Thomas Billings

Catherine Hayes and Thomas Billings were convicted of the murder of her husband John Hayes. Catherine Hayes came from Birmingham but later went to work for the father of John Hayes in Warwickshire where she started seeing John Hayes and soon after they were married in secret. After John Hayes father discovered that they had married he set him up in business as a carpenter, but Catherine Hayes was restless and talked John Hayes into enlisting and he was sent to the Isle of Wight where she followed him. However, his father bought him off at the cost of £60 and gave him property to the value of about £26 per annum. However, after six years Catherine Hayes prevailed on John Hayes to move to London, which they did, and John Hayes took a house there, part of which he let out in lodgings, and opened a shop in the chandlery and coal trade, in which he was as successful as he could have wished. However, beyond his earnings by shop-keeping, he earned a great deal of money by lending small sums on pledges However, their marriage was unhappy and they quarrelled constantly and it was said that the chief pleasure of her life consisted in creating and encouraging quarrels among her neighbours. Sometimes she would speak of her husband to his acquaintances in terms of great tenderness and respect, and at other times she would represent him to her female associates as a compound of everything that was contemptible in human nature. She was even said to have told one woman that she should think it no more sin to murder him than to kill a dog. Sometime later they removed to Tottenham Court Road and after some further time removed to Tyburn Road. John Hayes soon amassed what he considered a sufficient sum to enable him to retire from business, and he accordingly took lodgings near the same spot. A supposed son of Catherine Hayes, by her former connection, who went by the name of Thomas Billings, lived in the same house, and he and Catherine Hayes were in the habit of feasting themselves at the expense of the husband of John Hayes. However, whilst John Hayes was away, Catherine Hayes's feasting's were so extravagant that the neighbours deemed it right to make her husband aware of the fact and on his return he remonstrated with her on the subject and they had a quarrel that ended in a fight. It is supposed that at this time the design of murdering John Hayes was formed by his wife, and it was not long before she obtained a seconder in her horrid project in the person of her reputed son, Thomas Billings. At about the same time Thomas Wood came down from Worcestershire to London and sought lodgings with John Hayes. However, only a matter of days after his arrival, Catherine Hayes told him of her plot to kill her husband and persuade him to join her and her son, however, he at first refused. However, Catherine Hayes told him that John Hayes was an atheist and that he had already been guilty of murdering two of his own children, one of whom he had buried under an apple-tree, and the other under a pear-tree. She also told him that £15 would fall to her upon his death, which she would give to her accomplices, and he agreed. Sometime later Thomas Wood went away, and when he returned, he found Catherine Hayes and her son and husband drinking together and apparently in good humour and he joined them. John Hayes then boasted that he was not drunk although they had had a guinea's worth of liquor among them and Thomas Billings proposed that he should try whether he could drink half-a-dozen bottles of mountain wine without getting tipsy, and promised that if he did so he would pay for the wine. The proposal was agreed to, and the three murderers went off to procure the liquor and on their way it was agreed among them that this was the proper opportunity to carry their design into execution. They then bought the wine, for which Catherine Hayes paid half-a-guinea and John Hayes drank it whilst his intended assassins regaled themselves with beer. After he had taken a considerable quantity of the wine he danced about the room like a man distracted, and at length finished the whole quantity. However, as he was not yet in a state of absolute stupefaction, Catherine Hayes bought him another bottle which he also drank and then fell senseless on the floor. After a short time John Hayes then got up, with much difficulty, and went into another room where he threw himself on a bed. Whilst he lay there asleep, Thomas Billings went into the room with a hatchet and beat him about the head with it, fracturing his skull. It was said that the torture of the blows caused John Hayes feet, which were hanging over the bed, to stamp repeatedly on the floor, and Thomas Wood then went into the room and, taking the hatchet from Thomas Billings, gave John Hayes two more blows which effectually dispatched him. xxx1xxx It was noted that the noise had caused a woman who lodged in a room over that where the murder was committed hear the noise occasioned by John Hayes's stamping his feet and went down to see Catherine Hayes, thinking there had been a quarrel, and told her that the noise had awakened her, her husband and her child. However, Catherine Hayes told her that some company had visited them and grown merry, but that they were on the point of taking their leave, which satisfied the lodger who returned to her room. They then set about deciding how to dispose of his body and Catherine Hayes proposed to cut off the head so that if his body were found that it would be less likely be identified, and they agreed. She then fetched a pail, lighted a candle and they went into the room and the men then drew the body partly off the bed, with Thomas Billings supporting the head whilst Thomas Wood cur his head off with a pocket knife, whilst Catherine Hayes held the pail to receive it, being as careful as possible that the floor might not be stained with the blood. After that they emptied the pail into a sink by the window and then poured several pails of water after it. After that, Catherine Hayes recommended boiling it till the flesh parted from the bones, however, the others thought that that would take too long and so that agreed to throw it into the River Thames in the expectation that it would be carried off by the tide, and would sink. They agreed to that and put the head in the pail which Thomas Billings took it under his greatcoat, when he and Thomas Wood were leaving the lodger again enquired what all the noise was about, and Catherine Hayes explained to her that John Hayes was going a journey, pretending great concern that he was under a necessity of going at so late an hour. Thomas Wood and Thomas Billings then left the house, and first went to Whitehall, where they intended to throw in the head, but found the gates were shut, and so they went to went to a wharf near the Horse Ferry, Westminster where Thomas Wood threw the head into the dock, expecting it would be carried away by the stream. However, at that time the tide was ebbing. Also, a lighter-man, who was then in his vessel, heard something fall into the dock, but it was too dark for him to distinguish any object. Thomas Wood and Thomas Billings then went home and were admitted by Catherine Hayes without the knowledge of the other lodgers. They then decided to pack John Hayes up in a box and bury him. They then purchased a box, but found that it was too small, so they dismembered his body and carried his mangled parts off wrapped up in a blanket to a field in Marylebone where they threw them in a pond. However, the head was soon after discovered, and the magistrates determined that there had been a murder ordered that the head be cleaned, the hair combed, and it be displayed on a pole in the churchyard of St Margaret's, Westminster, such that an opportunity might be afforded of its being viewed by the public and identified. xxx2xxx Thousands went to witness this extraordinary spectacle, and there were not wanting those among the crowd who expressed their belief among themselves that the head belonged to John Hayes. Their suspicions were mentioned by some of them to Thomas Billings, but he ridiculed the notion, and declared that John Hayes was well, and was only gone out of town for a few days. When the head had been exhibited for four days it was deemed expedient that measures should be taken to preserve it and a chemist in consequence received directions to put it into spirits. Soon after Catherine Hayes changed her lodgings, taking the lodger with her, paying her rent, followed by Thomas Wood and Thomas Billings. Her chief occupation after that was that of collecting the debts due to her husband, by means of which she continued to supply her diabolical assistants with money and clothes. Soon after, a poor woman from Kingsland, whose husband had been absent from the very time that the murder was perpetrated, went to see the the head, and believed it to be that of her husband, though she could not be absolutely positive. However, her suspicions were so strong that a strict search was made after the body on a presumption that the clothes might help her to ascertain it. Meanwhile, John Hayes not being visible for a considerable time, his friends could not help making inquiry after him, and one man in particular, who had been on the most friendly terms with him, called on Catherine Hayes and demanded what had become of her husband. She pretended to account for his absence by communicating the following intelligence, as a matter that must be kept profoundly secret: xxxqxxx Some time ago he happened to have a dispute with a man, and from words they came to blows, so that Mr Hayes killed him. The wife of the deceased made up the affair, on Mr Hayes's promising to pay her a certain annual allowance, but he not being able to make it good, she threatened to inform against him, on which he has absconded. xxxqxxx However, the story was by no means satisfactory to the man who asked her if the head that had been exposed on the pole was that of the man who had been killed by her husband, to which she readily answered in the negative, adding that the party had been buried entire and that the widow had her husband's bond for the payment of fifteen pounds a year. The man then enquired to what part of the world John Hayes had gone, and she told him Portugal, in the company of some gentlemen, noting that she had yet to receive any letter from him. However, the story seemed so highly improbable to the man that he called on another gentleman who was nearly related to John Hayes and it was agreed that he should call on Catherine Hayes and have some conversation with her upon the same subject. However, her story to the gentleman differed in its details from that which she had related to to the other man, and after another friend of John Hayes was consulted, they agreed to examine the head, and then, if their suspicions were confirmed, to communicate their belief to the magistrates. Having accordingly minutely examined the head, and come to the conclusion that it must be that of their friend, they proceeded to a magistrate, who immediately issued warrants for the apprehension of Catherine Hayes and the lodger, as well as of Thomas Wood and Thomas Billings, and proceeded to execute them personally. When they went to the house they were lodging at they informed the landlord of their business and went immediately to the door of Catherine Hayes's room. When the magistrate rapped on her door, Catherine Hayes called out: xxxqxxx Who is there? xxxqxxx To which the magistrate commanded her to open the door directly, or it should be broken open. To that, Catherine Hayes replied that she would open it as soon as she had put on her clothes, and did so in little more than a minute, whereupon the justice ordered the parties present to take her into custody. At that time Thomas Billings had been sitting on the side of the bed, bare-legged. Others then went upstairs and took the lodger into custody and they were all conducted together to the house of the magistrate where they were examined separately for a considerable time. However, they all positively persisted in their ignorance of anything respecting the murder. They were then severally committed for re-examination on the following day. The lodger was sent to the Gatehouse, Thomas Billings to New Prison, and Catherine Hayes to Tothill Fields Bridewell. When the peace officers went the next day to fetch up Catherine Hayes to her examination, she earnestly desired to see the head, and it being thought prudent to grant her request, she was carried to the surgeon's, and no sooner was the head shown to her than she exclaimed: xxxqxxx Oh, it is my dear husband's head! It is my dear husband's head! xxxqxxx She then took the glass in her arms and shed many tears while she embraced it. A surgeon then told her that he would take the head out of the glass that she might have a more perfect view of it and be certain that it was the same, and the surgeon doing as he had said, she seemed to be greatly affected, and having kissed it several times, she begged to be indulged with a lock of the hair, upon which he surgeon expressed his apprehension that she had had too much of his blood already. Catherine Hayes then fell into a fit. On her recovery she was conducted to the magistrates to take her examination with the other parties. It was noted that remarkably, that same morning, the rest of John Hayes body was found. It was found by a gentleman and his servant as they were crossing the fields at Marylebone and observed something lying in a ditch and upon going nearer to it they perceived that it was some parts of a human body. After assistance was procured, the whole of the body was found except the head, and the information conveyed to the magistrate, who at that very moment had been examining the prisoners. The suspicions which already existed were strengthened by that circumstance, and Catherine Hayes was committed to Newgate for trial, although the committal of Thomas Billings and the lodger was however, being deferred until the apprehension of Thomas Wood. When Thomas Wood soon after returned and rode up top Catherine Hayes's lodgings he was directed to go to the house of the magistrates where he was told he would find Catherine Hayes, but upon arrival, he was immediately seized and carried before the magistrate. He then underwent an examination, but refused to make any confession and was sent to Tothill Fields Bridewell. On his arrival at the prison he was informed that the body had been found and, not doubting but that the whole affair would come to light, he begged that he might be carried back to the justice's house where he acknowledged the particulars of the murder, and signed his confession. He then owned that since the perpetration of the crime he had been terrified at the sight of everyone he met, that he had not experienced a moment's peace, and that his mind had been distracted with the most violent agitation. He was then commitment to Newgate, and conducted there under the escort of eight soldiers with fixed bayonets, whose whole efforts were necessary to protect him from the violence of the mob. When Catherine Hayes was visited in prison she begged then to go to Thomas Billings and urge him to confess the whole truth, as no advantage, she said, could be expected to arise from a denial of that which was too clearly proved to admit of denial, after which Thomas Billings, upon being carried before the justice again gave an account precisely concurring with that of Thomas Wood. By then the lodger, whose innocence was distinctly proved, was set at liberty. At the trial Thomas Wood and Thomas Billings confessed themselves guilty of the crime alleged against them, but Catherine Hayes, flattering herself that as she had said nothing she had a chance of escape, put herself upon her trial, however, the jury found her guilty. The prisoners being afterwards brought to the bar to receive sentence, Catherine Hayes entreated that she might not be burned, according to the then law of petty treason, alleging that she was not guilty, as she did not strike the fatal blow. However, she was informed by the Court that the sentence awarded by the law could not be dispensed with. After conviction the behaviour of Thomas Wood was uncommonly penitent and devout, but whilst in the condemned hold he was seized with a violent fever, and being attended by a clergyman, to assist him in his devotions, he said he was ready to suffer death, under every mark of ignominy, as some atonement for the atrocious crime he had committed. But he died in prison, and thus defeated the final execution of the law. Thomas Billings behaved with apparent sincerity, acknowledging the justice of his sentence, and saying that no punishment could be commensurate with the crime of which he had been guilty. He was executed in the usual manner, and hung in chains near Tyburn Road, not far from the pond in which John Hayes's body was found, in Marylebone Fields. The behaviour of Catherine Hayes was somewhat similar to her former conduct. Having an intention to destroy herself, she procured a phial of strong poison, which was casually tasted by a woman who was confined with her, and her design thereby discovered and frustrated. It was also reported that whilst in the Chapel in Newgate, that she fainted away several times, and that she publicly declared that not a shilling would she give to save her life, but a hat-full of Guineas, if she had them, she would bestow to save her from being burnt. On the day of her death she received the Sacrament, and was drawn on a sledge to the place of execution. When she finished her devotions, in pursuance of her sentence an iron chain was put round her body, with which she was fixed to a stake near the gallows. On these occasions, when women were burned for petty treason, it was customary to strangle them, by means of a rope passed round the neck and pulled by the executioner, so that they were dead before the flames reached the body. But Catherine Hayes was literally burned alive, for the executioner letting go the rope sooner than usual, in consequence of the flames reaching his hands, the fire burned fiercely round her, and the spectators beheld her pushing away the faggots, while she rent the air with her cries and lamentations. Other faggots were instantly thrown on her, but she survived amidst the flames for a considerable time, and her body was not perfectly reduced to ashes until three hours later. Following the executions, it was reported that whilst taking her Sacrament at Newgate that she affirmed that Thomas Billings was her own son, got by John Hayes, before they were married, which meant that Thomas Billings killed his own father and assisted in quartering him. It was also claimed that he had criminal conversation with his mother and lay with her when his fathers mangled limbs were under the bed. It was also noted that just before the execution, several scaffolds fell down, by which many persons were mortally wounded, and others had their legs and arms broke. The malefactors, Catherine Hayes and Thomas Billings, suffered at Tyburn, 9 May 1726.