The
Shrigley abduction was a British case of an attempted forced marriage of young heiress Ellen Turner to later colonial politician
Edward Gibbon WakefieldEdward Gibbon Wakefield was a British politician, the driving force behind much of the early colonization of South Australia, and later New Zealand. Wakefield, who in 1816 married Eliza Pattle , was the eldest son of Edward Wakefield and Susanna Crash...
.
Ellen Turner was the daughter and only child of
William Turner, a wealthy resident of
Pott ShrigleyPott Shrigley is a small village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. According to the 2001 census, the civil parish and village has a population of around 220...
,
CheshireCheshire ; also known, archaically, as the County of Chester) is a ceremonial county in North West England. The traditional county town is the city of Chester, although Cheshire's largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Widnes, Runcorn, Macclesfield,...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, who owned
calicoCalico has different meanings according to which country the word is used in. Originally calico was a plain-woven textile which originated in the city of Kozhikode, Kerala, India, which was known by Europeans as Calicut, in the 11th century...
printing and spinning mills. At the time of the abduction, Turner was a
High Sheriff of CheshireThe High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities associated with the post have been transferred elsewhere or are now defunct, so that its functions...
. He lived in Shrigley Hall, near
MacclesfieldMacclesfield is a market town within the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, with a population of about 50,688...
. Ellen was then fifteen years old, was one of the most eligible heiresses and in the February of 1827 attracted the interest of
Edward Gibbon Wakefield, who begun to conspire with his brother
William WakefieldWilliam Hayward Wakefield was an English colonel, the leader of the first colonizing expedition to New Zealand and one of the founders of Wellington. In 1826, he married Emily Sidney, a daughter of Sir John Sidney.-Early life:...
to get his hands on her inheritance.
Edward Wakefield was 31 years old; he had been a King's Messenger (diplomatic courier) as a teen-ager, and later a diplomat.
The
Shrigley abduction was a British case of an attempted forced marriage of young heiress Ellen Turner to later colonial politician
Edward Gibbon WakefieldEdward Gibbon Wakefield was a British politician, the driving force behind much of the early colonization of South Australia, and later New Zealand. Wakefield, who in 1816 married Eliza Pattle , was the eldest son of Edward Wakefield and Susanna Crash...
.
Background
Ellen Turner was the daughter and only child of
William Turner, a wealthy resident of
Pott ShrigleyPott Shrigley is a small village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. According to the 2001 census, the civil parish and village has a population of around 220...
,
CheshireCheshire ; also known, archaically, as the County of Chester) is a ceremonial county in North West England. The traditional county town is the city of Chester, although Cheshire's largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Widnes, Runcorn, Macclesfield,...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, who owned
calicoCalico has different meanings according to which country the word is used in. Originally calico was a plain-woven textile which originated in the city of Kozhikode, Kerala, India, which was known by Europeans as Calicut, in the 11th century...
printing and spinning mills. At the time of the abduction, Turner was a
High Sheriff of CheshireThe High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities associated with the post have been transferred elsewhere or are now defunct, so that its functions...
. He lived in Shrigley Hall, near
MacclesfieldMacclesfield is a market town within the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, with a population of about 50,688...
. Ellen was then fifteen years old, was one of the most eligible heiresses and in the February of 1827 attracted the interest of
Edward Gibbon Wakefield, who begun to conspire with his brother
William WakefieldWilliam Hayward Wakefield was an English colonel, the leader of the first colonizing expedition to New Zealand and one of the founders of Wellington. In 1826, he married Emily Sidney, a daughter of Sir John Sidney.-Early life:...
to get his hands on her inheritance.
Edward Wakefield was 31 years old; he had been a King's Messenger (diplomatic courier) as a teen-ager, and later a diplomat. At age 20 he eloped to Scotland with a 17-year-old heiress, Eliza Pattle. Her parents accepted the marriage and settled £70,000 on the young couple. However, Eliza died after four years. Edward had political ambitions and wanted more money. He tried to break his father-in-law's will and was suspected of perjury and forgery.
He apparently based his plan to marry Ellen on the expectation that her parents would respond as Eliza's had.
False summons
On 7 March 1827, Wakefield sent his servant
Edward Thevenot with a carriage to
LiverpoolLiverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, where Ellen was a pupil at a boarding school. Thevenot presented a message to the Misses Daulby, the mistresses of the school. (The Misses Daulby were the daughters of Daniel Daulby, a well-known Liverpool collector and author of
The Collected Works of Rembrandt (1796).) The message stated that William Turner had become paralyzed and wished to see his daughter immediately. The Misses Daulby were initially suspicious of the fact that Ellen did not recognize Thevenot but eventually let him take her away.
Thevenot and Ellen Turner went to
ManchesterManchester is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. In 2007, the population of the city was estimated to be 458,100...
, where Thevenot took her to Hotel Albion to meet Wakefield. Wakefield told her that her father's business had collapsed, and that Wakefield had agreed to take her to Carlisle, where Mr. Turner had supposedly fled to escape his creditors.
The party proceeded to
KendalKendal is a market town and civil parish within the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, England. It is south of Carlisle, on the River Kent, and has a total resident population of 27,505, making it the third largest settlement in Cumbria .Historically a part of Westmorland, Kendal today is known...
, where the next day Wakefield now told Ellen that her father was actually a fugitive. He further claimed that there was an agreement between two banks that some of her father's estate would be transferred to her or, to be exact, her husband. He said that his banker uncle had proposed that Wakefield marry Ellen, and that if she would agree to marry Wakefield, her father would be saved. Ellen allowed them to take her to Carlisle. There they met William Wakefield, who claimed to have spoken to Mr. Turner and that Mr. Turner had also agreed to the marriage.
Ellen finally consented and the Wakefields took her over the border of
ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
to
Gretna GreenGretna Green is a village in the south of Scotland famous for runaway weddings. It is in Dumfries and Galloway, near the mouth of the River Esk and was historically the first village in Scotland, following the old coaching route from London to Edinburgh. Gretna Green has a railway station serving...
, the favorite place of elopement for those who wanted to exploit the less strict
marriage lawMarriage laws refer to the legal requirements which determine the validity of a marriage, which vary considerably between countries.-Rights and obligations:...
s of Scotland. There Ellen and Edward were married by blacksmith David Laing.
They returned to Carlisle, where Ellen said she wanted to see her father. Wakefield agreed to take her to Shrigley, but instead took her to Leeds. Wakefield then claimed he had a meeting in
ParisParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
that he could not postpone, and had to go to
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
by way of London. He sent his brother off, ostensibly to invite Mr. Turner to meet them in London. Wakefield and Ellen continued to London. In London, Wakefield, accompanied by Ellen, pretended to inquire after his brother and Mr. Turner. At Blake's Hotel, a valet (probably bribed) told them that Mr. Turner and William Wakefield had gone to France. So of course Wakefield and Ellen had to follow them. Wakefield took Ellen to
CalaisCalais is a town in northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture...
.
Suspicions arise
After a few days, Miss Daulby became concerned. Mr. Turner and his wife received a letter from Wakefield, stating that he had married Ellen.
Wakefield had apparently expected that William Turner would accept the marriage rather than face a public scandal. Instead, Turner went to London and asked for help from the police. He learned that his daughter had been taken to the Continent. Turner sent his brother to Calais, accompanied by a police officer and a solicitor. There they soon found the couple staying near the docks.
Ellen expressed pleasure at seeing her uncle; at that stage she had presumably found out the truth of the whole affair. Wakefield claimed that since they were legally married, she could not be taken from him by force. French authorities interviewed Ellen and finally let her leave the country with her uncle. Wakefield, trying to make the best of his situation, wrote out a statement that Ellen was still a virgin and left for Paris.
Arrest and trial
British police issued warrants for the Wakefields' arrest and William Wakefield was arrested in Dover a couple of days later. He was taken to Cheshire where magistrates debated on what exact offense he had committed. He was finally committed to
Lancaster CastleLancaster Castle is an ancient castle, a Crown Court, and a Category C men's prison, located in Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The castle buildings are owned by Lancashire County Council, which leases a major part of the structure to Her Majesty's Prison Service. The site itself is owned by the...
to await trial. The Court of King's Bench later released him on £2,000 bail plus and two sureties of £1,000 each.
Edward Thevenot and the Wakefields' stepmother Frances were also indicted as accomplices. Both brothers and their stepmother appeared in court and pled "not guilty". Thevenot, who was still in France, was indicted for felony
in absentiaIn absentia is Latin for "in the absence". In legal use it usually pertains to a defendant's right to be present in court proceedings in a criminal trial.-In absentia in common law legal systems:...
.
The trial of William Wakefield began on 21 March 1827 with great publicity - but without Edward Wakefield, who was arrested later. On 23 March 1827 all three defendants were put on trial in Lancaster. The jury found all of them guilty the same day. They were committed to the Lancaster Castle in the following day.
On 14 May the Wakefields were taken to the Court of King's Bench in Westminster Hall in London, where William said that he had been working under the guidance of his brother. Edward Wakefield also swore that the legal expenses had exceeded £3,000. Both brothers were sentenced to three years in prison. Edward in
NewgateNewgate at the west end of Newgate Street was one of the historic seven gates of London Wall round the City of London and one of the six which date back to Roman times. From it a Roman road led west to Silchester...
prison and William in Lancaster Castle. Frances Wakefield was released. Since the marriage had not been consummated, Parliament easily annulled it the next day.
Aftermath
After his release Edward Wakefield became active in prison reform. He also became very involved in colonial affairs, and had roles in the development of
South AustraliaSouth Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories....
,
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, and
New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous smaller islands, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands. The indigenous Māori named New Zealand Aotearoa, commonly translated as The Land of the Long White Cloud...
. William Wakefield became an early leader in the colonization of New Zealand. William Turner was elected
MPA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a parliament. In many countries the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a unique title, such as senate, and thus also have unique titles for its members, such as senators. Members of...
for Lancaster as a Whig in 1832, serving until 1841.
Ellen Turner was married at the age of 17 to Thomas Legh, a wealthy neighbor. She died in childbirth at the age of 19 and was survived by a son.
Books
- Kate Atkinson - Abduction - the story of Ellen Turner
- Audrey Jones & Abby Ashby - The Shrigley Abduction