Spotlight

This page features one of the many treasures that can be found within the William Salt Library collection.

Laurence Shirley, 4th Earl Ferrers (1720-1760)

The year 2010 marks the 150th anniversary of the murder of John Johnson by Laurence, 4th Earl Ferrers and his subsequent execution.  Amongst the outstanding collection of documents and volumes in the William Salt Library is a copy of an account of the trial and execution of Earl Ferrers.  This account provides detail on the offence itself, as well as giving a full report of the trial including Ferrers attempts to escape the death penalty.

Earl Ferrers was born on 18 August 1720 and was the eldest son of Laurence Shirley (1693-1743) and his wife Anne (d. 1782).  His father was the son of Robert Shirley, 1st Earl Ferrers and Laurence succeeded to the peerage and estates on the death of his uncle Henry, 3rd Earl Ferrers in 1745.  On 16 September 1752 he married Mary Meredith (c. 1737-1807) daughter of Amos Meredith of Henbury, Cheshire.

The marriage was not a happy one as Laurence was an aggressive husband who mistreated his wife and on one occasion imprisoned her in his house at Staunton Harold in Leicestershire.  As a result of this behaviour his wife initiated a separation suit against him and the London Consistory Court subsequently excommunicated him for contempt in 1757.  In 1758 this separation was granted on the grounds of his cruelty.

Although Ferrers often had periods when he behaved normally he could at times become distracted or uncontrollably excited.  During these 'fits' he would gesticulate, grimace and would become paranoid.  On one occasion in 1758 his family even considered taking out a commission of lunacy against him.

Ultimately this erratic behaviour led to tragedy.  Under the act of Ferrers separation from his wife, his estates were vested in trustees, and John Johnson, who had been in the service of the Shirleys, was appointed receiver of the rents.  Ferrers developed an obsessive resentment of Johnson, and on 18 January 1760 shot him with a pistol in a locked room at Staunton Harold.  Johnson did not die straight away but lay for a full day before succumbing to his injury. 

The image below is taken from the Malefactors' Register (c. 1760) which graphically depicts Ferrers shooting the unarmed Johnson.

The crime was premeditated, and afterwards Ferrers maintained that Johnson was a villain.

His trial began on 16 April in Westminster Hall, and at his brothers' suggestion tried to escape a capital sentence by arguing that he was periodically insane, and not responsible for his actions at the time of the murder.

John Monro, the Bethlem doctor was called as an expert witness and this testimony raised important issues of criminal responsibility and lunacy.  The following extract is taken from Monro's testimony and illustrates the attempts to establish a defence of diminished responsibilty.

Others were also sworn in to convince the court that Ferrers was not in sound mind when he killed Johnson.  Roger Griffith was one such witness who testified that Ferrers was 'crack'd in his head'.

Despite all these efforts Ferrers was unanimously found guilty of felony and murder on 17 April 1760 and was subsequently sentenced to death.

Ferrers was hanged on 5 May 1760 at Tyburn gallows.  He was dressed in a suit of white and silver, which were the same clothes that he wore on his wedding day.  It was said that the reason for wearing them was that they had been part of his first step towards ruin and should therefore be with him at his end.

The following engraving shows Ferrers standing on the gallows in front of the vast crowd who had gathered to watch his execution.  The crowd treated Ferrers with respect, pity and admiration during his last moments, something not always afforded to the condemned.

Follow this link to see previous documents that have been placed under the spotlight.

William Salt Library Ref: bs 631 & pbox S/9/1

Last Modified: 24/08/2010 08:17:15
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