The Verdict of William Davis
Read about the Sensational Trial of William Davis here
Davis was found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging.[i]
He died in Newgate Prison on 14 December 1771. Hangings were carried out at Tyburn and a contemporary report suggests that he took his own life.[ii]
According to the London Evening Post of 17 December and Berrow’s Worcester Journal of 26 December “Great interest was making to save his life; but mail robbers are never pardoned.”
The case created such interest that the proceedings were among several which were published for sale to the public in December 1771[iii], priced at sixpence.
It is hard to see a modern defence lawyer accepting so easily the flaws in the evidence which the judge mentioned. There are also question marks over the identification of Davis by witnesses such as Thomas Martin and James Stracey, not to mention the possibility that the postbag was stored unsealed in Southampton.
The name William Davis is so common that it is hard to trace other details of his life. However, a William Davis married an Elizabeth Jarvis at St Mary the Virgin Church, Chelmsford in 1751. In 1773 the widowed Elizabeth Davis married Joseph Skinner at St Mary’s (now Chelmsford Cathedral).
If Davis was guilty, was his wife’s maiden name the source of the pseudonym Richard Jarvis?
And was the other pseudonym John Pugh inspired by two of his supporters from Chelmsford, Benjamin Pugh, and Morris Pugh?
By Margaret C Stewart
[i] https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/browse.jsp?div=t17711204-26 [Accessed 3 October 2019]
[ii] http://www.lastchancetoread.com/docs/1771-12-26-berrow-s-worcester-journal.aspx [Accessed 7 October 2019]
[iii] https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/images.jsp?doc=177112040056[Accessed 7 October 2019]