The Sun.
London, England, 1864-09-12 00:00:00

Double Execution at Leeds,

'giBs°s

On Saturday morning the two men Myers and Sarg-
und, rwent the extreme penalty of the law in front of the
gaol at Leeds. They were both ccnvicted of wilful naarder
at the last assizes (being the first ever held ix Leeds), the
f
former for the murder of his wife at Sheffield, and the latt.ei
for the murder of John Cooper at Roche Abbey. The clue
witness against Myers was his own daughter, who say' 'AI
cut her mother's throat with a table knife. In the case
Sargieson's victim, who was a poor gardener, the watch
and other property was found in the cottage of the murdere
who endeavoured, while admitting having witnessed the
murder, to fix the actual commission of the deed on another
man, who had also been indicted, but had been released °,l!
the grand jury ignoring the bill. Sargisson maintained
.7
the last that he was not the murderer (.1. Cooper. ID °all
ha

after being urged to corfess, " If I could say anything 111
would free him (the other man, Denton) from suspicion,
would, but he is guilty. He struck the blow." No 100,°,
pardon or respite has been held out to either of the cone
damned men by any of the officials of the gaol, or by
relatives and others with whom they have had interviel
nor have they themselves even suggested the possibilg alo
their receiving any commutation of their sentence. l'r.°
the time of their condemnation both men showed a begttelioa
sense of their awful position, and listened attentiTel!fif
the instruction aff•)rded them. This was more esPeci%
the case with the younger of the two criminals, Sargitt;
On Saturday week the Bishop of Ripon arrived nnesPe",
edly at Armley Gaol, where the condemned men werel,
fined, and had an interview of an hour's duration
of them. Sargisson had also had the advantage of the era,
ritual ministrations cf the Rev, Mr Hartley, the iiteudg-,
bent of the parish in which he formerly resided. On ;-•,:t
day forenoon the " condemned sermon" was preached
tbe
the chapel of the gaol 14 the Rev. Henry Tuckwelit
at
chaplain. Myers seemed as indifferent as possible,
Sargisson was most attentive to his Prayer-boolc, ,a1:20
with the aid of his attendant at the proper tn,
found the lessons for the morning service in the Bible. Pee
dom did he suffer his eyes to wander around, but altogetlitte
he appeared to be most determinedly intent on realiailig,ur
blessedness of the service in which he was engaged. 3"rity
"Rock of Ages cleft (or me" had been sung, the C1105,'°116
delivered the sermon, which was awfully impressive.

text
The was Luke maid , 42.
preparations for the carrying out of the salter'' ,/
were commenced on Friday, and every step was takeutbe
w the preservation of order, Tho scaffold as erected at
north east angle of the gaol enclosure, access to it for till)
condemned men, the chaplain, the under-sheriff, the es.;
of e;
nor, and other officials, being provided for by the forra6"t
a doorway in the masonry of the wall near to the
dt
key's residence. Thescaffold was nine feet from the gr°*-ieil
the front of it screened with black cloth, which once%
the bodies of the unfortunate men from the waist d°(til;
wards. In front of the wall and at some distance 11.0t°
de
scaffold on either side strong barricades were erected, fii3,o
powerful force of police was employed in the preserca"-td
of
order among the many thousands of spectators vsb°:o°,
present. There have not been wanting persons 013°
sidered that the facilities for witnessing the welatlc st°6
spectacle were insufficient, and who endeavoured to° to,
money out of it by the erection of platforms for the lice:ae
modation of those who chose to witness it without heitie',;olo
convenienced by the crowd beneath. One of these eel ret"ot.
occupied a site on the right of the scaffold, in the fidir°ll,
ing the gaol, and the roof of the house occupied bY
gate keeper near to the prison even supported a Oat°.
c
thecharge of 2s 6d for the front places. ,ero
From tho town all along the Armley-road there ",d
numerous stalls for the sale of edibles (save the nsarlo4
even
toys,
giving an appearance of a fair rather thativ
thing else.
Both the unhappy men went to bed between tivel,Cetagfle
one o'clock, but Sargisson did not take off IlDs 43`cje
lio'ho governor went to Sargisson about five ,°,; I
histhe morning, and found him lying in the bed stw icrtiof
clothes on. He was reading his Bible. The g°Ce Dal
othen went to Myers about half-past six. He was asleenPv'ies.4
n being awakened he rose up, and producing a slu,3„,;siSl
of paper which he had in his hand said, " These tip
Mr Godson has promised to give to 1311,0,70
d n." Both the men ate a good breakfast. The e 3,40
wasoed
erected under the wall of the gaol, and was draPe"
black cloth, so that after the drop fell nothing c";./drbijeas:itliefe
by the mob of the bodies of the unfortunate men.
Sheriff Wm. Gray arrived at a quarter-past S. As/Sernii'lOS
hexecutioner, was also present at that time. That+h-lje0:
begun to collect at four o'clock, and at the time -°,lOl.
cution there could not have been less than 120,000 1/0" d
pfresent. When the prison clock struck nine/ tllBOl
o" Hats off I" was raised by the multitude' stewunder sheriff and Mr Keene were followed by tile cat,
lain, in his canonical robes, repeating the ;sotit
sal Service. Myers came up first, then Sirig[upoll
both appearing pale and anxious looking. They kilel" t
the drop whilst Mr Tuckwell continued to read I:ll°B,tsfel
pressively the Burial Service, Both the culprits I.l"ll.ssi
the responses, and frequently ejaculated, " Is°l4/.1:44
mercy upon me I'' and " Lord save my soul." l‘irl3- et°,
well having pronounced the absolution, the executl'
oncez\i stepped forward, adjusted the rope upon the o,eicoa
livers, and afterwards upon Sargisson, but this rr'.
f e 9
thye. ceremony was very protracted. Myers i'hne3
quiet, but Sargisson shook his head heavily.. Doth t"-1330
continued to cry out, "Lord have mercy ra tt+et
the last words uttered by Sargisson wereuptoo hi:br° l;s0
murderer, lie called out, "Are you happy, 10? riTll6
happy I" to which Myers responded, "Indeed 1 anriV/
drop fell, and the bodies were immediately bidden 1-I°'-ftlo
view of the crowd, and it was only from the vibration °toe
rope that Myers seemed to die almost immediatelr4:ool
other man struggled violently for tho next few tali/(3
, 110
S srgi-son to the last adhered to the statement that 1/16ii'
made throughout. The crowd then commenced raPid''
tbs
parsing, though a large number remained to wi113:35900:
cutting down of the bodies at ten o'clock. The t",isit°
malts for the preservation of order wore carried
'6,
great zeal and discretion by Mr Bell, the chief c0t:0044
So large a number of visitors to witness this sa01811;ese
spectacle may be accounted for by this being the o°l,o
cation since the division of the West Riding, Let pi"
the appointed place for the final consummation of