The teenager James Young was murdered on or near Blackhill Road close to Fortacres Farm (NS 39820 34337),

Gatehead The village or hamlet of Gatehead is located in East Ayrshire, Parish of Kilmaurs, Scotland. It is one and a quarter miles from Crosshouse and one and a half miles from Kilmarnock. In the 18th and 19th centuries the locality was a busy coal mining ...

, Parish of Dundonald in

Ayrshire Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, ) is a historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine and it borders the counties of Re ...

by James McWheelan also recorded as James McQueenCrime & Execution on Facebook
Accessed : 2015-01-10] on Friday 26 or the early hours of Saturday 27 May 1848. The site is recorded in one report as being "''on or near''" the

Toll Road A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road (almost always a controlled-access highway in the present day) for which a fee (or ''toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implemented ...

leading from the Fortacres Farm Toll Bar. The parishes boundaries of Symington, Dundonald and

Riccarton, Ayrshire Riccarton is a village and parish in East Ayrshire, Scotland. It lies across the River Irvine from Kilmarnock, this river forming the boundary between Riccarton and Kilmarnock parishes, and also between the historical districts of Kyle, Ayrshire, ...

meet in this area. The name James McWheelan will be used for the sake of consistency.

The suspect

James McWheelan (probably aged 32) was Irish, from

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, a gardener at

Ardrossan Ardrossan (; ) is a town on the North Ayrshire coast in southwestern Scotland. The town has a population of 10,670 and forms part of a conurbation with Saltcoats and Stevenston known as the 'Three Towns'. Ardrossan is located on the east shore ...

for several years, later an employee at the Glengarnock Iron Works and described at the trial as a "''...rather good looking, stoutly built man..''" who firmly declared himself to be 'Not Guilty' at the trial.

The murder

The site

The old Fortacres bar and

toll house A tollhouse or toll house is a building with accommodation for a toll collector, beside a tollgate on a toll road, canal, or toll bridge. History Many tollhouses were built by turnpike trusts in England, Wales and Scotland during the 18th and ...

stood close to the junction of the road that leads to Symington and Dundonald. The road takes a right-angled bend and a track ran off towards the nearby Simon's Burn. The site of the murder is known locally as ''McWheelan's Corner''.

The act

James Young was struck repeatedly "''on or near the head''" with a stone or similar object by James WcWheelan and then stabbed in the neck with a carpenter's chisel or similar object resulting in his bleeding to death. He was reported to have both hands filled with grass and earth that he had clutched in his death throes. His body had been found by two young men, John Gebbie and John Scott,Kellie, Page 141 at about 4am on the Saturday, lying in a pool of blood, with a wound in the neck that had been inflicted with the carpenter's chisel which was found in a nearby field, together with an unusual pink and patterned

napkin A napkin, serviette or face towelette is a square of cloth or paper tissue used at the table for wiping the mouth and fingers while eating. It is usually small and folded, sometimes in intricate designs and shapes. Etymology and terminology ...

or handkerchiefKellie, Page 144 that was shown to have been recently in the possession of James McWheelan. The men quickly informed the Fortacres farmer (who identified the victim) and Robert Hendry, the toll keeper. A Mr Robert Thom is recorded as having encountered McWheelan who overtook him at a time that would have allowed for him to have been near Fortacres at the time of the murder.

Manhunt and other crimes

James McWheelan had been seen acting suspiciously in the area the afternoon of the day before the murder and having suddenly disappeared he was a logical suspect. McWheelan's description was circulated to the various police stations throughout the country. McWheelan in the meantime had travelled to

Beith Beith is a small town in the Garnock Valley, North Ayrshire, Scotland approximately south-west of Glasgow. The town is situated on the crest of a hill and was known originally as the "''Hill o' Beith''" (hill of the birches) after its ''Court ...

, arriving on the Saturday after the murder. He gave a (''stolen'') silver watch to an acquaintance to

pawn Pawn most often refers to: * Pawn (chess), the weakest and most numerous piece in the game * Pawnbroker or pawnshop, a business that provides loans by taking personal property as collateral Pawn may also refer to: Places * Pawn, Oregon, an his ...

, drank the proceeds and the next day set off towards Paisley. A farmer, William Orr, whilst riding passing a toll-bar between Paisley and

on the Sunday, saw McWheelan hurriedly leaving the toll-house having, so it transpired, stolen £35 and a silver watch. Having had his suspicions raised the farmer made enquiries and discovering that a murder and thefts had taken place, turned back, caught up with McWheelan near Paisley and apprehended him, passing him to the police there who quickly discovered his true identity and took him to

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

.Adamson, Page 78 McWheelan was charged with these crimes, the murder and also charged with taking James Young's silver watch, chain, key, etc. and fifteen shillings in silver money (worth at least £73.97 in 2019).

Background

A James Young, son of John Young and Jean Gemmell was born on the 21 July 1831 in the Parish of Riccarton and was baptised on 24 July by the Rev. Moody. He would have been 17 years old in May 1848. James Young was employed as farm servant by Joseph Smith .at Fortacres Farm, recorded as 'Forty acres' in at least one report. On ' Dudd's-day' the hiring fair was taking place at

Dictionary of the Scots Language
Accessed : 2015-01-10 and James had gained permission to visit his home at Knowehead in

Riccarton Riccarton may refer to: New Zealand * Riccarton, New Zealand, a suburb of Christchurch ** Riccarton (New Zealand electorate), the electorate named after it ** The location of Riccarton Race Course * a locality on the Taieri Plains in Otago Scotlan ...

. After walking the few miles he arrived at 7am and stayed with John, his father, his mother and family members until around 10.30pm that evening when he set off to return to Fortacres Farm. James however never made it back to his place of work. It is not recorded exactly why James was carrying as much as '15 shillings in silver', a relatively large sum of money or if the robbery and murder were premeditated or occurred as a result of a random act. Being the

Dudd's-day Fair when hiring etc. of farm labourers etc. took place it would certainly have been a prime opportunity to commit acts of robbery. The 'Ayr Advertiser' in 1820 stated that "''Friday was the “

Dudsday Dudsday, also Duds' day, or Dud's day was a hiring fair, a holiday, held at Kilmarnock in East Ayrshire, Scotland. Originally held at Martinmas that falls on November 11 it was later also held at Whitsun. At this fair farm servants etc would be hi ...

” fair in Kilmarnock, that is, the fair at which the country servants spend their former half year's wages in new clothes.''"

Trial, sentence and execution

James McWheelan firmly declared himself to be 'Not Guilty' at the trial held in

Ayr Ayr (; sco, Ayr; gd, Inbhir Àir, "Mouth of the River Ayr") is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. It is the administrative centre of the South Ayrshire council area and the historic county town of Ayrshire. With a population ...

and no fewer than 93 witnesses were cited. Great interest had been created due to the "''...peculiar barbarity and wantonness of the crime.''" The chisel, a napkin found on the road and the silver watch belonging to the murdered man were all known to have been in the possession of the accused man. It took the jury only half an hour to return a unanimous verdict of guilty. John Crawford, a barber in

related how James had forced his way to the front of the queue of waiting customers to have his beard shaved off as if to disguise himself. James McWheelan, aged 32, was sentenced to be hanged in Ayr at 7am on Thursday, 26 October 1848. He repeatedly admitted and retracted his guilt and tried to commit suicide several times. Two days before the sentence was to be carried out McWheelan became very religious and on the day itself, upon his head being covered with the hood and the rope around his neck, he stood praying beneath the gallows for 15 minutes with no one being quite sure if he should be interrupted as he was supposed to drop a handkerchief to signal that he was ready.Kellie, Page 148 The Provost of Ayr finally lost patience and shouted, "Do your duty, executioner." John Murdoch, the hangman, then pulled the lever.Victorian Hangings
He maintained his innocence and died without an admission of guilt for his crimes.

Aftermath

Such was the notoriety of the murder and sympathy for the victim that passers by took to leaving a stone at the spot to create a cairn (NS 39979 34140) that grew to a fairly considerable size. The cairn is no longer apparent as the site has attracted random dumping of various materials over the years. Adamson's comment in his 'Rambles Round Kilmarnock' was that the cairn ".. marks the spot where one of the most cold-blooded and heartless murders that ever stained the annals of our country."Adamson, Page 77

References

Sources

* Adamson, Archibald R. (1875). ''Rambles Round Kilmarnock.'' Kilmarnock : T. Stevenson. * Kellie, John (2013). ''Ayrshire Echoes.'' Auchinleck : Carn Publishing. .

External links

:

Commentary and video on the murder. {{DEFAULTSORT:Young, James 1848 in Scotland Deaths by person in Scotland History of North Ayrshire Murder trials Trials in Scotland People murdered in Scotland Child murder in Scotland Incidents of violence against boys May 1848 events 1848 murders in the United Kingdom