Trial of Mary Blandy

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Trial of Mary Blandy

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William Roughead
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Title: Trial of Mary Blandy
Editor: William Roughead
Release Date: June 16, 2004 [eBook #12640]
Language: English
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MARY BLANDY***
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TRIAL OF MARY BLANDY
Edited By
WILLIAM ROUGHEAD
Author of "Twelve Scots Trials," "The Riddle of the Ruthvens,"
"Glengarry's Way," &c.
ILLUSTRATED
1914

[Illustration: Miss Blandy in her cell in Oxford Castle. (_From an
unpublished Sepia Drawing in the Collection of Mr. Horace
Bleackley_.)]

TO LORD DUNSANY
THIS RECORD OF GRIM REALITY IN EXCHANGE FOR HIS
BEAUTIFUL DREAMS

PREFACE
In undertaking to prepare an account of this celebrated trial, the Editor
at the outset fondly trusted that the conviction of "the unfortunate Miss
Blandy" might, upon due inquiry, be found to have been, as the phrase
is, a miscarriage of justice. To the entertainment of this chivalrous if

unlively hope he was moved as well by the youth, the sex, and the
traditional charms of that lady, as by the doubts expressed by divers
wiseacres concerning her guilt; but a more intimate knowledge of the
facts upon which the adverse verdict rested, speedily disposed of his
inconfident expectation.
Though the evidence sheds but a partial light upon the hidden springs
of the dark business in which she was engaged, and much that should
be known in order perfectly to appreciate her symbolic value remains
obscure, we can rest assured that Mary Blandy, whatever she may have
been, was no victim of judicial error. We watch, perforce, the tragedy
from the front; never, despite the excellence of the official "book," do
we get a glimpse of what is going on behind the scenes, nor see beneath
the immobile and formal mask, the living face; but, when the spectacle
of The Fair Parricide is over, we at least are satisfied that justice, legal
and poetic, has been done.
Few cases in our criminal annals have occasioned a literature so
extensive. The bibliography, compiled by Mr. Horace Bleackley in
connection with his striking study, "The Love Philtre" (Some
Distinguished Victims of the Scaffold, London, 1905),--which, by his
courteous permission, is reprinted in the Appendix, enumerates no
fewer than thirty contemporary tracts, while the references to the case
by later writers would of themselves form a considerable list.
To this substantial cairn a further stone or two are here contributed.
There will be found in the Appendix copies of original MSS. in the
British Museum and the Public Record Office, not hitherto published,
relating to the case. These comprise the correspondence of Lord
Chancellor Hardwicke, Mr. Secretary Newcastle, the Solicitor to the
Treasury, and other Government officials, regarding the conduct of the
prosecution and the steps taken for the apprehension of Miss Blandy's
accomplice, the Hon. William Henry Cranstoun; a petition of "The
Noblemen and Gentlemen in the Neighbourhood of
Henley-upon-Thames" as to the issuing of a proclamation for his arrest,
with the opinion thereon of the Attorney-General, Sir Dudley Ryder;
and the deposition of the person by whose means Cranstoun's flight

from justice was successfully effected. This deposition is important as
disclosing the true story of his escape, of which the published accounts
are, as appears, erroneous. Among other matter now printed for the first
time may be mentioned a letter from the War Office to the
Paymaster-General, directing Cranstoun's name to be struck off the
half-pay list; and a letter from John Riddell, the Scots genealogist, to
James Maidment, giving some account of the descendants of Cranstoun.
For permission to publish these documents the Editor is indebted to the
courtesy of Mr. A.M. Broadley and Mr. John A. Fairley, the respective
owners.
The iconography of Mary Blandy has been made a feature of the
present volume, all the portraits of her known to the Editor being
reproduced. A description of the curious satirical print, "The Scotch
Triumvirate," will be found in the Appendix.
Of special interest is the facsimile of Miss Blandy's last letter to
Captain Cranstoun, of which the interception, like that of Mrs.
Maybrick's letter to Brierley, was fraught with such fateful
consequences. The photograph is taken from the