Daniel Good

Daniel Good was convicted of the murder of Jane Jones and sentenced to death. The trunk of Jane Jones was found in the stalls of some stables in Park Lane, Putney, 6 April 1842 without its limbs and head, and some bones were found in a harness room nearly consumed by fire. Daniel Good was seen with Jane Jones on 3 April 1842 heading towards Putney. They had been seeing each other for about three years. They were seen stopping at pubs, and she was identified by her blue bonnet and dark shawl. It was noted that she had appeared reluctant to drink. Nothing more was seen of her again and it was never determined how or where, exactly she died. Daniel Good denied killing her or dismembering her body throughout. Jane Jones had lodged at 18 South Street, Manchester Square, with Daniel Good's little boy and before going out with Daniel Good on 3 April 1842, she left the little boy with a neighbour. The following day, 4 April Daniel Good went to see the neighbour to collect the child, telling her that Jane Jones had: xxxqxxx Gone to a place xxxqxxx He then took the child to a woman that lived at Priest Bridge where he stayed from the Tuesday 4 April to 7 April 1842. However, on 6 April 1842 the police went to the stables at Putney on an unrelated theft complaint and in the fourth stall they uncover the dismembered trunk of a woman hidden under hay. They then soon after found the remains of human bones, skull and limb fragments, in a large over-prepared fire in the harness-room. Following the discovery Daniel Good locked the police constable and a youth inside the stable from outside and fled. He was later arrested on 16 April 1842 near Tunbridge disguised as a labourer. The motive for the murder wasn't known, but it was thought to have been partly because Jane Jones had become an encumbrance to him as she had a child and sometimes resisted his demands and didn't want to go drinking with him. He was also said to have been seeing two other women, one who he was living with in South Street and another women he was courting in Woolwich to whom he gave Jane Jones's bonnet, boots, gown and tippet almost immediately after the murder, telling her they were his dead wife’s. It was also thought he might have killed her for money and property as after killing her he ransacked her lodgings and took her clothes, furniture, bedding and personal items, most of which he pawned. The landlady at 18 South Street said that Jane Jones took lodgings with her three years earlier in the name of Jane Jones but later went by the name of Jane Good within about six months of taking them. She said that Daniel Good started to come and see Jane Jones from about the same time she came to lodge with her and that he never said who he was, only saying he was a friend, but that when Jane Jones changed her name he started calling her his wife. xxx2xxx She said that Jane Jones had a little 8-year-old boy, but said that she was told that the boy’s mother was dead. She said that she last saw Jane Jones on Sunday 3 April 1842 when she went out, at which time she had been dressed in a blue bonnet, black ground shawl, with flowers on it of different colours, and a mingled cotton dress. She said that the little boy went to school at about 2pm, and didn't see him again until the following day, noting that she didn't know that he didn't stay at her place that night. She noted that Jane Jones took in washing and kept a mangle and had a board painted up that said: xxxqxxx Mangling done by J, Good. xxxqxxx She said that on 4 April 1842 that Daniel Good called and told her that Jane Jones had gone to her place, and would not return to her room again at all. She noted that Daniel Good had earlier told her, around 21 March 1842, that Jane Jones would be leaving around 4 April 1842 as she had got a situation to take care of a gentleman's lodge, about four miles from where he was then living as servant. Jane Jones's last movements on 3 April 1842 were: Jane Jones leaves 18 South Street with Daniel Good. She made arrangements for a neighbour to look after her little boy, saying that she would collect him the next day. A confectioner saw Jane Jones and Daniel Good walking towards Barnes. He said she was wearing a blue bonnet and dark shawl. They were seen in the Coach and Horses at Barnes about 4pm by the landlord. At about 4.30pm they called at the house of a woman in Priest Bridge, near Roehampton, and had a cup of tea. Daniel Good asked the woman if she could take their boy, but she refused as she was going to London, but said that when she later returned home that night she found that the little boy was at her house and that he stayed the night and left the next day. They were seen walking together about 6.20pm by a police constable who said they appeared to be arguing. They were next seen between 7pm and 8pm by the landlord at the George Royal at Roehampton. He noted that Jane Jones had appeared reluctant to drink but that Daniel Good pressed her. The cook at the stables where Daniel Good worked said that she saw Daniel Good about 1pm on the Sunda, and again at 7.30pm and then later at 9.30pm. On the Monday, Daniel Good called at 18 South Street in the morning and told the landlady that Jane Jones had gone to a place. He then removed the boy from the woman's place and took him to another woman at Priest Bridge. About midday he called on laundress and removed sheets that Jane Jones was supposed to collect, claiming he hadn’t seen her. Then at 3pm he pawned Jane Jones's gown and shawls at a shop and redeemed her umbrella, and said that he was going out of town. Later at South Street, he was noted for changing his story about where Jane Jones was. The cook noted that she saw Daniel Good at about 9pm on the Monday night, and noted that the following morning he was very dirty, saying that she said: xxxqxxx Daniel, you are very dirty, you are not fit to sit down with us, you are like a sweep. xxxqxxx She said that he then told her that he was going to wash and shave himself. She noted that he was very black at the time and that he had claimed that he had been cleaning harnesses. It was thought that he had burned Jane Jones's bones on the Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning. On the Wednesday, 6 April 1842 a police constable said that he went to the stable in Park Lane, in consequence of a charge by a tradesman. He said that the stable was about 200 yards from the main house and that he went there with two lads and that when he got there he saw Daniel Good and told him that he had come to take him into custody on a charge of stealing a pair of black trousers from a tradesman. He said that in response, Daniel Good replied: xxxqxxx Yes, I bought a pair of breeches of him, and I did not pay him for them. xxxqxxx He said that Daniel Good pulled out his purse and said: xxxqxxx You can take the money to him. xxxqxxx However, the police constable replied: xxxqxxx No, that has nothing to do with the charge I have come upon. xxxqxxx He said that Daniel Good then replied: xxxqxxx Very well, then I will go with you to Wandsworth, and settle with him. xxxqxxx However, the police constable said that he then asked Daniel Good if he would allow him to examine the chaise and the stable, previous to going to Wandsworth, to search for the trousers, to which he said Daniel Good agreed. He noted that one of the lads, aged about 10 had been Daniel Good's son. He said that he asked the other lad, who was older to stay with Daniel Good whilst he searched the chaise and stable. The police constable said that when he went into the harness-room from the stable-yard, after a few moments, that Daniel Good came over again and said: xxxqxxx We will go to Wandsworth now and settle it. xxxqxxx He said that at that moment the gardner came over and asked what the matter was and the police constable told him that he had come to take Daniel Good and that he was searching for some trousers. He said that he then told Daniel Good that he would not go until searched the stable, at which point Daniel Good was standing at the stable-door with the door just open, ajar. He noted that Daniel Good had not stopped him going in, but that he had stood at the door as if he didn't wish him to go in. xxx4xxx He said that he then searched the first and second stalls of the stable, found nothing, and then crossed over to search the corn-bin, and that whilst searching the bin that Daniel Good again said: xxxqxxx Let us go to Wandsworth, and have it settled. xxxqxxx But that he replied: xxxqxxx No, I will not go till I have made a more diligent search. xxxqxxx He said that Daniel Good then walked down to the fourth stall and that he saw him move a truss of hay from one side of the stall to the other and that he followed him down and told him that he desired him stand by the other lad and didn't require his assistance. The police constable then said: xxxqxxx I then moved the hay from where he had put it. It was in the direction he had moved it to, but there were several trusses there. I cannot swear it was the same truss. I moved two trusses and some loose hay which was underneath, and discovered something laying, which appeared to me to be a goose, it was a piece of flesh. I said, 'What is this? this is a goose', loud enough for everybody in the stable to hear. At that moment I heard the stable-door shut, looked round, and the prisoner was gone. I ran to the door, tried to open it, and found it was fastened outside. The lad found a two-pronged hay-fork in the stable, and commenced prizing the door. I assisted him, but could not open it. I went back to be positive as to what I had seen in the stall. The two lads and the gardner followed me. I moved the remainder of the hay off, and thought it was a pig. I found it was the trunk of a female, the body. It was laying on its abdomen with the back uppermost. The lad turned it over. I had no difficulty then in discerning that it was a woman. The arms were cut off at the shoulders, and the legs cut off at the upper part of the thigh. The head severed from the body at the lower part of the neck, and the thigh-bone was taken off right at the hip. it was quite gone. The belly was cut open, and the bowels taken out. I then went to the door, and succeeded in breaking out. The head and all the four limbs were gone. I made a further search an hour and a half after. I had not left the stable. I searched in a third stall with another constable, removed several trusses of straw, and under it found a mattress rolled up, and two blankets rolled up in it. I unfolded the mattress, and discovered a large stain on it, apparently of urine. It was not wet. I saw some blood close to where the body was laying. There was very little, and it appeared to be dry. I left the mattress and things in charge of the police. They have since been burnt. xxxqxxx Following that, Daniel Good and there was a national manhunt for him. He first went to South Street where he removed a bed and boxes, telling a cabman that he had lost his keys and used a screwdriver to open the kitchen. Later that evening he went to the Spotted Dog in the Strand with the other woman he had been seeing, and booked the bed and boxes under an alias of Stanley. The following day he moved the bed and boxes to the Spotted Dog, then on to Flower & Dean Street in Spitalfields. Then at breakfast with the other woman he remarked: xxxqxxx That b—ch won’t trouble you anymore. xxxqxxx He then pawned some the bed and some bedding along with the contents of a trunk at a pawnbroker for £2 10s, stating that he had just come in by the railway and wanted to go into the country. He also pawned a bundle of women's wearing apparel, and some odd china, including two mantillas, a white scarf, shawl, a black figured shawl, and some odd cups and saucers. The following day he went to see his sweetheart in Woolwich and gave her Jane Jones's bonnet, boots, gown, and tippet, saying they were his 'dead wife’s', adding that he planned to also giver her Jane Jones's mangle from South Street. He was also noted as encouraging his boy to call his sweetheart 'mother'. From then on until 16 April 1842 Daniel Good lay low, between Woolwich, Spitalfields, and countryside haunts, until he was eventually arrested at the Angel public house at the southern extremity of Tunbridge. He had been posing as a bricklayer looking for work, but had aroused suspicion as his hod was brand new, which was described as being unusual given the economic climate. He had arrived at the Monday, and nothing much happened between then and the Saturday when a man employed on the railway works thought that he looked like the man wanted for the murder of Jane Jones and informed a police inspector who too was taken back by his perfect likeness to that of the murderer as described in hand bills and the Hue and cry. The police inspector then invited Daniel Good for a drink at the Angel and when they arrived he left him there in the charge of two constables with handcuffs on. Whilst at the Angel it was found that he had a number of items about him that he tried to hide, or put in the fire. xxx3xxx He was tried at the Old Bailey on 9 May 1842 and convicted of murder and sentenced to death. He was executed at Newgate on the morning of Monday 23 May 1842. It was noted that whilst in the condemned cell, he repeatedly denied having killed Jane Jones, stating: xxxqxxx I never took a life. I would not deny it at all if I were guilty. xxxqxxx And: xxxqxxx If I had I would tell you… for you are the man I love; I love the ground on which you tread. xxxqxxx On the morning of Monday, 23 May 1842, Daniel Good was executed outside Newgate Prison before a vast and unruly crowd. The authorities had been forewarned of the interest the case had aroused, but even so, the turnout was immense. As early as four o’clock, groups began to assemble around the Old Bailey. By six o’clock, over 200 City police under Major Shaw, reinforced by Metropolitan officers, had been stationed in the vicinity to hold the line against the swelling numbers. The demand for vantage points was extraordinary. The houses directly opposite the gaol became temporary grandstands for the morbidly curious. Entire buildings were let at 'enormous prices' to 'sight-seeking lovers.' In some cases, casement windows were physically removed and raised seating erected within to accommodate paying spectators. One 'noble lord,' the reports noted, was pointed out as a constant devotee of hangings, having attended the last four or five. His 'seat' at a window opposite fetched the startling price of £15. Roofs were likewise crowded, packed with men and women, with every possible perch pressed into service. The press declared the mass of human beings greater than at any execution since that of Fauntleroy in 1824. The scene, however, was no hushed civic ritual. It had the atmosphere of a fairground. Ribaldry, coarse jokes, drunkenness and debauchery were rife among the waiting thousands. As the drop was tested and the scaffold set, the throng jeered, jostled, and treated the whole grim spectacle as a form of public entertainment. As the procession moved from the condemned cell to the scaffold, Daniel Good walked with a steady step, uttering prayers and imploring Heaven to save his soul. Yet when he was placed beneath the gallows, his composure wavered. The mob, enormous and unruly, greeted him with hideous yells and long, sustained execrations. Still, Good tried to hold himself firm. The hangman, Calcraft, stepped forward to draw the cap over his face, and it was then that Good made his final, futile attempt to speak. xxxqxxx Stop, stop! xxxqxxx He cried, straining against the procedure. His voice carried above the roar of the crowd, his urgency plain, he wanted to address the multitude before him. Reporters noted that he appeared: xxxqxxx anxious to address the crowd xxxqxxx As though a last declaration of innocence, or perhaps some explanation, might yet sway opinion or vindicate him in death. However, there was no reprieve. Within seconds, the bolt was drawn and Daniel Good was launched into eternity, his words cut off before they could become a final speech. A Broadside from the execution included a ballad of his crime, the verses of which read: xxxqxxx Tune – 'The Waggon Train.' Is their no mercy death is pressing, Oh save me from my awful doom, Despised by all, by all unblessing, Dark cruel man thy hour is come. Why was I from virtue swerving, So deep in guilt and crime did run, My end is dreadful but deserving, I suffer for the deeds I’ve done. I spent my youth in scenes pernicious, And in idleness I pass’d my time, My morals bad, my mind was vicious, And thus ran on from crime to crime; Poor dogs tormented at my leisure, Nor heeded I their pain or cries, Their agonies to me was pleasure, With hot lead oft put out their eyes. As older grew and soon was hired, A gentleman’s servant I became, With wickedness my mind was fired, And cruelty I own with shame; A harmless horse without occasion, I punished cruel helpless brute, I confess the truth without evasion, His tongue I tore out by the root. A libertine from virtue shrinking, Confiding women made my prey, With lewd companions deeply drinking, My idle hours I pass’d away. Poor Jane Jones’s blood I spilled, I her from honours path beguiled, My catalogue of crimes I fill’d, The blow that slew her killed her child. Wretch I am I slew that woman, Then cut her up, to hide my crime, Then in the fire the limbs consuming, Heathens tremble at my crime. The head that oft my bosom pressing, The lips that fondly spake my name, The heart that loved me, oh distressing, I burnt them with devouring flame. Was no one near that dreadful hour, When thou for mercy vainly sued, Could no one snatch thee from the power, Of him who cruel shed thy blood. No thou didst die, lost lonely one, Rest in thy grave, thy pains are o’er, And he who caused thy blood to run, Can harm nor injure thee no more. Good the scaffold has ascended, The murderer trembles every limb, By all abhorred, by none befriended, And hissing thousands welcome him. Die wretch despised, each one is scorning, Thee and thy crimes so mark’d with blood, No one here thy end is mourning, Inhuman monster, Daniel Good. xxxqxxx The ballad was accredited to H Paul, Printer, 22 Brick Lane, Spitalfields, London. xxx5xxx It was noted that Daniel Good left behind a statement written at his dictation, that read: xxxqxxx Newgate, May 21, 1842. I, Daniel Good, wish to return thanks to the Lord Mayor, and his kind lady for visiting me, and also return thanks to all the Aldermen who have kindly visited me, and also wish to return thanks to the sheriffs for their kindness, and also Mr. Cope, the Governor, returning him thanks, and I found him very kind. Also, return thanks to the Rev. Mr. Carver, for his kind attention; and also the Rev. Mr. Taylor, who read prayers this day, which drew my attention with tears; and also return thanks to the Rev. Mr. Russell, who has been to see me this day. My kind master, Nathaniel Dando, Esq., which I have lived with him at Norwood as coachman, he has been to see me; I never lived with kinder master and mistress than they were. My sincere thanks to Mr. Dando and his kind lady; and I also wish to return thanks to my late master and mistress Shiell. My dear little boy came to see me on Thursday last, and read a chapter which made me shed tears, as I part from him so young, not quite eleven years old. May the Lord protect him, as he is left without father or mother, which I put my trust in James Spencer, and his wife, Mrs. Spencer, that they will have eye after the boy. I was a few days at Clerkenwell, and found great kindness from the governor of that prison, and he has been to see me here. I also return thanks to the doctor, and also to the Rev. Mr. Williams, who performs duty at that prison. I also return thanks to Wm. Nottidge, Esq., my former master, and his lady, they were very kind to me. I do acknowledge, as I am departing this world, that the cause of that poor woman, Jane Jones, through with herself, through hearing about Susan Butcher, [which I now say Jane Jones made away with herself. I don’t say but what I am the cause of her doing this through being told I kept company with Susan Butcher. What I have stated is nothing but the truth respecting the death of Jane Jones. I wish to say I never cut her up. The matchman said he could not make away with the body without taking the limbs off. I locked him up in the stables, and I was cleaning my harness. He promised to come on the 6th of April and take the remaining part away, but he never came. He told me he lived in the neighbourhood of Brentford. I knew this man as coming with matches about fourteen or fifteen months. I gave him one sovereign to do away with the body. I wish to return thanks to all the officers of this prison, as I found them all very kind. The Lord be with all my friends, and I wish to part this life good friends with all, and the lord have mercy upon my poor soul, and I do not say but I am a great sinner. xxxqxxx It was noted that following the removal of the remains from the stable after their discovery that they were ordered to be returned, with the permission of the Coroner, so that visitors could come and view them and that as a result, there was a continuos stream of visitors to the stables ranging from the aristocratic carriage to the costermonger’s cart and that it was stated that no one would be turned away from the spectacle, even if they arrived as late as midnight. Murder of JANE JONES Popular execution with 1.65m copies of the broadsheet sold. ref 23/05/1842 Daniel Good London & Middlesex Newgate Murder