Jeremiah Callaghan

Jeremiah Callaghan was convicted of the murder of Hannah Shea 38 and sentenced to death. He cut her throat on Saturday 4 October 1902 near Bedwelty Workhouse in Tredegar, Wales with a pocket knife. They had lived together for some years and had six children together, four of whom were still alive, but had separated and Jeremiah Callaghan thought that Hannah Shea was seeing other men. At the time Jeremiah Callaghan was living in a lodging house in Tredegar whilst Hannah Shea was living in the workhouse with their children. They had met up in Tredegar and gone around some pubs together and then whilst Hannah Shea was walking back to the workhouse Jeremiah Callaghan jumped on Hannah Shea and cut her throat. It was thought that the motive for the murder was obscure, but thought to be apparently passion arising from drink and a violent temper. The murder was described in the police report as a squalid tragedy in low life. Hannah Shea had frequently been in and out of the workhouse. Jeremiah Callaghan had worked as a mason's labourer. Hannah Shea had come out of the workhouse earlier in the morning but was going back again the same night and Jeremiah Callaghan had been called from his work by his son and he went to meet Hannah Shea outside a public house where he charged her with drinking and knocked her down. They then separated, but it was not known where Hannah Shea had gone. Jeremiah Callaghan later went to Hannah Shea's father's house and asked for Hannah Shea there and told him that he would be hanged for her and that he would cut her throat, but it was observed that he had often uttered similar threats before and her father thought nothing of what he said, noting that he just thought that Jeremiah Callaghan was jealous of Hannah Shea Jeremiah Callaghan then had a glass of rum but it was said that he showed no signs of drink. Jeremiah Callaghan and Hannah Shea met again at 5pm and it was noted that Jeremiah Callaghan was then in a bad temper. They then went to the Black Prince public house where they had three quarts of beer between the three of them and it was said that when they came out that Jeremiah Callaghan was considerably under the influence of liquor. His son said, 'My father fell down. He got up by himself', and 'Father was staggering, he fell down again', referring to when they were on their way to the workhouse. A little further down they met a woman and it was said that Hannah Shea said, 'Are you going home' to which she said, 'Aye' and that Jeremiah Callaghan replied, 'I'll give you aye, you b-----', after which Jeremiah Callaghan's son said in evidence, 'My father rushed her from one wall to the other' and that he then ran away. Another witness said 'He put his hand in his trousers pocket and took out a knife', and said that he then cut Hannah Shea's throat so deeply that she almost died immediately. The police report noted that the only question for the Home Office was the one of drink, with it being noted that he had been seen to fall down several times, but with one witness saying that when they saw Jeremiah Callaghan fall over it was rough, although he was under the influence of drink . However, a doctor that later saw Jeremiah Callaghan said that whilst he was under the influence of drink, he could talk and that there was not the slightest thing to suggest that he had been suffering from delirium tremens. The master of the workhouse said, 'I thought he had been drinking. He could walk and talk. He seemed very cool and collected. He went into the yard, stood amongst the men there and then began dancing and capering about'. Also a police superintendent said that when he found Jeremiah Callaghan in the workhouse yard with a number of other men that he was walking about smoking his pipe and said that he as very much the worse for drink but that he could walk and talk very well although he smelt very strongly of liquor. When Jeremiah Callaghan was sentenced the jury made no recommendation to mercy and the police report stated that though the facts show that Jeremiah Callaghan had been under the influence of drink when he committed the murder, that they did not prove that he had been in such a state of drunkenness that he had not known what he was doing, or to constitute irresponsibility for his acts. Further, it was noted that it was a significant fact that Jeremiah Callaghan, who was said to have been in the habit of ill-treating Hannah Shea, had thrown her down in the street before he had stated drinking and that he had also on the day told her father that he would cut her throat and be hanged for her at a time when he was sober. Jeremiah Callaghan made a number of statements after his sentence, one being: 'The whole cause of this trouble happened 12 months ago. A soldier of the RMEM returned from South Africa, I was drinking with him for several days, and I believe it was on the Friday afternoon he had beer and whisky in the house he was staying, we went there to drink, but quarrelled, and I went home, my wife was then at home, she went to fetch me a pint of beer in a tin jack, but she never returned, and sent my little girl back with the tin jack empty. Sometime afterwards, I went back to his house thinking my wife was there drinking, there was two men there besides the soldier and a woman (a bad woman). I did not see my wife, they would not let me in, and this made me more sure she was there. I sent for a policeman and told him, in plain language what was going on in the house. The policeman eventually locked me up for creating a disturbance, next morning I was released and found my wife was gone to the workhouse. I made enquiries where she stayed the night before and another woman told me she stayed at her house. Afterwards my little girl (aged 9) told me she stayed at the house with the soldier and others. It was and is still my belief she was drinking this beer and whisky until drunk and that these men took advantage of her. I pray to God she was not guilty. I could trust her anywhere or with anyone if sober. Her conduct towards me afterwards seemed altered, always trying to avoid me, but occasionally staying with me for a night or two when I happened to meet her, she would come out of the workhouse during my working hours and return again before I left work, all this used to make me suspicious. On one occasion about 6 or 7 months ago we met and had some drink, we agreed to go to Rhymney to look for a house, when we got about half way to Rhymey on top of the mountain, the thought came to me to kill her and I had my knife at her throat, but my heart failed me and we turned back to Tredegar. On the Saturday this happened, I knew she was coming out, the boy told me so the Sunday previous and I was on the lookout for her. I saw the boy and told him to wait till I had my money, and during the time I was unloading a waggon she went by on the other side of the street, I beckoned to her but she did not see me or pretended not to, when I got my money me and the boy went to look for her visiting several public houses and also her father's. I did not say a word to him about killing her, or hanging for her, but told him she only came out of the workhouse to get money from her eldest illegitimate daughter by another man to get drink. We found her after a time and I asked her why she did not stop when I beckoned her and if she was fooling me, she replied that she did not see me and turning to the boy she asked him if he had what she sent him for, he produced a order from the relieving officer to return to the workhouse that night, I made a grab for it, and in the scuffle it went down on the pavement, I did not knock her down as stated in evidence, but it was in my mind to give her a kick, but thank God I did not do it. We afterwards went into a public house and had some drink. My wages was 12/2 that week and I had 7d besides, the police now have 6/- and I believe the remainder went in drink, except 7d. I paid to get my little girls boots out of pawn. I think my wife had a few pence left out of 3/- she snatched from me, but afterwards returned 1/6 and paid for a quart of beer and three pennyworth of whisky. I do not remember that we quarrelled afterwards I went with her towards the workhouse. I was telling about a house that I knew was vacant, but we were both too drunk to see about it that night. I did not have hold of her wrist, but we were walking hand in hand. All at once the thought flashed across my mind to kill her (As on the mountain going to Rhymney). I do not remember taking my knife from my pocket, but I have a faint recollection of doing the deed, neither do I remember seeing any people there or falling down but my knuckles was cut and the knee of my trousers. I did not know she was dead for certain till the Monday afterwards, but I had a suspicion by noticing the police watching me in my cell'. An internal police report detailed Jeremiah Callaghan's voluntary statement and addressed each point and concluded that there was nothing material that could not be mitigated by other evidence and facts. It was also noted in the same report that another consideration was a petition for his reprieve, claiming that he had suffered from delirium tremens two months before the murder, but it was noted that he had only been in the hospital for five days on that occasion and that his only delusion was that he could not sleep. A number of other points were also raised in the petition but they too were all thought to be either groundless or readily mitigated. Jeremiah Callaghan was convicted and sentenced to death and executed at Usk, Monmouth, on Friday 12 December 1902. Two representatives from the press were allowed to witness the execution. He was said to have walked unassisted to the scaffold. Jeremiah Callaghan was a mason's labourer who stabbed to death Mrs Hannah Shee, a mother of four, with whom he lived at Tredegar. She was about to enter a workhouse when he killed her. His defence claimed he was suffering from 'Delirium Tremens', and he suffered a fit while in the dock. He was visited by her children in the condemned cell before he was hanged by William and John Billington. The sentence was carried out in Usk on the 12th December 1902, Callaghan was forty two at the time. This Is From A Forum link Jeremiah Callaghan, an Irishman known to his friends as 'Jerry Canteen' as he had served in the Army, had been the lover of Hannah Shea for a number of years and they had four living children as a result of their relationship. Callaghan, though, led a somewhat precarious life, seldom working and therefore unable to provide a stable family home for himself, Hannah and their children. As a result, he lived in a lodging house at Tredegar whilst Hannah, together with her son and three daughters, stayed at a workhouse or wherever else they could find a bed for the night. In October 1902, 38 year old Hannah and her children were living at the Bedwellty Union workhouse, which was actually in Tredegar. They still met up with Callaghan on a regular basis, usually over the weekends but this enforced separation, even though it was largely due to his own inactivity, led Callaghan to brooding on his situation and slowly he managed to convince himself that the reason Hannah did not seem too perturbed by it all, was that she had possibly found herself another man. He also believed that she was spending what little money she did have on drink. On Saturday, October 4th, Hannah and her family, together with a number of friends, left the Union workhouse to walk into Tredegar to see Callaghan who, during one of his brief periods of employment, had taken work there as a stonemason's labourer. Once the group arrived in the town, Hannah sent her 14 year old son, also named Jeremiah, to see Mr Phillips, the relieving officer for the district, and ask him for a note which would allow them to return to the workhouse that night. Jeremiah did as he was asked and, having obtained the note, started to walk back towards the railway station where he had left Hannah. Passing down Commercial Road, Jeremiah Shea called in at Mr Morgan's yard, at the top of North Lane, where his father was working and told him that the family had arrived in town. Callaghan asked Jeremiah where Hannah was. The boy said he was just going off to look for her whereupon his father told him to wait until he had finished work and picked up his pay, when they would go and look for her together. In due course, Callaghan left the stone yard and started to search for Hannan in the various public houses dotted around the town. One of his first ports of call was the Crap Pub (Sorry this is an edit by Pierre but you will know which pub this is!). There Callaghan found Mrs Price and Mary Clifford, two of the fellow workhouse inmates who had walked into town with Hannah, but Hannah herself was nowhere to be seen. Seeing Callaghan there, Mary Clifford went outside to him and told him that Hannah had gone along Commercial Road with Mrs Prothero, another of the group. Mary added that Hannah had gone to get a note so they could return to the workhouse. This immediately raised Callaghan's suspicions of course for his son had just told him that he had done the exact same thing. Walking back along Commercial Road, Callaghan and Jeremiah came to the Miners Inn where they found Hannah, Mrs Prothero and her son, outside. Not surprisingly, Callaghan immediately accused Hannah of drinking and when she denied it, he grabbed hold of her and threw her to the ground. Hannah climbed to her feet and with her son following, walked up Church Street where she found a policeman and complained to him that she had just been assaulted by Callaghan. He too had followed and now asked Jeremiah to come with him. Jeremiah refused and Callaghan then walked away leaving Hannah and her son to return to the Miners Inn where Mrs Prothero had remained. A few minutes later, Hannah, Jeremiah and Mrs Prothero went back to see Mr Phillips again and then walked on to the Circle where Callaghan happened to be. He, on seeing Hannah approach, asked them all to go and have a drink with him. At first they refused but soon changed their minds and all went off together to the Black Prince, where they drank two or three quarts of beer, all of which Callaghan paid for. After finishing their drinks, the group all left together and began to walk back towards the railway station. Callaghan, who was by now quite drunk, fell down by the market but managed to pull himself up and carry on to the station. When they arrived there Callaghan said "We are by here now aren't we?" apparently not even sure where he was. Told that they were on the right road, they all carried on walking towards the workhouse. Along the way, Callaghan, who was by now staggering, fell down for a second time and had to grasp Hannah's wrist to pull himself up. They continued along the road until finally they arrived at the narrow path which led up to the workhouse. Jeremiah Shea and two of his sisters were slightly in front of Hannah and Callaghan, and his other sister, who were walking along together, about five or six yards behind. It was then that Hannah saw Jane Hannam, a friend of hers who worked at the Union, and the two ladies exchanged the time of day, Jane asking Hannah if she was heading back to the workhouse. Even as Hannah answered 'aye', Jane saw Callaghan, who up to now had his hands in his pockets, turn around and something shiny glinted in his right hand as he took it from his pocket. With a cry of "I'll give you 'aye' you bugger." Callaghan pushed Hannah against a brick wall, drawing something across her throat as he did so. Hannah somehow managed to push Callaghan away and then ran down the hill as Jeremiah Shea started to throw stones at his father to distract him. Callaghan turned and moved menacingly towards Jeremiah and his sisters who all ran away. They managed to shake Callaghan off but by the time Jeremiah returned to where he had last seen his mother, Hannah was lying on the path at the bottom of the hill with a rapidly growing crowd gathered around her. Sarah Jane Morris lived at 67 Whitworth Terrace, Tredegar, and worked as a cleaner at the Union workhouse. She had left work at 6.20pm on October 4th and was standing talking to her boyfriend, John Williams, on the pathway to the workhouse, when she heard a terrible scream fill the air. Running further down the hill, towards the place from which the scream had emanated, Sarah passed Jeremiah Shea who was on the way up, running from his father. A short distance further down, Sarah passed Callaghan who by now was leaning against a wall for support. Further still down the hill, Sarah saw Hannah running and finally falling. She ran to where the stricken woman lay and supported her. Sarah could not help but notice the deep wound in Hannah's throat but with Hannah's blood seeping over her own clothing, Sarah rendered what aid she could. It was at this point that William John Pritchard, a collier from Tredegar, came upon the scene, having heard the scream himself and dashed to see what was happening. He took the apron that Sarah Morris was wearing and wrapped it around Hannah's throat in an attempt to staunch the bleeding. Even as he did so, Amy Lucy Pearl, a trained nurse, also arrived at the scene, on her way back from a trip into the town. She gave instructions to Mr Pritchard as to what he should do, whilst she fetched her first-aid kit. Seeing that Hannah was in good hands, Amy then walked on up to the workhouse where she saw Callaghan in the yard. She told William Thomas, the master, what had happened down the hill and then went back to where Hannah still lay. Nothing could be done for the poor woman though and within minutes, Hannah Shea had breathed her last. Her body was carried back up to the workhouse and laid out in the mortuary there. Mr Thomas, the workhouse master, hearing that Hannah Shea was dead, summoned Callaghan into his office and told him to sit down. Callaghan sat down on the sofa and asked to see his children. William Thomas replied "Not just now." at which Callaghan calmly took his pipe from his right hand coat pocket and lit up. As he did so, Mr Thomas noticed that Callaghan's hands were heavily stained with blood, a fact to which he appeared to be totally oblivious. Having given instructions that Callaghan was to be detained, Mr Thomas then followed his prisoner out into the yard where Callaghan began dancing and capering about. By the next day, Sunday, October 5th, Callaghan had sobered up and expressed complete surprise that he should be facing a charge of murder. He claimed to have no memory of any of the events which had led to Hannah Shea's death. Taken into custody, Callaghan made his first appearance at a special hearing of the Tredegar police court on Monday, October 6th. Evidence of arrest was given, after which Callaghan was asked if he had anything to say before he was remanded. Callaghan asked only that he be allowed to see his children but was again told that as they were in the workhouse, it would not be possible that day. The inquest opened on October 7th before Mr James Berry Walford and after hearing all the evidence, the jury took just a few minutes to return the expected verdict of wilful murder against Callaghan who was then committed for trial on the Coroner's warrant. Six days later, on Monday, October 13th, Callaghan was again before the magistrates when a further remand was ordered, until October 21st. On that date, Mr R.H. Spencer detailed the case for the Director of Public Prosecutions whilst Callaghan was represented by Mr Sydney Jenkins. All the witnesses were heard and the prisoner was again committed to the next assizes. Having been sent for trial by both the police court and the coroner's court, 42 year old Jeremiah Callaghan appeared before Mr John Forbes Q.C., the recorder of Hull, at Monmouth on November 22nd, 1902. The case for the prosecution was led by Mr J.R.V. Marchant who was assisted by Mr St. John G. Micklethwait. Callaghan was defended by Mr Harold Hardy. The first witness for the prosecution was Elizabeth Prothero, who testified that when the party had left the Black Prince, Callaghan had been quite intoxicated, but she would not describe him as actually drunk. Earlier that day, Elizabeth had witnessed the argument between Callaghan and Hannah, when he had first found her outside the Miners Inn. Callaghan had said, as he knocked Hannah down, that she was making fun of him but she had shouted that she was laughing at the antics of Elizabeth's son. Once the altercation was over, the couple seemed to be on good terms again and were quite friendly towards each other whilst they were inside the bar at the Black Prince. Frank Shea of 10 Iron Street, Tredegar, was the father of the dead woman. He stated that although Hannah had been a single woman, her association with Callaghan had led to the birth of six children, four of whom were still alive. Shea said that he had seen Callaghan drunk many times and when he was in that state, he often threatened Hannah and knocked her about. On more than one occasion, Shea had heard Callaghan say that he '.....would be hanged for her.', the last time being on October 4th, the day of Hannah's death. That afternoon, between 2.00pm and 2.30pm, Callaghan had called at Shea's house and asked him if he had seen Hannah. When Shea said he hadn't, Callaghan asked if 16 year old Mary, another of Hannah's children but by another man, had come home. Told that she was not in either, Callaghan then went on to claim that Hannah had come into town from the workhouse to take some money from Mary. Both men then left the house to look for Mary and it was as they searched that Callaghan remarked that he would be hanged for her and cut her throat. Frank did not take the threat seriously and told him not to talk such rubbish. The two men called in at the Punch House where Callaghan had a beer and Frank had a rum. After this they went to the railway station, where they met Mary from her train and all three then walked as far as the Town Clock together. By then it was around 3.00pm and Callaghan left them, to search for Hannah. Jeremiah Shea told the court what he had seen on October 4th and added that Callaghan had fallen over several times on the walk back to the workhouse. Once he had even been carrying Bridget, one of his daughters, when he fell, but the child had fortunately not been hurt. Jane Hannam told of meeting Hannah as she was returning to the workhouse. When she asked Hannah if she was going back to the Union, even before she had replied 'aye', Callaghan had said "This will be your last home here." He pulled out a knife and pulled Hannah from side to side in order to draw the knife across her throat. Sarah Jane Morris told the court that she was standing talking to her boyfriend when the attack upon Hannah Shea took place. As she and John Williams ran past Callaghan to see what help they could offer to the stricken woman, they heard Callaghan shout "Where's them children?" When Sarah caught up with Hannah, the poor woman was holding the left side of her neck and as Sarah helped to support her, John Williams ran to fetch help. This testimony was confirmed by Mr Williams, an engine driver of 49 Whitworth Terrace who added that when he passed Callaghan, he was picking up some paper from the floor and wiped some of the blood from his hands with it. He came upon the scene and saw Hannah being tended to by Amy Pearl. Seeing the blood, Williams went to the police station and reported the matter to Superintendent Allen and also requested that medical assistance be sent. William Pritchard, in addition to relating what he had seen at the time of the attack, also said that he had seen Callaghan and Hannah earlier that same day. It was around 6.20pm when he saw the entire family close to Lewis Price's shop. At the time, Callaghan was holding Hannah's wrist for support and seemed to be far from sober. Pritchard watched the group for perhaps 20 yards before Callaghan fell down in the gutter and had to be helped up by Hannah. In addition to saying what she had seen on October 4th, Amy Pearl also stated that on October 5th, she had stripped Hannah's body at the workhouse and found a purse containing just a few half-penny coins. On the back of Hannah's left hand, a scrap of paper was stuck to the flesh with congealed blood. Upon looking closer, Amy found that it was part of the relieving officer's admission order which would enable Hannah and her family to get back into the workhouse. Finally, Amy was able to state that Callaghan had himself been an inmate of the workhouse some eight months before this incident and at the time, had been suffering from a slight attack of delirium tremens. Dr Isaac Crawford had been called to the scene of the attack at around 6.35pm. When he arrived, Hannah was still alive and he saw a deep incised wound on the left side of her neck. The jugular vein had been severed and despite the ministrations of him and Amy Pearl, Hannah died at 6.45pm, before the ambulance, which had been summoned, arrived. The next day, Dr Crawford performed the postmortem. The wound he had observed had been inflicted with great force and in addition to the jugular, two other main arteries had been cut. In addition, there was a recent injury to Hannah's head, though this was not serious, and it had almost certainly been caused when Callaghan knocked her down earlier that day. Dr Crawford had also attended the workhouse and seen Callaghan there. The prisoner was certainly under the influence of drink but he could speak and there was nothing to suggest that he was suffering from delirium tremens at the time, although he did add that the symptoms could disappear quite quickly. He also confirmed that delirium tremens was a recurrent condition which caused permanent disability in the nerve tissues. The final prosecution witness was Superintendent Francis Allen. Having been informed of the incident by John Williams, he went to the scene, getting there at 6.35pm, just before Hannah died. Leaving the woman in the hands of Dr Crawford, Allen went on up to the workhouse where he saw Callaghan in the yard, with several other men, walking around and smoking a pipe. Callaghan was taken back inside, cautioned and then charged him with murder. The prisoner was then searched and Superintendent Allen found a knife in Callaghan's left waistcoat pocket. It was wet with blood. The search also revealed a small Irish whiskey bottle, which was empty, and 6s in cash. The backs of both of Callaghan's hands were covered with blood. The next day, Allen made a careful search of the pathway which led up to the workhouse and found the other portion of the admission ticket which Hannah had with her when she was attacked. For Callaghan, the defence claimed that the attack had taken place during a momentary outburst of insane propensity, brought on by delirium tremens, although Dr Boulton, the surgeon of Cardiff prison, had found no evidence of insanity. Callaghan himself testified that he had no recollection of the events and the morning after, had asked why he was in prison. Mr Hardy claimed in his closing speech that where the intention to commit a crime was essential to a case, then whether a man is drunk or not was of the utmost importance. He quoted the case of Regina versus Cox which had stated "If delirium tremens caused a degree of madness, even if only temporary, it relieved a prisoner from criminal responsibility for any act committed by him." The jury were out for 35 minutes and whilst they were considering their verdict, Callaghan appeared to be oblivious to the seriousness of his situation, engaging his solicitor in casual conversation whilst he awaited the verdict. When it came, the verdict was that Callaghan was guilty as charged. After the sentence had been passed, Mr Forbes added "I don't wish by any words of mine to aggravate the painful situation in which you stand, but from the circumstances under which you committed the murder, I can hold out to you no hope of reprieve." On December 10th, those words were confirmed when the Home Office informed Callaghan's solicitor that the Home Secretary had found no grounds for recommending a reprieve to His Majesty. Two days later, on Friday, December 12th, 1902, Jeremiah Callaghan was hanged at Usk prison by William and John Billington. It was a dull morning, with a bitterly cold east wind blowing about the prison walls. Daylight was only just breaking as Callaghan, who had spent a restless night, took his position on the trapdoor. He kissed the crucifix the priest held to his lips and cried out "Holy mother pray for me. Jesu help me." before the lever was pulled and his body plunged into the pit. The condemned man's last request had been that his children should be brought up as Catholics. There is a small addition to this...that his neighbours and friends thought him incapable of the murder (this is only from "stories" spoken by my grandmother heard from her mother...) - and that he would never have harmed Hannah to the point of death and that he was given to fits so he would not remember things that had occured previously! My Great grandmother died in 1915 and had said that she would believe an "unlucky blow" may have killed her (Hannah) but that he would have cut her throat would have been unbelievable! Heres a link to the work house Cut the throat of Hannah Shea aged 38 near Bedwelty Workhouse, Tredegar on Saturday, 4th October, 1902.