The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1881-12-10 00:00:00

r
- SATURDAY, DEC. 10, 1881.

STEALING THE BODY OF THE LATE
„ z
EARL OF CRAWFORD.

'On Friday morning in last week, it was discovered
that the Balcarres family tomb at Dunecht-house,
near Aberdeen, had been desecrated, and that the body
of the late Earl, interred in December last, had been
carried away.—We take the following particulars of
the ext,a,..::nary affair from The Times of Satur-
day :

The body is supposed to have been abstracted
so long ago as May. It was embalmed by an
Italian artist, and for two or three weeks about the
time mentioned it was remarked that a pungent
odour was escaping from the tomb. At this period
the slaps over the stairway had not been finally
adjusted, and the matter of the odour did not in
consequence excite any suspicion. Later, however,
while the masons were securing the vault, an on-
looker stated that he thought one of the slabs had
been disturbed by some one. Even this circumstance
did not arouse suspicion, and any change in the con-
dition of the slab was attributed to the action of the
weather. No minute examination was made, and the
work of closing the vault was proceeded with.
Months ago the vault was closed, covered with earth,
and sown over with grass; and, but for the fact that
on Thursday morning part of the surrounding railing
Was founddown and a slab propped up, perhaps the theft
Would have remainei nndiscovered till the death of
another member of th'i•Balcarres family. There can be
no doubt that some time between Wednesday night and
Thursday morning the plan adopted for furnishing con-
vincing evidence of the theft had been executed. So
many people pass the vault daily that any interference
with it would be almost immediately observed. The
chapel is practically a part of Dunecht-house, there
being an entrance to it from the library. The appa-
ratus necessary for raising the slab and removing the
railing would be conveniently handy, building opera-
tions being at present in progress at Dunecht. The
coffins were opened skilfully and without the least
violence. Neither the outer one, of oak, nor the inner
one has been broken, the lids having been simply un-
screwed. As the lead shell had been soldered, it had
to be cut open; but this also has been neatly per-
formed.

That several persons were engaged on the work is
pretty certain. The slabs were of Caithness stone,
very heavy, being 6ft. square and several inches
thick. Dnnecht-house is about a mile from the road,
and so the thieves might carry on thgjr operations un-
molested by the public. But the fact of t,he chapel
being connected with the house makes it a matter of
certainty that the theft must have been perpetrated
during the night. The deceased earl being a spare
man, the thieves would be able to carry off the body
all the more easily.

The deceased peer was the 25th Earl of Crawford
and the eighth Earl of Balcarres. He died at
Florence about 12 months ago, and his remains were
brought to the family residence at Dunecht, being in-
terred in a v-ault which had been constructed shortly
before under his own direction.
The first discovery of the outrage was made by a
!Itbourer on-the estate, who on proceeding to his work
m the gray of the morning, observed that one of the
slabs which had covered the subterranean entrance to
the vaults (over which is raised a mortuary chapel)
bad been displaced and was standing supported by a
Piece of wood. The mortuary chapel over the vault,
" also the beautiful private chapel of which it forms
a Part, was built from designs by Mr. Street, the
ell:anent London architect. The construction of a
vault was rendered necessary through the family
Mausoleum at Haigh, Wigan, havin been filled. The
late Earl's body was the first to be placed in the
vault, which is constructed to contain 25 coffins.
Access lb the vault is obtained by means of a stair
descending from the level of the ground outside the
mortuary chapel. After the remains of the Earl had
been deposited in what was thought would be their
resting-place, the stairway and steps were covered
With flags over which mould was spread to a depth of
4veral inches so as to allow of grass being sown to
give the place a natural appearance. An irou railing
enclosed the whole, and shrubs and flowers were
Planted among the grass. As soon as the labourer
!my that one of the slabs had been disturbed he gave
information to the servants at Dunechthouse. The
greatest consternation and dismay were caused by the
Intelligence and the suspicion to which it inevitbly
gave rise in the minds of all; but it was felt that
nothing could be done until authority was obtained
from the present Earl of Crawford, Who is at present
travelling, or his factor.
Mr. Yeats, of Osquharney, the Earl's commissioner,
Was communicated with, and information was given to
the county police authorities. Mr. Yeats, accom-
kanied by Inspector Cron, at once proceeded .to
-" unecht and began an inspection. On going to the
Place they found that two of the enclosing rails had
been removed, allowing access to the ground over the
*ltalrway at the top of the steps. It was seeA that the
firSt slab had been raised. They entered through the
aperture thus made, and, going down the stairway,
obtained admission to the vault. They were horrified
to find that the coffin had been drawn partly out of
the shelf on which it had rested, and that it had been
violently wrenched open and rifled of the remains.

Another correspondent of The Times writes :—The
buhle earl upon whose remains this outrage has been
tarried out was one of the most wealthy, scholarly,
arid popular peers of his day. He was born in 1812,
and educated at Eton and at Trinity College, Cain.
bridge, where he gzaduated M.A., in 1833. his name
W 8 familiar to every scholar through the "Lives of
~
Lindsays," " Progression by Antagonism," and
other genealogical, antiquarian, and historical works.
Re succeeded to the earldom in 1869, and devoted
touch of his time and money to astronomical
research. At his own expense he equipped an
exPedition which proceeded to the Mauritius to
tiake observations of the transit of Venus in December
'874- In the winter of 1879 the health of the noble
earl bewan to give way, and he took a voyage up the
Nile, lifterwards proceeding to Florence. Here his
?,01adition underwent no improvement, and he died on
ae 13th of December last year. His remains were
°T?rireyed to England, arrived in London on the 23rd of
to and thence they were removed on the 29th
'"° Dunech't, where they were interred in the new family
131,ausoleum that had been prepared in consequence of
tomb at Haigh-hall, Lancashire, being closed.
tile body, which was embalmed by an Italian, skilled
• the art, before it left Florence, was enclosed in
ee coffins. The inner case was of wood, enclosed in
,Leaden shell, and the outer one was of polished
n„alr, elaborately carved, and mounted with chased
euvrr.
Duneeht-house, one of the most princely mansions
:_ll Aberdeenshire, is situated in a romantic spot. The
ouilding has within the past ten years undergone corn-
Pieta restoration, and only a very small portion of the
old residence remains. Attached to the mansion is a
Private chapel, which is fitted up without regard to
ex, Pense, and the beauties of which have attracted the
14tention of many tourists who have come to the
telendid observatory erected in the adjoining park by
be Present earl during the lifetime of his father. In
Zl]dlisexion with the chapel to which we have referred
"ere is a mortuary chapel, fitted up in white marble,
red underneath this is the mausoleum which has been
,Becrated. The mausoleum had not been consecrated
,
;Lien the late Earl died, but when the news of his
;en% was received, the Bishop of Aberdeen proceeded
.1° Dunecht and consecrated the tomb to which three
• Ys afterwards the remains of the lamented noble.
Were consigned by his relatives and his tenantry,
Y Who he was greatly revered.
eln hlay last the local commissioner for the Earl of
ravrford and Balcones received an anonymous letter
ultituating that the tomb of the late earl had been entered
elr his body removed; liut regarding the matter as a
uldd hoax, the agent took no notice of it, and did not
'▪ veil
n c deem it y essar to have inquiries made into the
rinatte,r.
°ll Thu. r.sday morning in last week a labourer pass-
the spot on his way to his work observed that
'ound on the top of the entrancs to the mausoleum
"r-• a been disturbed and that the slab opposite the first
stepof the stairs was standing on its side supported by
ikstiek. The man communicated with the servants at
_iae house and with all persons in the locality ; and
although the worst suspicions were entertained, it was
olecided not to enter the vault until the arrival of the
FT?,nllunissioners and police officers from Aberdeen.
those officials were at once summoned, and when they
arrived in the forenoon they decided to enter and exa-
raine the mausoleum. For this purpose another slab
had to be lifted, and two persons entered. They were
horrified at the sight that met their view. Strewn
Upon the ground were pieces of wood and sawdust,
and the coffins in which the remains of the late earl
had laid were lying on the shelf in a state of wreck.
The wooden erection placed in front to protect the
coffin bad been torn away, that the guilty parties
lllight the more rapidly accomplish their task. They
"a 4 then unscrewed the lid of the outer coffin,
bat the others were not treated so respectfully.
irliese they cut with chisels or some sharp tools,
abd after making an opening in the end large enough
ti.°, admit of their doing so, they pulled the body of
noble earl out by the feet, and carried it away.
?tree-sa_
eiy enough, the silver mountings of the coffin
Ge,raa untouched, a circumstance which leads to the
v?nef that the main object the robbers had in
ilew Was the ransom which they hoped to obtain
or the body. Whether the body had been re-
lainved months ago or on Tuesday night it is im-
Possible to say, but the probability is that the anony-
in°llB letter referred to dealt with a matter of fact,
ttnd that the despoilers only desired to direct at-
to the robbery by removing the slab.
j.1,..he audacity of the robbery may be judged of from
Lue fact that the spot at which the excavations were
-Laade is in full view of the windows of the mansion,
r`ald so close to the rooms in which the servants resided
that the slightest noise, espesially in the night time,
Was 111°13' to arrest their attention. If the night
Ben was a stormy one the noise of the wind and
tail.' among the trees with which the building is sur-
t.,°linded would have drowned the sound of the tools
~"sed by the robbers. From the fact that the slabs/
.
ere of immense weight, it is certain that at least
three or four personsanust have been concerned. There
,t!'s riot the slightest suspicion in'the neighbourhood as
5.0 the identity of the parties, and the police have no
!oration which is likely to be of any avail in trac-
ing the guilty persons. The impression, however, is
Ueneral that in the course of a _very short time the
robbers will take means to make the relatives of the
Earl aware that his body can be restored on pay-
,nt of a substantial ransom.
ata-Zost singular train of untoward circumstances
from the removal of the remains of the late Earl
within b3rer'ee
to
Itali three Dunecht. The body was placed
coffins, the inner one being of soft
one er 17°Q, the middle one of lead, and the outer
of there nak. In her solicitude for the safe conveyance
mains of her husband, the Dowager Countess
gave instructions that a rdsket of walnut should be
Ica:slide within which the Mite coffins were deposited.
reril•the top of this casketafts a cross carved in high
_ The conveyance ofethe remains across the Alps
-was a work of very great difficulty, but under the.
care of the confidentiAsservant of the deceased they
reached France in safety. A small steamer was
chartered to convey the body to London, and she en-
countered such a violent gale in crossing the Channel
that the coffin had to be lashed on deck. The
removal to Aberdeen was safely effected, but here i
another difficulty presented
tself. No hearse large
enough to receive the outer coffin 'could he procured,
and the outeishell had to be removed. It was, how.

b Ar

ever, deposited afterwards in the crypt alongside the
three coffins in whia.Thi the remains were encased. On
the day that the body was removed from Aberdeen
to Dunecht one of the most violent sncw storms ever
experienced in Scotland broke out, and to such a
depth did the snow accumulate that on the return
journey the hearse was snowed up by the wayside,
and remained for t-everal days embedded in the snow
before it could be removed to Aberdeen, and the men
n'eci it suffered great hardship. All these
incidents are now disclosed in connexion with the
occurrence which has startled the community.

The Times of Monday said :—The Earl of Crawford
and Balcarres arrived at Aberdeen from London
about noon on Saturday, and at once proceeded to
Dunecht, which is about a dozen miles from the
town. He had been preceded there by Mr. Charles
Duncan. Procurator Fiscal, and Major Ross, Chief
Constable, and among the first things done by
these authorities was the placing of a strong cordon
of constables and estate servants round Dunecht-
house, so that no person could approach it without
being able to show that he had the right to do so. On
Saturday and yesterday between 15 and 20 police-
officers of all ranks, along with gamekeepers, gar-
deners, and others regularly in the service of the Earl
were actively engaged in watching the house and
grounds. There was consequently no opportunity for
edger sightseers to gratify their curiosity. Carefully-
directed inquiries have been instituted, and are
steadily being prosecuted as to every movement and
incident that is in any way likely to throw light on
the extraordinary crime which has sent a painful
shock throughout the whole country.
That the theft was committed in May or June last
may now be considered as fairly well proved. The
coffin was placed in the vault on the 29th of December.
The same day the stone slabs, which had previously
been prepared for the covering of the stairway, were
laid over the area, but in consequence of the out-
break and continuance of a heavy snowstorm the
operation of securing them by cement was not then
completed. That portion of the work was, in fact,
allowed to stand over for several months, and from
then until May nothing remarkable occurred. The
odour which led to the cementing of the slabs over the
stair arose from the aromatic saWdust which was used
within the outer oak coffin to prevent the inner shells
from being moved while-any lifting or carrying was in
progress. There is "cover" pretty close up to the
mortuary chapel. For the work of removing the soil
and raising the slab last week, shovels, crowbars, &c.,
were taken, it seems, from a mason's shed at the
house.

The Times of Tuesday said :—" gome further par-
ticulars have been gathered respecting the theft of
Lord Crawf Drd's body. A careful examination of the
vault in which the body was laid shows that the theft
was the work of from four to six persons. The matter
has been placed in the hands of the Crown authori-
ties, and several experienced detectives from London
have been sent to the scene of the robbery.

"The Procurator Fiscal has published in the local
newspapers an advertisement requesting any person
who may have seen or heard anything that would
throw light on the robbery to communicate with the
authorities. In the meantime no reward will be
offered for the recovery of the body, the earl being
determined not to yield to any course that might have
the appearance of a compromise with the depredators.
Enormous numbers of telegrams and letters of
sympathy and condolence continue to be received
from all parts of the country by the late earl's family.
The whole of the slabs have been removed from the
stair area giving free acoess to the vault. It is in-
tended to pump out a pond near the house. The
mansion house has again been searched, but nothing
has been discovered."

A meeting of the tenantry on the Dun Echt estate
of the Earl of Crawford and Balcarres, called by Mr.
Coutts, banker, was held on Monday nikht in the
Public Hall, Echt ; the Rev. Mr. South, parish
Minister, presided, and explained that the meeting
had been called to consider how the tenantry could
best express their sorrow and tndignation at the sacri-
levious act which had sent a thrill of horror through
every heart, and would give to their quiet country dis-
trict an unenviable notoriety. The following resolutioa
was then submitted :

"That the tenantry are most desirous to give united
expression to their feelings of the deepest sympathy
with the Dowager Countess and the Earl himself,
and the other members of the house and to convey
assurances of their esteem and affection to the whole
family, as well as of their grateful recollections of the
many loving deeds done among them by the late
Earl. This resolution was unanimously agreed to,
and subsequently signed by all the tenantry, and
directed to be left for two days for further signa-
tures.

The following resolution was also agreed to :
" That the chairman be required to intimate to the
civil authorities that if they should think that the
tenantry could be of any service, either individually or
collectively, in carrying out any steps for the recovery
of the body, the authorities have only to indicate in
what way such services may be rendered."

"It seems a little difficult, sys a correspondent, of
the St. James's Gazette to define the exact nature of
the offence of which the malefactors who have pos-
sessed themselves of the late Lord Crawford's body
have been guilty. That they are amenable to the
criminal law in some way may be taken for granted, I
i suppose. But a corpse s the property of no one,
and cannot he the subject of larceny. It can-
not be stolen in the legal sense of the term,
since there is not any one to whom it belongs.
It is a question even, as may be seen in
Mr. Justice Stephen's Digest of the Criminal Law,'
whether pai ts of. a body preserved for the purposes of
dis,ection can he the subject of larceny. If a person
taking away a corpse takes the shroud or other
apparel, then it is felony; for the garments would be
the property of the executor, or whoever was at the
charge of the funeral. But the taking of the corpse
itself, which has no owner, though it is, in the words
of 'Blackstone, 'a matter of great indecency, is no
felony, unless some of the grave-clothes be stolen with
it.' Perhaps, however' the law of Scotland differs
from the law of England on this point, as on so many
others."