On Thursday 5 March 1840 a twenty three year old Sheffield prisoner called George Jenkinson was charged with two most serious crimes. Accordingly, he was brought before the Yorkshire Spring Assizes at York. He was charged that on two consecutive nights, Saturday 20 September and Sunday 21 September 1839, he had robbed two men. His victims were Peter McKinnell and James Bray both of Sheffield. For this most serious hearing the court had two prestigious judges listening to the evidence. They were the Honourable Sir John Taylor Coleridge and the presiding judge the Right Honourable Thomas Erskine. The first case to be heard was that of the robbery and attempted murder of of Peter McKinnell.
He had been robbed of 6s 6d, a penknife and other articles. The prosecutor was the Honourable J S Wortley and the prisoners defence was Sir G Lewin. George Jenkinson pleaded not guilty and he simply told the judge that on that particular date he was in bed with his wife at the time the robbery was committed. This was the kind of defence that could not be refuted, as wives could not give evidence against their husbands. The first witness was the victim himself, Peter McKinnell. He stated that on the night in question he had been drinking at the Norfolk Arms on Dixon Lane, Sheffield. He said that he had not had much to drink and on walking home he reached Wilkinson Street, without any problem.
Suddenly McKinnell said he said Jenkinson was before him and held his hand out as he demanded ‘your money.’ The witness said that the man had tried to grab him by the collar, but he managed to dodge the blow. He then admitted lashing out at the robber and succeeded in knocking him to the floor, but then he saw a second man. The witness described how this man also knocked him down to the floor in turn. Whilst McKinnell was lying on the floor, he said he felt someone kneel on him at the same time as holding a sharp knife to his temple. The other man then rifled his pockets before they both ran away down Wilkinson Street, Sheffield.
The witness said that he managed somehow to stagger to his feet. McKinnell soon discovered blood flowing from the back of his head where it had impacted on the hard ground. Nevertheless he told the court that he managed to get home somehow. When asked by the judge what kind of night it was, the witness stating that it was a bright, moonlit night and therefore he had no problem identifying the man in the dock. However McKinnell told the judge that because he was unconscious for a moment or two, he was unsure which man had actually knelt on him or held the knife to his head. His daughter Elizabeth McKinnell was the next to give evidence and she confirmed her fathers account.
She told the court that on the night in question he arrived home bleeding profusely from the right temple which had been pierced by something sharp. When asked by the prisoner’s defence, Sir G Lewin if her father had been sober at the time, the girl confirmed that he was. The next witness was Constable William Bland who stated that he had arrested Jenkinson on the morning of Monday 22 September 1839. He had found him in bed at his house on Upper Edward Street, Sheffield. Crucially he stated that he had searched the prisoners home, but had found none of the stolen articles. He was the last witness to be heard.
George Jenkinson’s defence, Sir G Lewin then addressed the jury and told them that there was a want of proof as to the identification of the prisoner. Mr Justice Erskine summed up for the jury, but despite the prisoners plea of innocence, they found Jenkinson to be guilty. Then the judge spoke spoke about the severity of the crime and underlined the fact that much unnecessary violence had been used in the robbery. Therefore Mr Justice Erskine stated it was his duty was to sentence the prisoner to transportation for life. However the judge stated that he would hear the second charge before he made up his mind.
This was the charge that George Jenkinson had also robbed James Bray the following night. Bray told the court that on that night he had gone to the Bee Hive public house in order to receive his weeks pay from his employer. This was quite a common practice at that time for employers to pay wages in public houses. This tradition was encouraged by local landlords, knowing that the recipient would happily buy drinks out of his wages. Accordingly, Bray said that he was paid 16s 6d which he placed in a tobacco box, spending just four pence in beer before leaving. He told the court that he was walking down West Street, when he saw Jenkinson.
He had been working with him for the last few weeks, so easily recognised him as they passed. The witness stated that the two men had simply nodded to each other as they passed, before he described turning first into Bailey Lane and then Trippet Lane. The witness described the latter as being a very dark, narrow street and he had not proceeded far before he felt someone seize him by the throat. The robber then dragged him towards a wall, where a second man waited. The man he had recognised as Jenkinson held him in a vice like grip around his neck, as the other searched through his pockets. After hearing all the evidence the judge gave his sentence of transportation for life, but then a most mysterious thing happened.
A single piece of paper was handed to Mr Justice Erskine and the judge examined it carefully. After reading it through, the judge informed the court that ‘if the circumstances stated in the paper were correct, he would be asking for a commutation of sentence’ before the court was then cleared. What ever was written on the mysterious piece of paper, it took some time for the matter to be settled. In fact the case was not heard about again until 7 March 1841 when George Jenkinson was once more brought back into court. There he finally heard his sentence, but if he was hoping that it would be a good outcome, he was in for a shock. Mr Justice Erskine simply read out the sentenced of death.
It was suggested, at the time that this was mainly due to the increase of violent highway robbery crimes which had been committed around Sheffield at the time. However I have been unable to find any reference to an execution of the man called George Jenkinson. So the question has to be asked, what was in the mysterious piece of paper? Was his sentence eventually commuted to one of imprisonment for life, or was it the fact that his identification of him was uncorroborated by any other witness? Sadly we shall never know!