Newgate, the Marshalsea and Admiralty Execution

Every statement above that rests on a checked claim carries a small number; the numbers lead here. Each entry gives what is claimed, how far the record supports it, and where it comes from.

1. The Offences at Sea Act 1536 (28 Hen. 8 c. 15) gave piracy trials to commissioners with a common-law jury but required that trial be held in England, and the Piracy Act 1698 (11 Will. 3 c. 7) removed that requirement by empowering the Crown to commission courts of admiralty overseas. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Statute: Piracy Act 1698 (11 Will. 3 c. 7), statute text at legislation.gov.uk
2. Captain William Kidd was tried at the Admiralty Sessions held by the King's commission at the Old Bailey on 8 and 9 May 1701 for murder and piracy and was hanged at Execution Dock on 23 May 1701, Nicholas Churchill and James Howe being tried in the same sessions. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Printed trial report: The Arraignment, Tryal, and Condemnation of Captain William Kidd, for Murther and Piracy, at the Admiralty-Sessions at the Old-Baily, 1701
3. About 272 survivors of Bartholomew Roberts's company, a reconstructed rather than a printed total, taken by HMS Swallow at Cape Lopez on 10 February 1722, were tried at Cape Coast Castle under the 1698 Act, where 52 of the 54 condemned Europeans were hanged, 20 signed indentures with the Royal African Company, about 65 to 70 African crewmen were sold or returned to slavery, and 17 were sent to the Marshalsea in London, some of them later acquitted; some later accounts give as many as 72 condemned, a figure the printed record's tables do not support. Likely More likely than not on the evidence we have. Trial record extract and museum survey: Death sentence for Roberts' crew, court of admiralty at Cape Coast Castle, 5 April 1722, transcribed from the trial record; Death of Bartholomew Roberts, Royal Museums Greenwich
4. The 1696 trial of Henry Every's men was held at sessions of oyer and terminer and gaol delivery for the jurisdiction of the Admiralty of England, at Justice Hall in the Old Bailey in the suburbs of the City of London. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Printed trial report: The Tryals of Joseph Dawson, Edward Forseith, William May, William Bishop, James Lewis, and John Sparkes, at the Admiralty Sessions begun at the Old-Baily on the 29th of October, 1696 (London, printed for John Everingham, 1696), the session heading printed at the head of the proceedings.
5. The 1696 trial print records that the sentence was carried out at Execution Dock, which it calls the usual place for the execution of pirates. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Printed trial report: The Tryals of Joseph Dawson, Edward Forseith, William May, William Bishop, James Lewis, and John Sparkes, at the Admiralty Sessions begun at the Old-Baily on the 29th of October, 1696 (London, printed for John Everingham, 1696), the closing note following the judgment.
6. The ordinary criminal sessions served by Newgate were held under the King's Commission of the Peace, and Oyer and Terminer, and Goal-Delivery of Newgate, for the City of London and County of Middlesex, at Justice Hall in the Old Bailey. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Printed court proceedings (Old Bailey sessions paper): The Proceedings on the King's Commission of the Peace, and Oyer and Terminer, and Goal-Delivery of Newgate, held for the City of London and County of Middlesex, at Justice Hall in the Old Bailey, 10 and 11 July 1723, the heading of the printed proceedings.
7. At the 1696 Admiralty sessions the clerk of arraigns directed the keeper of Newgate to set Joseph Dawson, Edward Forseith, William May, William Bishop, James Lewis and John Sparks to the bar. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Printed trial report: The Tryals of Joseph Dawson, Edward Forseith, William May, William Bishop, James Lewis, and John Sparkes, at the Admiralty Sessions begun at the Old-Baily on the 29th of October, 1696 (London, printed for John Everingham, 1696), the arraignment on the indictment for the Gunsway.
8. Narcissus Luttrell records that on 16 April 1700 Captain Kidd was examined before the lords of the admiralty and committed to Newgate, thirteen more pirates having been examined and sent thither the day before. Likely More likely than not on the evidence we have. Period diary printed in a modern work: Sir Cornelius Neale Dalton, The Real Captain Kidd: A Vindication (London: William Heinemann, 1911), extracts from Narcissus Luttrell, A Brief Historical Relation of State Affairs, vol. IV, p. 634.
9. Narcissus Luttrell records that on 27 April 1700 ten of the pirates lately brought from New England were ordered to be tried by a high court of admiralty, while Kidd was to be kept close prisoner until Parliament could examine him. Likely More likely than not on the evidence we have. Period diary printed in a modern work: Sir Cornelius Neale Dalton, The Real Captain Kidd: A Vindication (London: William Heinemann, 1911), extracts from Narcissus Luttrell, A Brief Historical Relation of State Affairs, vol. IV, p. 638.
10. An Act of Parliament charges the prison house, lands and gardens of the prison of the Marshal of the Marshalsea, with the offices and profits of the Marshalsea court and prison, to the parish of Saint George in the Borough of Southwark in the county of Surrey. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Statute: Statutes of the Realm, vol. 8: a land tax Act of Queen Anne's reign, the proviso charging the King's Bench and Marshalsea prisons in the parish of Saint George, Southwark.
11. Johnson relates that Walter Kennedy was visited in Bridewell by a mate named Grant, who knew him, procured a warrant and had him committed to the Marshalsea prison, and that Kennedy was executed on 19 July 1721 at Execution Dock. Likely More likely than not on the evidence we have. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (London, 1724), Volume I, chapter IX, Of Captain Bartho. Roberts, the account of Kennedy's taking and execution.
12. At the 1696 Admiralty sessions Sir Charles Hedges, Lieutenant in the High Court of Admiralty of England and Judge of that court, sat with Sir John Holt, Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Printed trial report: The Tryals of Joseph Dawson, Edward Forseith, William May, William Bishop, James Lewis, and John Sparkes, at the Admiralty Sessions begun at the Old-Baily on the 29th of October, 1696 (London, printed for John Everingham, 1696), the list of commissioners in the session heading.
13. At the opening of the 1696 Admiralty sessions the commission was read and proclamation made for attendance, after which the grand jury were called and sworn and received their charge from Sir Charles Hedges. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Printed trial report: The Tryals of Joseph Dawson, Edward Forseith, William May, William Bishop, James Lewis, and John Sparkes, at the Admiralty Sessions begun at the Old-Baily on the 29th of October, 1696 (London, printed for John Everingham, 1696), the account of the opening of the court.
14. The Act for the more effectual suppression of piracy recites that persons committing piracies and robberies on the seas in or near the East and West Indies and in places very remote could not be brought to condign punishment without great trouble and charges in sending them into England to be tried within the realm. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Statute: Statutes of the Realm, vol. 7, pp. 590-594: William III, 1698-9, An Act for the more effectuall Suppressions of Piracy (chapter VII), preamble to section I.
15. The same Act was to be in force for seven years and to the end of the next session of Parliament after those seven years, and no longer. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Statute: Statutes of the Realm, vol. 7, pp. 590-594: William III, 1698-9, An Act for the more effectuall Suppressions of Piracy (chapter VII), section XIII.
16. The same Act allowed the commissioners to issue warrants for seizing pirates and their confederates in the colonies and plantations in order to their being tried there or sent into England to be tried. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Statute: Statutes of the Realm, vol. 7, pp. 590-594: William III, 1698-9, An Act for the more effectuall Suppressions of Piracy (chapter VII), section XIV.
17. The Act empowered the commissioners to assemble a court of admiralty on shipboard or upon the land as often as occasion required, and required that such a court consist of seven persons at the least. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Statute: Statutes of the Realm, vol. 7, pp. 590-594: William III, 1698-9, An Act for the more effectuall Suppressions of Piracy (chapter VII), section I.
18. The Act allowed no person to sit and vote in such a court but known merchants, factors or planters, captains, lieutenants or warrant officers in the King's ships of war, or captains, masters or mates of some English ship. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Statute: Statutes of the Realm, vol. 7, pp. 590-594: William III, 1698-9, An Act for the more effectuall Suppressions of Piracy (chapter VII), section III.
19. The Act required the president to swear in open court that he would truly and impartially try and adjudge the prisoners brought before him, and then to administer the same oath to every person who sat and voted on the trial. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Statute: Statutes of the Realm, vol. 7, pp. 590-594: William III, 1698-9, An Act for the more effectuall Suppressions of Piracy (chapter VII), section V, the oath of the president.
20. The Act allowed a prisoner to have a witness cross-examined only by declaring to the court what questions he would have asked, the president then interrogating the witness accordingly, after which the prisoner was heard for himself and taken away into safe custody while all but the court and its officer of record withdrew. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Statute: Statutes of the Realm, vol. 7, pp. 590-594: William III, 1698-9, An Act for the more effectuall Suppressions of Piracy (chapter VII), section V.
21. The Act required the president to collect the votes of those who sat and had voices in the court, beginning at the junior and ending with himself, sentence being given according to the plurality of voices and pronounced publicly. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Statute: Statutes of the Realm, vol. 7, pp. 590-594: William III, 1698-9, An Act for the more effectuall Suppressions of Piracy (chapter VII), section V.
22. The Act required that the court's officer of record be a public notary, and that he transmit his minutes, with copies of all articles and judgments, to the High Court of Admiralty of England. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Statute: Statutes of the Realm, vol. 7, pp. 590-594: William III, 1698-9, An Act for the more effectuall Suppressions of Piracy (chapter VII), section VI.
23. The Act required that persons attainted be put to death in such place upon the sea or within the ebbing or flowing thereof as the president or the major part of the court appointed by warrant directed to a provost marshal. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Statute: Statutes of the Realm, vol. 7, pp. 590-594: William III, 1698-9, An Act for the more effectuall Suppressions of Piracy (chapter VII), section V.
24. The printed account of the dying speeches of the pirates condemned in 1701 states that all the prisoners were conveyed from Newgate to the execution dock in Wapping by the officers of the Admiralty and others, carrying the Silver Oar before them according to the usual custom. Likely More likely than not on the evidence we have. Printed dying-speech account quoted in a modern work: Cornelius Neale Dalton, The Real Captain Kidd: A Vindication (1911), quoting The only True Account of the Dying Speeches of the Condemned Pirates (London, 1701).
25. Narcissus Luttrell records under 24 May 1701 that Captain Kidd and three others condemned for piracy were executed at execution dock at Wapping, and that the halter of the first broke but he was tied up again. Likely More likely than not on the evidence we have. Period diary printed in a modern work: Sir Cornelius Neale Dalton, The Real Captain Kidd: A Vindication (London: William Heinemann, 1911), extracts from Narcissus Luttrell, A Brief Historical Relation of State Affairs, vol. IV, p. 53 (vol. V).
26. The sentence passed on Every's men in 1696 was that they be taken from the bar to the place from whence they came, and from thence to the place of execution, and there hanged by the necks until dead. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Printed trial report: The Tryals of Joseph Dawson, Edward Forseith, William May, William Bishop, James Lewis, and John Sparkes, at the Admiralty Sessions begun at the Old-Baily on the 29th of October, 1696 (London, printed for John Everingham, 1696), the judgment delivered by the Judge of the Admiralty.
27. Six of Every's men were condemned, Joseph Dawson upon his own confession on four indictments and five others found guilty on three, and the print records that Edward Forseith and the rest were executed on Wednesday 25 November 1696 at Execution Dock, without saying whether Dawson was among them; the reading carried here is that five hanged and Dawson was reprieved. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Printed trial report: The Tryals of Joseph Dawson, Edward Forseith, William May, William Bishop, James Lewis, and John Sparkes, at the Admiralty Sessions begun at the Old-Baily on the 29th of October, 1696 (London, printed for John Everingham, 1696), the judgment and the closing note that follows it.
28. The six men sentenced at Cape Corso Castle in April 1722 were adjudged to be carried to the place of execution without the gates of the castle and there within the flood marks hanged by the neck till they were dead, and afterwards taken down and their bodies hung in chains. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Printed trial report: A Full and Exact Account of the Tryal of all the Pyrates, lately taken by Captain Ogle, on board the Swallow Man of War, on the Coast of Guinea (London, 1723), the sentence against David Simpson, William Magnes, Richard Hardy, Thomas Sutton, Christopher Moody and Valentine Ashplant.
29. The warrant for that execution is dated 2 April 1722 over the hand of Mungo Heardman and directed to Joseph Gordyn, provost marshal, with a further line ordering the bodies removed in chains to the gibbets already erected on the adjacent hillocks. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Period narrative printing the court's warrant: A General History of the Pyrates (London, 1724), Volume I, chapter IX, Of Captain Bartho. Roberts, the warrant for execution following the sentence at Cape Corso Castle.
30. In the printed lists of Roberts's crew tried at Cape Coast Castle a star before a name marks a man condemned and a cross a man referred for trial to the Marshalsea, all the rest being acquitted. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Period narrative printing the court's lists: A General History of the Pyrates (London, 1724), Volume I, chapter IX, Of Captain Bartho. Roberts, the note following the tryals of Roberts's crew.
31. Dalton identifies the Ordinary of Newgate at the time of Kidd's execution as the Reverend Paul Lorrain, and prints an account of the men hanged with Kidd signed by Lorrain and dated the day of the execution, Friday 23 May 1701. Possible Consistent with the evidence, not established. Printed dying-speech account quoted in a modern work: Sir Cornelius Neale Dalton, The Real Captain Kidd: A Vindication (London: William Heinemann, 1911), the chapter on Kidd's end, quoting the account signed by Paul Lorrain.
32. At the executions outside Cape Corso Castle a gentleman who was surgeon of the ship offered himself in the room of an Ordinary and put the heinousness of their sin to the condemned men, who exclaimed against the severity of the court and said that they were poor rogues and so hanged, while others no less guilty in another way escaped. Likely More likely than not on the evidence we have. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (London, 1724), Volume I, chapter IX, Of Captain Bartho. Roberts, the account of the behaviour of the condemned.