The Lambert Tragedy
On February 17, 1872, at about 2 a.m., George Merrett, 34, left his home on Cornwall Roadin Lambeth, London, and headed off in the dark toward the Red Lion Brewery. There he shoveled and stoked the coal that brewed the barley malt. It was a labor-intensive job that required him to wake up at unusually early hours and work long shifts, often in hot conditions. Although the work was demanding and paid a pittance, he was able to feed his family -- if just barely.
George and his wife Eliza had six children ranging from 12 months to 13 years old and another child on the way. They lived in utter poverty in what was one of the most undesirable areas of London. However, the Merretts were grateful that they at least had a steady, if meager, income. They made the most of the little they had.
That cold morning, George walked his usual route to work. He headed down Belvedere Roadtoward the entrance of Tennison Street. As he made his way to the wall that encircled the brewery, he heard piercing shouts that cut through the dark silence of the winter morning. The shouts grew louder, closer and angrier as George walked on. When he looked back to locate the source of the noise, he realized they were coming from a man running toward him.
George turned to run away. He may have heard the first gunshot zing past him. The bullet just missed, but the next ones would find their target. Within seconds, two bullets ripped through Georges neck.
Several officers on duty overheard the gunshots and ran to the scene, where they found George lying in a pool of blood. He was taken to St. Thomass Hospital where he was pronounced dead. The authorities didnt have to look far to find the murderer.
One of the officers at the scene saw a suspicious man nearby and asked him where the shots had originated. According to a South London Chronicle article from 1872, the stranger exclaimed that he had shot him. The man was immediately taken to the Tower Street police station.
During questioning, police learned that the assailant was unlike any criminal they had ever dealt with. The murderer, 37-year-old William Chester Minor, was an American who had recently moved to Lambeth several months earlier. To their surprise, they also learned that he was an army surgeon of considerable means with a record of mental instability.
Minor claimed that he accidentally mistook George for someone else. He believed that George was one of the many Irish militants who came to him nightly from his bedroom ceiling and from under his bed to assault him. Clearly, Minor suffered from delusions.
The police were troubled by Minors mental state and began to wonder whether he was fit to stand trial. Scotland Yard detectives decided to dig deeper into Minors past. They soon realized that he was a complex individual with a tragic history.
That cold morning, George walked his usual route to work. He headed down Belvedere Roadtoward the entrance of Tennison Street. As he made his way to the wall that encircled the brewery, he heard piercing shouts that cut through the dark silence of the winter morning. The shouts grew louder, closer and angrier as George walked on. When he looked back to locate the source of the noise, he realized they were coming from a man running toward him.
George turned to run away. He may have heard the first gunshot zing past him. The bullet just missed, but the next ones would find their target. Within seconds, two bullets ripped through Georges neck.
Several officers on duty overheard the gunshots and ran to the scene, where they found George lying in a pool of blood. He was taken to St. Thomass Hospital where he was pronounced dead. The authorities didnt have to look far to find the murderer.
One of the officers at the scene saw a suspicious man nearby and asked him where the shots had originated. According to a South London Chronicle article from 1872, the stranger exclaimed that he had shot him. The man was immediately taken to the Tower Street police station.
During questioning, police learned that the assailant was unlike any criminal they had ever dealt with. The murderer, 37-year-old William Chester Minor, was an American who had recently moved to Lambeth several months earlier. To their surprise, they also learned that he was an army surgeon of considerable means with a record of mental instability.
Minor claimed that he accidentally mistook George for someone else. He believed that George was one of the many Irish militants who came to him nightly from his bedroom ceiling and from under his bed to assault him. Clearly, Minor suffered from delusions.
The police were troubled by Minors mental state and began to wonder whether he was fit to stand trial. Scotland Yard detectives decided to dig deeper into Minors past. They soon realized that he was a complex individual with a tragic history.
The Early Years
In June 1834, William Chester Minor was born in a mission clinic on the island of Ceylon, now known as Sri Lanka, an island nation located off the coast of India. He was the son of American Congregationalist missionaries who settled in Celyon several months earlier. Two years after Williams birth, they had a baby girl named Lucy.
Not long after William Minor turned 3, his mother died of tuberculosis. Two years later, his father met and married an American missionary from New York. The family expanded with six more children, two of whom died young. They lived in Manepay where Williams father then worked as a printer and his mother-in-law ran the local school.
During his youth, Minor exhibited a love of knowledge. He was an avid reader, took an interest in learning the local languages, and enjoyed playing the flute. He appeared to be extremely bright and his parents hoped that he would continue his education back in America where his chances of success were greater than in Ceylon.
There was another reason why his parents were eager to have him move back to America. They feared that the young Ceylonese girls were distracting him from his studies. Minor, like many young men, had a strong sexual interest in girls and his parents thought that the temptation would be too much for him. When Minor turned 14, they decided to send him to live with his uncle Alfred in New Haven, Connecticut.
While there, Minor blossomed academically. He was accepted to Yale University where he studied medicine, worked hard and remained focused on his studies. When he was 29, Minor graduated with a medical degree in comparative anatomy. Shortly thereafter he joined the Union Army at the height of the Civil War as an assistant surgeon.
In 1864, Minor was stationed in Virginia where he doctored soldiers wounded in the bloody Battle of the Wilderness. Aside from his medical duties, Minors superiors instructed him to carry out punishments on fugitive soldiers, many of who were Irish immigrants. The gruesome task involved branding convicted soldiers with a molten hot iron in the shape of the letter D for deserter. Not only was the punishment excruciatingly painful, but it was a mark that would shame the soldier for his entire life.
Minor abhorred the cruel task of punishing runaway soldiers and it greatly affected his emotional sensibility. In fact, it was believed to have been the source of the mental problems that plagued him throughout his lifetime. Following the battle, Minor developed an intense fear of Irish people. He was convinced that many of the soldiers he had punished would seek him out and exact revenge. He made great efforts to avoid all Irish people, just in case one of them was a vindictive soldier out to get him. Eventually, Minors fears would evolve into paranoia.
Descent into Madness
Between the mid to late 1860s, Minor worked at several hospitals in Virginia and New York as an assistant surgeon under contract for the Army. He immersed himself in his job and began working long hours, earning the rank of captain.
Although Minor was excelling professionally, his mental health began to show signs of deterioration. He became increasingly anxious, constantly fearful of hooligans attacking him. According to Simon Winchesters The Professor and the Madman, he even began to carry a gun illegally, when out of uniform. Moreover, Winchester suggested that Minor, embarked on a career of startling promiscuity, which led to his needing treatment for a variety of venereal infections. Minors friends and colleagues began to notice that he was becoming increasingly agitated and aggressive.
Minors behavior became more bizarre and unpredictable over time. It was so severe that it caught the attention of his superiors, who became concerned for his welfare. In 1868, Minor was transferred to an isolated Army base named Fort Barrancas in Florida. His superiors hoped that a reduction in workload would diminish his strange behavior. However, his mental state degenerated even more and he began to suffer from delusions.
That same year, Minor was admitted to a U.S. government hospital for the insane, known then as St. Elizabeths Hospital, where he remained for a year and a half. Upon his release, he was formally retired from the Army and granted full pay and pension for having served honorably. In the fall of 1871, Minor boarded a steamer for London in the search of rest and relaxation.
Minor took up temporary residence at a hotel in Londons West End before settling into a rental flat in Lambeth. Although many considered Lambeth sleazy, it served his purpose well. He had easy access to brothels, which he frequented continuously. His sexual urges became compulsions and he spent a majority of his time seeking female companionship, as well as cures for the sexually transmitted diseases he often contracted. His compulsive behavior was yet another sign of his deteriorating mental state.
During this time, Minor began to hallucinate almost daily. He believed that Irish militants were hiding under his bed, coming through his windows and from the ceilings during the night. He complained to people that they would attack him and make him perform vulgar sexual acts. He also claimed that they would threaten to kill him before disappearing into the night.
That same year, Minor was admitted to a U.S. government hospital for the insane, known then as St. Elizabeths Hospital, where he remained for a year and a half. Upon his release, he was formally retired from the Army and granted full pay and pension for having served honorably. In the fall of 1871, Minor boarded a steamer for London in the search of rest and relaxation.
Minor took up temporary residence at a hotel in Londons West End before settling into a rental flat in Lambeth. Although many considered Lambeth sleazy, it served his purpose well. He had easy access to brothels, which he frequented continuously. His sexual urges became compulsions and he spent a majority of his time seeking female companionship, as well as cures for the sexually transmitted diseases he often contracted. His compulsive behavior was yet another sign of his deteriorating mental state.
During this time, Minor began to hallucinate almost daily. He believed that Irish militants were hiding under his bed, coming through his windows and from the ceilings during the night. He complained to people that they would attack him and make him perform vulgar sexual acts. He also claimed that they would threaten to kill him before disappearing into the night.
Although Minors complaints were initially alarming, most dismissed his experiences as delusions and the ranting of a mad man. However, he seemed harmless, so few paid attention to him or his unusual behavior. It was only after the death of George Merrett that they took Minors mental illness seriously.
Minors murder trial took place in April 1872 at Kingston Assizes court in Surrey. During the proceedings, the jury learned of Minors history of mental illness. It was clear that during the time of the murder he was not in control of his behavior and after a brief trial he was found not guilty by reason of insanity. On April 6, he was judged a certified criminal lunatic and sentenced to the Broadmoor mental hospital, then called a criminal lunatic asylum to be held in custody until Her Majestys Pleasure be known. He would later become Broadmoors longest resident.
Minors murder trial took place in April 1872 at Kingston Assizes court in Surrey. During the proceedings, the jury learned of Minors history of mental illness. It was clear that during the time of the murder he was not in control of his behavior and after a brief trial he was found not guilty by reason of insanity. On April 6, he was judged a certified criminal lunatic and sentenced to the Broadmoor mental hospital, then called a criminal lunatic asylum to be held in custody until Her Majestys Pleasure be known. He would later become Broadmoors longest resident.
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