The death of Joe Foulstone caused turmoil for the band of the 82nd Regiment
On the evening of Saturday 6th March 1875, a murder took place at Shorncliffe camp in Cheriton Kent
Private Joseph Foulstone age 31 from Sheffield was sitting in his hut (No. 26). there were also two band boys, Henry & Alfred Simpson, Private John Morgan age 19 from Chatham and Private John Reader, lying in half-drunken sleep. They were all in the band of the 82nd Regiment.of Foot (Prince of Wales's Volunteers)
Private Morgan gave one of the boys a shilling to buy some sauce and to the other a penny to purchase sweets, and having got them out of the way, he was left alone with Foulstone and Reader, who was sunk in the heavy slumber of intoxication.
Approaching Foulstone from behind, Morgan, with an open razor, which he must have taken for the purpose, gave him a fearful gash across the throat, extending from ear to ear, completely severing the windpipe and nearly laying bare the bones of the neck. Besides this ghastly wound, no fewer than twelve others were found on the dead man’s face, neck, and bands, but whether these were inflicted before or during the struggle after the fatal cut, does not appear to have been ascertained.
Escaping from the murderous clutches of his assailant, Foulstone made his way to the next hut, No. 25, where, in answer to his signs, (for he was unable to speak) writing materials were placed before him, and immediately wrote, ''Morgan, done this just now.”
When, shortly afterwards, Morgan was brought to the hut in which the man lay dying, Foulstone pointed to him several times and denounced him, though inarticulately, as the man by whom had been the attacker.
Medical assistance was sent for but from the mortal wounds there was no hope of recovery, and Foulstone died about twenty minutes after nine o’clock on Saturday night, no more than ten minutes after the crime was committed.
On the afternoon of Monday 8th March, an inquest was held at the military hospital, before Mr Delasaox, the Coroner and the following evidence was taken —
Alexander Turner gave his testimony ''I am a surgeon in the Army and Medical Department. On Saturday night last few minutes past nine, I was sent for and did attend to the deceased in a hut at Shorncliffe Camp, and on entering the room, I found him on a seat supported by two men, bleeding profusely from a wound in the throat. The wound was nine inches in length, and extended from half an inch below and a little posterior to the left angle of the lower jaw, downwards and forwards across the throat to the right angle of the lower jaw, from which point its direction was backward and little downwards to the extent of three inches''.
''On the left side of the neck, the wound was comparatively superficial, its depth increasing the more it extended to the right side of the neck. The wind-pipe was completely severed and the soft structures on the right side of the neck were severed to such a depth as to expose the bones of the neck. There was a straight wound seven inches long, extending from half an inch above, and a little behind the left ear to point within two inches of the collar bone. There were two wounds on the chin bone possessing the appearance of a punctured wound as if done by some sharp instrument''.
The witness went on to describe various other wounds of a minor character, a total number of thirteen.
He concluded by saying: ''I attended him until his death, which took place about twenty minutes past nine the same night from the injuries described. Those injuries could not have been inflicted by himself, but by some person from behind the deceased, and to this conclusion I have come because of the nature of the wounds''.
Next was Henry Simpson, age 14. He said he had been in the regiment for around nine months and had been in the hut for a month or two before Christmas. He stated that the group were all friends, including the deceased and accused. He and his brother Alfred would often run errands for the soldiers and they sometimes get presents from them.
That evening Henry was preparing his rations of meat and potatoes, frying them on a pan over the stove.
''On Saturday night between the hours of nine and ten, I was in hut No. 26, with the deceased Private Joseph Foulstone, Private John Reader, my brother Alfred Simpson, also a band boy, and Private John Morgan, we are all in the same regiment. John Morgan sent my brother Alfred to the reading room for a pennyworth of sweets, and he sent me for some sauce to add to my food, the canteen was fifty yards away. It was further than the reading room where my brother needed to go, so after he got the sweets, he came with me to the canteen. The deceased was reading when we left and John Morgan was standing, John Reader was asleep on the bed. The deceased and John Morgan appeared very friendly. When we returned, I saw a quantity of blood on the floor, and nobody was in the but, except John Reader, who was still asleep. Afterwards, I saw the deceased in No. 25 hut. He was sitting on a form, and blood was flowing from some part of his person''.
Alfred Simpson age 13 was the next witness and gave corroborative evidence to what his brother Henry had said.
John Brown, another private in the 82nd Regiment, then took the stand: ''About a quarter-past nine o’clock on the night of Saturday, the 6th, the deceased walked into No. 25 hut with both hands to his throat, from which blood was flowing copiously. He was unable to speak, but touched me on the shoulder, taking one hand away from his throat and waving it in the air. A boy went and fetched him a basin of water, and the deceased again waved his hand to take the Water away and then sat on the form. He motioned with his hand on the table for writing materials, and I immediately supplied him with pen, ink, and paper, the latter of which I now produce, and wrote on it 'John Morgan done this just now,' and Michael Rohan was present when this was done. I took the said paper and kept it some little time, and then gave it to Sergeant-Major Christopher Barrow but also at this time I saw John Morgan, who was alone, and appeared to have recently washed his face. I asked him to go into the next hut, as Foulstone had cut his throat. He turned his back and walked up the room, but did not do as I requested him. Shortly afterwards John Morgan was brought into the hut, in which the deceased was, and he immediately pointed his hand towards John Morgan''.
The evidence of Michael Rohan and other privates in the same regiment was to the same effect as that of John Brown.
There being no time to finish the inquiry, the Coroner said he must adjourn it.
Superintendent Dewar (of Hythe) said it could not be adjourned, and the Medical Officer of the Camp said the witnesses were compelled to be at Maidstone, as the prisoner had been committed there.
The Coroner said this was a very extraordinary way of conducting business, and asked the jury if they were satisfied with such evidence that had been obtained. The Jury was unanimous on the contrary opinion, and so the inquest was adjourned until Tuesday 9th March.
A magisterial inquiry was also held on Monday 8th March before the Magistrate in Hythe Kent,
The evidence as to facts was taken, and the prisoner Morgan was committed and despatched to Maidstone Kent, to take trial at the next Assizes that were being held.
On the afternoon of Tuesday 9th March, the Coroner for the inquest informed the jury that the case could, not be further proceeded with then, as the witnesses and prisoner were away.
Superintendent Dewar said the witnesses were gone with the prisoner to Maidstone, as the case would be tried at the present assizes.
The Coroner, addressing the jury, said it was for them to consider whether there was sufficient evidence before them to bring in a verdict. If they thought not, the case must be again adjourned. The jury was unanimous in the opinion that they had not heard affiant evidence, and the court was adjourned till Tuesday 16th March.
On the morning of Thursday 11th March John Morgan was placed at the bar before The Right Honourable George Denman
Mr Biron and Mr Denny were for the prosecution; Mr Norman, at the desire of the learned Judge, defended the prisoner and was assisted by Mr Grubb.
Mr. Biron, in opening the case for the prosecution, said It was remarkable in this respect, that it was not, as usual in trials of murder, a case of circumstantial evidence, depending on complicated and minute facts, but was singularly simple, in its character. Indeed he had seldom known a case so simple in its nature and thought that the jury would have little difficulty in coming to a conclusion, which, he sadly feared, must be adverse to the accused.
He abstained from stating what the deceased had written because it might be objected to as evidence but referred to what the prisoner had said and said the only defence set up, was that the deceased had committed the act himself.
He then observed that the evidence of the surgeon showed that the wound was such, that it could not have been committed by the deceased and he also pointed out that the prisoner was found washing, his sleeve was wet, drops of blood were found upon his clothes, there was a fresh cut upon his thumb, and there were cuts not only on the left but on the right hand of the deceased, which he could not have done himself, whichever hand held the razor.
The evidence and witnesses were the same as that given in the inquest, except for that given by the surgeon which is as follows, and was the most important:
Mr. Alexander Turner, the Regimental doctor, deposed that he arrived at the hut soon after nine o’clock, and found the deceased supported by the witness Rowan. He examined the wounds and found that the principal one was cut extending from the left-hand side at the angle of the jaw for several inches, and dividing in its passage the windpipe, the external carotid artery, and all the principal blood vessels of the neck, The wound was so deep that the bone of the spine could be seen from the outside.
This injury was such as might have been inflicted by a razor like the one produced, and it was of such character that he did not believe the deceased could have inflicted It on himself.
The deepest part of the wound was the right side of the neck, and in his opinion, it was inflicted someone from behind the deceased.
In addition to this wound, there were also eleven others on the person of the deceased. One was behind the left ear, extending downwards, and seven inches long, but this was not a very deep wound, it was not a mortal one.
On the back of the left hand, there was another wound three inches long, which divided the tendons, so they protruded. On the back of the left wrist, there were four other wounds of jagged character, which were such as might have been caused by the point of a razor.
There were also three cuts of a similar character on the Angers of the same hand, and they appeared to have been opened by one cut of the razor across them.
A long discussion then took place as to whether the written paper referred was admissible in evidence, the learned counsel for the prosecution contending that it was, on the ground that it stood in the position of a dying declaration and, on the other hand, Mr Norman for defence, contended that there was nothing to show that, at the time the deceased wrote what he did on the paper, did he believe he was in a dying condition, and that he couldn't recover?.
Mr Justice Denman eventually left the Court to consult the Lord Chief Justice Sir Alexander Cockburn on the point, and he was absent twenty minutes, in consultation with his lordship. Upon his return, the learned Judge said that, although the question was to some extent entirely novel, the Lord Chief Justice was not all prepared to rule that the evidence was inadmissible, and he should receive it, if it was presented. In a certain event, however, he should reserve the question, as to the admissibility of this writing, as a dying declaration for consideration by the Court of Criminal Appeal, and there might be a failure of justice. He therefore suggested that the learned counsel for the prosecution, should consider whether they ought to press for the reception of this piece of evidence.
As a result, Mr. Biron declined to press for the reception of the piece of evidence in question.
Mr Norman addressed the jury in what was called an 'able speech' for the defence, and he urged that the case was one of suicide, and not of murder. Further evidence was introduced, and it appeared that when the prisoner was taken into custody, he declared his entire innocence of the charge, asserted that the deceased had inflicted the fatal injuries himself, and accounted for certain marks of blood, that were discovered upon his person, by stating that he received them in his attempt to prevent the deceased from injuring himself.
He reminded the jury that the prisoner and the deceased were proved to have been on good terms and that there was an entire absence of motive on the part of the prisoner for the commission of such a dreadful crime, and he argued that was much more reasonable to suppose that the deceased, who had been addicted to drinking to excess, and who had been frequently on the verge of delirium, should have destroyed his own life under an impulse of maniacal delirium, than that the prisoner should have been guilty of the crime of murder without any assignable reason or motive.
His Lordship Denman, in summing up the case to the jury, commenced complimenting the learned counsel, who had undertaken the defence of the prisoner in the very able manner, which had discharged the duty that had been so suddenly put upon him. He then said that if any application had been made to postpone the trial to allow the prisoner to bring forward evidence, he should readily have acceded to such an application.
He then proceeded to say that it was now quite clear, that the only question for the consideration of the jury would be whether this was a case of suicide or wilful murder, and this would be the question that, as a result, they would have to decide.
The learned Judge then called the attention of the jury to all the material points of the evidence and concluded leaving the matter in their hands.
A juror asked if it appeared that the deceased had money about him.
The learned Judge said there was no evidence of it, but in all probability, on the theory of murder, money was not the motive. There might be a difficulty as to the motive, but if it was necessary to prove the motive for murder, more than one-half of the murders that were committed would go unpunished, for it most usually happened that the motive was unknown.
The thing to manifest is that, if this was a case of suicide, it must have been the most desperate one, and the suicide then must have falsely charged his comrade with his murder. That must have been the case if the jury thought the deceased meant to point the prisoner as a murderer and it was difficult to adopt any other conclusion.
It might be difficult to discover the motive for murder, but it was not necessary to do so, and it was the duty of the jury ''a solemn duty'' they owed to the prisoner on one hand, and to society on the other to give a verdict on the evidence, according to the effect it had on their minds and they need fear no responsibility if only they gave their verdict conscientiously and honestly, according to their convictions.
Before the Jury withdrew, The foreman asked if it appeared that the prisoner was a betting man. The learned Judge did not think it material.
The foreman ''There must have been some motive, my lord''.
The learned Judge '' As the jury seem to desire it'', He recalled the Sergeant, who said, as had been stated before, that the deceased was a betting man, but not, that he was aware of, the prisoner.
The jury then, at nearly 6 o’clock, retired to consider their verdict, taking with them the clothes of the prisoner and the razor.
In about half an hour they returned to Court with a verdict of “Guilty of Wilful murder against John Morgan.”.
His Lordship addressed the Prisoner at the bar. (without using the black cap)
''After a most patient trial and the ablest defence, conducted with every desire that each point could justly tell in your favour, should be brought before the jury, so that it might receive its full weight, after an anxious determination on the part of the jury, manifested in two or three remarkable instances, to go out of their way to seek for evidence that could tell in your favour, you have been found guilty on indisputable testimony of the purposed death of your fellow creature and fellow soldier. You stand there convicted of the crime of murder. I do not desire, indeed, I could not do it if I did desire, to say a single word to add to the miserable state of mind in which you, if you have the feeling and soul, which as a man you ought to possess, must be, on this occasion, All I have to do is to exhort you, as you are a man and a soldier, to prepare for death, for there can be but one sentence passed upon you, the law gives me no discretion, and, so far as I can think, there can be no ground to hold out to you the slightest hope that your life will be spared. The sentence of the Court upon you is, that you be taken hence to the place from whence you came, and thence to the place of execution, that you be there hanged by the neck until you are dead, and your body & buried within the precinct of the prison and may the Lord have mercy on your soul''
The prisoner was said to have stood unmoved, except for a slight twitching of the face, while his sentence was read out, and when the warder tapped him on the shoulder, he looked round half mechanically and followed him out of the dock.
His lordship then announced that there would be no further business that day, and the large crowds which had filled the Court, and blocked up the passages during the trial, then began to disperse.
The prisoner was visited on Sunday 28th March, by his father for the last time. The prisoner requested him to give some photographs that had been taken of him in the gaol, to some of his comrades at the camp, and he was promised that this would be done.
On the morning of Tuesday 30th March 1875, John Morgan aged 19 was executed at Maidstone Prison, for the murder of his comrade, Joseph Foulstone
Before his execution, he wrote to the bandsmen of his regiment asking forgiveness for bringing disgrace upon them.
The prisoner, who was said to be a healthy, strong young man, did not appear to have realized his awful position, until within the last few days, but as the day for his execution approached he seemed to understand his condition, and several times expressed to the chaplain and others about him his deep sorrow at having deprived a fellow human of life, and this was said to be a prevailing feeling with him, down to the last moment.
At a few minutes before nine o'clock Mr. Brennen, the acting undersheriff, arrived at the prison, The executioner was Thomas Henry Scott from Huddersfield and the prisoner was soon pinioned. He exhibited extraordinary firmness to the last. He was attended to at the scaffold by the Rev. Harrison and the schoolmaster of the prison. He did not utter a word while the rope was being adjusted. When the drop fell he appeared to be dead almost instantaneously.
The black flag was hoisted, the usual formalities were gone through, and in the course of the day, the body was buried in the yard where the execution took place.
We will never know his reason behind the murder, was it a sudden angry outburst or had it been brewing for a while, unknown to the others, either way two humans lives were ended because of it!
Sources
(1875, March 13). MURDER OF SOLDIER SHORNCLIFFE CAMP. Thanet Advertiser, pg3-3.
(1875, March 13). Trial of the accused, sentence of death. Thanet Advertiser, pg3-3.
(1875, March 30). EXECUTION AT MAIDSTONE THIS MORNING. Bolton Evening News -, pg3-3.
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Archive, T.B.N. History’s colourful stories in black and white, Home | Search the archive | British Newspaper Archive. Available at: https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/
(2024.). Service records. Forces War Records by Ancestry. from https://uk.forceswarrecords.com/
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