Arthur William Hodge ( – 8 May 1811) was a Tortolan planter, politician, and serial killer who was executed by hanging in 1811 for murdering one of his slaves. Born in the British Virgin Islands, Hodge studied at Oriel College, Oxford, matriculating in 1781 before briefly serving as an officer in the 23rd Regiment of Foot (Royal Welsh Fuzileers). Returning to Tortola in 1803, he settled down to a life as a plantation owner while also pursuing a political career, serving in both the colony's Executive Council and its Legislative Assembly. In 1811, Hodge was hanged after being found guilty of murdering a slave he owned, the first British subject to be executed for such a crime.Vernon Pickering, A Concise History of the British Virgin Islands, , page 48.
Early life Arthur William Hodge was born in the British Virgin Islands, the son of Arthur Hodge of Tortola. He studied at Oriel College, Oxford, matriculating in December 1781. He briefly served in the British Army, being commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 23rd Regiment of Foot (Royal Welsh Fuzileers) on 3 December 1782. One of his three wives, Ann Hoggins (1779–1808), was a sister-in-law of the Marquess of Exeter.After whom he presumably named his son "Henry Cecil". He was described as a man of great accomplishments and elegant manners.John Andrew, The Hanging of Arthur Hodge After his father's death in 1803, Hodge returned to Tortola to assume control of the family's plantation at Belle Vue.
In 1811, Hodge was indicted for the murder of a single male slave, part of his estate, named Prosper. Restrictions on similar fact evidence were relatively casual in colonial courts, and much of the evidence seems to have focused upon acts of cruelty by Hodge towards slaves other than Prosper.
Trial reports suggest that Hodge was a sadistic and disturbed man. Evidence was presented that he caused the deaths of other slaves in his estate, including: Cuffy, Else, Jupiter, Margaret, and Tom and Simon Boiler.Slaves and the Courts, 1740–1860 Three male slavesJupiter, Tom Boiler and his brother Simonwere whipped to death. Cook Margaret and washerwoman Else died after boiling water was poured down their throats. Other slaves named Welcome, Gift and Violet were also flogged to death. At least one free black man, named Peter, was also flogged while working on Hodge's estate and later died, allegedly as a result of his severe treatment.
Evidence was further presented that Hodge was cruel to child slaves, including his own offspring. Bella, a small mulatto girl of about eight years of age, who was his offspring by his slave Peggy, was flogged and beaten by Hodge personally. Hodge also had the heads of several mulatto children, possibly also sired by him, held under water until they lost consciousness, then had them revived only to repeat the process. Sampson, a boy of ten years of age, was dipped in boiling liquor until all his skin peeled off.
Hodge previously had over 100 healthy slaves on his plantation, but by the time his wife Ann died in 1808, it was testified that there were no longer enough slaves to dig a grave for her.The witness, Daniel Ross, also testified that he could not remember all the names of the black slaves who had died as a result of Hodge's cruelty. Both Hodge's wife and daughter died prematurely. However, Hodge was never accused nor indicted for causing their deaths. One witness testified that, in three years at least sixty "Negroes" had been buried, and only one had died a natural death.
The crime
Hodge had a reputation in Tortola for cruelty towards slaves. The main evidence given at the trial relating to the death of Prosper was given by Perreen Georges, a free woman of colour. She testified that:
The assaults took place on 2 October 1807 and the following day. Thirteen days later, on 15 October 1807, Prosper died of his wounds. Hodge was not indicted for three years, until 11 March 1811. He then fled from his estates and was arrested by warrant.
The trial The evidence against Hodge was strong and credible, and Hodge's defence was weak. The two strongest prosecution witnesses were Stephen McKeough, a white man who inspected the Hodge estate, and Perreen Georges. Hodge tried to discredit both witnesses by alleging that McKeough was a drunk and Georges was a thief. Hodge did not try to impeach the reputation of the third prosecution witness, Daniel Ross, a Justice of the Peace. Hodge called his sister, Penelope, and a witness described as an "old black woman" to give testimony to his innocence, but reports suggest that their evidence was not regarded as credible.
As is customary in common law legal systems, the defendant was allowed to address the jury before they retired to consider their verdict, and Hodge said this:
However, the jury were also charged with the words of Richard Hetherington, President of the Council of the Territory:
On 30 April 1811, the jury retired to consider their verdict at about half past six in the morning. By eight o'clock, they returned with a guilty verdict. A majority of the jurors recommended mercy for Hodge. Such recommendations were not binding, and the presiding judge, Chief Justice Robertson, pronounced that Hodge should be "hanged by the neck on Wednesday the 8 May following, until he was dead, on a spot near unto the common prison."
The execution
The governor of the Leeward Islands, Hugh Elliot, was compelled to commission a militia to prevent reprisals "in a conjuncture so replete with party animosity." He also imposed martial law every night from sunset to sunrise between the time of sentencing and the date of Hodge's execution. Finally, he ordered HMS Cygnet to stand by to support the civilian authorities if it was needed. Elliot may have been motivated by a concern for self-preservation, as he had been the primary proponent of the indictment of Hodge. White slaveowners might have been angry that a social peer could be sentenced to death for the murder of a black slave, who by the laws of the time was considered property.
Hodge was allowed to "make his peace with God" in the following week. He was attended by two ministers of the Methodist church at Saint Kitts. On the appointed day, he addressed certain individuals whom he singled out in the crowd and asked them to forgive him for injuries which they had received at his hands. He then addressed the crowd generally and asked them to forgive him. Then he was hanged and his body was taken to his estate and buried, not far from the grave of Prosper.
The law At the time of Hodge's trial, slavery was still legal, but the trade in African slaves had been abolished by the Slave Trade Act 1807.Perversely, abolishing the slave trade actually made the existing slaves more valuable, as they could not then be replaced. Enslaved Africans were not formally freed until the Slavery Abolition Act 1833.
While some slave owners prescribed rules of conduct for the disciplining of slaves to remove fear of arbitrary or excessive punishments, these rules were not binding in law.One set of these rules, from Hannah's estate in Sea Cow Bay, still survives today. During his unsuccessful bail application, Hodge's counsel argued that "A Negro being property, it was no greater offence for his master to kill him than it would be to kill his dog," but the court did not accept the submission. Indeed, the point was dismissed without any serious discussion.Slaves and the Courts, 1740–1860Counsel for the prosecution averred that killing a slave had always been contrary to the common law, but cited no authority for this.. Counsel also cited the Amelioration Act 1798, which proscribed fines for cruelty to slaves, but was silent as to whether other offences against slaves constitute crimes as if the person was a free man, so such a determination would have to be made as a matter of the common law.
The boundaries of the legality of slavery were barely explored under the common law, and it does not seem implausible that slavery could be permitted under the common law on the one hand, but for it to constitute a crime to kill a slave on the other.Under common law, murder requires that the defendant caused the death of a man under the Queen's peace. There is no reason why a slave is not either a man, or under the Queen's peace. Although slaves were not allowed to marry, they were allowed to hold property of their own, other than slaves, and were in most other respects treated as persons. In 1792 the captain of a slave ship, John Kimber, had stood trial in England for murdering a slave but was acquitted; it was not suggested at Kimber's trial that it was lawful to kill a slave. Many cases dealing with the status of slaves are well documented and well considered (see generally, slavery at common law). Hodge did not have an opportunity to appeal his conviction in the eight days before execution.
Other jurisdictions The case is also sometimes compared with North Carolina v. Mann, 13 N.C. 167 (N.C. 1830), in which the Supreme Court of North Carolina ruled that slave-holders could not be convicted for harming their slaves.
Motivations for prosecution Hodge may have been sentenced to hang for political reasons:
Several slave uprisings occurred in the British Virgin Islands before the trial, including a major one in May 1790 at the Pickering plantation. Hanging a notoriously cruel slave owner might have been intended to help maintain control of the remaining slave population, who had grown restless as a result of the passing of the Slave Trade Act. If this was the intent, it was not effective, as major rebellions broke out in 1823 and in 1830, and a planned uprising was uncovered in 1831. The Governor of the British Leeward Islands, Hugh Elliot, was an abolitionist.Elliot was well connected. His brother, the Earl of Minto, was Viceroy of India at the time of the trial, and his brother-in-law, Lord Auckland, had proposed the Slave Trade Act 1807 in the House of Lords. Elliot personally supervised the proceedings against Hodge, but since the trial was conducted before an independent judge with a sitting jury, it is unlikely he could have influenced its outcome. He was aware that the economy of the British Virgin Islands might collapse without slave labour. Nearly three years elapsed from the murder without anyone choosing to indict Hodge until Elliot was appointed governor. The third reason is that the British Virgin Islands were considered to be beset by lawlessness at the time. Elliot was reported to have been struck by the "state of irritation ... almost of anarchy" in the British Virgin Islands. Arresting a significant local figure like Hodge, putting him on trial, and executing him was a decisive demonstration of authority in an attempt to restore better legal order.Slaves and the Courts, 1740–1860
And finally, personal feuds may have played a role in indicting Hodge. William Cox Robertson was a young man who had returned to Tortola and become engaged in a three way exchange of insults between himself, Hodge and George Martin (Robertson's father may have been killed by Hodge in a duel).The Hanging of Arthur Hodge, p. 102.) During the series of arguments, Martin went to Hodge's house on 3 January 1811 "and there most wantonly insulted and assaulted him" according to court records, before doing the same thing to Robertson later that day. Hodge then made "half-uttered threats of calling [him] out", i.e. challenging him to a duel. Martin decided that "it better not to fight him, without first attempting to deliver himself from such a desperate enemy, by bringing him to public justice" since Hodge was known to be an excellent pistol shot and duellist.The Hanging of Arthur Hodge, p. 105.
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