Man hanged in 1821 is finally laid to rest

Batsy

The funeral was held today in Bristol of a convicted murderer.

Nothing too much unusual in that you are probably thinking. However, he was hanged way back in 1821.

The funeral was that of 18 year-old John Horwood, who became the first person to be hanged at the New Bristol Gaol when he was found guilty of murdering his ex-girlfriend Eliza Balsum by throwing a pebble at her head. Eliza died two weeks later aged just 20 and Horwood was eventually hanged, despite her death probably being accidental (the chances of him escaping the noose, though, were slim in a country which had around 250 capital offences in the early years of the 19th Century and you could be hanged just for stealing a hat or being outside at night with a blackened face).

His hanging was not a private affair. Far from it. He was hanged from the gaol's gates for anybody and everybody to see

It was common in those days in Britain for the bodies of hanged felons to be handed over to the surgeons for dissection in the aid of scientific understanding of the human body. This wasn't always popular with the deceased's family, who would often quickly take the body from the scaffold and take it away with them before the surgeons got their hands on it.

It was this fate which befell the corpse of John Horwood, with the family failing in their attempt to ambush his corpse off the cart to prevent it from reaching the surgeon.

He was then publicly dissected at the Bristol Royal Infirmary in front of 80 people.

A Dr Smith removed the skin, had it tanned and used it to bind a book about the incident!

The 'Book of Skin' is currently kept at the Bristol Records Office and contains letters from his parents asking for his body so they can give him a funeral.

Last year, Mary Halliwell, 67, of Bristol, set about tracking down his remains after finding the letters. She is the great-great-great granddaughter of Horwood's brother.

After research, she discovered Horwood's skeleton - in a cupboard at the University of Bristol, complete with the actual noose still around its neck.

After eventually being declared the legal owner of Horwood's remains Mary, of Leigh, Lancashire, decided that what he needed was a proper burial, which finally happended today - exactly 190 years to the minute after he was hanged. It was conducted as it would have been done 190 years ago.

Speaking before the service, she said: 'As a descendant of his, my wish was to lay him to rest as his parents wanted and for him to be buried in a dignified way.

'After 190 years I have fulfilled his parents' wishes, and that is the most important thing.

'It will give me peace of mind that I can put closure to it.'

For the article and pictures go here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1376395/Funeral-murderer-hanged-1821-skeleton-Bristol-University-cupboard.html

coylemj

Great story. However on a technical note, she is not 'a descendant of his' as she claimed in her speech before the service, given that she is a descendant of his brother.