My Family Tree

Richard Davies b. 1840 Crewe Green, Crewe, Cheshire. - 25 January 1890 Hough, nr. Shavington, Cheshire.

On Saturday 25th January, George Davies who was only sixteen, rushed into the family home and claimed that their father had been attacked by two men on a Crewe road. He took police to the scene where they found the body of Richard Davies senior aged fifty, a tailor. He had been battered about the head with a large tree branch that lay close by, covered in blood. Detectives from Cheshire Constabulary questioned the family and learned that the father frequently bullied his children. A search for two assailants had yielded no clues so they set about re-checking the statements made by his two sons. Richard Davies junior trapped himself when he revealed more about the murder than he should have and soon he and George were charged. They were tried before Mr Justice Wills at Chester on 20 March (1890) and after a fair trial, both were convicted. George was reprieved a few days before the scheduled execution on account of his age, although he was guilty, if not more so, than his brother. Richard Davies was hanged by James Berry, who later wrote that the spectre of the young man frequently came back to haunt him. The execution took place in Knutsford (Cheshire) on the 8th April 1890. Richard Davies was only 18 when he died.

Source:
http://trees.ancestry.co.uk/tree/10555018/person/162718342/story/2?pg=32817&pgpl=pid

Richard Davies.

Another case in which " the one was taken and the other left " was the Crewe murder case, in which Richard and George Davies were found guilty of the murder of their father, with a strong recommendation to mercy on account of their youth. So far as could be made out, there was absolutely no difference in the degrees of their guilt ; but the sentence of George was commuted to
penal servitude simply because he was the younger. At this there was great excitement throughout the country, and thousands of telegrams and petitions were poured into the Home Office, begging that the leniency might be equally extended to both since the guilt of both was equal. But all to no purpose. The condemned lad protested, to his last moments, that although he took part in the murder, he never struck his father nor handled the hatchet with which the deed was done. He
wrote most affectionate letters to his mother, brothers and sisters ; who seemed to fully believe the truth of his statements with regard to his share in the crime. Ten minutes before his death he wrote out the same declaration and handed it to the chaplain. He stated that he had no wish to live, but that he hoped and expected to meet his relations in heaven. When I entered his cell he was pale, but calm. After pinioning him his face seemed still paler and his mouth worked convulsively as he strove to keep back his emotion. Along the corridor he walked firmly, with bent head, but when we reached the yard where a fresh breeze was blowing and the blue sky was visible, he raised his head and eyes for a last look at the world and the sky. He died firmly, with a brief prayer on his lips.

My experiences as an executioner by James Berry, London : P. Lund, [1892]
http://www.archive.org/details/MyExperiencesAsAnExecutioner