A fascinating collection of works on the famous trials of Mary Blandy for the murder of her father and Elizabeth Jeffries for that of her uncle by her lover, John Swann. Both trials generated a great amount of public interest in mid-18th century Britain and sensationalised accounts such as these provide a valuable insight into the manner in which women who committed crimes were perceived. Moreover, the collection includes the testimony of the women themselves and detailed descriptions of their trials.

Mary Blandy’s trial was notable both for the huge amount of public interest it generated and as an example of the early use of scientific evidence to establish guilt, namely, the testing of the arsenic package (Farmer, 2008). She was tried and found guilty for murdering her father by poisoning with arsenic in order to obtain his purported fortune of £10,000. Francis Blandy refused to provide for his daughter in marriage insisting that she would only inherit his fortune on his death. Hoping to marry her lover Captain William Cranstoun, the son of a Scottish lord, Mary began to lace her father’s tea with arsenic from June 1751, according to Mary’s account, at Cranstoun’s instigation and believing it to be a ‘love powder’ which would persuade her father to look favourably on the match. After her father’s death, Mary, who had been seen mixing something into her father’s oatmeal, was arrested and, while Mary had burnt her correspondence with Cranstoun, fragments of a package containing arsenic were salvaged by the servants, and an apparently incriminating letter she had sent to her lover intercepted. Her trial provided an early example of the use of scientific evidence to establish guilt and involved the testing of arsenic by medical investigators.

She was found guilty by the jury within five minutes but public opinion was divided over the case as it was considered unnatural for an accomplished and educated woman to consider murder.

Elizabeth Jeffries, on the other hand, was not considered as privileged as Mary Blandy, the murder of her uncle was another sensational trial, mostly because it involved a young woman, a lover, and a murdered family member. She had been adopted at a young age by her uncle who began abusing her when she turned fifteen, including forcing an abortion on her when she became pregnant. Learning that he had made a will in her favour, she promised John Swann, who was in service to her uncle, that she would marry him once her uncle was dead. The tragic circumstances of her childhood provided lurid elements to her story but also generated sympathy in the printed tracts. These, nonetheless, condemned her actions and focused largely on her voracious appetites, mostly when it came to sex, drinking and gambling. There is less doubt about Elizabeth’s guilt in these pamphlets than in those related to Mary Blandy – however, while the details of Elizabeth Jeffries’ childhood are doubtless included by the author of Authentic Memoir in order to provide lurid elements of the story that are “shocking to think of”[Authentic Memoirs, 11], there is a surprising amount of sympathy when it comes to the author’s sense of justice: “And there we may admire the dispensations of providence, in permitting this unhappy, this ruined creature, to be the means of destroying that man, that had before destroyed her virtue.” [Authentic Memoirs, 11]. Elizabeth became pregnant, and her uncle “in order to prevent his niece’s shame […] gave her some things to cause an abortion, which has the effect he desires […] Here we may observe her Uncle who had bought her to be partaker with him in one degree of iniquity, now drew her into another, by teaching her the first practice of murder” [Authentic Memoirs, 12]. That said, the account is generally sensational and condemns the actions of Elizabeth and Swann, particularly Elizabeth, whom the author claims “was of a very vicious and wicked inclination naturally” and “would drink very excessively, was extremely passionate and vindicative against any one who she conceived ill-will to” [Authentic Memoirs, 15].

This is an important collection of tracts, especially as a result of their juxtaposition, and reflect the gradual forming of public opinion through the proliferation of printed material, including witness accounts and portraits of the two women.

These are not just sensationalised accounts of two murders committed by women and their lovers, they also include testimony from the women themselves, and detailed descriptions of their trials. A great deal of time is spent on discussing their character - in the case of Mary Blandy, there is some surprise that such a woman would consider murdering her father, whereas the pamphlets that detail the life of Elizabeth Jeffries draw comparisons between her appetites (mostly when it came to sex, drinking, and gambling) and her plans to murder her uncle. This is an important collection of pamphlets that together reflect the gradual forming of public opinion through the proliferation of printed material, including witness accounts and portraits of the women, as well an offering an insight into a particular moment in English legal history.

Detailed list of the six pamphlets:

A genuine account of the most horrid parricide committed by Mary Blandy, spinster, upon the body of her Father, Mr. Francis Blandy, Gent. Oxford Printed, London Re-Printed, 1751. pp. 32, with a folded engraved portrait of ‘Miss Mary Blandy, Aged 33 and executed at Oxford, April 6 1752, for poisoning her father. Engraved by Benjamin Cole’. ‘Published by some Friends and Relations of the Family, in order to prevent the public from being any longer imposed on with fictious stories.’

The genuine tryal at large of Mary Blandy, spinster, for poisoning her late father Francis Blandy: at the Assizes held at Oxford, for the county of Oxford, on Tuesday the third of March, 1752. Oxford Printed, London re-printed, 1752. pp. 31.

Miss Mary Blandy’s own account, of the affair between her and Mr Cranstoun, from the Commencement of their Acquaintance, in the year 1746, to the death of her Father. In August 1751. Oxford printed, London re-printed in the year 1752. pp. 48. Blandy wrote extensively in prison to promote her cause, including this pamphlet, in an effort to appeal before her trial and to amend her reputation through giving her own account of the affair and murder.

Authentic memoirs of the wicked life and transactions of Elizabeth Jeffryes, spinster who was executed on Saturday, March 28, 1752, on Epping-Forest, near Walthamstow, for being concerned in the murder of her late uncle Mr. Joseph Jeffryes. London, Printed and Sold by T. Bailey, [1752?]. pp. [1–4], 5–28, with two engravings, showing portraits of the imprisoned John Swann and Miss Elizabeth Jeffries, a separate engraved plate showing ‘Surgeon Forbes visiting Mr. Jeffries at Walthamstow who had just before been shot by Jonathan Swan’.

Authentic memoirs of the wicked life and transactions of Elizabeth Jeffryes, spinster who was executed on Saturday, March 28, 1752, on Epping-Forest, near Walthamstow, for being concerned in the murder of her late uncle Mr. Joseph Jeffryes. [1752.] pp. 5–28. A different printing to the above, without the portrait engravings and with slight alterations. Text cut at C-C3.