Blandy Flashcards
Again, feel free…
to sit down and make yourselves comfortable. Before the 1800s prisons in England were not really used to punish people, prisons were used to lock you up while you waited for your trial. Prisons also were not run by the state, they were privately owned businesses, run for profit
They made their…
profits by extorting money from the prisoners, the more you could pay, the better you were treated. The poor could expect filthy, overcrowded cells in the old castle gaol. Deaths from disease and starvation were common. But the wealthy who were sent here could pay more and live comfortably, even luxuriously in prison
One of our…
wealthier prisoners was Mary Blandy. Born in 1720, she was the daughter and only child of Francis Blandy, the town clerk of Henley Upon Thames. The Blandy’s were part of high society but their lives were not perfect
Mary was nearly…
30 years old and unmarried (GASP). Her father advertised a dowry of £10,000 – worth around £2.4 million in today’s money - to the man who would marry her. A Scottish army officer called William Cranston, coincidentally, suddenly became very interested and Mary was charmed
But, when it…
was discovered by Francis that Cranston already had a wife and son in Scotland, he was sent away. Why Francis didn’t just look at Cranston’s relationship status on Facebook beforehand, I will never know. This, however, did not deter Cranston. He sent packages of white powder to Mary, telling her it was a love potion and that if given to her father he would fall in love with the idea of their marriage
Each day…
Mary mixed this powder into her father’s food. Eventually, her father grew sick and died. The servants thought a rich lady in the kitchen making the food was very suspicious and they reported her to the authorities. An autopsy, one of the first to take place in England, was performed and it was found that Francis Blandy had died of arsenic poisoning. The poison had also caused a washerwoman, a chambermaid and even the family cat to die
Mary was brought…
here to the gaol but as a wealthy and respectable lady, she was treated very differently to poorer prisoners. Mary was allowed to live in the governor’s house where she was allowed to have tea parties with her friends. She even brought her maid to prison with her.
This crime caused…
a social scandal. Mary was found guilty of patricide and was sentenced to death. When Mary’s fate was sealed, a large crowd came to watch. Local legend says that on the day Mary died a blackbird sat on the gallows and sang with melancholy. Since that day no black bird has ever sang on this site
Mary’s ghost is…
said to wander the castle grounds at night with a handkerchief over her face to hide her shame. Now I don’t want you lot hiding your shame when having your mugshots taken. This is needed in order to process you into the Victorian prison. Right this way
