Hanging for Felony
The Rule of Law in Elizabethan Colchester
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8955772 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Joel Samaha (0000-0001-8010-5993, University of Minnesota System, corresponding author), Joel B Samaha |
| Year | 1978 |
| Volume | 21 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 763-782 |
| Publication date | 1978-12-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Historical Journal (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0018-246X • E-ISSN: 1469-5103 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0018246x00000686 |
| OpenAlex | W2102656129 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 7 |
| References cited | 4 |
Just after midnight on 24 January 1577, Alice Neate crept into a bedchamber at the New Hythe in Colchester and slit her sister-in-law's throat. She wrapped the body in a red blanket and dragged it out into the woodhouse yard where it was discovered the following morning. An intensive investigation immediately ensued. All the chief suspects except Alice Neate, namely neighbours who had visited the Neate cottage on the evening prior to the murder, satisfactorily established their innocence. The testimony against Alice was overwhelming. Even her husband conceded that his sister had been murdered and prayed, ‘God save [my] wife!’ To be sure it was only indirect evidence, yet nonetheless damaging because it came from her own husband. Her daughter Abigail's testimony, however, was utterly devastating. At first steadfastly maintaining her mother's innocence, Abigail's support collapsed when under pressure of ‘straight examination’ she finally admitted that her mother had persuaded her to conceal clear proof of the homicide. Abigail shared the bedchamber with her murdered aunt, and since she had been wide awake during the killing had been an eyewitness to the whole bloody tragedy. If that was not enough, Alice also had a clear motive. Her hatred of her sister-in-law was well known and stemmed from her belief that the murdered woman had herself murdered two of Alice's children. On the basis of this overwhelming case against her, Alice Neate was committed to prison where she was held until the next gaol delivery at which she was duly prosecuted, convicted and sentenced to hang for murder, according to the blood law of felony
Art · Art history · Aunt · Innocence · Political science · Psychoanalysis · Sister · Wife · Historical Economic and Social Studies · History · Law · Psychology
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| Citations per year | 0.16 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 1981 - 2016 (36) |
| Highly cited | No |