The Ardlamont Murder (also known as the Ardlamont Mystery and the Monson Case), which took place in
Argyll
Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland.
Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...
, Scotland, on 10 August 1893, gave rise to two high-profile court cases: a murder trial in Edinburgh (''HM Advocate v Monson''), and a
defamation trial in London (''Monson v Tussauds Ltd'') the following year.
Alfred John Monson received the
Scottish verdict of "
not proven
Not proven (, ) is a verdict available to a court of law in Scotland. Under Scots law, a criminal trial may end in one of three verdicts, one of conviction ("guilty") and two of acquittal ("not proven" and "not guilty").The Scottish criminal ju ...
" in his
High Court of Justiciary
The High Court of Justiciary is the supreme criminal court in Scotland. The High Court is both a trial court and a court of appeal. As a trial court, the High Court sits on circuit at Parliament House or in the adjacent former Sheriff Cour ...
trial for the murder of Cecil Hambrough. Then, in 1894, he sued
Madame Tussauds for libel and was awarded one
farthing
Farthing or farthings may refer to:
Coinage
*Farthing (British coin), an old British coin valued one quarter of a penny
** Half farthing (British coin)
** Third farthing (British coin)
** Quarter farthing (British coin)
* Farthing (English ...
(the lowest possible amount at the time) in damages. The case established the principle of "libel by innuendo" in
English law, and ''Monson v Tussauds Ltd'' has been used to draw up defamation laws in many countries since.
A notorious case at the time, the trial received renewed attention when it was noted that
Joseph Bell
Joseph Bell FRCSE (2 December 1837 – 4 October 1911) was a Scottish surgeon and lecturer at the medical school of the University of Edinburgh in the 19th century. He is best known as an inspiration for the literary character Sherlock Hol ...
, revealed as the inspiration for the popular fictional character
Sherlock Holmes, had been called as an
expert witness
An expert witness, particularly in common law countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States, is a person whose opinion by virtue of education, training, certification, skills or experience, is accepted by the judge as ...
at the murder trial, as was another inspiration for Holmes, Dr.
Henry Littlejohn
Sir Henry Duncan Littlejohn MD LLD FRCSE (8 May 1826 – 30 September 1914) was a Scottish surgeon, forensic scientist and public health official. He served for 46 years as Edinburgh's first Medical Officer of Health, during which time he brough ...
, who was a medical forensic expert for the
Crown
A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...
.
Background
Alfred John Monson was born in 1860 the son of Reverend Thomas John Monson and his wife the Hon. Caroline Isabella Monckton, daughter of the
5th Viscount Galway. He married Agnes Maude Day in 1881.
Windsor Dudley Cecil Hambrough, born 1873, was a member of the Hambrough family of
Pipewell Hall, Northamptonshire and
Steephill, Isle of Wight.
Monson began working as a gentleman's tutor for the Hambrough family in 1891. In 1893 he took the lease on the
Ardlamont estate in Argyll for the shooting season. His pupil, Windsor Dudley Cecil Hambrough, now 20-year-old joined him there; he had been living with Monson, his wife and three children at Risley Hall, Yorkshire for his education (where it later emerged, he had been having an illicit relationship with Mrs Monson).
On 10 August, he took Hambrough a day's hunting in an area of woodland. A third man joined them, Edward Scott, a friend of Monson (who claimed to be a boating engineer, but also had an alias Edward Sweeney, or Ted Davis as a
bookmaker
A bookmaker, bookie, or turf accountant is an organization or a person that accepts and pays off bets on sporting and other events at agreed-upon odds.
History
The first bookmaker, Ogden, stood at Newmarket in 1795.
Range of events
Bookm ...
) had arrived at the estate a few days earlier.
Estate workers heard a shot, then saw Monson and Scott running to Ardlamont House carrying the guns. They were cleaning the weapons when the estate butler asked what had become of Mr Hambrough. Monson replied that he had shot himself in the head by accident while climbing a fence or wall.
Investigation and trial
When the incident was reported, a member of the
Inveraray
Inveraray ( or ; gd, Inbhir Aora meaning "mouth of the Aray") is a town in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It is on the western shore of Loch Fyne, near its head, and on the A83 road. It is a former royal burgh, the traditional county town of Arg ...
procurator fiscal's office was sent to the estate. He returned, saying it had been a tragic accident. There was not any formal post mortem.
However, two weeks later, Monson appeared at the fiscal's office to report that Hambrough had taken out two life insurance policies worth £20,000 only six days before he died, and that they were made out in the name of Monson’s wife.
These had been brokered by Arthur Sebright, a mortgage and insurance broker friend of Monson, who had met them earlier that year and discussed possible life insurance and trust deeds, and also joint financial ventures to take effect after Hambrough reached his majority (age 21) when he was due to inherit £200,000.
After thorough searches of the estate and interviews with staff, Monson was charged with murder. Scott, now on the run, was named as his accomplice.
Among the witnesses for the prosecution was
Joseph Bell
Joseph Bell FRCSE (2 December 1837 – 4 October 1911) was a Scottish surgeon and lecturer at the medical school of the University of Edinburgh in the 19th century. He is best known as an inspiration for the literary character Sherlock Hol ...
, the Edinburgh surgeon and forensic detective. He told the jury that, in his opinion, Monson had murdered Cecil Hambrough.
Henry Littlejohn
Sir Henry Duncan Littlejohn MD LLD FRCSE (8 May 1826 – 30 September 1914) was a Scottish surgeon, forensic scientist and public health official. He served for 46 years as Edinburgh's first Medical Officer of Health, during which time he brough ...
and
Patrick Heron Watson
Sir Patrick Heron Watson (5 January 1832 – 21 December 1907) was an eminent 19th-century Scottish surgeon and pioneer of anaesthetic development. He was associated with a number of surgical innovations including excision of the knee jo ...
agreed the shot could not be self-inflicted. However, sufficient doubt had been sowed in the minds of the jury by Monson's advocate
John Comrie Thomson, who presented Prof
Matthew Hay
Matthew Hay (1855–1932) was a Scottish doctor and champion of Public Health. He was appointed Medical Officer of Health for the City of Aberdeen in 1888, a post he held until 1923. He was also Professor of Forensic Medicine at the Universit ...
as an expert witness who strongly contradicted the other experts, and Monson was set free with the verdict of "
not proven
Not proven (, ) is a verdict available to a court of law in Scotland. Under Scots law, a criminal trial may end in one of three verdicts, one of conviction ("guilty") and two of acquittal ("not proven" and "not guilty").The Scottish criminal ju ...
."
Hambrough was buried in the churchyard at
St Catherine's Church, Ventnor on the Isle of Wight, close to the family home.
Libel by innuendo
In 1894
Madame Tussauds in London erected a waxwork of Monson at the entrance to its Chamber of Horrors, bearing a gun. Monson took exception, sued the company and was awarded one farthing in damages. The case, ''Monson v Tussauds'', established the principle of "libel by innuendo", which has been used to draw up defamation laws in many countries since. To prove libel, there must be publication in permanent form, but this need not be in words.
Television Dramatisation
BBC Scotland Television produced an adaptation based on the case and broadcast in 1984. ''Murder Not Proven'': ''Open Season'' was scripted by the future novelist
Peter May Peter May may refer to:
*Peter W. May, American businessman
*Peter May (cricketer) (1929–1994), English Test cricketer
*Peter May (writer)
Peter May (born 20 December 1951) is a Scottish television screenwriter, novelist, and crime writer. H ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ardlamont Murder
High Court of Justiciary cases
1893 in Scotland
1893 in case law
English tort case law
1894 in England
1894 in case law
History of Argyll and Bute
Murder in Scotland
Clan Lamont
1893 in British law
1894 in British law
August 1893 events
1893 murders in the United Kingdom