Urwin Nicholas (1 results)

Rare Account of a "Brutal and Barbarous" Victorian Assault in Northern England: 1 Copy Located by OCLC and Library Hub [Broadside]. [Rape]. Urwin, Nicholas [1807-1898]. Smith, Thomas. The Trial and Conviction of Nicholas Urwin and Thomas Smith, At Durham Assizes, March, 1836, For a Brutal and Barbarous Assault on the Body of Mary Dodds, An Old Woman, Aged 77, Near Crawcrook, On Sunday, July 5, 1836 [sic]. [Newcastle]: W. Kent, Printer, 99, Side, [1836]. 10" x 7" (25.4 x 17.8 cm) broadside mounted to 10-1/2" x 7-3/4" (26.7 x 19.7 cm) backing sheet. Text in two columns below headline. Moderate toning, small spot near upper-right corner. A well-preserved copy of a rare broadside. $1,750. * A harrowing account of a "brutal and barbarous" Victorian assault. The broadside details the trial of Nicholas Urwin (25) and Thomas Smith (29) for the violation and robbery of 77-year-old Mary Dodds. The text utilizes the period's characteristic euphemistic reporting, noting the witness described the scene "in a manner which left no doubt that she had undergone violation." The assault was particularly vicious; Dodds was beaten until her "nose bled for three weeks" and threatened with decapitation if she cried out. A Notable Bibliographic Error: While this broadside concludes with the dramatic assertion that both men were sentenced to be executed on April 7, 1836, contemporary records reveal a different outcome. While Smith's fate followed the gallows, Urwin's sentence was commuted to life imprisonment; he was subsequently transported to Australia to serve a life term of penal labor. Such discrepancies underscore the rush of local printers like W. Kent to capitalize on sensational crimes before the final judicial ink was dry. OCLC and Library Hub locate 1 copy (at the British Library). "Urwin, Nicholas." Convict Records (accessed online).