Thomas Davidson, a gamewatcher to Sir James Graham, was murdered in Bewcastle in 1849. Three local men were arrested for the crime: at the inquest into Davidson's death, one of the men, Andrew Turnbull, made a statement blaming the other two men, Joseph Hogg and John Nichol Hogg.
After being returned to Carlisle Gaol, Turnbull committed suicide by hanging himself from the bars of his cell.
The two Hoggs were subsequently found not guilty of murder, after the judge ruled that Turnbull's statement was unreliable.
Thomas Davidson, the victim in this murder case, was born at 'Lordstown' on 25th September 1797, the son of Joseph Davidson and his wife Peggy Byers. He was christened at the Scotch Church in Aitken on 12th December the same year.
He married Margaret Telford when he was 24 years old at Brampton Presbyterian Church. It is said they had two illegitimate children before their union, Joseph and Anna, then Thomas , Robert Telford , John Armstrong , Edward and Margaret, mainly born at 'Hillsyke'. By 1835 the family had moved to "Kettle Hall" a small stone cottage on the Netherby Estate and Thomas worked as a game watcher for Sir James Graham. He had been a loyal and diligent employee for many years. (An account of an earlier attack on him in 1834 is detailed in the pages for 1830-34)
After Thomas's death, Margaret was left with young children to bring up on her own. There was no will and she was destitute. She lived with her eldest son Joseph and his wife Jane until her death in 1851.
Kettle Hall no longer exists. A tall stone monument was erected by public subscription, in memory of Thomas Davidson on the site where he was murdered.
His son Robert Telford Davidson emigrated to Australia during the gold rush in 1854. One of his descendants, Rob Davidson, has an excellent website about his branch of the Davidson family.
There is also a publication - THE EGERTONIAN - which documents the Davidsons in Mt Egerton, Victoria, Australia from 1854 until 1995 when it was published (Details on Rob Davidson's website above)
Thanks to Lydia Davidson and Rob Davidson for this information.
November 17th 1849 Carlisle Patriot
Murder of one of Sir James Graham’s Gamewatchers
At the close of last week another of those tragedies which every now and then startle the usually wild and thinly-inhabited districts where game abounds, occurred in the neighbourhood of Bewcastle, a town on the borders between Scotland and East Cumberland. The victim of this murder, for such is the nature and extent of this ruthless deed, was a man named Thomas Davidson, who has for many years past zealously and faithfully discharged the laborious and dangerous duties of gamewatcher for Sir James Graham...
On Thursday morning he left home at his usual hour and not returning for two days, his family became alarmed; search was made and at length the body of the unfortunate man was discovered on Bewcastle Fells, about two miles from his usual residence, and 18 from Longtown. The disfigured corpse showed that the hand of a murderer had struck the fatal blow, whilst the blackened features gave evidence of the deadly grasp to which life had succumbed... Information of the murder was speedily conveyed to Carlisle, and Mr Sabbage, with two or three of his men, started early on Sunday morning in search of the miscreants who had done the deed. Their exertions, we believer, have been successful, and there is every reason to hope the criminals will be brought to justice.
Three notorious poachers, Joseph Hogg, 24 years of age, his cousin John Nichol, alias John Nichol Hogg, aged 26, and Andrew Turnbull, middle aged man, are already in custody, and on Tuesday night were safely lodged in gaol. On Monday and Tuesday last a long and tedious investigation was held before W Carrick Esq, the Coroner for the Eastern Division of the county, when the following facts were proved.
The deceased left home about nine o’clock on Thursday morning on his usual beat, and not returning at night, an active search was made by his family and friends on the following morning; it was not however until Saturday that his body was discovered far away on the heights, upwards of two miles from his home, bearing evident marks of strangulation, his neck cloth being tightly drawn round his neck.
Suspicion immediately rested on Jos. Hogg, one of the prisoners, who about a fortnight ago had been fined upon the evidence of the deceased, whom he was heard to threaten at the time. His father in law is now in prison for a similar offence. The friends of the prisoners made an unsuccessful attempt to prove an alibi; the grossest perjuries were committed. It was shown that they had been seen together several times during the week; that they had been seen poaching in the neighbourhood where deceased was found, on the day he was murdered.
The prisoners had been closely watched by the police, and in giving an account of their actions they contradicted each other in several important points. It was stated that they never left their homes on that night, but their evidence taken separately resulted in a tissue of contradictions and it was not without the greatest difficulty and perseverance that anything like the truth could be come at. The police attended at the inquest, but their evidence we are unable to publish at present.
The prisoner J Hogg had a scratch on his upper lip and a pair breeches of his were produced bearing a mark of blood upon the knee. Mr Sabbage apprehended Nichol Hogg on Monday night, who on Tuesday made a statement before the coroner which contradicted almost all that the other prisoners and their friends had attempted to prove.
The prisoner Turnbull made a confession to the effect that the other two had called upon him to go out with them poaching, and proposed murdering deceased if they met him, to which he did not object if they kept him (Turnbull) safe. They shot during the day, and on returning home at night deceased saw and chased them. Nichol Hogg offered to shoot him and called upon the other prisoners to stop. Joseph Hogg did so, and threw off his coat and seized deceased, but Turnbull ran away, and the last he saw was deceased and Jos. Hogg falling together. He saw no more of them that day.
Deceased had money upon him when he left home, but this had been taken from him. His nose and one eye bore marks of violence; his face was black and several marks (apparently nail marks) were about his neck and throat, round which one of the folds of his neck cloth was drawn so very tight as to leave no doubt that it had produced strangulation. There was also a mark on the abdomen, which might have been caused by the murderer’s knee or foot whilst in the act of strangulation. The three prisoners were committed by the Coroner to Carlisle Gaol to await the result of the inquest, which is adjourned to the 26th inst.
Deceased was a man much and deservedly respected by both his employer and neighbours. He was 52 years old, and had held his present situation upwards of 20 years.
December 1st 1849 CP
The Inquest into the death of Thomas Davidson
The inquest was held at a public house in Line Bank in Bewcastle. Turnbull was taken there from Carlisle Gaol...
Turnbull was a well made and good looking young man little more than 30 years of age, having a frank and open countenance exhibiting none of those peculiar marks that are said to characterise the features of a murderer. On the journey he conversed about the nature of the country, looking out at the carriage windows and drew attention to some partridges and other game which the noise of the wheels had startled from their hiding place, laughed heartily at the police officers’ wrong estimate of distances and without once alluding to the cause of his fetters, conversed cheerily upon such topics as the changing scenery forced upon his notice.
Some idea of the wild and rugged district which they had to traverse may be formed from the fact that with two good horses and the utmost efforts to get along, the carriage was upwards of four hours in travelling seventeen miles... the hills are neither high nor rocky, but the land is all heath and morass; the houses poor and mean and at a great distance from one another. The people too are of a ruder and more inhospitable class than are found elsewhere in Cumberland, arising partly from their habits, partly from their intermixture with vagrants and criminals who make this wild country a refuge from justice...
That there are many there insensible to all shame and decency we had incontestable proof on Monday, for of all the scores that flocked to the public house where the inquest was held, instead of behaving themselves with that decent reserve which the melancholy nature of the event demanded, the majority of them seemed to think it a fit occasion for rioting and drunkenness, and in the course of the afternoon, whilst the Coroner and the jury were pursuing their solemn inquiry upstairs, the scene below was enough to shock the strongest mind.
On the one hand the landlord of the hovel, dignified by the name of public house, was brawling at the door, uttering oaths loud and deep, and threatening to “do for” some obnoxious fellow who had disturbed his drunken equanimity, whilst the interior of the place was crammed by a posse of riotous fools, upsetting glasses and seats; some boasting of their money and others crying out with maudlin sympathy “Where’s Davidson?” “You’ve murdered Davidson” and the like. In fact, though we have been forced upon many a scene that has shocked and disgusted us, yet we do not remember to have witnessed anything so really disgraceful as that profane and drunken exhibition on Monday evening...
Witnesses at Inquest
Andrew Turnbull, of Langley Burn, Bewcastle.
Described going searching for game with the two Hoggs, shooting two brace of grouse, a blackcock and a woodcock....
We were just coming out of a line doon the Routledge Head when I leukit roond and said “Hey, there’s Tom coming.” That was the deceased, and Joe leukit o’er his shoulder and Nichol likewise, and Joe said “Ah currse it, he is!” I said let us ren. Wi’ that we a’ took to t’ gait - we took to running. We ren aboot a hundred yards and Tom was aboot sixty or seventy yards ahint us.
At last Nichol cries “Stop, I’ll shoot him.” Nichol was last and I was firrst, and the reason I was firrst was because I hed nae birds but ane on me, and I war lighter limbed than them. Joe cried to me to stop and with that I said I wad not. Joe said “D--n thee, thou’ll not ren away that way,” and I ran aboot 40 yards and then I stopt. Joe flang doon his gun and off wi’ his cowt.
But afore that Tom says, “Hey, boys, what’s brocht ye here?” and Joe says. “D--n thou, what’s brocht thee here?” Joe then says, “D--n thou, I’ll gie thee a good threshing i’t’ firrst pleace.” Wi’ that Tom says, “Well, but ye ken t’warst on’t boys,” and wi’ that Joe made a brek at him and twisted t’stick oot o’ Davidson’s hand. Joe then struck at Davidson with his neif. He het him i’ the centre o’ his forehead. I seed the pleace efter, but I didn’t ken it at the time.
Joe then flang him doon,and Tom says, “Gie o’er Joe, and it’ll be better for thee, ye ken the warst on’t ony way.” Then Joe grippit him i’ t’ neck here (Witness put his hands to his throat in explanation, adding) “the front o’ his neck.”
Tom says, “Gie o’er Joe, thou’ll not murder me will ye?” Wi’ that Nichol said “Thou’s well deserving it; thou’s nobut a mane sworn thief at t’ best,” and Joe said “Thou’s cost us a deal o’money and trouble,” (I believe that is the way he said it,) “but d--n thee it’ll be t’last time.”
There was nae mair said. Joe took him, I think it war by the coat collar, and flang him on til his forehead wi’ his feace to t’ ground, and cried for Nichol to come and help him. Wi’ that, Nichol flang his gun doon, and they did it a-tween ‘em, some way aboot his neck, but what way I couldna rightly discover. After they had gotten t’ job done, Joe gits up and swore at me “What was I standing there for? I was nobut a feant hearted b--r at t’best,” he said...
In the rest of his evidence, Turnbull described how they robbed the body of Davidson of most of his money, and agreed amongst themselves to say they had been at home all day.
Other Witnesses
Jemima Turnbull, his wife.
Robert Dodgson of Cliffside.
Helen Hogg, mother of Joseph Hogg.
She is a dark woman, above the middle height, and has a very sinister countenance. The Coroner having administered the oath to her, she would not kiss the Bible, but exclaimed ‘I telt ye a’ afore and I canna tell ye ony mair’.
Ann Hogg, daughter of Helen Hogg, “an ill formed and ill looking girl, between 18 and 19 years old, with a most forbidding expression”.
John Steel, reporter to the Carlisle Journal - testified to threats made by Joseph Hogg in court against Davidson on October 26th.
John Cowen, police sergeant.
John Routledge, Clattering Ford, publican.
Wm Little, Stoneknowgate.
Matthew Snowden, police officer in Carlisle. (Received boots from the three suspects and matched them to boot marks on the moss)
John Armstrong, Flatt, gamekeeper
Wm Routledge Goodfellow, a juror.
Joseph Davidson, son of deceased.
Robert Telford, Bellingham, police officer for the North Tyne and Reedwater Association for the prevention of poaching.
John Sabbage, Superintendent of Carlisle Police
John Hunter, Anlin’s-hill, servant with Edward Telford.
The jury returned a verdict of wilful murder against Joseph Hogg, John Nichol and Andrew Turnbull, by strangulation with deceased’s neckerchief.
On being again placed in the carriage to convey him back to Carlisle, after having given his evidence, Turnbull expressed great disappointment at not being allowed to go out on bail, observing that he could get it to the amount of a thousand pounds. He also said, without being spoken to, that if the devil and all his angles were to meet him then, he should not care, for he had spoken the truth that day, whatever he had done before...
He seemed much oppressed with the idea of his being confined in gaol and anxiously inquired if he should have to remain there until the next assizes, and whether the coroner was not obliged to take bail if offered? He observed that he was afraid it was going to be a bad job for him; and subsequently when some remark was made about the slowness of their progress, he said that it was all one to him, for he would as soon leave be where he was than confined in that dark hole, meaning we supposed his cell in the prison. About a quarter past nine in the evening, he was again placed in his cell in Carlisle Gaol, to all appearances in very good spirits.
Upon unlocking his cell however on Thursday morning, the turnkey was astonished and horrified to find the unfortunate man suspended by the neck from a towel from one of the iron bars of the prison window. The body was quite cold when discovered; life had evidently been extinct for some time...
Inquest on Turnbull
An inquest, held at the Three Crowns Inn before Mr Carrick on Turnbull, who committed suicide in the gaol, is just concluded.
Verdict - “deceased committed suicide by strangulation, but in what state of mind he was in at the time there is no evidence to show”.
He hung himself by his towel tied to the irons bar of the window. To effect his purpose, he got upon a form and kicked it away, his feet being only three or four inches above the floor and his Bible lying at a short distance.
The “writing on the wall” was as follows;
Below the window;
“The two Hoggs are guilty, I am innocent. I will not come in the hands of man”.
Above the fireplace;
“I commit my soul to God that gave it, take my body to my father’s burying place”
Above his bed (to his wife);
“My dear, you and I was lovely, but I am torn from thy breast, don’t weep for me, Jemimah, my dearest, my heart’s delight and treasure, I am innocent. I die with pleasure; we’ll meet again with pleasure. Beware of bad company. My parents are not to blame, they did their duty. Adieu! My dear friends, God bless you all”.
All this he wrote with a burnt stick on the lime-washed wall. He had not been in bed, and it is supposed he was dead before midnight.
The trial of Joseph Hogg and John Nichol Hogg for the murder of Thomas Davidson took place at the Cumberland Assizes in Carlisle in March 1850.
The judge, on summing up pointed out the unreliability of Turnbull’s statement.
“...Just for a moment consider this matter. An ordinary accomplice is a very bad man to rely upon at any time, but what is the state of the case when he is called? He is put in the witness box, you can see him, you hear what he says, and can observe his manner, he is subject to cross-examination and the effect of the questions upon him may tell materially upon the jury.
This accomplice you have never seen, but you know that he has sworn falsely. How can you then put faith in his statement, without having the opportunity of cross-examining him? I say, is it safe, is it reasonable to act upon such testimony?”
The jury returned a verdict of Not Guilty.
Judge - “Are you satisfied of that?”
Foreman - “We think we are satisfied that there is no evidence for a verdict against the prisoners.”
The judge subsequently said that he hoped the coroner would be careful in future not to extract statements from poor men, who were in imminent peril of their lives. There was no doubt that questions had been very closely put to Turnbull, and it was very clear from the nature of the coroner’s inquiries that he had a very rational suspicion as to where the guilt was. But to cross-examine a person under such circumstances was forcing a man to criminate himself. It was all very well to put questions and say that he need not answer it unless he liked, but if a question was put of a pinching nature the man winced under it, and the very fact of this wincing would create an unfavourable opinion against him. The reason why the law had decided that they should not ask a question of a prisoner was because in many instances the conduct of a prisoner was sufficient to condemn him. Whenever there was a well-founded suspicion that the man was himself the person most likely to be accused, the utmost care should be observed.
His Lordship only tendered this as advice for the subject really was of the greatest importance. He did not think that Turnbull’s cross-examination was receivable in evidence.
