Spence Broughton
Encyclopedia
Spence Broughton was a highwayman
who was executed for robbing the Sheffield and Rotherham mail. After his execution he gained notoriety because his body was gibbet
ed at the scene of the crime on Attercliffe
Common
between Sheffield
and Rotherham
, where it hung for 36 years.
in Lincolnshire. The son of a farmer, he took up farming too, married and had three children. He developed a gambling habit and left his wife for the cock-fighting scenes of Sheffield, Grantham and Derby.
. On their way they went through the contents of the post bag and found that the only item of value was a French bill of exchange worth £123, they disposed of the rest of the contents in a brook, and parted; Oxley proceeding to London to cash the bill.
and Aylesbury
. Broughton was sent to Newgate Prison
, and Oxley to Clerkenwell Prison
. Though it has since been alleged that Shaw was the instigator of the crimes, at trial Shaw gave evidence that Broughton was the ring-leader—Oxley alleged that he did this because he and Broughton shared an interest in the same woman. Oxley himself escaped from Clerkenwell on 31 October, leaving Broughton to stand trial alone.
The trial took place in York
on 24 March 1792. Shaw testified that Broughton and Oxley had come to him after robbing the Rotherham mail to ask him where they could cash the £123 bill. Next to testify was John Close, who said that he had met Broughton in London looking for Oxley, and Broughton had complained to him that Oxley had not given him his share of the proceeds from the robbery. John Townsend, the arresting officer, described the events on the day of the arrest, after which the jury found Broughton guilty and the judge, Mr. Justice Buller, sentenced him to death by hanging
"and afterwards to be hung in chains on the Common, within three miles of Sheffield, where the robbery was committed." The trial took only 90 minutes.
Spence Broughton was executed at Tyburn near York on 14 April 1792. In the days before his execution Broughton is purported to have shown great remorse, writing:
At his execution he is reported to have professed his innocence, "saying that he was a murdered man; that, though he came down with the intent to rob the mail, he was six miles from the place at the time of the robbery", though he admitted receiving part of the proceeds.
The length of time that the rotting body of Spence Broughton hung on Attercliffe Common and the great interest that it attracted led to Broughton becoming a hero of local folklore. One story was that a group of drunken potters from the Don Pottery, passing the site of the gibbet, threw stones at the skeleton and managed to dislodge two fingers. Taking these as trophies they were calcined and incorporated into the body of a jug. Songs were also written about Broughton including Spence Broughton reported by C. J. Davison Ingledew and Spence Broughton's Lament by Joseph Mather:
The fate of John Oxley became the subject of speculation, with reports that he was smuggled out of Folkestone
to America. However, the Sheffield newspapers reported in January 1793 that Oxley had been discovered dead of hunger and cold in a barn on Loxley
Moor near Sheffield.
Highwayman
A highwayman was a thief and brigand who preyed on travellers. This type of outlaw, usually, travelled and robbed by horse, as compared to a footpad who traveled and robbed on foot. Mounted robbers were widely considered to be socially superior to footpads...
who was executed for robbing the Sheffield and Rotherham mail. After his execution he gained notoriety because his body was gibbet
Gibbet
A gibbet is a gallows-type structure from which the dead bodies of executed criminals were hung on public display to deter other existing or potential criminals. In earlier times, up to the late 17th century, live gibbeting also took place, in which the criminal was placed alive in a metal cage...
ed at the scene of the crime on Attercliffe
Attercliffe
Attercliffe is an industrial suburb of northeast Sheffield, England on the south bank of the River Don.-History:The name Attercliffe can be traced back as far as an entry in the Domesday book -Ateclive- meaning at the cliffe, a small escarpment that lay alongside the River Don...
Common
Common land
Common land is land owned collectively or by one person, but over which other people have certain traditional rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect firewood, or to cut turf for fuel...
between Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
and Rotherham
Rotherham
Rotherham is a town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Don, at its confluence with the River Rother, between Sheffield and Doncaster. Rotherham, at from Sheffield City Centre, is surrounded by several smaller settlements, which together form the wider Metropolitan Borough of...
, where it hung for 36 years.
Biography
Little is known of Broughton's early life. He is thought to have been born near SleafordSleaford
Sleaford is a town in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It is located thirteen miles northeast of Grantham, seventeen miles west of Boston, and nineteen miles south of Lincoln, and had a total resident population of around 14,500 in 6,167 households at the time...
in Lincolnshire. The son of a farmer, he took up farming too, married and had three children. He developed a gambling habit and left his wife for the cock-fighting scenes of Sheffield, Grantham and Derby.
The crime
The robbery took place on 29 January or 9 February 1791 (sources differ) at Ickles, on the Rotherham edge of Attercliffe Common. Broughton and his accomplice John Oxley stayed in Sheffield the night before the robbery and then walked out of the town on the Rotherham road where they met the mail coming towards Sheffield. However, they intended to rob it on its way back to Rotherham so they lay in wait for it to arrive. George Leasley, the boy driving the mail cart described that he was led into a field, blindfolded with a handkerchief, and his hands tied behind his back and fixed to a hedge. After about an hour he freed himself and found his horse, but the Rotherham post bag was gone. Broughton and Oxley escaped towards MansfieldMansfield
Mansfield is a town in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the main town in the Mansfield local government district. Mansfield is a part of the Mansfield Urban Area....
. On their way they went through the contents of the post bag and found that the only item of value was a French bill of exchange worth £123, they disposed of the rest of the contents in a brook, and parted; Oxley proceeding to London to cash the bill.
Capture and trial
Broughton and Oxley were arrested, along with John Shaw, in London in October 1791 following further robberies at CambridgeCambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
and Aylesbury
Aylesbury
Aylesbury is the county town of Buckinghamshire in South East England. However the town also falls into a geographical region known as the South Midlands an area that ecompasses the north of the South East, and the southern extremities of the East Midlands...
. Broughton was sent to Newgate Prison
Newgate Prison
Newgate Prison was a prison in London, at the corner of Newgate Street and Old Bailey just inside the City of London. It was originally located at the site of a gate in the Roman London Wall. The gate/prison was rebuilt in the 12th century, and demolished in 1777...
, and Oxley to Clerkenwell Prison
Clerkenwell Bridewell
Clerkenwell Bridewell was a prison located in the Clerkenwell area, immediately north of the City of London , between c.1615 and 1794, when it was superseded by the nearby Coldbath Fields Prison in Mount Pleasant...
. Though it has since been alleged that Shaw was the instigator of the crimes, at trial Shaw gave evidence that Broughton was the ring-leader—Oxley alleged that he did this because he and Broughton shared an interest in the same woman. Oxley himself escaped from Clerkenwell on 31 October, leaving Broughton to stand trial alone.
The trial took place in York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
on 24 March 1792. Shaw testified that Broughton and Oxley had come to him after robbing the Rotherham mail to ask him where they could cash the £123 bill. Next to testify was John Close, who said that he had met Broughton in London looking for Oxley, and Broughton had complained to him that Oxley had not given him his share of the proceeds from the robbery. John Townsend, the arresting officer, described the events on the day of the arrest, after which the jury found Broughton guilty and the judge, Mr. Justice Buller, sentenced him to death by hanging
Hanging
Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain...
"and afterwards to be hung in chains on the Common, within three miles of Sheffield, where the robbery was committed." The trial took only 90 minutes.
Spence Broughton was executed at Tyburn near York on 14 April 1792. In the days before his execution Broughton is purported to have shown great remorse, writing:
Surely I have greatly transgressed the laws both of God and man! In what manner shall a sinful wretch, like me, presume to approach the throne of mercy? Alas! my repeated provocations do now wound me to the very soul.
At his execution he is reported to have professed his innocence, "saying that he was a murdered man; that, though he came down with the intent to rob the mail, he was six miles from the place at the time of the robbery", though he admitted receiving part of the proceeds.
Gibbeting and folklore
On 16 April Broughton's body was taken to Attercliffe Common to be hung in a gibbet. George Drabble, the keeper of a pub called the Arrow that was located near the site, reported that crowds started to gather on the common the day before. The gibbet is reported to have attracted 40,000 visitors to the Common on the first day alone. Before the gibbeting, Broughton hid treasure in the attic of one of the terraced houses and to the present day his poltergeist searches for the treasure. Broughton's body remained hanging in the gibbet on Attercliffe Common for nearly 36 years. It was finally removed in 1827 when Henry Sorby, who had bought the land it stood on, had it cut down because he had grown tired of trespassers on his land. The remains of the gibbet post were claimed to have been rediscovered in 1867 when a solid oak post was found embedded in a framework in the ground during excavations for the cellars of some new houses in Clifton Street, Attercliffe Common. The discovery once again drew large crowds to Attercliffe Common.The length of time that the rotting body of Spence Broughton hung on Attercliffe Common and the great interest that it attracted led to Broughton becoming a hero of local folklore. One story was that a group of drunken potters from the Don Pottery, passing the site of the gibbet, threw stones at the skeleton and managed to dislodge two fingers. Taking these as trophies they were calcined and incorporated into the body of a jug. Songs were also written about Broughton including Spence Broughton reported by C. J. Davison Ingledew and Spence Broughton's Lament by Joseph Mather:
Hark, his blood, in strains so piercing,
Cries for justice night and day;
In these words which I'm rehersing,
Now methinks I hear him say—
"Thou, who art my spirit's portion
In the realms of endless bliss,
When at first thou gav'st me motion
Knew that I should come to this.
The fate of John Oxley became the subject of speculation, with reports that he was smuggled out of Folkestone
Folkestone
Folkestone is the principal town in the Shepway District of Kent, England. Its original site was in a valley in the sea cliffs and it developed through fishing and its closeness to the Continent as a landing place and trading port. The coming of the railways, the building of a ferry port, and its...
to America. However, the Sheffield newspapers reported in January 1793 that Oxley had been discovered dead of hunger and cold in a barn on Loxley
Loxley, South Yorkshire
Loxley is a village and a suburb of the city of Sheffield. It is a long linear community which stretches by the side of the River Loxley and along the B6077 for almost four kilometres. Loxley extends from its borders with the suburbs of Malin Bridge and Wisewood westward to the hamlet of Stacey...
Moor near Sheffield.