The Republican journal., 1922-11-09
his STuRYIS|
MYSTERIES
THE CAMPDEN SECRET

a BOUT the middle of the Seven
teenth century all England was
greatly excited over what was popu-
larly referred to as the "Campden
Secret" the mystery Of the disappear
ance of William Harrison, who was
supposed to have been robbed and
then murdered. A mother and her
TWO sons were arrested, tried, convict
ed and eXecuted-and then, two years
later, Harrison returned and told a
most remarkable story of kidnapping
and adventure, filled with such i'm
possible and conflicting statements
that 1t has generally come to be be-
lieved that he was never very far from
his own home from the time of his
disappearance until his return
But why did he remain away, and
why did the persons accused of his
murder give such misleading accounts
of their actions that a jury convicted
them of murder practically without
hesitation?
The evidence brought out at the
trial showed that Harrison left his
house In the afternoon and walked. or
was supposed to have walked, two
miles to Charringworth to collect some
rents. When, as evening came on and
Harrison had not returned, his servant
"a man named John Perry-was sent
In search of him. Neither Harrison
nor Perry put in an appearance that
night and in the morning, one Of the
sons of the missing man joined In the
search, meeting Perry on his way
home
The servant maintained that he had
been able to find no trace of his mas
ter, but when young Harrison joined
in the search he located bloodstained
hat which was supposed to have be-
longed to William Harrison. Soon the
entire countryside was engaged in an
attempt to solve the mystery and the
strange actions of Perry led to his
being suspected of the crime, the al
legged motive being the securing Of
the money which Harrison had upon
him at the time. Under pressure,
Perry stated that his mother and
borther had frequently asked him
when Harrison went to collect his
rents, and added that 1t was his
Perry's) belief that the missing man
had been murdered by Mother Perry
and her son.
On the strength of this all three
of the Perrys were arrested, tried. and
sentenced to death. Joan Perry was
the first to be hanged, protesting her
innocence. Richard Perry followed
his mother to the gallows, and finally
John Perry, Harrison's servant, later
retracted his previous statement and
declared that he knew nothing what
ever of the crime or any possible mo-
tive
Nearly two years after the three
had been hanged for his murder, VIII
liam Harrison returned to his home,
apparently unconcerned, and telling
tale of having been waylaid by high
waymen, kidnapped and spirited away
to the continent. For several days,
he stated, his captors had kept him
hidden and had then put him on board
a ship, though he never vouchsafed
any explanation as to the motive for
the outrage, for he had comparatively
little money in his possession. and
one of the details of his story has to
do with the way in which his alb
ductors kept him supplied with
money.
Finally, he declared, he was sold to
a physician at Smyrna, but he was
able to give no definite description of
the city nor was he able to explain
how, penniless and unfamiliar with
the languages spoken on the continent,
he was able to find his way back
home.
The only apparent explanation of
the entire affair is that, for some rea-
son, Harrison's presence at Campden
was inconvenient to some one then in
authority He had lived through troub-
lous times, and had come into a
changed state Of affairs with new
masters. He was familiar with Ssim-
ber of secrets. and therefore might
have been better out of the way for
the time being. But the precise ma
ture of these secrets and why three
innocent persons We're permitted to
go to the gallOws for a crime which
had not been committed has never
been disclosed.