BordesleyExile
master brummie
The seemingly peacefull Penn Lane scene depicted in Dent's Old & New Birmingham belies the violent death apparently met by Mary Ashford there in 1817. Having attended a party at the Tyburn she left with friend Hannah Cox & a new aquaintance Abraham Thornton. Mary was last seen with Thornton, but her body was subsequently found in a water filled pit. At his trial Thornton said "Not guilty & I am ready to defend same with my body" and throwing down a gauntlet challenged Mary's brother to combat. William Ashford declined and Thornton was released. Trial by combat was shortly made ilegal.
Public outrage against Thornton was such that he emigrated to America.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashford_v_Thornton
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutton_Coldfield
https://www.archive.org/stream/trialofadrahamth015892mbp/trialofadrahamth015892mbp_djvu.txt
Public outrage against Thornton was such that he emigrated to America.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashford_v_Thornton
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutton_Coldfield
https://www.archive.org/stream/trialofadrahamth015892mbp/trialofadrahamth015892mbp_djvu.txt