The Murder of Thomas Davidson 4

CRIME

The Murder of Thomas Davidson

Poaching was a way of life in the Longtown district: although the Netherby Estate employed gamewatchers and river watchers, some men made a living by poaching. The Hogg family, originally from Canonbie, were one family who appeared regularly in the crime reports, accused, and usually found guilty of poaching. Thomas Davidson, a former poacher himself, was employed as gamewatcher by the Netherby Estate: in November 1849, he was found murdered on a moor in a remote part of Bewcastle. Two of the notorious Hogg family were arrested for the murder, along with another man, Andrew Turnbull. . .

Before the accused could be brought to trial at the Carlisle Assizes, Andrew Turnbull was found dead in his cell in Carlisle gaol:Inquest on TurnbullAn inquest, held at the Three Crowns Inn before Mr Carrick on Turnbull, who committed suicide in the gaol, is just concluded.Verdict ? ?deceased committed suicide by strangulation, but in what state of mind he was in at the time there is no evidence to show?.He hung himself by his towel tied to the irons bar of the window. To effect his purpose, he got upon a form and kicked it away, his feet being only three or four inches above the floor and his Bible lying at a short distance.The ?writing on the wall? was as follows;- Below the window; ?The two Hoggs are guilty, I am innocent. I will not come in the hands of man?.- Above the fireplace; ?I commit my soul to God that gave it, take my body to my father?s burying place?- Above his bed (to his wife); ?My dear, you and I was lovely, but I am torn from thy breast, don?t weep for me, Jemimah, my dearest, my heart?s delight and treasure, I am innocent. I die with pleasure; we?ll meet again with pleasure. Beware of bad company. My parents are not to blame, they did their duty. Adieu! My dear friends, God bless you all?.All this he wrote with a burnt stick on the lime-washed wall. He had not been in bed, and it is supposed he was dead before midnight.March 2nd 1850 Carlisle PatriotCumberland AssizesTrial of Joseph Hogg and John Hogg, otherwise Nichol Hogg, for the murder of Thomas Davidson, gamewatcher to Sir James Graham.Witnesses:Margaret Davidson, widow of Thomas DavidsonI am the widow of the late Thomas Davidson. He lived at Kirkby Hall. I remember the morning of the 8th November last. He was at home on that morning. He left home at about nine in the morning. I saw him go. I did not see the direction in which he went. He was a gamewatcher to Sir James Graham. He had money with him on that day. He had received £7 of wages on the 5th. I saw it in his possession. It consisted of three scotch notes ? the rest was two sovereigns and £2 in silver. He had paid away 31 8s 4d on the same day.He gave to my son one Scotch note on the 6th and on the 7th another Scotch note. He had £2 and 2s 6d besides the money he had received, in addition to other silver. He kept the money in a drab jean purse, gold and silver mixed together. He kept the purse in a breast inside pocket(Questioned by Mr Matthew):I can?t say whether there were any half crowns in it. He had a telescope or prospect glass. He had a stick and plaid with him and no gun. I never saw him again alive. I know John Armstrong the keeper. He came to the house after my husband went out. He left a message.My husband did not return that night. Armstrong came again in the evening. I afterwards saw the body of my husband brought home on Saturday morning in the same dress he went out in.Margaret Davidson, daughter of deceased.I am the daughter of the deceased Thomas Davidson. I recollect him receiving some money. He had two sovereigns and a half and some change before he received the money. I saw him give my brother a £1 note on the 6th and a £1 note on the 7th. They were both Scotch notes.Edward Davison, son of deceasedI am the son of the deceased Thomas Davidson. I remember the time my father went away. On the 6th he gave me a £1 Scotch note to buy clothes with. He gave me something after. I brought back the change- 3 half crowns and a shilling ? to my mother. I also got some tobacco for him. He gave me 2s 6d to buy some with. I don?t know anything else that he gave me.Elizabeth Baxter, wife of George Baxter, innkeeper of LongtownTestified to changing a cheque for £7 for Thomas Davidson.John Armstrong gamekeeper to Sir James Graham?I saw the body after it was brought to the house. I searched the body for the purse. I found it in the inside breast pocket. There was a £1 note Scotch, a pocket piece like a shilling, six sixpences almost all crooked with a hole in, two farthings and a half-farthing in it. I gave the purse to his brother John Davidson. I slit his coat in order to get it off, and I found him black about the neck. There was the mark of a man?s fingernail on the front part of the left side of the neck. His neck-cloth was tied in front, I think? I found the prospect glass in the same place where he usually carried it. I have been a gamekeeper twenty years. I then sent to tell Sir James Graham and the coroner.Matthew Patterson, surgeonI am a surgeon. On Saturday the 11th I examined the body of Thomas Davidson at his residence at Kettle Hall. The face and neck were much congested and swollen; there was a bruise over the bridge of the nose. He has a black eye and blood-shot. The wind pipe was bruised and blood-shot, and some blood spots on the collar bone and neck. My opinion is that he died by strangulation.Matthew Snowden, police officer I am a police officer. On the 12th of November I went to the Too Darg. I there got a pair of boots from Walter Hogg. The next I got a pair of boots at the Flatt off Nichol?s feet. I went to Turnbull?s on Wednesday and got a pair of boots there. John Armstrong, Telford and (?Cowen) were with me. On the 15th, John Armstrong and myself went to the moors, taking the boots with us, and compared the boots with the foot marks which were on the bare black moss. It was between Skelton Peak and Doe Crag. We made fresh impressions on the ground with the boots which we had, and compared with Davidson?s, Turnbull?s and Nichol?s. Joseph Hogg?s did not correspond.We found four different distinct traces. I got the coat and waistcoat as well as the purse of deceased.(Questioned by Mr James) Turnbull?s books were very strongly marked with caulkers on the heels and toes, and they corresponded exactly with the foot marks. There was nothing very particular about Nichol?s boots except at the sparables. It is common for country people to wear sparables in their shoes. I am quite satisfied about Turnbull?s. I measured with Telford and the others the foot marks with piece of peat. The sparables corresponded in length and width.Robert Telford, police officer, North TyneI went with Armstrong and Snowden to Turnbull?s on the 14th, and saw his boots given up. I afterwards went with them to the Crags and found on the moss in one place the marks of two persons feet, and in another part three, and in a third part lower down four, as if persons had been in the act of running when they made the impressions. We tried the boots, John Nichol?s and Andrew Turnbull?s. We compared the foot marks of the two people first.The two corresponded with John Nichol?s and Andrew Turnbull?s. The three contained the same foot marks as the two. The four contained the deceased Davidson?s foot marks as well as Nichol?s and Turnbull?s. We could not satisfy ourselves about the fourth trace.William Little, farmerI have been intimate with Joseph Hogg and Nichol Hogg for some years. Nanny Hogg, Joseph Hogg?s sister, lives in the same house as he does. I saw Joseph on that Friday after the murder. He said he was going to Carlisle. He was in the habit of employing me to sell game for him. Nanny brought three brace of grouse, a blackcock and a small pigeon to my house on Friday. I took them to Carlisle and sold them to Mrs Thompson for 11s 3d which I gave to Joseph Hogg who was then in Carlisle. That was Saturday 10th November. He said it was oer little money for them, but it would do.W N Hodgson Esq MP?I am a magistrate of the county. On the 22nd October last, Jos. Hogg was brought before Mr Head and me for shooting without a license. He had endeavoured to establish an alibi, and afterwards he turned to Davidson and said, ?A man like thee would swear away a man?s life,? that it should be the last money he should get from him, and that it should be ?waur? for him.The judge, on summing up pointed out the unreliability of Turnbull?s statement.??Just for a moment consider this matter. An ordinary accomplice is a very bad man to rely upon at any time, but what is the state of the case when he is called? He is put in the witness box, you can see him, you hear what he says, and can observe his manner, he is subject to cross-examination and the effect of the questions upon him may tell materially upon the jury.This accomplice you have never see, but you know that he has sworn falsely. How can you then put faith in his statement, without having the opportunity of cross-examining him? I say, is it safe, is it reasonable to act upon such testimony??The jury returned a verdict of Not Guilty.Judge ? ?Are you satisfied of that??Foreman ? ?We think we are satisfied that there is no evidence for a verdict against the prisoners.?The judge (Mr Baron Alderson) subsequently said that he hoped the coroner would be careful in future not to extract statements from poor men, who were in imminent peril of their lives. There was no doubt that questions had been very closely put to Turnbull, and it was very clear from the nature of the coroner?s inquiries that he had a very rational suspicion as to where the guilt was. But to cross-examine a person under such circumstances was forcing a man to criminate himself. It was all very well to put questions and say that he need not answer it unless he liked, but if a question was put of a pinching nature the man winced under it, and the very fact of this wincing would create an unfavourable opinion against him. The reason why the law had decided that they should not ask a question of a prisoner was because in many instances the conduct of a prisoner was sufficient to condemn him. Whenever there was a well-founded suspicion that the man was himself the person most likely to be accused, the utmost care should be observed.His Lordship only tendered this as advice for the subject really was of the greatest importance. He did not think that Turnbull?s cross-examination was receivable in evidence.October 5th 1850 Carlisle Patriot - Arrest of PoachersEarly on the morning of Friday last the 27th ult, Walter Hogg, John Hogg and Joseph Hogg, three of the most daring poachers on the Border, were captured whilst in the act of taking game with a net on the farm of Flatt in Liddesdale. On the morning of Thursday last, eight of the game watchers stationed themselves on Flatt, near where formerly stood the residence of that daring moss trouper, ?Jock O? the Side?.About three o?clock next morning the watchers observed some persons on the height, coming in the direction of the ambuscade. In a short time the poachers were within a few yards distance, when the watchers suddenly sprang on and succeeded in securing them without much resistance. They were immediately taken and handed over to the officers at Newcastleton, who took them to Jedburgh. They had four and a half brace of black grouse in their possession when caught.John and Joseph Hogg, it will be remembered, were tried at the Cumberland Spring Assizes for the wilful murder of Thomas Davidson, a watcher in the service of Sir James Graham at Bewcastle. They only escaped by the suicide of an accomplice in the crime, Andrew Turnbull, but the solemn warning seems to have had no effect on them for they have ever since pursued their lawless depredations. We hope the time is come when the country will be rid of such incorrigible rogues.