The ''Mary Russell'' was a trading boat that set sail from the harbour of Cobh in

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns a ...

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, on 8 February 1828, carrying a cargo of mules bound for

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. When it returned to Cobh on 25 June 1828, the ship's captain had brutally murdered seven of his crewmen. The story was largely forgotten until 2010, when ''The Ship of Seven Murders,'' a book which detailed the case, was published. Built in 1817, the ''Mary Russell'' was a small wooden brig of 132 tonnes, drawing 13 feet under load, single-decked with beams. That

tonnage Tonnage is a measure of the cargo-carrying capacity of a ship, and is commonly used to assess fees on commercial shipping. The term derives from the taxation paid on ''tuns'' or casks of wine. In modern maritime usage, "tonnage" specifically r ...

would make it about 80 feet in length. The ship was built entirely of wood, with wooden masts and rope rigging. The bottom was sheathed in copper to protect the vessel from

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Crew

The

ship's captain A sea captain, ship's captain, captain, master, or shipmaster, is a high-grade licensed mariner who holds ultimate command and responsibility of a merchant vessel.Aragon and Messner, 2001, p.3. The captain is responsible for the safe and efficie ...

was William Stewart, a Protestant man born in Cobh in 1775. His

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was a Scotsman named William Smith, and his second mate was a Swede named William Swanson. Also on board were John Cramer, the ship's carpenter; seamen John Howes, Francis Sullivan and John Keating; and three apprentices – John Deaves (aged 15), Daniel Scully (13), and Henry Rickards (12). There were also two stablemen on board to look after the mules: Timothy Connell and James Morley. In addition to the crew, there was one passenger on board: an eleven-year-old boy named Thomas Hammond. Captain James Gould Raynes, a Cork man, who had sailed to Barbados on board Hibernia, was relieved of his command for drunkenness. After much persuasion, he was granted passage back to Cork by Captain Stewart on board the Mary Russell.

Murders

Following a dream, Captain Stewart grew suspicious of the crew and feared a mutiny led by Captain Raynes. That Raynes would speak in Irish to the crew added to Stewart's paranoia. Captain Stewart first bound the seven men by hand and foot, pinioning them to the floor of the ship's main saloon. He then systematically killed them all, attacking them first with a crowbar, and then with an axe.

Trial

On Sunday, 11 August 1828, Captain Stewart was tried for murder of Captain James Gould Raynes at Cork Assizes. Unusually, both prosecution and defence were seeking the same verdict: not guilty by reason of insanity.

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was engaged to appear for the prosecution at Stewart’s trial, but was unable to attend as he was fighting the pivotal

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that first elected him to the

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References

* Souvenir of the Mary Russell Tragedy, ''Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society'', 1905 * ‘The Terrible Story of the “Mary Russell”’, ''Fifty Strangest Stories Ever Told'', Odham’s Press Ltd, London c. 1930 * ''The Ship of Seven Murders'', Alannah Hopkin with Kathy Bunney, The Collins Press, 2010 {{1828 shipwrecks Murder in Ireland Axe murder Maritime incidents in 1828 1828 in Ireland Massacres in Ireland Mass murder in Ireland 1828 murders in Europe 1828 crimes in Ireland 1820s murders in Ireland