George Strangwayes

George Strangwayes was convicted of the murder of Mr Fussel and sentenced to death.

He shot him through the window of his room at the Sign of the George and Half Moon, without Temple Bar, Holborn.

He was executed by press at Newgate.

Mr Fussel had married George Strangwayes's sister against George Strangwayes's wishes and they continued to be at odds with each other, including taking each other to court.

George Strangwayes had been the second son of a gentleman of an ancient and unblemished family.

He was described as being a person that had a brave and generous soul in a stout and active body, being tall of stature, and framed to the most masculine proportion of man. It was added that the virtues of his father he rather seemed to improve than degenerate from, until he was hurried on by the ungovernable passion to kill Mr Fussel.

It was said that his consistution made him fitter to follow Mars rather then Muses, and he attained to the degree of a major in the service of King Charles I, which military office he executed with a great deal of bravery and gallantry during the whole course of the Civil War.

He was said to have always had a dextrous and a heart daring to act, but that only in love did he appear unskilful or unsuccessful, for he was never married.

George Strangwayes's father died around 1648, upon which George Strangwayes was left in possession of Mussen Farm and his eldest sister constituted executrix by will.

The sister, being then an ancient maid, rented the farm from George Strangwayes and stocked it at her own cost, engaging herself to him in a bond of three hundred and fifty pounds, which she borrowed towards the procuring of the said stock.

George Strangwayes, presuming upon her continuance of a single life, and expecting that the greatest part, if not all, of her personal estate would in time revert to him as her heir, entrusted her not only with the bond, but also with that part of the stock, and such utensils of the house, as, by his father's will, properly belonged to him.

It was said that his reason for doing that was, that they would be more secure by passing for hers, forasmuch as his whole estate was liable to sequestration, by which, at that time of day, a great many thousand gentlemen were ruined.

It was said then as such, that honesty being his preservative against calamity, that his estate being thus in a fair probability of being preserved from those vultures of the Commonwealth who had then the administration of public affairs, he lived for some time very happily with his sister, of whose prudence and discretion he had a very high opinion.

However, all of a sudden the scene altered, and she, whom he thought sufficiently proof against all inclinations to matrimony began to express some affection for Mr Fussel, a gentleman well esteemed at Blandford, the place of his residence, and of much repute for his eminent abilities in matters of law.

George Strangwayes's sister soon after contracted an intimacy with Mr Fussel and she made no effort to disguise her sentiments concerning him such that George Strangwayes soon came to a perfect knowledge of their mutual resolutions.

It was said then that, whether it was that he had any former dislike to the man, or that he imagined one of that profession might injure him in his property, or whether it was only the being disappointed in the hopes he had conceived of enjoying after his sister the whole substance of the family, it was not easy to determine. However, it was said that what was certain was that no sooner that he heard of a proposal of marriage between Mr Fussel and his sister than he showed himself absolutely against it, and took an opportunity of telling his sister privately how much he disapproved her design.

However, his sister told him that she was steadfast in in her purpose, resulting in George Strangwayes breaking out into the most violent expressions of passion, and affirming with bitter imprecations that if ever she married Mr Fussel he would certainly be the death of him soon afterwards.

As a result of the family quarrels, George Strangwayes and his sister separated, however, it was noted that the rupture between then was worsened by further mutal complaints regarding the property and money.

George Strangwayes's sister claimed that George Strangwayes had unjustly detained from her much of the stock of the farm which, either by her father's will, or her own purchase, was lawfully hers. Further, she denied that she ever sealed the aforementioned bond, insinuating that it was only a forgery of her brother's.

George Strangwayes on the other hand cried out as loudly against his sister, accusing her with nothing less than a design to defraud him of part of his estate, besides the money due by the bond.

Following their separation, their grievances commenced a lawsuit.

At the same time, Mr Fussel, being a man of great business, came up to London, the time being Hilary Term, where he lodged up one pair of stairs, at the Sign of the George and Half Moon.

The Sign of the George and Half Moon was described as being three doors from the Palsgrave's Head Tavern, without Temple Bar, opposite to a pewterer's shop.

He came in one evening between 9pm and 10pm, and retired to his study, which fronted the street, sitting behind a desk, with his face towards the window, the curtains being so near drawn that there was but just room enough left to discern him.

It was said then, that about a quarter of an hour after he arrived that he was shot from outside through the window by a carbine, one shot going through his forehead and another through his mouth. A third shot, or slug, stuck in the lower part of the timber of the window. It was noted that the passage by which the two former entered was so narrow that little less than an inch over or under had obstructed their passage.

It was noted that Mr Fussel dropped down upon his desk without so much as a groan, so much so that his clerk, who was in the room at the same time, didn't at first apprehend anything of what was done, until, seeing that his head was leaning and not knowing him to fall asleep as he wrote, he imagined something more than ordinary was the matter, and when he looked closer, was shocked to see him bleeding.

The clerk then ran to get some of the family and after finding out he was dead, the went out into the street, but could see nothing that might give them the least information, everything appearing, as they conceived, more silent and still than is usual at that time of night in the public parts of the city.

Mr Fussel's son from a previous marriage was then called and he began to use all means he could think of to discover the author of the murder, and several places were searched, and a barber, who had lodged in the same house with Mr Fussel, was apprehended on suspicion, he having been absent at the time when the deed was perpetrated.

Whilst they were considering the murder, Mr Fussel's son reflected on all the arguments his father had had with George Strangwayes and he was arrested between 2am and 3am in his bed at his lodging, over against Ivy Bridge in the Strand next door to the Black Bull Inn.

George Strangwayes denied the fact with an undaunted confidence, however, there was so much room for suspicion that the justice committed him to Newgate where he remained till the following morning when he was taken to the place where Mr Fussel's body was and commanded to take his dead brother-in-law by the hand, and touch his wounds before the coroner's inquest, a method said to have been mightily relied on by the defenders of sympathy, however, there was nothing to be discovered by that experiment and he was remanded back to prison.

Several ways were propounded by the foreman for the detection of the murderer; one of which was, that all the gunsmiths in London, and the adjacent places, should be examined what guns they had either lent or sold that day. However, it was considered by most of the jurymen as an unpracticable task, and a gunsmith in the Strand, who was one of their number, told them all that the men of his profession were so numerous that he thought it next to impossible for them to make such an inquiry without missing many, noting that for his own part, he had that day lent a carbine, and did not question but several of the trade did the same every day that passed.

However, one of the other jurymen then desired him, for the satisfaction of them all, to declare to whom he had lent the said piece, and after some thought replied:

A search was then made for the major, however, he was abroad and his wife was arrested. Upon hearing of the arrest of his wife, he quickly returned and was examined before the justice of the peace and  confessed that he had borrowed a carbine from the gunsmith, for the use of Major Strangwayes, who he said told himi that he intended to kill a deer with it. He said that he had loaded with with with a brace of bullets and a slug and delievered it to George Strangwayes in St Clement's churchyard, between the hours of seven and eight at night.

However, nothing more could be found out about who fired the shot, it being heard that George Strangwayes refused to confess anything before man, stating that he was reserving that discovery for the general assize hereafter, when the inmost recesses of men's hearts would be laid open.

However, it was known that George Strangwayes brought the gun back between 10pm and 11pm and then retired to his lodgings.

It was said that when the facts of the gun were made known to him, that the revelation strucj him with terror, leaving him for some moments in a profound silence, after which he acknowledged in a very pathetic manner that the immediate hand of God was in the affair, for nothing less could have brought about such a wonderful detection.

He further owned that, the night the murder was committed, he left one at his quarters to personate him, whom he took care to introduce about seven in the evening, while the people of the house were employed in their necessary affairs, and not at leisure to take any notice of his actions. This friend, he said, walked about the chamber, so as to be heard by all the family, which occasioned them to give a wrong deposition concerning his being at home when they were examined before the magistrate.

He added, that when the fact was committed (by whom was not knwn as he would never confess) he returned to his lodging, found means to discharge his friend, then hastened to bed, and lay there till he was apprehended at three in the morning.

When he was brought before the Old Bailey on 24 February 1658 and the indictment read, he absolutely refused to comply with the method of the Court unless, he said, he might be permitted, when he was condemned, to die in the same manner as his brother-in-law had done. He then added that if they refused that, he would continue in his contempt of the Court, that he might preserve his estate, which would be forfeited on his conviction, in order to bestow it on such friends as he had most affection for, as well as to free himself from the ignominious death of a public gibbet.

Many arguments were urged by the Lord Chief Justice, and the rest of the bench, to induce him to plead, noting particularly the great sin he committed in refusing to submit to the ordinary course of the law, and the terror of the death which his obstinate silence would oblige them to inflict upon him, however, without effect, and he still refused to either to plead or to say who it was that fired the gun, only saying that whoever did it, it was done by his direction.

When the Court perceived they could work nothing on him, the Lord Chief justice read the following dreadful sentence:

After the sentence was passed, George Strangwayes was remanded back to Newgate, and on 28 February 1658, at about 11am, he was taken to the press-yard in Newgate, and after a short stay, he was guarded down, clothed all in white, waistcoat, stockings, drawers and cap, over which was cast a long mourning cloak.

He was then conducted to the dungeon, still attended by a few of his friends, and they spent some time in prayer.

After the prayers, George Strangwayes said:

Having said that, he took his solemn last leave of all his lamenting friends, and prepared himself for the dreadful assault of Death, with whom he was speedily to encounter. He desired his friends, when he gave the signal, to lay on the weights, and they placed themselves at the corners of the press for that purpose. His arms and legs were extended, according to the sentence, in which action he cried out:

Then crying with a sprightly voice:

However, it was noted that they soon perceived that the weight they laid on was not sufficient to put him suddenly out of pain, so several of them added their own weight, that they might the sooner release his soul.

It was said that whilst he was dying, it was horrible to all who stood by, as well as dreadful to himself, to see the agonies he was put into, and hear his loud and doleful groans. However, the dismal scene was over in about eight or ten minutes, after which it was said that his spirit departed, and left her tortured mansion, till the great day that shall unite them again.

His body, having lain some time in the press, was then brought forth and exposed to public view, so that a great many beheld the bruises made by the press, one angle of which being purposely placed over his heart, he was the sooner deprived of life, though he was denied what is usual in such cases, to have a sharp piece of timber under his back to hasten the execution.

His body appeared void of scars, and not deformed with blood, save where the extremities of the press came on the breasts and upper part of the belly. his face was bloody, not from any external injury, but the violent forcing of the blood from the larger vessels into the veins of the face and eyes.

After his dead corpse had been thus examined it was put into a coffin, and in a cart that attended at the prison door conveyed to Christ Church, where it was interred.

It was noted that whilst under sentence he wrote the following letter to a major and a member of parlaiment, who had married one of his sisters:

It was noted that George Strangwayes had often fallen into most impetuous storms of rage at the sight of Mr Fussel, and had offered him odds in length of weapon, to fight with him. Once in particular he met him in Westminster Hall, when they had a cause there depending, and told him that Calico Sands was a much fitter place for them, who were both Cavaliers, to dispute in, than that court, where most of the judges were their enemies. However, Mr Fussel not only refused that way of deciding their quarrel, but indicted him as a challenger, which added fuel to his former rage, and put him upon the dreadful manner of satisfying his passion for which he suffered.