morning the pair went in search of the murderer.   They found him back at the Jerusalem Coffee House, and arrested him for the murder of Sarah Hart. Tawell protested saying: “I wasn't at Slough yesterday,” but Sergeant Williams replied: “Yes you were sir, you got out of the train and got onto an omnibus and gave me sixpence.”    The trial opened at Aylesbury County Court on 12 March 1845 presided over by Judge Baron Parke. The court heard how a post mortem had revealed that the cause of death for Sarah Hart was “poisoning by prussic acid”.   Other witnesses were called including Sergeant Williams, who gave a full account of his actions which led to the arrest. Sir Fitzroy Kelly, Tawell’s lawyer opened his defence simply by saying: “apple pips.”   He explained that prussic acid occurred naturally in apple pips and that Sarah Hart’s death could be explained by her eating a large amount of fruit over the festive season. His arguments were not enough to sway the jury who found Tawell guilty. For the second time in his life, Tawell was sentenced to death.   While awaiting execution Tawell apparently made a full confession to a priest and at 8am on Friday 28 March 1845 he was hanged outside the court. Around 10,000 people came to watch the gruesome spectacle. A print showing the execution is on display at Slough Museum.