The Ordinary of Newgate's Account was a sister publication of the Old Bailey's Proceedings, regularly published from 1676 to 1772 and containing biographies and last dying speeches of the prisoners executed at Tyburn during that period. The Accounts were written by the chaplain (or "Ordinary") of Newgate Prison, recounting the statements made by the condemned during confession. Over 400 editions were published, containing biographies of some 2,500 executed criminals.
Although target of many objections and criticism during the 18th century, since much of their contents can be verified from external sources, if carefully used the Accounts provide an important source of knowledge on many aspects of 18th century English history.
All surviving accounts relating to convicts tried at sessions of the Old Bailey court and published under the name of the Ordinary of Newgate can be consulted on the Old Bailey Proceedings Online website.
Form of the Accounts The external form of the Accounts underwent several changes during the century, in its size, format and layout. In only twenty years, from something close to a broadside they became a small pamphlet, indicating both consolidation as a specific genre and the permission given by the City Officials. They were published at the price of 2 or 3 pence as folio broadsheets until 1712, when they were expanded to six folio pages. During the 1720s the type size was reduced and a third column was added. By 1734 they comprised sixteen or twenty-eight quarto pages and they were sold for 4 or 6 pence.
On the other hand, the internal form of the Accounts remained almost unchanged through the century. They were divided into five sections: the first contained the basic facts of the trial, its date, the magistrates present at the trial, the members of the two juries and a summary of the proceedings; the second offered the synopsis of the sermon given by the Ordinary and cited the biblical texts from which he preached to the condemned; the third can be divided in two, its first part a description of the life of the condemned with vital information, and its second part a summary of his conversations with the Ordinary regarding his crimes; the fourth was composed of various items, sometimes narratives supposedly written by the condemned themselves, a brief essay on some topic like smuggling that the Ordinary or his printer thought appropriate, or copies of letters sent to the condemned; the fifth was a recount of the events of the hanging itself, the psalms sung and the condition of the condemned or his potential attempts to escape. In the early 18th century they included advertisements, which appeared less often in the 1720s.
Main purposes
Judicial value Since at the time the administration of justice depended on private prosecutions, the Accounts could lead to valuable judicial discoveries, for instance the names of potential accomplices. Information obtained from confessions was given to the authorities by the Ordinary, who sometimes took an active role in arranging the return of stolen goods to robbery victims.
The Accounts also had the power to legitimise the Court's decision, seeking positive statements of guilt to a particular crime, and to justify the hanging with life stories filled with a general range of immoral conduct.
Moral value The Accounts, even more than other criminal biographies, had the purpose of teaching readers about the wages of sin and often follow a similar pattern that can be called a 'Sinner to saint' type of biography. They took the form of inverted parabolas, recounting the protagonist's descent from immorality to criminality, from minor delinquencies and skipping church to a life of crime. The condemned, brought in front of the Ordinary, confesses in detail his wrongdoings, repents and welcomes death hoping for salvation after having set an example for the audience. Accepting the judgment of the jury, coming to terms with their guilt and confessing their crimes led the criminals to a sort of reintegration into society, working as a repayment of their debts to the community and a preparation for salvation.
The confession was for contemporaries indispensable as proof of sincerity of one’s repentance and as a rigorous self-examination which was the necessary precondition of spiritual regeneration. Most believed that whoever died without acknowledging his crimes was damned.
The gallows scene was a moment of public reconciliation and mutual forgiveness as well: the condemned participated actively in his execution, healing the fractures in the spiritual and social order caused by his sins and crime. Those who weren't able to attend the hanging could still participate thanks to the Ordinary's Account.
Spiritual importance and the 'Everyman' criminal In the late 17th and 18th century, the last dying words and behaviour of the condemned had a profound metaphysical and political significance.
The general idea and principle of the confessional genre was that dying men did not lie. The Accounts presented the most compelling truth claims, speaking to the spiritual state and eternal prospects not only of the condemned but of the reader too, asking the audience to place themselves in the shoes of the criminal.
The condemned was presented in the light of a universal and generic sinner, the 'Everyman': the public sinner, the criminal, was different from the private sinner, the reader, only in degree not in kind. The Accounts presented themselves as a mirror, a looking glass for young Gentlemen and Gentlewomen, a seamark to all the readers so that they could avoid the fatal rocks of Sin, because even the best of men could find himself deep amidst death-threatening dangers.
The dangers and temptations of sin were faced by all men, including readers, and suggested that salvation was available to all.
Value for the Ordinary The Accounts were frequently used by the Ordinaries to refute personal slights and display their diligence and efforts. They stressed their manly fortitude and the firm manner in which they confronted the most hardened malefactors, repeatedly reminding the reader of their constant visits to the condemned in spite of their poor health and of the epidemic typhus which was common in 18th century prisons. They tended to exaggerate the bad behaviour of the criminals to emphasise how much they improved under the Ordinaries' care.
Ordinaries were also anxious to be seen to discriminate between true repentance and a too superficial and transitory last-minute deathbed repentance; they often expressed doubts regarding the sincerity of the condemned repentance.
The Ordinary and his office The Ordinary of Newgate was the Newgate Prison chaplain. He was always a clergyman of the Established Church and was appointed by the Court of Aldermen of the City of London. The Court often issued orders to better define the Ordinary's duties, due to his neglect or absence.
The Ordinary read prayers, preached and instructed the prisoners, but his most important duty was to attend upon those condemned to die: he made special arrangements to give them the sacrament, delivered to them and those who paid for seats the condemned sermon in the prison chapel, rode with them to Tyburn, and led the condemned and the crowd in the singing of hymns on the hanging site.
The income from the office of the Ordinary was irregular in both forms and payment. He received a salary of £35 and two, three or four 'freedoms' to the city each year (which could be sold for about £25 each) from the City of London, earned from interests on various bequests and his house on Newgate Street was clear of the land tax. But he had other opportunities of profit beside his salary and usual gifts: several Ordinaries exploited their position to publish religious guides and individual recounts of lives of notorious malefactors. Evidence suggests that the income from the Accounts must have been substantial too: many criminals refused to confess their crimes on the grounds that the Ordinary would profit from them, and in one of the Ordinary's Accounts one Charles Brown alluded to how every number of the Accounts earned him £25, which the Ordinary did not deny.
Due to his office, the Ordinary could be placed between the judge, who sentenced to death, and the hangman, who carried out the sentence: his task was to justify the decisions of the former and to confer Christian sanction to the work of the latter. The Ordinary's office was also invested with spiritual importance by the contemporaries, importance testified by the frequency and vehemence of the attacks on the prison chaplain.
List of Ordinaries from 1676 to 1799 Hereunder is a list of the Ordinaries who regularly published the Accounts during the 17th and 18th centuries. Samuel Smith, Ordinary from 15 June 1676 until 24 August 1698. He is the first Ordinary to publish regular accounts of confessions, behaviour and last speeches of the condemned in Newgate Prison. His son officiated between Smith's death and the appointment of his successor. John Allen, Ordinary from 10 October 1698 until 30 May 1699. He was dismissed for corruption, extortion and 'undue practises'. Roger Wykes, Ordinary from June 1700, officiated only for a few months until his death in October of the same year. Paul Lorrain, Ordinary from 7 November 1700 until his death on 10 October 1719. He converted the Accounts in a profitable publication through the addition of advertisements, which under him became a periodical and semi-official publication. He printed his sermons and biographies of famous malefactors as well, and translated comprendia and funeral rites. Ordinary during the incarceration of Daniel Defoe in 1703, he's probably the object of Defoe's "A Hymn to the Funeral Sermon". Thomas Browne acted as temporary replacement between his death and the appointment of his successor. Thomas Purney, Ordinary from 17 November 1719 until he ceased to act as Ordinary due to ill health in September 1725 and died on 14 November 1727. Born in Kent in 1695, he took the Holy Orders in 1718 and acquired the position in Newgate Prison through the intervention of the Bishop of Peterborough. Besides the Accounts he published volumes of pastoral poetry and was frequently object of satire, presumably because during his office many famous criminals were executed, such as Jack Sheppard and Jonathan Wild. During his leaves of absence for illness in the summer of 1724 and in the winter of 1724 and 1725, James Wagstaff officiated in his stead. James Guthrie was officially instated as Ordinary on 19 February 1733/1734 but officiated from 29 September 1725 to 1746 since Purney left the care of Newgate Prison to him while he was in the country. Formerly he held curacy of Coleman Street and had been a schoolteacher of Latin. In 1746 the Court found him rendered incapable by his age and other infirmities and he was dismissed with an annual pension of £40. Samuel Rossel, Ordinary from 17 June 1746 until he died on 12 March 1747. Formerly curate of St Giles, Cripplegate for twenty years. James Paterson officiated between his death and the appointment of the new Ordinary. John Taylor, Ordinary from 12 July 1747 until 28 June 1757. He presented his resignation pleading his great debts. Stephen Roe, Ordinary from 12 July 1757 until his death on 22 October 1764. Joseph Moore, Ordinary from 20 November 1764 until his death on 20 June 1769. There are few of his Accounts after 1765, maybe suggesting that it was briefly discontinued in this period. John Wood, Ordinary from 18 July 1769 until he took a leave of absence in May 1774 and officially resigned in January 1774 due to ill health. During his office the Accounts are published sporadically. Silas Told, Methodist minister, officiated in Wood's absence.