The transcriptions of The West Briton and Cornwall Advertiser (http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wbritonad) are under copyright. The 3 August 1855 issue (http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wbritonad/cornwall/1855/misc/aug.html), transcribed by Julia Mosman and posted on the CORNISH-GEN list 2 Jan 2012) contains the account of the trial of Mary Ann Hawton for child murder in the parish of St Blazey. Local people were called as witnesses, and their testimony can be seen in the transcription. The following is my summarization of the article, mainly for the identity of persons involved. -- Wesley Johnston, for the St Blazey Families Project, 4 Oct 2014
Mary Ann Hawton Trial for Child Murder in St Blazey, Cornwall 1855
Mary Ann Hawton, 23 (thus born c 1832) was charged with murdering her 4-month old infant son 25 May 1855. She pleaded not guilty. A jury found her not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter. Her sentence was that she be transported for life.
She had been staying in St Austell and was going to Lostwithiel, so that she was only passing through the parish of St Blazey and did not reside there.
The prosectors were Mr. Bevan & Mr. Cole. The defender was Mr. Carter.
The date of the event and the discovery vary in the accounts. But all place the discovery on Saturday, which was 26 May, and the examination of the body by the surgeon on Sunday, which was 27 May.
The trial was held at Bodmin 25 Jul 1855.
Witnesses Called by the Prosecution
James Coombe, 9 (thus born c 1846): he worked at the West Par Consols and was coming from work about 4 PM Saturday and found the body of the child and ran and told his brother John, who went for the constable
John Coombe, elder brother of James: body was about 100 yards below St Blazey Bridge; he retrieved the body from the stream and placed it on the bank; later they wrapped it in a shirt and carried it to the Miners Inn - he lived at Mount Charles, about 1 3/4 miles from St Austell
John Vickery, one of the constables of St Blazey parish: he took the body to the Miner's Inn
William Tayler, surgeon of Tywardreath: saw the body on morning of 27 May - body had been in the water 20-30 hours and had fractured skull; death occurred before the child reached the water and was not drowning; there was no water in the lungs
Mary Crowle: lived aboout 1/4 mile from St Austell - two women came to her house Wednesday, 23 May, one of whom was the prisoner; both women had children - Mary Ann Hawton said her child was 4 months old, and the other woman said hers was 10 months old. Mary Ann Hawton said she was going to her brother's in Callington. She did not treat her child kindly. On Friday, she told witness that she was going to Lostwithiel and other woman said she was going to Callington. Witness next say the baby dead at the Miner's Inn on Saturday night. John Vickery, re-called while Mary Crowle testifying, showed two napkins from the child, which Mary Crowle confirmed were of the unusual type that Mary Ann Hawton had used for the child
Elizabeth Jane Peters, a little girl: lived near St Austell - on Friday, 25 May, in St Austell Street, prisoner gave her the baby and told her she was going to look for her purse - after half hour, prisoner had not returned and witness took the baby to her own mother, who went after the prisoner
Elizabeth Peters, mother of Elizabeth Jane: On Friday, 25 May, just after noon or before one, her little girl came home crying with the baby. Witness went on the Lostwithiel road and found prisoner and returned baby to her, near the Railway bridge. Prisoner came back with witness towards Mount Charles. St Blazey Highway Bridge is about 1.5 miles more from St Austell than the railway bridge, which prisoner would have reached if she continued on in direction she was going when witness found her. - Witness lives 0.5 miles out of St Austell, towards Charlestown. Prisoner was about 3/4 to 1 miles from St Austell when witness found her.
Sophia Trebilcock, wife of William Trebilcock of St Austell: On Friday, 25 May, saw prisoner on St Blazey Bridge, between 1:30 and 2:00. Witness heard child crying inside prisoner's large cape. She interpreted what she saw as the mother giving the child the breast.
Thomas Sambells, St Austell policeman: he and policeman Westlake apprehended prisoner at her brother's house in Menheniot on Monday, 28 May - prisoner's brother was a miner; witness knew the family from Tavistock: the mother, two brothers and "this girl" (presumably the prisoner) - witness does not recollect any brother named Edmund who died insane or idiot; witness moved about 10 years ago and has seen them very little since
Defense Case
Mr. Carter did not call any witnesses.
Who Was Mary Ann Hawton?
To answer this question, we first must answer another question: was Hawton her married name or her maiden name?
The fact that the family lived in Tavistock, Devon, about 10 years earlier, could mean a Devon marriage, but there is no suitable Cornwall marriage found in the Cornwall OPC database. The closest was the 27 Mar 1848 Stoke Climsland marriage of Mary Anne Knight, who was of full age when the prisoner would have been only 16.
The Cornwall Family History Society research baptism database has a Mary Hawton, baptized 22 Jan 1832 at Stoke Climsland - not far from Tavistock. Her parents were John and Rebecca. And John and Rebecca did have a son named Edward. All of their children were baptized at Stoke Climsland:
- 1825 Mar 13 Jane Wicks Hawton
- 1827 Dec 9 Eliza Rundle Hawton
- 1830 Mar 14 Rebecca Weeks Hawton
- 1832 Jan 22 Mary Hawton
- 1834 Jun 27 Edward Hawton
- 1835 Jan 18 Richard Sleep Hawton
- 1835 Jun 14 John Hawton
- 1837 John Youton Hawton
Checking the CFHS DB burials, Edward was buried 29 Jun 1834 at age 1 week, abode Stoke Climsland. He died in infancy and not insanity nor idiocy. Richard Sleep Hawton was buried 3 Nov 1835 at age 10 months, abode Stoke Climsland.
However, this Mary Hawton is still in Stoke Climsland in the 1851 census with her widowed mother Rebecca, and she is apparently the same Mary Hawton, age 20, who married James Mitchell 24 Jul 1851 at Stoke Climsland, showing her father's name as John.
But there are several other candidates. Two appear in the CFHS baptism DB:
- 1831 Oct 27 at Cawsand-Independent: Mary Mitchal Hawton to Francis and Eliza - at Rame in 1841 census
- 1832 Jul 29 at Stoke Climsland: Mary Ann Hawton to William and Elizabeth - at Callington in 1841 census
I find the rest in the 1841 census, one of which two were at Tavistock, though not of the right age (parents are presumed since they are not explicit in the 1841 census):
- Mary Ann Hawton at Tavistock, age 17, dau of apparently widowed Grace - 1 brother
- Mary Ann Hawton at Tavistock, age 14, dau of William and Ann - 1 sister and 1 brother
Restricting the birth to 1831-1833, there are these, other than the families noted above:
- Mary Hawton, age 8, Stoke Climsland with mother Ann and two sisters
- Mary Ann Hotton, age 8, St Austell with parents John and Ann and no Hotton siblings
- Mary, age 9, Callington with parents Thomas and Elizabeth and 2 sisters and 3 brothers, none named Edward
There is another important clue. Mary Ann Hawton was apprehended at the home of her mother and two brothers in Menheniot 28 May 1855. And there are two possible Hawton brothers listed at Menheniot in the 1861 census: Benjamin (age 34, thus born c 1827, born at Pelynt, Cornwall) and William (age 33, thus c 1828, born at Whitchurch, Devon). One or both of these may have been Mary Ann's brother.
The only Benjamin with a similar name baptized at Pelynt was Benjamin Hawken, baptized 18 Jun 1826 to Henry and Jane. This date is about the right date for the Benjamin in the 1861 census, whose name is definitely spelled Hawton. No Henry Hawton is listed with a Mary baptized at any date in Cornwall. But Henry and Jane Hawken did have a Mary, baptized at Pelynt 6 Apr 1828. They also had a Henry, Phillipa and Thomas - but no Edward nor William.
William's children were born at Devonport (c 1850, 1851) and Menheniot (c 1856). Devonport is only a bit over 15 miles from Tavistock, so that this could be the family that the constable knew. I cannot find this family in the 1851 census, although they should have been at Devonport.
This latter William seems to be the best candidate to be Mary Ann's brother at Menheniot. But it is far from certain.
So the bottom line at this time is that I cannot say for sure, nor even with a probability, who Mary Ann Hawton's parents were nor where she was born and baptized.
What Happened to Mary Ann Hawton?
I have no information of the destination to which she was transported nor when that happened. I have no further information on her after the trial.