Trial Of Mary Fitzpatrick

The trial of Mary Fitzpatrick of November 1882, before Justice Henry Hawkins, was an English murder and robbery case at the York Winter Assizes in the assize courts at York Castle, which drew much attention in contemporary newspapers. It followed the death of 24-year-old glass blower James Richardson, who was last seen alive in the company of rag sorter Mary Fitzpatrick, aged 23, and was next seen dead in the water without his watch and chain. The Coroner's Court returned a verdict of "wilful murder."

Fitzpatrick and Richardson lived in slum areas of Leeds; Fitzpatrick was tried by at least five aristocrats. She was convicted of robbery, and sentenced to penal servitude for six years. At the time of the trial she had two young children.

Mary Fitzpatrick, perpetrator

Mary Fitzpatrick (b.1855–1859) née Corcoran, alias Mary Anne Gollagher, was born in Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, England. She was the daughter of Richard Corcoran (b.ca.1829) a greengrocer and labourer, and his wife Catherine née Connor (b.ca.1832), both from County Mayo. Richard and Catherine married in Leeds in 1850. in 1851 the young couple were living at 8 Dufton's Yard with a number of Irish lodgers. They were "respectable" Roman Catholics and "migrants from famine-torn Ireland ... a poor family struggling to make ends meet." They were living at 162 York Street, Leeds in 1861,1861 England Census 3380/85/p.2 and at 72 York Street in 1876.

Mary's younger siblings were: Amy (b.ca.1865), and Michael (b.ca.1868).1871 England Census 4554/41/p.7 The 1881 Census shows Mary's parents Richard and Catherine living at 15 Orange Street; Richard had lost his greengrocer trade and been a labourer since before 1851. By 1876 he was a hawker. The yards inhabited by the Corcoran family were ginnels or alleys inside the slum area around the edge of Quarry Hill. They were living in the Quarry Hill area, where at that time, many houses had "no piped water supply or proper sewerage system ... Sometimes there weren't even any ... outside toilets; people used a bucket which could be emptied on a common midden."

Mary was attending school by the age of six years, so that she was sufficiently literate to sign her marriage certificate. By the time she was 15 years old, she was working as a mill hand, "a hard and dangerous job for a child." Mary and her family had no recorded offences before Mary married. She married Irish iron puddler Thomas Fitzpatrick (b.ca.1857), son of flour miller Patrick Fitzpatrick, at St Patrick's Chapel, York Road, Leeds, on 1 May 1876. Marriages Jun 1876 Fitz Patrick Thomas Leeds 9b 742a. The marriage certificate says: First May 1876 at St Patrick's Chapel (Roman Catholic), York Road, Leeds, Thomas Fitzpatrick bachelor and puddler 19 years, son of flour miller Patrick Fitzpatrick, of Craven Street Leeds, and Mary Corcoran spinster 20 years, daughter of hawker Richard Corcoran, of 72 York Street Leeds. Both signed the register; witnesses were John Hall and Mary Ryan. They had two children, one named John (b.ca.1876), and in 1881 the Fitzpatrick family was boarding at New Yard, Workington, Cumberland. By the time of her 1882 trial, Mary was living in Lemon Street, Quarry Hill, and was separated from her husband, who had emigrated to America amid the negative pre-trial publicity.

Mary Fitzpatrick (2).JPG, Mary Fitzpatrick, 1880s
Duftons Yard Leeds 1901.jpg, Former Dufton's Yard, where Mary's parents lived in 1851
Lemon Street Quarry Hill Leeds (1).jpg, Former Lemon Street, where Fitzpatrick lived in 1882

Fitzpatrick's criminal record

After Mary's children were born, she began drinking. In 1879 she was sentenced to seven days' imprisonment for riotousness, and then to four months and two months for stealing flannel and handkerchiefs respectively. On Thursday 10 June 1880 at Dewsbury Borough Court, three young women, including one Mary Fitzpatrick, were charged by the Mayor, Alderman John Bates, with obstructing a footpath at 6.30pm on 3 June, in School Road, Daw Green. Fitzpatrick was fined 5 shillings and costs. Under the name of Corcoran, on 21 June 1880 at York, she was convicted of felony. She was committed to two months imprisonment for stealing a scarf and hat. After being released, she was then caught under a bed at the scene of a robbery, however she was not convicted on that occasion. She was placed under police supervision, and apprehended again in September of the same year as a "suspect person". She remained out of prison for a year or more, but her marriage had broken up by 1881. At her 1882 trial, the judge said that she had already been convicted of three felonies in total, and the ''Derby Daily Telegraph'' reported that Fitzpatrick had a " loose character".

James Richardson, victim

James Richardson's father was Charles Richardson (Hunslet ca.1819 – Hunslet Carr 8 June 1880), a coal miner who eventually died of tuberculosis, and his mother was Mary Richardson née Howden (b. Hunslet ca.1820) who managed a grocery shop and was illiterate. Charles and Mary married in Leeds in 1838. Between 1861 and 1871, the family lived at 31 Balm Lane, Hunslet, and then at least from 1881 at Taylor's Place, Low Road, Hunslet Carr.

Richardson (Hunslet 16 July 1858 – Hunslet 15 August 1882), born at 3 Carr Place, Hunslet, Births Sep 1858 Richardson James Hunslet 9b 258. His birth certificate says: "Sixteenth July 1858 (at) 13 Carr Place, James, boy, (father) Charles Richardson, (mother) Mary Richardson fermerly Howden, (father's occupation) coal miner, (informant) X the mark of Mary Richardson mother 13 Carr Place Hunslet, (registered) nineteenth July 1838." Note the date error on the certificate. The death certificate and trial reports confirm year of birth as 1858. was the youngest of eight siblings. They were William (b.ca.1839) a coal miner and later a broker, Elizabeth (b.ca.1843) a flax spinner, John (b.ca.1844) a coal miner, Mary (b.ca.1847) a flax spinner, Charles (b.ca.1849) a brick maker, and Emily (b.ca.1854) and Sarah (b.ca.1856), both flax spinners.1861 England Census 73/3367/32/p.121871 England Census 83/4512/37/p.161881 England Census 18/4487/156/p.27

Richardson was a glass blower, or glass bottle maker, most likely an employee of Alfred Alexander & co., Hunslet Glass Works, in South Accommodation Road. He was 24 years old when he died. Deaths Sep 1882 Richardson James 24 Hunslet 9b 200. The death certificate says: 1882 19 August found in the River Aire near the old dam, Hunslet. James Richardson, male, 24 years, glass bottle maker, Taylor Place, Hunslet Carr. Injuries to the head, wilful murder by some persons or persons unknown. Certificate received from John C. Malcolm, Coroner for Leeds Inquest, held 21 August and adjourned to the 4, 12 and 26 September 1882. (Registered) twenty-eighth September 1882.

Taylors Place Hunslet (1).jpg, This ginnel

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