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  1. #1
    Brock
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    Default Death sentence of Mary Axhorn of Devon, 1815

    Death sentence of Mary Axhorn

    I am presently looking into the Axhorn family of Devon & in searching on the internet I came across a site which listed folk who had committed crimes who were sentenced to death. Amongst these entries was a Mary Axhorn who was sentenced in Lent 1815 in Devon.
    The website allows you to make contact so that you can learn more from old newspaper records but sadly, in this case no newspaper records could be found.
    I wondered if anyone else may know of Mary Axhorn so that I could learn what her crime was. If anyone knows of any details relating to this crime or of any other Axhorn folk of Devon too I would love to know please.
    With Many Thanks.

  2. #2
    Who.is.gladys?
    Guest

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    I have found a death record for a Mary Axhorn who was sentenced to death in Devon, Lent 1815 in the England & Wales, Criminal Registers, 1791-1892. The page is very faint but I have just been able to make out that her crime was arson.

    Source Citation: Class: HO 27; Piece: 11; Page: 61.

    'Gladys'

  3. #3
    Brock
    Guest

    Default

    Gladys, many thanks for that information. I should imagine that the fire must have been very bad perhaps involving endangering people's lives to have been sentenced to death.
    Thanks again for your kind help.

  4. #4
    Coromandel
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    Having looked at the image of the criminal register on Ancestry, I wonder if the first name could be Margt, with a faint superscript 't', i.e. Margaret and not Mary? Also, there is an 'R' next to the 'Death', which probably indicates that a sentence of death was recorded, but not carried out. This has been discussed in another recent thread.

    Some of the others tried at the Devon Lent Assizes in 1815 are mentioned in newspaper reports, e.g. John Josiah Chisholm, who was executed for forgery. I haven't yet found a mention of Mary/Margaret though. If her sentence was commuted to life transportation it might be worth searching databases of transported convicts. You could also try a wider range of newspapers than I did (I only looked in the 19th century British Library Newspapers database).

    It's possible that you'll find more about the crime among the Western Circuit assize records at Kew.

  5. #5
    Coromandel
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    Quote Originally Posted by Coromandel View Post
    I wonder if the first name could be Margt, with a faint superscript 't', i.e. Margaret and not Mary?
    An index to people mentioned in the 'Taunton Courier' in 1815 includes this entry:

    '1815 06Apr Axhorn Margaret - arson at Woodbury Devon Assizes'

    https://www.
    paulhyb.homecall.co.uk/news/TAUN1815.HTM

    (I presume but have not checked that the date is the date of the newspaper.)

  6. #6
    Coromandel
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    From the free search results on the British Newspaper Archive website I can see that there's something in the Cheltenham Chronicle of 1 Dec. 1814 which may be relevant. It is about an 'apprentice girl' being charged 'on her own confession' with setting fire to the house of 'Farmer Piles of Woodbury'.

    You get a few free credits when you first register with the site: perhaps enough to see this article?

  7. #7
    Brock
    Guest

    Default

    Coromandel, you work wonders! Thank you so very much for this great help. I shall certainly follow up the article that you mentioned on the British Newspaper Archive website. I have to say that I don't know of this site & look forward to finding out more.
    Thanks again.

  8. #8

    Default

    In this instance, the item in the paper itself is no more than the "text snippet" delivered under the free search!

  9. #9
    Brock
    Guest

    Default

    Helachau, I bought some credits & found that was the case. The credits were still useful though as I found entries re. other members of the Axhorn family.
    Thank you.

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