Now! Then! An inquest at York finds that John Furnel of the Queen’s Regiment of Foot died of flogging and resulting illness

Excerpt

The inquest on Monday week commenced at about half-past eleven in the forenoon, and the only witness then examined was Mr Andrew Browne, a Surgeon in the 2d Dragoon Guards, now stationed in our Barracks, and under whose medical care the deceased had been placed on his arrival. The purport of his evidence was as follows – that the man had received 300 lashes for an offence at Hull, the exact nature of which he was not fully acquainted with; that about seven days afterwards, the regiment being removed to Ireland, the deceased was conveyed to York on baggage cart; that the deceased informed the witness, that a servant, whilst removing the portmanteau from the baggage cart, let it fall upon his back; that a mortification ensued, but that it ceased on the 11th; that had the man been able to have taken sufficient support, he might have recovered; that he believed he sunk under debility, which debility might have owed its origin to a three years’ residence in the West Indies. He, however, acknowledged, that when the man was removed from Hull, the weather was extremely hot, and that he must have been much jolted on the baggage cart.

Colonel Kearney, of the Dragoons, now stepped forward and said, that in the absence of everyone connected with the 2d Regiment of Foot, he was anxious to express his full conviction the officers of that regiment were generally men of very kind and humane dispositions, and men who, he was quite certain, would not wilfully act a cruel part.

Two witnesses belonging to the 2d Regiment of Foot being expected from Ireland, the inquest was adjourned till Monday the 29th day of July, at two o’clock.

Before the Jury left the room, however, Mr Browne, the surgeon, re-entered, and announced that he had just opened the body, and that he found the lungs in a state of putrefaction. On that account he wished the Jury to inspect the same, and give their opinion on the subject. Some of the Jury went up stairs, and one of them, on his return into the jury-room, stated that the whole body was in a state of putrefaction, and therefore the lungs so only as a natural result. He, however, added “that the man’s bones were as bare of skin and flesh, as if his back had been scraped with a knife.” The Jury then dispersed, and the remains of the deceased were interred in Fulford church-yard at two o’clock the same afternoon.

SECOND DAY, SATURDAY, JULY 27.

Although the Inquest had been adjourned to Monday, yet the witnesses having arrived on Friday, and expressed great anxiety to return to Ireland as soon as possible, Mr. Cowling summoned the Jury to assemble at three o’clock on Saturday afternoon, which they accordingly did, and the examination proceeded.

Andrew Browne, the Surgeon of the 2d Dragoons, not having opened the body when last examined, was now questioned relative thereto. His evidence, however, on the subject amounted to nothing; for he acknowledged that though he found the lungs in a state of disease, that might have subsequent to the punishment.

Henry Waring, the Lieutenant and active Adjutant of the Second Regiment of Foot, deposed, that the said regiment was in the garrison at Hull, in June; and that on the 21st of that month, the deceased was tried by a Court Martial “for a highly irregular and unsoldier-like conduct, in having in his possession a silver spoon or spoons, the property of the Officers’ Regimental Mess, between the 1st and 14th June, and offering to dispose of the same, knowing it or them to have been improperly come by.” That the man was found Guilty, and sentenced to receive 300 lashes. – That the sentence being confirmed by the Commanding Officer, Lieut. Col. Jordan, it was carried into effect on the 22d June. That no more lashes were inflicted than the sentence authorized, and that the deceased was then sent to the hospital, which is about a mile from the garrison. – That on the 27th of June the regiment marched from Hull to York: that he rode on the baggage cart, but that he walked from York to the barracks.

Maurice Alexander, the Surgeon of the Second Regiment of Foot, confirmed the above, and said that only one sick man had been left behind, but that if he had thought the deceased unable to travel, he also should have been left. Witness examined the back of the deceased at Beverley, after the first day’s march, and dressed it. He then appeared to be doing well. After the second day’s march, he saw the deceased at Market Weighton. He then complained of his back, and on examination the witness found that a mortification had commenced, and that the deceased was labouring under a smart fever. The back of the deceased was dressed, and proper medicines were administered. The next morning the mortification had increased, but the fever had subsided – witness, however, did not know of any proper medical gentleman, (meaning, we suppose, an army surgeon,) under whose care he could leave the deceased, and he therefore was taken to York. The deceased complained of having received a hurt on the baggage cart – and the witness concluded by acknowledging that the weather was extremely hot during the march.

Thus closed the evidence, and the Jury, after due consideration, returned a verdict – that the deceased received three hundred lashes, and that he died of the same, and of the fever, mortification, and debility, arising therefrom.

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To facilitate reading, the spelling and punctuation of elderly excerpts have generally been modernised, and distracting excision scars concealed. My selections, translations, and editions are copyright.
Abbreviations:

ER: East Riding
GM: Greater Manchester
NR: North Riding
NY: North Yorkshire
SY: South Yorkshire
WR: West Riding
WY: West Yorkshire

Comment

John Gordon Smith, a distinguished medic, cited the portmanteau that allegedly fell on Furnel’s back in the baggage cart and found “the verdict to be in reality founded on the repugnance generally felt towards this form of punishment, and not upon the real truth of the matter as given in evidence” (Smith 1824).

The Times, reflecting popular opinion, and citing the 17th century jurist Matthew Hale’s History of the pleas of the Crown, called for those responsible to be tried for murder:

In a case of this sort, assuming as true all that was given in evidence on the Coroner’s Inquest, it is most inportant to the parties and the public, that strict inquiry should be made whether the culprit in his trial and punishment was fairly dealt by. Avoiding to irritate the national feeling on this event, we shall put interrogatively what appears to us to be liable to any difference of opinion. 1st, then, on the understanding that the deceased soldier had committed a military crime, which fairly subjected him to trial by Court-martial, we should like to be informed whether he did not undergo an excessive punishment, and in that case whether, though it had not killed him, there would be no room for demanding redress? The man dies of the punishment inflicted – yet he was not guilty of a capital offence; for in that case he could not have been tried by a regimental court-martial. In the eye of the law of England and of reason, if death is inflicted for a crime not capital, it amounts to murder. The bearing of the common law of England upon this point is stated by Lord Hale. “If a person sentenced to be whipped, is whipped with that rigour that he dieth of it, this is murder!” … “Also if a man be deliberately beaten beyond the apparent intent (or legal object) of punishment, so that he dieth, it is murder by express malice, although there be not a design to kill him.” … [T]he verdict of the inquest is a warrant to take up and commit for trial the officers, the surgeon who attended at the punishment, the drummers who inflicted it, and all the parties concerned in the shocking transaction, as in every other case of murder (Times 1822).

William Cobbett used this as an example of what he saw as a contrast between William Wilberforce’s concern for the freedoms of black subjects abroad, specifically in the latter’s Appeal to the religion, justice and humanity of the inhabitants of the British Empire in behalf of the negro slaves in the West Indies, and disinterest in those of white subjects at home (Cobbett 1823).

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Original

[Copied from the York Courant, Tuesday, July 30]
In our last we stated that a Coroner’s Inquest had been held by Mr. Cowling of this city on the previous Monday [22 July] at the York Barracks over the body of John Furnel, a private in the 2d or Queen’s regiment of Foot, who had been flogged at Hull, and within one week afterwards removed to our Barracks, where he lingered in great torture till Friday week, when death closed his earthly sufferings. The inquest was, however, adjourned till yesterday, and we therefore were not able to give any official information on the subject in our last; but as it is our duty, we now lay the purport of the whole before the public.

The inquest on Monday week commenced at about half-past eleven in the forenoon, and the only witness then examined was Mr Andrew Browne, a Surgeon in the 2d Dragoon Guards, now stationed in our Barracks, and under whose medical care the deceased had been placed on his arrival. The purport of his evidence was as follows – that the man had received 300 lashes for an offence at Hull, the exact nature of which he was not fully acquainted with; that about seven days afterwards, the regiment being removed to Ireland, the deceased was conveyed to York on baggage cart; that the deceased informed the witness, that a servant, whilst removing the portmanteau from the baggage cart, let it fall upon his back; that a mortification ensued, but that it ceased on the 11th; that had the man been able to have taken sufficient support, he might have recovered; that he believed he sunk under debility, which debility might have owed its origin to a three years’ residence in the West Indies. He, however, acknowledged, that when the man was removed from Hull, the weather was extremely hot, and that he must have been much jolted on the baggage cart.

Colonel Kearney, of the Dragoons, now stepped forward and said, that in the absence of everyone connected with the 2d Regiment of Foot, he was anxious to express his full conviction the officers of that regiment were generally men of very kind and humane dispositions, and men who, he was quite certain, would not wilfully act a cruel part.

Two witnesses belonging to the 2d Regiment of Foot being expected from Ireland, the inquest was adjourned till Monday the 29th day of July, at two o’clock.

Before the Jury left the room, however, Mr Browne, the surgeon, re-entered, and announced that he had just opened the body, and that he found the lungs in a state of putrefaction. On that account he wished the Jury to inspect the same, and give their opinion on the subject. Some of the Jury went up stairs, and one of them, on his return into the jury-room, stated that the whole body was in a state of putrefaction, and therefore the lungs so only as a natural result. He, however, added “that the man’s bones were as bare of skin and flesh, as if his back had been scraped with a knife.” The Jury then dispersed, and the remains of the deceased were interred in Fulford church-yard at two o’clock the same afternoon.

SECOND DAY, SATURDAY, JULY 27.

Although the Inquest had been adjourned to Monday, yet the witnesses having arrived on Friday, and expressed great anxiety to return to Ireland as soon as possible, Mr. Cowling summoned the Jury to assemble at three o’clock on Saturday afternoon, which they accordingly did, and the examination proceeded.

Andrew Browne, the Surgeon of the 2d Dragoons, not having opened the body when last examined, was now questioned relative thereto. His evidence, however, on the subject amounted to nothing; for he acknowledged that though he found the lungs in a state of disease, that might have subsequent to the punishment.

Henry Waring, the Lieutenant and active Adjutant of the Second Regiment of Foot, deposed, that the said regiment was in the garrison at Hull, in June; and that on the 21st of that month, the deceased was tried by a Court Martial “for a highly irregular and unsoldier-like conduct, in having in his possession a silver spoon or spoons, the property of the Officers’ Regimental Mess, between the 1st and 14th June, and offering to dispose of the same, knowing it or them to have been improperly come by.” That the man was found Guilty, and sentenced to receive 300 lashes. – That the sentence being confirmed by the Commanding Officer, Lieut. Col. Jordan, it was carried into effect on the 22d June. That no more lashes were inflicted than the sentence authorized, and that the deceased was then sent to the hospital, which is about a mile from the garrison. – That on the 27th of June the regiment marched from Hull to York: that he rode on the baggage cart, but that he walked from York to the barracks.

Maurice Alexander, the Surgeon of the Second Regiment of Foot, confirmed the above, and said that only one sick man had been left behind, but that if he had thought the deceased unable to travel, he also should have been left. Witness examined the back of the deceased at Beverley, after the first day’s march, and dressed it. He then appeared to be doing well. After the second day’s march, he saw the deceased at Market Weighton. He then complained of his back, and on examination the witness found that a mortification had commenced, and that the deceased was labouring under a smart fever. The back of the deceased was dressed, and proper medicines were administered. The next morning the mortification had increased, but the fever had subsided – witness, however, did not know of any proper medical gentleman, (meaning, we suppose, an army surgeon,) under whose care he could leave the deceased, and he therefore was taken to York. The deceased complained of having received a hurt on the baggage cart – and the witness concluded by acknowledging that the weather was extremely hot during the march.

Thus closed the evidence, and the Jury, after due consideration, returned a verdict – that the deceased received three hundred lashes, and that he died of the same, and of the fever, mortification, and debility, arising therefrom.

1074 words.

Now! Then! 2024! - Yorkshire On This Day

27 July 1822: An inquest at York finds that John Furnel of the Queen’s Regiment of Foot died of flogging and resulting illness

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