THE EXECUTION OF JOSEPH LEWIS FOR THE MURDER OF A GAMEKEEPER

Joseph Lewis - for the murder of a gamekeeper.

Joseph Lewis came to trial at Glamorganshire Assizes, before Mr. Justice Wills, on Tuesday the 9th of August 1898 for the murder of game-keeper 39 year old Robert Scott at Margam in South Wales on the evening of the 9th of June.

Scott was head keeper for a Miss Talbot who owned Margam Abbey and on the fateful day he and an under-keeper named Kidd and a constable named Hawken were looking out for poachers. They spotted a man in dark clothing coming down the mountain. Scott sent Kidd to fetch Hawken and Kidd then heard a shot.

A witness by the name of White testified that he had seen Lewis and heard two shots fired from a 12 bore shotgun. Scott did not return home that night and so a search was made for him the next morning. He was found dead in a ditch, having been shot in the face and had his skull smashed.

Lewis was seen making for Tailbach and the following day sent out for fresh clothes. Several witnesses came forward to assist the police in tracing Lewis’ movements and he was arrested but released due to lack of evidence and then re-arrested on the 17th of June. He had admitted the killing to a man named Griffiths and had also told a fellow prisoner where the gun could be found.

Lewis was tried at Swansea before Mr. Justice Wills on the 9th and 10th and was convicted after 2 1/2 hours deliberation by the jury. Jones’ landlady told the court that he had left her house on the night of the murder, carrying a gun. John Laulier of Maesteg testified that Jones had confessed to him that he killed Scott.

Lewis gave a rather different account of the murder to the one outlined by the prosecution. He claimed only to be trying to shoot rabbits when Scott came upon him. He said he told Scott to stand back three times but Scott came towards him brandishing a large stick.

At this point he fired the first shot at a distance of nine feet. Scott was seriously wounded but not dead so Lewis propped him up in a sitting position against a wall and fired a second shot to put him out of his misery. It did at least seem a somewhat credible scenario.

On Friday the 26th of August it was reported in the press that he made a confession. In a letter dated the 17th of August, addressed to Robert Scott’s widow and delivered to her by the Chaplain, he maintained his own account of the killing, i.e., that it was in self defence.

The contents of the letter were published in the press, as follows: “Dear Mrs. Scott, I want to say to you that I sympathise with you in the sorrow that I caused you to be in. What I did was in self defence. I hope you will try to forgive me. I am praying for him. I have no ill feeling for anyone in the world. Yours truly, Joseph Lewis.

Lewis was hanged within Swansea prison at 8.00 a.m. on Tuesday the 30th of August 1898 by James Billington, assisted by his son Thomas. This hanging was the last time a black flag was raised at Swansea Prison to signify that the execution had been carried out. A large number of people had gathered outside the prison to see it unfurled.

After the formal inquest, Lewis was buried in the grounds of Swansea Prison near two other murderers - Thomas Nash who had been hanged in 1886 and Thomas Allen who was hanged in 1889. Lewis’ grave was marked with his name carved into a stone inset into the prison wall.

Thanks for reading leave your thought in the comment section below.

Comments

THE TERRIBLE STORY OF PRIVATE FIRST CLASS DESMOND T. DOSS OF LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA....

12th October 1945. Private First Class Desmond T. Doss of Lynchburg, Virginia, is presented the Medal of Honor for outstanding bravery as a combat medic, the first conscientious objector in American history to receive the nation’s highest military award. When called on by his country to fight in World War II, Doss, a dedicated pacifist, registered as a conscientious objector. Eventually sent to the Pacific theater of war as a medical corpsman, Doss voluntarily put his life in the utmost peril during the bloody Battle for Okinawa, saving dozens of lives well beyond the call of duty. During World War II, over 70,000 men were designated conscientious objectors, mostly men whose religious beliefs made them opposed to war. Some refused to serve, but 25,000 joined the US armed forces in noncombat roles such as medics and chaplains. Desmond T. Doss of Lynchburg, Virginia, was one of those men, though he personally shunned the title of conscientious objector. Doss, born in 1919, was raised wit...

The Terrible Death Of "Sergeant James Ward" The First New Zealand Airman to be Honored with the Victoria Cross

The Terrible Death Of "Sergeant James Ward" The First New Zealand Airman to be Honored with the Victoria Cross. Sergeant James Allan Ward of Whanganui, New Zealand serving with the No. 75 (New Zealand) Squadron RAF, was the first New Zealander to be honored with the Victoria Cross. He is pictureed standing in the cockpit of his Vickers Wellington Mark IC, L7818 'AA-V', at Feltwell, Norfolk. (Source: IWM) ⭐Sergeant James Allen's Victoria Cross Citation reads as follows: "On the night of 7 July 1941, Sergeant Ward was second pilot of a Wellington bomber returning from an attack on Munster. While flying over the Zuider Zee at 13,000 feet his aircraft was attacked from beneath by a German ME110, which secured hits with cannon-shell and incendiary bullets. The rear gunner was wounded in the foot but delivered a burst of fire sending the enemy fighter down, apparently out of control. Fire then broke out in the Wellington's near-starboard engine and, fed by pe...

THE PAINFUL DEATH OF SERGEANT ANTHONY J. MARCHIONE THE LAST AMERICAN TO DIE IN WWII.

On August 18, 1945, U.S. Army Sergeant Anthony J. Marchione became the last American to die in WWII when the B-32 he was flying in over Tokyo was damaged by enemy fire. Marchione, from Pottstown, PA, was a month shy of his 20th birthday when he died in the skies above Japan, four days after Imperial Japan had officially surrendered to the Allies. He had enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Forces less than two years earlier, in November 1943. Marchione wanted to be a pilot, but the Army had other plans; it trained him to be an aerial gunner. In November 1944, he joined a Consolidated B-24 Liberator crew that was being transferred for training in photo-reconnaissance. He went through a course to become a photographer’s assistant. By August 1945, his unit, the 20th Reconnaissance Squadron, had moved to Okinawa, which had been captured by U.S. forces less than two months earlier. The 386th Bombardment Squadron conducted anti-shipping sweeps of the South China Sea and, if needed, coul...

The Terrible Story Of Richard Earl Bush of Glasgow, The Hero We Must Honor.

The Terrible Story Of Richard Earl Bush of Glasgow, The Hero We Must Honor. Richard Earl Bush of Glasgow, Kentucky, a U.S. Marine Corps master gunnery sergeant, was awarded the Medal of Honor for his extraordinary actions in Okinawa on April 16, 1945. Bush enlisted in the USMC in 1942. He served with the Marine Corps Raiders in the Pacific, and while with the Raiders, he was promoted to corporal. On April 16, 1945, Cpl. Bush was serving in the 1st Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 6th Marine Division. Cpl. Bush led his men in a charge against an enemy stronghold. During the assault, he placed himself on a thrown enemy grenade, absorbing the force of the explosion and saving the lives of his fellow Marines and corpsmen. In World War II, twenty-seven Marines similarly used their bodies against thrown enemy grenades in order to save their comrades’ lives. Bush was one of four who survived. He lost several fingers and sight in one eye. In the years following the war, Bush worked f...

The terrible Story of Robert Charles Burke and how he was killed in action charging enemy positions on May 17, 1968,

Robert Charles Burke: he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve in Chicago, March 17, 1967. Burke was discharged to enlist in the regular Marine Corps on May 16, 1967. Upon completion of recruit training with the 1st Recruit Training Battalion, Recruit Training Regiment, Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, California, on July 20, 1967, Burke was transferred to the Marine Corps Base, Camp Pendleton, California. He completed individual combat training with Company Q, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Training Regiment, in August 1967, and was promoted to private first class on September 1, 1967. From September 1967 until January 1968, he was a student with the Motor Transport School, Student Company, Schools Battalion. This was followed by duty as a motor vehicle mechanic with Headquarters and Service Company, 5th Military Police Battalion, 5th Marine Division, Camp Pendleton. In February 1968, Burke was sent to the Republic of Vietnam where he was assigned to Company I, ...

Ifugao Tribe Filipino Head Hunting Human Trophy Skull during Late 19th Century. Circa 1890

Ifugao Tribe Filipino Head Hunting Human Trophy Skull during Late 19th Century. Circa 1890 The Spanish had great difficulty in taking over Ifugao, like most of the Cordilleras due to the fierce belief of the Cordillera people of their rights since ancient times. The Ifugao battled colonizers for hundreds of years, even after the state was colonized and was transformed into a part of Nueva Viscaya province of the Spanish-administered Philippines. In 1891, the Spanish government established Quiangan as a comandancia-politico-militar for the Ifugao area. The Spanish occupation in the province ended with the outbreak of the Philippine Revolution. The headhunting practice has been the subject of intense study within the anthropological community, where scholars try to assess and interpret its social roles, functions, and motivations. Anth ropological writings explore themes in headhunting that include mortification of the rival, ritual violence, cosmological balance, the display of man...

Honoring the Service of Hospital Corpsman Jack W. Snyder of the US Navy: Recipient of 10 Battle Stars.

🇺🇲 WWII uncovered: Honoring the Service of Hospital Corpsman Jack W. Snyder of the US Navy: Recipient of 10 Battle Stars. Jack W. Snyder, of Cincinnati Ohio, enlisted with the US Navy on November 12 1942. He was 16 years old. According to the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library History Project: "Petty Officer Third Class Jack W. Snyder enlisted in the Navy at the height of WWII and served onboard the USS Harris APA-2 as a corpsman on multiple operations in the North Africa campaign as a part of the Southern Attack Force, before shifting over to the Pacific seeing action in Tarawa, Kwajalein, Saipan, Palau Islands, Philippines, and Okinawa campaigns. By the end of the war, Harris received ten battle stars for World War II service." Jack returned to Ohio after the war and received his degree from the University of Cincinnati. After graduation he reenlisted and served as a 1st Lieutenant in the Air Force from 1957 to 1963. Jack spent his career teaching physic...

THE TERRIBLE STORY OF THE LAST COMMANDER OF ONE GERMAN PANTHER TANK.

On this day in 1945, Americans capture the city of Cologne, Germany. The town had already been shattered by years of aerial raids. Now, as World War II was coming to an end, Germans began to flee before the oncoming American tanks. Yet the commander of one German Panther tank refused to go. Instead, he made a last stand in front of Cologne Cathedral, one of the few buildings to remain mostly intact. The Panther tanks were heavier and tougher than the American Sherman tanks. Indeed, that Panther soon knocked out a pair of M4 Sherman tanks, killing or wounding several of our soldiers. But Americans had another, newer tank: the Pershing. One crew was nearby and swung into action. Its commanding officer hoped to attack the Panther from a side street before the Germans knew what was coming. The move was nearly fatal. Inside the German tank, the crew sensed that something wasn’t right. The tank’s turret was turned so that its muzzle was aimed at the side street. Just then, the Pershing came ...

THE HEROIC STORY OF "ROBERT CRAIG" HONORING HIM FOR HIS EXTRAORDINARY ACTIONS DURING WWII.

THE HEROIC STORY OF "ROBERT CRAIG" HONORING HIM FOR HIS EXTRAORDINARY ACTIONS DURING WWII. Robert Craig, born in Scotland and raised in Toledo, Ohio, was a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army and posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions on July 11, 1943, near Favoratta, Sicily. Craig entered the Army in February 1941, was commissioned a Second Lieutenant of Infantry and served with the 15th Infantry of the 3rd Infantry Division. On July 11, 1943, during his service leading troops in Operation Husky, the Allied invasion of Sicily, Craig set out to destroy an Italian Army machine gun nest that had halted the advance of his company, making his own attempt following the wounding of three other officers who had tried to locate and silence that machine gun emplacement. Craig located the enemy position and killed its three crewmen. As his company advanced, Craig and his platoon encountered the fire of enemy soldiers. Craig ordered his men to withdra...

How were B-52s expected to get through Soviet air defenses to their targets?

How were B-52s expected to get through Soviet air defenses to their targets? I have some expertise in this dating from the 1980s and, quite frankly, the B-52s would have had no trouble at all from Soviet defenses except in the most extreme cases. That may sound like a bold statement, but it was quite true. First and foremost, the B-52s would have arrived hours after the war began, and hours after ICBMs and SLBMs had ravaged the Soviet defenses. Many of the missile strikes were designed specifically to blow holes in the Soviet defenses, taking out SAM battalions, interceptor airfields, and air defense command posts. Others would have done damage by generating electromagnetic pulses, blinding radars and frying computers. Then, there’s the fact that PVO (Soviet national air defense) couldn’t be everywhere at once. In fact, much of Soviet territory would have gone virtually undefended because of the vast expanses. Soviet air defenses were well mapped out, and the bomber...

Search This Blog