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The {{'}}'''Campden Wonder'''{{'}} is the name given to events surrounding the return of a man thought to have been murdered in the town of [[Chipping Campden]], [[Gloucestershire]], England, in the 17th century. A family servant and the servant's mother and brother were hanged for killing their master, but following the man's return it became clear that no murder had taken place, despite the testimony of one of the accused. |
The {{'}}'''Campden Wonder'''{{'}} is the name given to events surrounding the return of a man thought to have been murdered in the town of [[Chipping Campden]], [[Gloucestershire]], England, in the 17th century. A family servant and the servant's mother and brother were hanged for killing their master, but following the man's return it became clear that no murder had taken place, despite the testimony of one of the accused. |
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The story attracted popular attention in England in the years 1660–1662. The events were documented by local gentleman and [[justice of the peace]] Sir Thomas Overbury |
The story attracted popular attention in England in the years 1660–1662. The events were documented in a letterbya local gentleman and [[justice of the peace]], Sir Thomas Overbury, titled "A true and perfect account of the examination, confession, trial, condemnation and execution of Joan Perry, and her two sons, John and Richard Perry, for the supposed murder of Will. Harrison" and an accompanying letter by William Harrison detailing his whereabouts in the missing years.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Overbury |first1=Thomas, Sir |title=A true and perfect account of the examination, confession, trial, condemnation and execution of Joan Perry, and her two sons, John and Richard Perry, for the supposed murder of Will. Harrison, Gent Being one of the most remarkable occurrences which hath happened in the memory of man. Sent in a letter (by Sir Thomas Overbury, of Burton, in the county of Gloucester, Knt. and one of His Majesty's justices of the peace) to Thomas Shirly, Doctor of physick, in London. Also Mr. Harrison's own account how he was conveyed to Turky, and there made a slave above 2 years, when his master (who bought him there) dying, he return'd to England; in the mean while, supposed to be murdered by his man-servant, who falsly accused his own mother and brother as guilty of the same, and were all three executed for it on Broadway-Hills, in Gloucestershire. |date=1676 |location=London |url=http://name.umdl.umich.edu/A53577.0001.001 |access-date=August 2, 2020 |via=[[Text Creation Partnership]]}}</ref> |
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==Disappearance== |
==Disappearance== |
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On 16 August 1660, |
On 16 August 1660, a 70-year-old man named William Harrison left his home in [[Chipping Campden]], intending to walk two miles to the village of Charingworth.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Goodman|first1=Jonathan|title=Bloody versicles: the rhymes of crime|date=1993|publisher=Kent State University Press |location=Kent, Ohio|isbn=9780873384704|page=[https://archive.org/details/bloodyversiclesr00good/page/103 103]|edition=Rev.|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/bloodyversiclesr00good/page/103}}</ref> When he did not return home at the expected time, his wife sent his manservant John Perry to look for him. Neither Harrison nor Perry had returned by the next morning.{{sfn|Sale|2007|p=48}} |
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William Harrison's son |
Edward Harrison, William Harrison's son, was then sent out to look for the pair and on his way to Charingworth he met John Perry. The servant said that he had not been able to find his master, and he and Edward continued to [[Ebrington]], where they questioned one of the tenants whom Harrison had been going to see. The tenant said that Harrison had been there the previous night. Edward Harrison and John Perry then went to the village of [[Paxford]], but their search proved fruitless.{{sfn|Morton|2015|p=11}} |
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Edward and John then headed back to Chipping Campden. During the journey they heard that some items belonging to William Harrison had been discovered on the main road between Chipping Campden and Ebrington. These included a hat, a shirt and a neckband. Although the hat had been slashed by a sharp implement, and the shirt and the neckband were covered in blood, there was no sign of the body of William Harrison.{{sfn|Stratmann|2005|p=7}} |
Edward and John then headed back to Chipping Campden. During the journey they heard that some items belonging to William Harrison had been discovered on the main road between Chipping Campden and Ebrington. These included a hat, a shirt and a neckband. Although the hat had been slashed by a sharp implement, and the shirt and the neckband were covered in blood, there was no sign of the body of William Harrison.{{sfn|Stratmann|2005|p=7}} |
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==Investigation== |
==Investigation== |
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Under questioning |
Under questioning John Perry said that he knew Harrison had been murdered, but claimed to be innocent of the crime. He then said that his mother, Joan, and his brother, Richard, had killed Harrison for his money and hidden the body. Joan and Richard denied that they had had anything to do with Harrison's disappearance, but John continued to say that they were guilty, claiming they had dumped his body in a millpond. The pond was dredged, but no body was found.{{sfn|Sale|2007|p=48}} |
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==Trials== |
==Trials== |
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The first court hearings |
The first court hearings dealt with charges linked to a plot to steal money from William Harrison. Despite his mother and brother pleading not guilty, John Perry's testimony convinced the jury based on the following: |
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| ⚫ | #John seemed to have no apparent reason to be lying about the matter. |
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#A few weeks before Harrison's disappearance, John had lied about being attacked by robbers. |
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#John |
#John claimed that he was the one who suggested the robbery to Richard. |
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| ⚫ | #John told the court that Joan and Richard had already stolen [[Pound sterling|£]]140 from William Harrison's house the previous year ({{inflation|UK|140|1660|2019|fmt=eq|cursign=£|r=-2}}{{inflation/fn|UK}}). |
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| ⚫ |
#John seemed to have no |
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#John had lied about being attacked by robbers a few weeks before Harrison's disappearance. |
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| ⚫ |
#John |
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The defendants had all changed their pleas to guilty, because as first time offenders they were granted a free pardon under the [[Indemnity and Oblivion Act 1660]]. Writer [[Linda Stratmann]] states that this was a bad piece of advice by the lawyers for the defendants.{{sfn|Stratmann|2005|p=12}} However, at the time, the judge refused to prosecute the three for murder as there was no body.{{sfn|Morton|2015|p=12}} |
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In spring 1661 |
In spring 1661 the court reconvened to hear the charge of murder and, because of the earlier guilty plea to the robbery, the defendants were now considered to be criminals.{{sfn|Stratmann|2005|p=13}} This time John Perry joined his mother and brother in pleading not guilty in the killing of William Harrison. The servant claimed that his original testimony had been false by [[insanity defense|reason of insanity]]. Nevertheless, the jury found all three of the Perrys guilty and they were [[Capital punishment in the United Kingdom|sentenced to death]]. |
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The Perrys were hanged together on Broadway Hill in Gloucestershire |
The three Perrys were hanged together on Broadway Hill in Gloucestershire,{{sfn|Stratmann|2005|p=13}} and [[Broadway Tower, Gloucestershire|Broadway Tower]] now stands on the site of their hanging.{{sfn|Stratmann|2005|p=14}} On the scaffold Richard and John reiterated that they were entirely innocent of killing William Harrison. As their mother was also suspected of being a witch, she was executed first in case she had cast a spell on her sons which was preventing them from confessing.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Campden Wonder|url=http://www.thecampdenwonder.com/index.html|website=The Campden Wonder|access-date=5 January 2017|archive-date=9 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180209063226/http://www.thecampdenwonder.com/index.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> |
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==Return of William Harrison== |
==Return of William Harrison== |
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