An incredible escape

In the wake of William Allen’s death most of us fled to the Channel Islands of Guernsey or Alderney. Not unexpectedly, warrants for our arrests were soon issued and I became a wanted man.

William Parrott, the man held responsible for the shooting of Allen, hastened to Alderney with his family. I heard that he later went to the continent, where he finally settled in the Dutch port of Flushing and never returned to England.

I know that some of my men had been wounded during the affray. One, George Coombes, had been shot in the knee, which is perhaps why he was one of the first to be arrested.

At his Old Bailey trial it was accepted that he had not fired the mortal shots, but it was proved that he had been in Parrott’s armed gang at the time the shots were fired. That alone was enough to see him hanged.

I had not been in Parrott’s gang, so I faced arrest only for smuggling, but the anticipated fine of treble the value of the contraband goods would have ruined me.

I therefore only occasionally returned to Mudeford to see my wife and family. Yet I had to be constantly on my guard - on one visit I evaded capture only by disguising myself in women’s clothing.

Two years after the affray I did get caught and I was imprisoned in Winchester Gaol with fellow smuggler Henry White to await our trials. However, by removing some loose stonework at the back of our cell room fireplace we were able to open a hole in the chimney and climb down with a rope, thereby making our incredible escape.

The Sheriff of Hampshire subsequently posted a reward of £100 for our recapture – but I made sure not to be caught a second time.

Did you know?

The last public execution by hanging took place in 1868, after which they were conducted privately within prisons.

You can listen to the audio track for this trail spot below, or read the audio transcript.