On the execution of Bell M'MENEMY and Thomas CONNOR in Glasgow Scotland, who were both of County Tyrone
29 October 1828 Execution of Bell M'MENEMY and Thomas CONNOR On Wednesday last, Thomas CONNOR and Bell M'MENEMY were executed in front of the court house of Glasgow, for the crime of assault and robbery. It may be recollected that M'MENEMY on her trial, pleaded guilty of decoying a Highland boatman, of the name of Alex. M'KINNON, to the banks of the Paisley Canal, near Port Eglinton, on the morning of the 20th May last, to which place CONNOR, by previous compact, followed, and where, after cruelly maltreating their victim and knocking him on the head with a stone, to the great effusion of his blood, they robbed him of 40s. in silver, £2 and other articles which the poor Highlander had secreted in the leg of one of his stockings. CONNOR, who was 21 or 22 years of age, was born in the County of Tyrone Ireland, the officers of justice describe him as being a bad boy ever since he was able to crawl. With this depraved young man, Bell M'MENEMY, when she came to Scotland in the year 1821, got acquainted, through the medium of another female and shortly afterwards with his mother. Previous to this period no crime was ever imputed to her and she had been creditably and industriously employed at a steam loom factory. From the day of her friendship with CONNOR and his mother, this unfortunate female herself dated all her wickedness and all her misfortunes. She was a good looking woman, about 23 years of age, fair complexion and red hair and also came from the county of Tyrone. She had no nearer relations than cousins in this quarter. Since the condemnation of the unhappy prisoners, who were both Catholic, they were frequently visited by Bishop SCOTT, Messrs M'GREGOR and M'DONALD and altogether they behaved with much propriety and listened to the religious advice of these gentlemen with seeming penitence and a sincere desire to profit by their instructions, more especially the female prisoner, who appeared by the questions she asked and the replies she made, to be not only a sensible but a very shrewd young woman .She acknowledged that she was a great sinner and expressed her conviction of the danger she ran unless she repent with the utmost contrition and sincerity. On the evening preceding the execution, the prisoners were attended by 2 or 3 Catholic Clergymen, who departed about 10 o'clock and were succeeded by 4 elders, who remained with the during the whole of the night. M'MENEMY during this time was much affected - she sobbed aloud almost all the time and continued to confess her sins in terms of sincere repentance and contrition. Precisely at 8 o'clock the Magistrates entered the Court hall and took their seats on the bench, when the culprits were brought from their cells. CONNOR came forward first, attended by Bishop KYLE and without sitting down, passed on through the hall to the scaffold, followed by M'MENEMY, who was supported by Bishop SCOTT. While the ropes were adjusting, Bishop SCOTT prayed for 3 or 4 minutes, the unfortunate criminals, especially M'MENEMY, responding in a loud and fervent voice. After the executioner had drawn the caps over their faces, prayers were continued until one of the clergymen gave CONNOR the signal to let go the handkerchief, which was instantly done and the drop fell. The female once or twice after this slowly raised her hands as if still engaged in supplication. Although some complaints were made amongst the spectators that the executioner did not give the femle enough of rope, her sufferings appeared to be as speedily at an end as those of her companion, who received a much greater fall. After hanging the usual period, the bodies were taken down and conveyed to their respective relatives. The crowd, as might have been expected, was much greater than usual, (some calculating it as high as 50 thousand) on account of the execution of a female, which is fortunately a very rare occurrence in Glasgow, its will be seen by the following statement from Dr. CLELAND's Anuals; It is just 61 years since Agnes DOUGAL was executed at the Howgatehead, for murder, who is the first woman of whom there is any record of having been capitally punished here, since that period there have been only 3 other females executed here, jean LINDSAY in 1784 for housebreaking; Elizabeth PAUL inl 1786 fre breaking into a bleachfield; and Agnes WHITE in 1793, for murder; so that it is just 35 years since it has been found necessary to illicit the punishment of death on a woman. Transcribed by Teena from the Aberdeen Press and Journal All the best Teena _______________________________________________ [email protected] UlsterAncestry Mailing List Searchable Archives: https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ http://lists.cotyrone.com/mailman/listinfo/ulsterancestry Website: https://cotyrone.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/CoTyroneIrelandGenealogy/
