Interesting
Funeral for ******** hanged in 1821 after his skeleton is found in Bristol University cupboard
Left: Accidental death: A sketch of John Horwood who was convicted of ********* his girlfriend Eliza. She had apparently suffered an innocuous injury
Right: Proper send off: The skeleton of John Horwood, 18, hanging from a noose in a Bristol University cupboard. He will finally be laid to rest exactly 190 years after he was put to death
A ******** whose skeleton was found hanging in a university laboratory was laid to rest today - exactly 190 years after he was executed.
John Horwood was just 18 when he became the first person to be executed at the New Bristol Gaol in 1821.
The teenager was convicted of ******* his former girlfriend Eliza Balsum after a pebble he threw at her struck her on the head.
Tragically Eliza, 20, died a fortnight later after she suffered complications during a bungled operation.
Horwood was hanged for ****** and his body controversially handed over to the surgeon who carried out Eliza's operation for medical research.
Last year a distant relative set about tracking down his remains after finding letters from Horwood's bereaved parents pleading for a funeral.
Mary Halliwell, 67, eventually tracked his remains to the University of Bristol where John's skeleton was displayed with the noose still around its neck.
After proving she was a descendent, Mrs Halliwell, whose great-great-great grandfather was Horwood's *******, was declared the legal owner of Horwood's remains.
Today he was buried at the Christ Church in Hanham, Bristol, at 1.30pm - exactly 190 years to the minute after he was hanged.
The service was carried out in a traditional Georgian fashion by Bristol funeral directors EC Alderwick & *** Ltd.
Horwood's body was transported along Hanham High Street on a wheeled bier before being buried alongside his ****** in the church graveyard.
Mrs Halliwell, who lives in Leigh, Lancs., with husband David, 66, said the burial will finally give the ****** 'closure'.
Speaking before the service, she said: 'As a descendant of his, my wish was to lay him to rest as his parents wanted and for him to be buried in a dignified way.
'After 190 years I have fulfilled his parents' wishes, and that is the most important thing.
'It will give me peace of mind that I can put closure to it.'
Former miner Horwood, from Hanham, Bristol, had his heart broken by local girl Eliza in 1820 and pledged to 'mash her bones to pieces' if he ever saw her with another man.
On January 26 1821, he spotted her walking near a stream in the village with new boyfriend William Waddy.
In a fit of anger, he picked up a pebble and hurled it at her head.
It struck Eliza on the right eye near to her temple and left a small wound, which was treated at home with a poultice made of bread and butter.
The wound steadily grew worse and Dr Richard Smith, chief surgeon at the Bristol Royal Infirmary, drilled a hole in her skull to relieve to pressure.
The failed operation caused an abscess which then became infected and Eliza died on February 17.
Horwood was found guilty of her death after a one-day trial at the Star Inn in Bedminster, Bristol.
He was hanged on April 13 - just three days after his 18th birthday - at 1.30pm above the gates of New Bristol Gaol.
Traditional funeral: The remains of John Horwood are carried into the church before the ceremony
Service: Mourners listen as the hanged man is given a Christian funeral
Members of Horwood's ****** waited around in the hope they could ambush his cart and give him a private burial - preventing a public dissection.
However, the plan was thwarted and Dr Smith, who formed part of the prosecution at the trial, whisked the body away at night.
He then publicly dissected the body at the Bristol Royal Infirmary in front of 80 people.
Dr Smith removed the skin, had it tanned and used it to bind a book about the incident.
The 'Book of Skin' is currently kept at the Bristol Records Office and contains letters from his parents asking for his body.
Horwood's skeleton was kept in a wooden cabinet at Dr Smith's home and it was later ****** to the Bristol Royal Infirmary after his death before being given to Bristol University - where it was kept in a laboratory.
Funeral director Austin Williams, of EC Alderwick & ***, said: 'It's a massive part of local history and often talked about.
'We felt it was our right as part of the community to become involved. We feel a funeral should be a true reflection of how a funeral would have been in 1821.
'The big difference is that it would have been a burial and not a cremation. All John's ****** are buried in the local church.'
John Horwood was the 10th ***** of Thomas Horwood.
Well-attended: Descendants of Mr Horwood and history buffs joined the funeral procession
Final words: A grave-side ceremony is conducted at the end of the funeral
She told the Bristol Evening Post said: 'I am angry that a human being, Dr Smith, could do something so barbaric to another person. It is terrible and certainly wasn't very dignified.
'As a descendant of his, my wish is to lay him to rest as his parents wanted – to have him buried in a dignified way.'
Send-off: Mary Halliwell, 67, discovered she was related to John Horwood when researching her ****** tree and has organised the Bristol funeral
Amazing story: An illustration from the book bound from the skin of 19th century ******** John Horwood showing where the ****** took place
Hangings in the 19th century were a slow - and often agonising - process for the victims.
John turned to religion in the final days of his life and is quoted as saying: 'Lord, thou knowest that I did not mean then to take away her life but merely to punish her: though I confess that I had made up my mind, some time or other, to ****** her.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ristol-University-cupboard.html#ixzz1JRF64OUv
