Well, what a bunch of rapscallions and ne’er-do-wells we have the dubious delight in claiming as ancestors! The Medway Discussion Group delved into the darker side of our family histories for this session, sharing stories of relatives close and distant that had fallen foul of the law in some way.
One member told us of a husband who, in 1887, bought a gun and shot his wife, in front of her parents, because he suspected her of having an affair. He was subsequently tried and hanged. The story came to light thanks to a newspaper article over a hundred years later about an inscription found in the pub where the murder victim’s inquest was held.
A member reported the sorry tale of a 38-year-old widow, whose husband had left her with eleven children, aged between one and eighteen. The widow discovered that her seventeen-year-old son was abusing his sisters and she turned him in to the police. He was sent to London and sentenced to four years imprisonment. By all accounts the widow was a strong and stoic woman who successfully raised her remaining ten children to be upstanding members of society.
Another member of the group was intrigued by the report of an ancestor’s death in Wandsworth Prison. Assuming that the man had been hanged, he investigated further to find that he had not. The prisoner was on remand for the murder of his mistress. A letter was found from the medical officer, saying that the man would not stand trial. A further letter a week later indicated that he had died of cancer of the tongue and throat. Technically, since he had not been convicted, he died an innocent man!
One member reported the case of a man being imprisoned for bigamy, although he is still working to prove that the man in question was actually married prior to the ‘bigamous’ marriage.
Another member reported a case of demanding money with menaces from the 1870s that she had discovered. The culprits, a man, his wife and his sister, were convicted and sentenced: the man to five years penal servitude and the women to two years.
The great great grandfather of one member was fined by a magistrate for allowing his horse to wander on a highway. He was told to either pay the fine or go to prison, so he paid… even though it wasn’t his horse!
A member told us of an eighteenth-century butcher being fined for selling foul meat and other ancestors who, although they inherited land, were not good with money and were chased for debts, ending up in prison.
We heard the tale of several members of a family who were convicted of various acts of larceny and sentenced to transportation or even death. The death sentences were later commuted to transportation after a plea for clemency.
The final tale was of a Medway ancestor who, on fearing that two of his children had died due to smallpox vaccinations, refused to allow his other children to be vaccinated. This resulted in at least thirteen convictions and several periods of hard labour in Kent prisons.
In all, a delightful afternoon of rogues and rascals!
Report by Helen Stenhouse