A copy of verses on the horrid murder of a little girl at Longden in Shropshire, by a man named Mapp

Dublin Core

Title

A copy of verses on the horrid murder of a little girl at Longden in Shropshire, by a man named Mapp

Subject

Mapp, John
Lewis, Catherine
Woodcuts (prints)

Description

The John Rathbone Oliver Criminological Collection includes a number of popular English broadside ballads commemorating murders, rare trials, and executions as part of Oliver’s interest in psychiatry and criminal motivation. Catherine Lewis, a nine-year-old girl, disappeared on December 22, 1867; the next day her father found her, suffocated by a shawl and with her throat severed. A neighbor, John Mapp, was charged with the murder and convicted. On the morning before his execution, Mapp confessed to the crime:

When I parted with Jane Richards at the Short Lane gate, Catherine Lewis and myself walked together for a few yards. I ketched hold of her hand, and she said, ‘Do you live by Edward Mason’s?’ and I said ‘Yes.’ When I had her by the hand she began to cry, and I believe she shouted out, but I am not quite sure. She ran to the gate and got over it—I suppose she was frightened at me. As she got over it I was close after her, and when I got over it the gate fell, but I did not fall. When I got up to her she was lying under the hedge, and I asked her to let me do something to her. She said she wouldn’t let me. She then told me she’d tell her father. She was crying. I said to her, ‘Well, if you tell your father I’ll cut your throat.’ I then pulled out my knife and I cut her throat. She was lying on the ground, and I was kneeling at her left side. I got up and wiped the knife with some grass, and then wiped it on her pinner. I then undid the shawl and put the brooch in my pocket, and then put the shawl in her mouth. I am not, however, quite certain whether I pushed the shawl into her mouth before I cut her throat or afterwards, but I did put it in. I then got up and turned her head round, and pulled her down the field by her right hand. She was not dead when I started with her, but she was quite dead before I got to the bottom of the field. I put her in the building where she was found. I think the mark on her forehead was caused by the heel of my boot touching her as I pulled her down the field. I did not strike her. I was very sorry after I done it.

John Mapp was executed April 9, 1868—he was the last person to be publicly executed in Shropshire—just a month before the end of public executions in England.

Abstract

Woodcut print of Catherine Lewis, a murder victim

Creator

Unknown

Publisher

W. S. Fortey, General Steam Printer and Publisher

Date Created

1868, circa

Rights

The Harvard Medical Library does not hold copyright on all materials in this collection. For use information, consult Public Services at chm@hms.harvard.edu

Access Rights

Access to the original work depicted requires advance notice. Contact Public Services at chm@hms.harvard.edu for additional information

Is Part Of

John Rathbone Oliver Criminological Collection of the Harvard Medical Library (uncataloged)

Format

image

Extent

1 woodcut print

Type

still image

Provenance

Gift of John Rathbone Oliver, M.D., to the Magrath Library of Legal Medicine, Harvard Medical School, 1936

Files

http://collections.countway.harvard.edu/onview/file_upload/catherine_lewis.jpg

Citation

Unknown, “A copy of verses on the horrid murder of a little girl at Longden in Shropshire, by a man named Mapp,” OnView, accessed March 29, 2024, https://collections.countway.harvard.edu/onview/items/show/13093.