James Hackman (baptized 13 December 1752, hanged 19 April 1779), briefly
Rector
Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to:
Style or title
*Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations
*Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...
of
Wiveton
Wiveton is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is situated on the west bank of the River Glaven, inland from the coast and directly across the river from the village of Cley next the Sea. The larger village of Blake ...
in
Norfolk
Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
, was the man who murdered
Martha Ray
Martha Ray (1746 – 7 April 1779) was a British singer of the Georgian era. Her father was a corsetmaker and her mother was a servant in a noble household. Good-looking, intelligent, and a talented singer, she came to the attention of many of ...
, singer and mistress of
John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich
John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, PC, FRS (13 November 1718 – 30 April 1792) was a British statesman who succeeded his grandfather Edward Montagu, 3rd Earl of Sandwich as the Earl of Sandwich in 1729, at the age of ten. During his life ...
.
[ Rawlings, Philip, ''Hackman, James (bap. 1752, d. 1779)'', in '']Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
'' (Oxford University Press, 2004) and online at
Hackman, James
' (subscription required), accessed 16 March 2008
Early life
Baptized on 13 December 1752 at
Gosport
Gosport ( ) is a town and non-metropolitan borough on the south coast of Hampshire, South East England. At the 2011 Census, its population was 82,662. Gosport is situated on a peninsula on the western side of Portsmouth Harbour, opposite t ...
,
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
, Hackman was the son of William and Mary Hackman. His father had served in the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
as a
lieutenant
A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations.
The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...
. Hackman was
apprentice
Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...
d to a
mercer
Mercer may refer to:
Business
* Mercer (car), a defunct American automobile manufacturer (1909–1925)
* Mercer (consulting firm), a large human resources consulting firm headquartered in New York City
* Mercer (occupation), a merchant or trader, ...
, and although according to some accounts he became a member of
St John's College, Cambridge
St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...
, no record of this can be traced at
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
.
[
]
Career
In 1772, Hackman was purchased a commission as an ensign
An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...
in the 68th Regiment of Foot
The 68th (Durham) Regiment of Foot (Light Infantry) was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1758. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 106th Bombay Light Infantry to form the Durham Light Infantry in 1881, the 68 ...
, and in 1776 was promoted lieutenant, but by early 1777 he had resigned from the army
An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
to become a cleric
Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...
. On 24 February 1779, Hackman was ordained a deacon
A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...
in the Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
and on 28 February a priest
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...
. On 1 March 1779 he was instituted as Rector
Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to:
Style or title
*Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations
*Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...
of Wiveton
Wiveton is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is situated on the west bank of the River Glaven, inland from the coast and directly across the river from the village of Cley next the Sea. The larger village of Blake ...
, a place that he may never have visited.[Rector of Wiveton]
at norfolkcoast.co.uk, accessed 16 March 2008
Martha Ray
In about 1775, while he was a serving army officer, Hackman visited Lord Sandwich
Earl of Sandwich is a noble title in the Peerage of England, held since its creation by the House of Montagu. It is nominally associated with Sandwich, Kent. It was created in 1660 for the prominent naval commander Admiral Sir Edward Montagu ...
's house at Hinchingbrooke and met his host's mistress, Martha Ray
Martha Ray (1746 – 7 April 1779) was a British singer of the Georgian era. Her father was a corsetmaker and her mother was a servant in a noble household. Good-looking, intelligent, and a talented singer, she came to the attention of many of ...
.[ She was "a lady of an elegant person, great sweetness of manners, and of a remarkable judgement and execution in vocal and instrumental music" who had lived with Lord Sandwich as his wife since the age of seventeen and had given birth to nine of his children.][ Sandwich also had a wife, from whom he was separated, who was considered mad and who lived in an apartment at ]Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history.
The original cast ...
.[ This was the same Lord Sandwich who is said to have called for a piece of beef between two pieces of bread, thus originating the word "]sandwich
A sandwich is a food typically consisting of vegetables, sliced cheese or meat, placed on or between slices of bread, or more generally any dish wherein bread serves as a container or wrapper for another food type. The sandwich began as a po ...
". He was a patron of the explorer Captain James Cook
James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean an ...
, who named the Sandwich Islands after him (now known as the Hawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Islands ( haw, Nā Mokupuni o Hawai‘i) are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kur ...
).[
Hackman struck up a friendship with Martha Ray (who was several years older than he was)][ and was later reported to have become besotted with her.][ They may have become lovers and discussed marriage, but this is disputed.][ Although rich, Sandwich was usually in debt and offered Martha Ray no financial security.][ However, whatever was between Hackman and Martha Ray ended when he was posted to ]Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
.[
On 7 April 1779, a few weeks after his ordination as a priest of the Church of England, Hackman followed Martha Ray to ]Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...
, where she had gone to watch a performance of Isaac Bickerstaffe
Isaac Bickerstaffe or Bickerstaff (26 September 1733 – after 1808) was an Irish playwright and Librettist.
Early life
Isaac John Bickerstaff was born in Dublin, on 26 September 1733, where his father John Bickerstaff held a government posi ...
's comic opera
Comic opera, sometimes known as light opera, is a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending and often including spoken dialogue.
Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a ne ...
'' Love in a Village'' with her friend and fellow singer Caterina Galli
Caterina Galli (c. 1723 - 1804) was an Italian operatic mezzo-soprano. She first rose to fame in England in the 1740s and early 1750s where she was particularly admired for her performances in the works of George Frideric Handel. She then enjoyed ...
.[ Suspecting that Ray had a new lover, when Hackman saw her in the theatre with ]William Hanger, 3rd Baron Coleraine
William Hanger, 3rd Baron Coleraine (6 August 1744 – 11 December 1814), styled The Honourable William Hanger between 1762 and 1794, was a British politician.
Hanger was the second surviving son of Gabriel Hanger, 1st Baron Coleraine, by Eliz ...
, he left, fetched two pistols, and waited in a nearby coffee house
A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non- ...
. After Ray and Galli came out of the theatre, Hackman approached them just as they were about to get into their carriage. He put one pistol to Ray's forehead and shot her dead. With the other he then tried to kill himself but made only a flesh wound. He then beat himself with both discharged pistols until he was arrested and taken, with Ray's body, into a tavern in St James's Street
St James's Street is the principal street in the district of St James's, central London. It runs from Piccadilly downhill to St James's Palace and Pall Mall. The main gatehouse of the Palace is at the southern end of the road; in the 17th centur ...
. Two letters were found on Hackman, one addressed to his brother-in-law, Frederick Booth, and a love letter to Ray: both later appeared in evidence at the murder trial.[
When Lord Sandwich heard what had happened, he "wept exceedingly".
On 14 April 1779, Ray was entombed inside the parish church of ]Elstree
Elstree is a large village in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire, England. It is about northwest of central London on the former A5 road, that follows the course of Watling Street. In 2011, its population was 5,110. It forms part of t ...
, Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...
, but her body was later moved into the cemetery.[ On the instructions of Lord Sandwich, she was buried in the clothes she had been wearing when killed.][
]
Trial
Hackman was quickly committed to the Tothill Fields Bridewell
Tothill Fields Bridewell (also known as Tothill Fields Prison and Westminster Bridewell) was a prison located in the Westminster area of central London between 1618 and 1884. It was named "Bridewell" after the Bridewell Palace, which during the ...
.[ As "James Hackman, Clerk", he was indicted for "the wilful murther of Martha Ray, spinster" on the inquisition of the ]coroner
A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into Manner of death, the manner or cause of death, and to investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within th ...
.
On 16 April 1779, just nine days after the event, Hackman was tried for murder at the Old Bailey
The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...
. Despite having previously decided to plead guilty, in the event he pleaded not guilty, explaining that "the justice of my country ought to be satisfied by suffering my offence to be proved".[Old Bailey Sessions Paper 209][
John McNamara gave evidence that on the evening of 7 April, he believed at some time after 11.00 am he came out of the playhouse with Ray, and having seen her "in some difficulties at the playhouse", offered his help in handing her to her carriage. She took his arm. As they came out of the passage into the Covent Garden playhouse and were two steps from the carriage, he heard the report of a pistol, while Miss Ray was still holding his right arm with her left hand. She fell instantly. He thought the pistol had been "fired out of wantonness" and that Miss Ray had fainted. He knelt to help her, but found blood on his hands, and got her into the Shakspeare tavern. He did not see Hackman at the time, but after he had been arrested, asked him what had possessed him, and he answered "that it was not a proper place to ask that question, or something to that effect... I asked him his name, and I understood from him that his name was Hackman; I think he pronounced his name with an H. I asked him if he knew anybody. He said, he knew a Mr. Booth, in Craven-street in the Strand, and desired he might be sent for. He desired to see the lady. I did not tell him she was dead; somebody else did. I objected to his seeing her at that time. I had her removed into another room. From the great quantity of blood I had about me I got sick, and was obliged to go home. I know no more about it."][
Mary Anderson, a fruit seller, gave evidence that she was standing close by the carriage. She is recorded as saying:][
Anderson said she had identified Hackman in Tothill Fields Bridewell the next day and she did so again in court, pointing to the prisoner.][
Richard Blandy, a constable, gave evidence that he had been coming from Drury-Lane house and that as he came by the piazzas in Covent Garden he heard two pistol shots and then heard somebody say two people were killed. Approaching, he saw the surgeon had Hackman and a pistol in his hand. A Mr Mahon had given Blandy the pistol and asked him to take care of the prisoner and to take him to Mahon's house. The prisoner was bloody, wounded in the head, and very faint. When Blandy came to the corner by the Red Lion, the door was shut, and he was then asked to take the prisoner back to the Shakspeare tavern, where Mr Mahon was. Blandy searched the prisoner's pocket and found two letters, which he gave to Mr Campbell, master of the Shakspeare tavern. He could say nothing else about the letters.][
James Mahon, an apothecary, gave evidence that he lived at the corner of Bow Street. Coming through the piazzas in Covent-Garden, he heard two pistols go off. Going back, he saw a gentleman lying on the ground, with a pistol in his left hand, beating himself violently and bleeding copiously. The prisoner was the gentleman. Mahon had taken the pistol away from him and given it to the constable, asking him to take the prisoner to his house for the wound to be dressed. He had seen nothing of the lady until two or three minutes later he saw her lying at the bar, with a mortal wound, and said he could not help her.][
Dennis O'Bryan, a surgeon, gave evidence that he had examined Miss Ray's body at the Shakspeare tavern on the night of the murder. He found the wound to be mortal, could find no sign of life, and pronounced the woman dead. The wound was in the 'centra coronalis' (the crown of the head) and the ball had come out under the left ear.][
Hackman gave evidence for himself, reading a prepared statement to the court, which was probably written by the lawyer and writer ]James Boswell
James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck (; 29 October 1740 (New Style, N.S.) – 19 May 1795), was a Scottish biographer, diarist, and lawyer, born in Edinburgh. He is best known for his biography of his friend and older contemporary the Englis ...
, who although not professionally engaged was closely associated with the defence.[Tankard, Paul. "The Hackman Case." ''Facts and Inventions: Selections from the Journalism of James Boswell'' (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2014), Pp. 92-102.] The statement afterwards appeared in all the newspapers. Hackman admitted that he had killed Ray, but he claimed he had only meant to kill himself. He said:[
Hackman's defence counsel submitted to the court that Hackman was insane and that the killing of Martha Ray was unpremeditated, as shown by the letter to her found on him.][
William Halliburton was sworn and produced the other letter found in the prisoner's pocket, which he said he had had from Booth. Mahon identified it as a letter taken from the prisoner, which he said Booth had opened and read in his presence. The letter, addressed to "Frederick Booth, Esq. Craven street, in the Strand", was read into the record:][
Mr Justice Blackstone, presiding at the trial, summed up the case against Hackman. He told the jury that the crime of ]murder
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...
did not demand "a long form of deliberation" and that Hackman's letter to Frederick Booth showed "a coolness and deliberation which no ways accorded with the ideas of insanity". Hackman was convicted and sentenced to be hanged.[
In a newspaper report of the trial, Hackman was described as five feet nine inches tall, "very genteely made, and of a most polite Address".
After the trial, ]James Boswell
James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck (; 29 October 1740 (New Style, N.S.) – 19 May 1795), was a Scottish biographer, diarist, and lawyer, born in Edinburgh. He is best known for his biography of his friend and older contemporary the Englis ...
told Frederick Booth that Hackman had behaved "with Decency, Propriety, and in such a Manner as to interest everyone present".[
]
Execution
Hackman was hanged at Tyburn
Tyburn was a manor (estate) in the county of Middlesex, one of two which were served by the parish of Marylebone.
The parish, probably therefore also the manor, was bounded by Roman roads to the west (modern Edgware Road) and south (modern Ox ...
on 19 April 1779. He travelled there in a mourning coach, accompanied by the sheriff's officer and two fellow clergymen, the Rev. Moses Porter, a curate friend from Clapham
Clapham () is a suburb in south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (most notably Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth.
History
Early history
T ...
, and the Rev. John Villette, the chaplain of Newgate Prison
Newgate Prison was a prison at the corner of Newgate Street and Old Bailey Street just inside the City of London, England, originally at the site of Newgate, a gate in the Roman London Wall. Built in the 12th century and demolished in 1904, t ...
.[ James Boswell later denied rumours that he had also been in the coach.
At Tyburn, "Hackman... behaved with great fortitude; no appearances of fear were to be perceived, but very evident signs of contrition and repentance". His body was later publicly dissected at Surgeons' Hall, London.][
]
Aftermath
Hackman's case became famous, and The Newgate Calendar
''The Newgate Calendar'', subtitled ''The Malefactors' Bloody Register'', was a popular work of improving literature in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Originally a monthly wikt:bulletin, bulletin of executions, produced by the Prison governor, ...
later noted that:
Horace Walpole
Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whigs (British political party), Whig politician.
He had Strawb ...
remarked that the murder fascinated much of London during April 1779. At first, given Sandwich's position as First Lord of the Admiralty
The First Lord of the Admiralty, or formally the Office of the First Lord of the Admiralty, was the political head of the English and later British Royal Navy. He was the government's senior adviser on all naval affairs, responsible for the di ...
, a political motive was suspected. Not long before, Sandwich and Martha Ray had found themselves fleeing from Admiralty House, where a mob was rioting against the government and in particular against what it saw as the mistreatment of Admiral Keppel.
The affair inspired Sir Herbert Croft's epistolary novel ''Love and Madness
''Love and Madness'' is a 1780 English novel by Sir Herbert Croft. It was based on the 1779 murder of Martha Ray, the mistress of Lord Sandwich, by James Hackman. Its full title is ''Love and Madness, a Story too True: in a Series of Letters betwe ...
'' (1780), an imagined correspondence between Hackman and Martha Ray. In this, Hackman is dealt with sympathetically. He is represented as a man of sensibility suffering from an extreme case of unrequited love who descends into suicidal and homicidal despair, even to the point that the reader is invited to identify with Hackman rather than with his victim.
Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709 – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...
and Topham Beauclerk
Topham Beauclerk ( ; 22 December 1739 – 11 March 1780) was a celebrated wit and a friend of Dr Johnson and Horace Walpole.
Life
Topham Beauclerk was born on 22 December 1739, the only son of Lord Sidney Beauclerk and a great-grandson of King ...
debated whether Hackman had meant to kill only himself.[ Johnson believed that the two pistols Hackman took with him to Covent Garden meant that he intended there to be two deaths. Boswell himself (who had visited Hackman in prison) wrote that the case showed "the dreadful effects that the passion of Love may produce".
In his ''Mind-Forg'd Manacles'' (1987), the ]social historian
Social history, often called the new social history, is a field of history that looks at the lived experience of the past. In its "golden age" it was a major growth field in the 1960s and 1970s among scholars, and still is well represented in his ...
Roy Porter
Roy Sydney Porter, FBA (31 December 1946 – 3 March 2002) was a British historian known for his work on the history of medicine. He retired in 2001 from the director of the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine at University College L ...
argues that Hackman was well aware of the madness of his passion.
In ''The Luck of Barry Lyndon
''The Luck of Barry Lyndon'' is a picaresque novel by William Makepeace Thackeray, first published as a serial in ''Fraser's Magazine'' in 1844, about a member of the Irish gentry trying to become a member of the English aristocracy. Thacker ...
'', Thackeray
William Makepeace Thackeray (; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was a British novelist, author and illustrator. He is known for his satirical works, particularly his 1848 novel '' Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portrait of British society, and t ...
has his protagonist describe having met Hackman 'at one of Mrs Cornely's balls, at Carlisle House, Soho'.
Likenesses
A mezzotint
Mezzotint is a monochrome printmaking process of the '' intaglio'' family. It was the first printing process that yielded half-tones without using line- or dot-based techniques like hatching, cross-hatching or stipple. Mezzotint achieves tonali ...
of Hackman by Robert Laurie, after Robert Dighton
Robert Dighton was born c.1752 in London and died there in 1814. An English portrait painter, printmaker and caricaturist, he was the founder of a dynasty of artists who followed in his footsteps.
Life and work
Robert Dighton was the son of t ...
, was published in 1779.James Hackman (1752-1779), Murderer
at npg.org.uk, the web site of the National Portrait Gallery (accessed 17 March 2008) Another engraving of Hackman (artist unknown) was used as an illustration in ''The Case and Memoirs of the Late Rev. Mr James Hackman'' (1779).[
]
References
*
*
*
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hackman, James
1750s births
1779 deaths
Anglican priests convicted of crimes
People from Gosport
Executed priests
18th-century English Anglican priests
Members of the clergy convicted of murder
People executed by the Kingdom of Great Britain
68th Regiment of Foot officers
Executed English people
People executed by England and Wales by hanging
English people convicted of murder
People convicted of murder by England and Wales
People executed at Tyburn
Protestant religious leaders convicted of crimes