Edward William Pritchard (6 December 1825 – 28 July 1865) was an English doctor who was convicted of murdering his wife and mother-in-law by poisoning them. He was also suspected of murdering a servant girl, but was never tried for this crime. He was the last person to be publicly executed in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

.Leighton Bruce
A deadly beside manner
''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact (newspaper), compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until ...

'', 21 November 2005

Early years

Pritchard was born in

Southsea Southsea is a seaside resort and a geographic area of Portsmouth, Portsea Island in the ceremonial county of Hampshire, England. Southsea is located 1.8 miles (2.8 km) to the south of Portsmouth's inner city-centre. Southsea began as a f ...

,John Emsley, ''The Elements of Murder: A History of Poison'', Oxford University Press, 2006, , p.22

/ref>

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

, into a naval family. His father was John White Pritchard, a captain. He claimed to have studied at

King's College Hospital King's College Hospital is a major teaching hospital and major trauma centre in Denmark Hill, Camberwell in the London Borough of Lambeth, referred to locally and by staff simply as "King's" or abbreviated internally to "KCH". It is managed by ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and to have graduated from there in 1846. He then served in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

as an assistant surgeon on HMS ''Victory''. For another four years, he served on various other ships sailing around the world. He returned to

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

, England, on HMS ''Hecate''. While in Portsmouth, he met his future wife, Mary Jane Taylor, the daughter of Michael Taylor (1793–1867), a prosperous retired silk merchant from

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

The Grange Association
/ref> then living at 22 Minto Street. The couple married in 1851. He had five children with her. He resigned from the Navy and first took a job as a

general practitioner A general practitioner (GP) is a doctor who is a Consultant (medicine), consultant in general practice. GPs have distinct expertise and experience in providing whole person medical care, whilst managing the complexity, uncertainty and risk ass ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

, living for a time in

Hunmanby Hunmanby is a large village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It was part of the East Riding of Yorkshire until 1974. From 1974 to 2023 it was in the Scarborough (borough), Scarborough district of the shire county of North Yorkshire. ...

. He was the author of several books on his travels and on the

water cure Water cure may refer to: * Water cure (therapy), a course of medical treatment by hydrotherapy * Water cure (torture) Water cure is a form of torture in which the victim is forced to drink large quantities of water in a short time, resulting in ...

at Hunmanby, as well as articles in ''

The Lancet ''The Lancet'' is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal, founded in England in 1823. It is one of the world's highest-impact academic journals and also one of the oldest medical journals still in publication. The journal publishes ...

''. In 1859, he left under a cloud and in debt, and moved to

Murders

On 5 May 1863, there was a fire in the Pritchards' house at 11 Berkeley Terrace, Glasgow, which killed a servant girl. Her name was Elizabeth McGrain, aged 25. The fire started in her room but she made no attempt to escape, suggesting that she was unconscious, drugged, or already dead. The

procurator fiscal A procurator fiscal (pl. ''procurators fiscal''), sometimes called PF or fiscal (), is a public prosecutor in Scotland, who has the power to impose fiscal fines. They investigate all sudden and suspicious deaths in Scotland (similar to a corone ...

looked into the case, but no charges were brought. In 1865, Pritchard poisoned his

mother-in-law A parent-in-law is a person who has a legal affinity with another by being the parent of the other's spouse. Many cultures and legal systems impose duties and responsibilities on persons connected by this relationship. A person is a child-in-law ...

, Jane Taylor, 70, who died on 28 February. His wife, whom he was treating for an illness (with the help of a Dr. Paterson), died a month later on 18 March at the age of 38. Both had been living at Pritchard's new family home at 131

Sauchiehall Street Sauchiehall Street () is one of the main shopping streets in the Glasgow city centre, city centre of Glasgow, Scotland, along with Buchanan Street and Argyle Street, Glasgow, Argyle Street. Although commonly associated with the city centre, Sau ...

, Glasgow. She had gone to her family home at 1 Lauder Road in Edinburgh to recuperate, and this worked, but she became ill again on return to Glasgow. Both his wife and mother-in-law are buried in the grave purchased by his father-in-law, Michael Taylor, in

Grange Cemetery The Grange (originally St Giles' Grange) is an affluent suburb of Edinburgh, just south of the city centre, with Morningside and Greenhill to the west, Newington to the east, The Meadows park and Marchmont to the north, and Blackford Hi ...

in south

. The grave lies on the eastmost wall around 40m from the entrance. Dr. Paterson was highly suspicious of the "illnesses" of both women and, when the time came, refused to sign the

death certificate A death certificate is either a legal document issued by a medical practitioner which states when a person died, or a document issued by a government civil registration office, that declares the date, location and cause of a person's death, a ...

s. However, he did not go out of his way to inform the medical or legal authorities of his suspicions. A 'Vindication' of Dr Paterson was circulated at the time and he took other steps to clear his name. Pritchard was apprehended after an anonymous letter was sent to the authorities. When the bodies of his wife and mother-in-law were

exhume Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and object ...

d, it was found that they contained the poisons

antimony Antimony is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Sb () and atomic number 51. A lustrous grey metal or metalloid, it is found in nature mainly as the sulfide mineral stibnite (). Antimony compounds have been known since ancient t ...

and

aconitine Aconitine is an alkaloid toxin produced by various plant species belonging to the genus ''Aconitum'' (family Ranunculaceae), commonly known by the names wolfsbane and monkshood. Aconitine is notorious for its toxic properties. Structure and rea ...

Trial and execution

The major points of interest in the trial were: * Pritchard's motive. Possibly he was having an affair with another maid in the household and would blame her for the poisonings as his defence. * The strange reticence of Dr. Paterson to inform anyone in authority of his suspicions. Pritchard was convicted of murder after a five-day hearing of the High Court in

in July 1865, presided over by the

Lord Justice Clerk The Lord Justice Clerk is the second most senior judge in Scotland, after the Lord President of the Court of Session. The current Lord Justice Clerk is Lord Beckett, who was appointed to the position on 4 February 2025, succeeding Lady Dorr ...

, Lord Glencorse. He was hanged in front of thousands of spectators at the

Saltmarket The Saltmarket is a thoroughfare in the City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is a southward continuation of the High Street, Glasgow, High Street, running south from Glasgow Cross to the junction with Clyde Street and Crown Street by the River Clyde. I ...

end of

Glasgow Green Glasgow Green is a park in the east end of Glasgow, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde. Established in the 15th century, it is the oldest park in the city. It connects to the south via the St Andrew's Suspension Bridge. History In ...

at 8 a.m. on 28 July 1865.

In popular culture

In 1947, Scottish playwright

James Bridie James Bridie (3 January 1888 in Glasgow – 29 January 1951 in Edinburgh) was the pseudonym of a Scottish playwright, screenwriter and physician whose real name was Osborne Henry Mavor.Daniel Leary (1982) ''Dictionary of Literary Biography: ...

wrote ''Dr Angelus'', based on the case. It originally starred

Alastair Sim Alastair George Bell Sim (9 October 1900 – 19 August 1976) was a Scottish actor. He began his theatrical career at the age of thirty and quickly became established as a popular West End performer, remaining so until his death in 1976. S ...

and George Cole. It was revived at the

Finborough Theatre The Finborough Theatre is a fifty-seat theatre in the West Brompton area of London (part of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea) under artistic director Neil McPherson. The theatre presents new British writing, as well as UK and world p ...

, in 2016.

Sir Cedric Hardwicke Sir Cedric Webster Hardwicke (19 February 1893 – 6 August 1964) was an English stage and film actor whose career spanned over 50 years. His theatre work included notable performances in productions of the plays of Shakespeare and Shaw, and hi ...

played Pritchard in the 6 October 1952 episode of the radio series ''Suspense''. In 1956, Pritchard was played by

Joseph Cotten Joseph Cheshire Cotten Jr. (May 15, 1905 – February 6, 1994) was an American film, stage, radio and television actor. Cotten achieved prominence on Broadway, starring in the original stage productions of '' The Philadelphia Story'' (1939) an ...

in an episode of the television series ''On Trial'' (episode name: "The Trial of Edward Pritchard").IMDB
/ref> In the

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a Detective fiction, fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "Private investigator, consulting detective" in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with obser ...

short story, ''

The Adventure of the Speckled Band "The Adventure of the Speckled Band" is one of 56 short Sherlock Holmes stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the eighth story of twelve in the collection ''The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes''. It was originally published in ''Strand Magaz ...

'', while commenting on the apparent villain (Dr Grimesby Roylott), Holmes tells Dr Watson that when a doctor goes bad he is "the first of criminals". He then illustrates this with the comment that Drs

Palmer Palmer may refer to: People and fictional characters * Palmer (pilgrim), a medieval European pilgrim to the Holy Land * Palmer (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Palmer (surname), including a list of people and f ...

and Pritchard were at the "head of their profession". Since neither was considered a good doctor, and Pritchard was considered something of a quack by the medical fraternity in Glasgow, their "profession" was that of murder. In the audio drama ''Tales from the Aletheian Society'' Pritchard appears as the (deceased) former Chaptermaster of a shadowy occult organisation, driven to murder by dark supernatural forces. At his trial Pritchard was represented (unsuccessfully) by Scottish law firm Maclay Murray and Spens. Upon his execution the law firm pursued his estate for their outstanding fees. But as there was no money in his estate to settle their bill they arrested his wooden consulting chair along with some other property. The chair remained on display in the firm's boardroom until as late as 2016.

References

Bibliography

* "An eminent lawyer", ''A complete report of the trial of Dr. E. W. Pritchard for the alleged poisoning of his wife and mother-in-law'', Issue 8 of Celebrated criminal cases, William Kay, 186

*

William Roughead William Roughead (pronounced ''Rock-heed'') (1870–1952) was a Scottish lawyer and amateur criminologist, as well as an editor and essayist on "matters criminous". He was an important early practitioner of the modern "true crime" literary g ...

, ''Trial of Dr. Pritchard'', Notable Scottish Trials, William Hodge, 190

* William Roughead, "Dr Pritchard" in ''Famous Trials 4'' (ed. James H. Hodge), Penguin, 1954, 143-175

External links

Article with photographAn account of the trialA transcript of the trial
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pritchard, Edward William 1825 births 1865 deaths 19th-century English people 19th-century English medical doctors 19th-century executions by Scotland Executed people from Hampshire Glasgow Green Medical practitioners convicted of murdering their patients People executed by Scotland by hanging British people executed for murder People from Southsea People from Hunmanby Poisoners Royal Navy Medical Service officers Uxoricides Executed suspected serial killers Military personnel from Portsmouth 19th-century Royal Navy personnel