Charles Surety

Twenty nine year old Surety was a bricklayer who was sentenced to death by Mr Justice Lindlay at the Central Criminal Court, for the murder of a two year old girl, the daughter of his girlfriend thirty two year old Mary Ann Pepper. Evidence showed that Surety had brutally ill-treated the unfortunate child: on one occasion he bashed it against a door; he also expressed a wish to lay the child on the floor and thrash her till she couldn't move; and to starve her. The actual cause of death was probably a beating with the fists. His execution caused a controversy when, as William Marwood completed his preparations and Surety had only a matter of minutes to live, an express letter arrived carrying a reprieve. The Governor, after a conference with other officials, decided that the letter was a forgery and the execution went ahead as planned. It was later discovered that the letter was written, for no apparent reason, by a London doctor who received a prison sentence and heavy fine for attempting to obstruct the course of justice.  The sentence was carried out on the 5th January 1880 in Newgate