The Damnation of John Donellan (38 page)

3
. John Gordon Smith,
An Analysis of Medical Evidence
(1825).

4
. Hugh Childers,
Romantic Trials of Three Centuries
(J. Lane, 1913).

5.
Mr Cradock's Literary and Miscellaneous Memoirs
(Nichols & Son, 1826).

1.
Believed to be the original Boughton family vault, churchyard of St Botolph's, Newbold-on-Avon. (© Cecilia Mackay)

2.
The Rybrack Memorial to William Boughton and Catherine Shukburgh in Newbold-on-Avon church.

3.
The only known image of Lawford Hall. From ‘Picturesque Views on the Upper, or Warwickshire, Avon' by Samuel Butler, 1795.

4.
The exterior of Little Lawford Hall, thought to be the original stable block of Lawford Hall itself. Courtesy of Mr. Richard Phillips.

5.
Boughton family armour of great age in Newbold-on-Avon church: the chevron-patterned bird holds a serpent in its mouth.

6.
Believed to be Theodosius' parents: Edward Boughton (1719–72) and Anna Maria Beauchamp. From a private collection.

7.
William Boughton (1663–1716), the Fourth Baronet. From a private collection.

8.
Shukburgh Boughton (1703–63), the adored son of William. From a private collection.

9.
The only known image – and probably not a very accurate one – of Theodosius, published in
The Hibernian Magazine
at the time of Donellan's court case. Courtesy of David Dickson.

10.
Eton schoolyard
, print, 1825. (Mary Evans Picture Library)

11.
The Pump Room with traders selling their wares, from Bath Illustrated by a Series of Views, print series, 1806. (The Art Archive/Victoria Art Gallery Bath)

12.
Edward Boughton (1742–94), who inherited the baronetcy on Theodosius' death. From a private collection.

13.
John Donellan, taken from a family archive. From a private collection.

14.
The Pantheon London, interior with John Donellan believed to be figure far left
. Engraving by R. Earlom after M-V. Brandoin, Michel-Vincent, 1772. (The Art Archive/Bibliothèque des Arts Décoratifs Paris/Gianni Dagli Orti)

15.
Exterior of the London Pantheon, c.1780s. (Mary Evans Picture Library)

16.
The ravishingly pretty Theodosia – Theodosius' sister – aged 17. Taken from a locket in the possession of Mr and Mrs Henry Boughton-Leigh

17.
A Bacchante (Portrait of Mrs Elizabeth Hartley
), Stipple etching by William Nutter after Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1800.(© The Trustees of the British Museum)

18.
Nancy Parsons, mezzotint by James Watson after George Willison, 1771. (© The Trustees of the British Museum)

19.
View looking along Northgate street in Warwick with the magistrates court to the right and St Mary's Church in the distance, engraving after a drawing by the Revd Mr Streatfield, 1801. Photo: Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum

20.
The interior of Warwick Crown Court, a new building in Donellan's day, court business moved to new premises in 2011.(©
Country Life
magazine).

21.
John Hunter
, engraving, 1788. (The Art Archive/Private Collection/Marc Charmet)

22.
Judge Thumb
or
Patent Sticks for Family Correction
, cartoon showing Sir Justice Buller, cartoon by James Gillray, 1782 (Mary Evans Picture Library/Castle Howard Collection).

Primary Sources

Donellan, John,
The Case of John Donnellan, Captain of Foot, in the Service of the United Company of Merchants Trading to the East-Indies, humbly addressed to the Honourable Court of Directors of the said Company
(London: 1770; reprinted by Kessinger Publishing Rare Reprints)

‘A Defence and Substance of the Trial of John Donellan (
sic
) Esq; who was Convicted for the Murder of Theodosius Boughton, Bart at the Assizes held at Warwick on Friday the 30th of March 1781 Before the Hon. Francis Buller, Esq; founded on the case solemnly attested by the sufferer after his Conviction', Printed for John Bell at the British Library, Strand 1781.

Donellan, John,
The Genuine Case of John Donellan Esquire, as written by Himself; and in pursuance of his dying request
(London: published by Thomas Webb, Solicitor; printed by J. Wenman, April 1781; reprinted by Ecco Print Editions)

Murphy, Captain,
The Life of Captain John Donellan
(London: J. Wenman, 1781; reprinted by Ecco Print Editions)

Smith, John Jay,
Celebrated Trials of All Countries: And Remarkable Cases of Criminal Jurisprudence
(Philadelphia: L. A. Godney, 1836; reprinted by Kessinger Publishing Rare Reprints)
The trial transcript, taken in shorthand by Joseph Gurney, which appears here is the transcript used in this book.

General Reading

Von Archenholz, Johann Wilhelm,
A Picture of England: containing a description of the laws, customs and manners of England
(Dublin: printed by P. Byrne, 1790; reprinted by Kessinger Publishing Rare Reprints)

Baker, Kenneth,
George IV: A Life in Caricature
(London: Thames & Hudson, 2005)

Black, Jeremy,
A Subject for Taste: Culture in Eighteenth-Century England
(London: Hambledon Continuum, 2005)

Cruickshank, Dan,
The Secret History of Georgian London: How the Wages of Sin Shaped the Capital
(London: Random House, 2009)

Harvey, P. D. A. and Thorpe, Harry,
The Printed Maps of Warwickshire 1576–1900
(Warwick: The Records and Museum Committee of Warwickshire County Council in collaboration with the University of Birmingham, 1959)

Linnane, Fergus,
Madams: Bawds and Brothel-Keepers of London
(Stroud: Sutton Publishing, 2005)

Martin, Joanna,
Wives and Daughters: Women and Children in the Georgian Country House
(London: Hambledon and London, 2004)

Porter, Roy,
English Society in the 18 th Century
(London: Penguin Books, revised edition, 1991)

Rubenhold, Hallie (ed.),
Harris's List of Covent Garden Ladies: Sex in the City in Georgian Britain
(Stroud: Tempus, 2005)

Swiderski, Richard M.,
Quicksilver: A History of the Use, Lore and Effects of Mercury
(Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co. Inc., 2008)

Websites

British History Online:
www.british-history.ac.uk
National Archives:
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
These two websites have been very useful as general reference sources to locate documents, to find street descriptions in London and to provide modern currency equivalents of eighteenth-century amounts.

I WOULD LIKE TO THANK
the staff at Warwickshire County Record Office, Shropshire Archives, Northamptonshire Record Office, Bedford-shire & Luton Archives and Records Service and the London Metropolitan Archives for their help in piecing together a Boughton family history that became such a wonderful drama; to Joan Adkins for showing me the Egerton Leigh journals at Rugby Baptist Church; to Dr Gillian Russell for her article on the Pantheon; and to Dr Napier Penlington for sharing his thoughts on the Donellan case.

For their technical advice, valuable time and expertise, I am deeply grateful to Dr Allen Anscombe, forensic pathologist, for his opinion on the causes of Theodosius's death, and to Alan Jenkins of Dorset Police for information on modern-day police procedure.

I am hugely indebted to Ann Boughton-Leigh, Henry Boughton-Leigh and Mrs Mark Wiggins for their generous interest in my work and for access to invaluable family portraits and letters. Their kindness has been extraordinary. I also thank Richard Phillips for the provision of the photograph of Little Lawford Hall and its environs; and Reverend Paul Wilkinson for his patience and good humour in showing me the Boughton family monuments at Newbold-upon-Avon church on a very cold day in January 2010.

I owe so much to my agent Laura Longrigg for her enthusiasm, encouragement and insight, and to my editor Peter Carson, both of whom helped to turn a novelist into an historian.

Lastly and very importantly, my heartfelt thanks go to Kate, Charlotte and Roger for their support. I will never forget Roger manfully sorting through hundreds of eighteenth-century letters in search of a single sentence; or the girls leaping about the house at the news that the book would be published. For everything, thanks.

‘
TB' indicates Theodosius Boughton

39th Regiment
57
,
226

A

Ackerman, Thomas:
Microcosm of London
74

Adam, Robert
74

Addison, Joseph
60

Adstone, Northamptonshire
108

Alebone, John
104

All Year Round
magazine
75

American Jurist and Law Magazine
246

American War of Independence (1775–83)
227

Amigoni, Jacopo
39

Amos, Catharine
182

the Boughton family's cook
4

household duties
4
,
215

at TB's bedside
8
,
143
,
232

Donellan's comment to her
9
,
185

testimony of
156
–7

Amos, Francis
182
,
220

gardener
5

Donellan orders dead pigeons
9
,
184

Donellan's alleged remark about being master
14

testimony in trial
183
–4,
186
,
232
,
239

Ancaster, Duke of
64

Anscombe, Dr Allen
247
–8

Anti-Slavery society
109
,
221

apoplexy (stroke)
172
–3,
177
,
194
,
196
,
197
,
199
,
200
,
202
,
248

Archenholz, Johann Wilhelm Von
58
,
73
–4,
258
n
5

Arlington Street, Piccadilly, London
67

arsenic
4
,
89
,
95
–6,
118
,
119
,
149
–50,
167
,
178
,
243

Arthur, Mr (first husband of Anne Broughton née Brydges)
36

Ashe, Dr
169
,
171
–2,
202

Austen, Jane:
Pride and Prejudice
77

Avon River
1
,
101
,
254

B

Babington Plot (1586)
31

Baddeley, Sophia
64
,
65
,
68
,
74
,
251

Balguy, Mr (prosecuting counsel)
146
,
159
,
169
,
180

Ballycrenan Castle, Ireland
73

Banks, Joseph
193

Bate, Sir Henry
68

Bath
44
,
48
,
52
,
68
,
75
,
76
,
81
,
83
,
148
,
150
,
206
,
224
–7

Bath Journal
52

Bayly, Thomas
102
,
103

Beauchamp, Elizabeth (née Shipton)
41

Beauchamp, John
41

Beauchamp, John Boughton (son of John and Theodosia)
2
,
83
,
102
,
103
,
222
,
227
,
228
,
234
,
253

Beauchamp, Maria Boughton (daughter of John and Theodosia)
2
,
83
,
222
,
227
–8,
253

Beauchamp, Theodosia (died 1732)
41

Beauchamp, Theodosia (died 1733)
41

Beauchamp family
45

Bell, John
215

Bentham, William:
The Baronetage of England
250

Bicêtre asylum, Paris
247

Biddulph, Thomas
259
n
2

Bilton Hall
33
,
255
n
3,
262
n
25

Bilton parish, Warwickshire
30

Birching Tower, Rugby School
45

Birmingham General Hospital
172

Black Dog tavern
26
,
163
,
164
,
165
,
171

Blackburne, Archbishop
59

Blomfield, Reverend
93
,
94

Bloxam, M.H.
100
–1

Rugby
44

Blue Posts inn
71

Blundell, Sarah
133
,
159
,
185
–6,
215

the Boughtons' maid
5

at TB's bedside
8

removal of medicine bottles
8
,
9
,
95
,
121
,
142
–43

treatment of
146
,
147
,
180
,
181

death
143
,
145
–6,
187

and revenge motive
236
–7

Boddington, Edward
104

Boswell, James
25
,
54
,
100

Boughton, Ann (daughter of Jane Coningsby)
30

Boughton, Lady Anna Maria (née Beauchamp TB's mother) marries the 6th Baronet
39

an heiress in her own right
ix
,
41
,
44
,
189