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<DATE>2014-10-07</DATE>
<RESPSTMT>
<NAME>John Pas</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
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<ITEM>Proofed and reviewed as part of batch B140620.pdcc.</ITEM>
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<IDG S="marc" R="UM" ID="B27382">
<STC T="W">N1004A</STC>
<BIBNO T="oclc">[ocm]31355567</BIBNO>
<VID>187753</VID>
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<TEXT LANG="eng">
<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>NEWS FROM SUSSEX: Or, the Barbarous ROBBER Strangely Convicted.</P>
<P>Being a full and true RELATION Of one <HI>Gardiner</HI> that was hang'd upon the Te&s;timony of his own Daughter; at the la&s;t A&s;&s;izes at <HI>Ea&s;t-Green&s;tead</HI> in <HI>Su&s;&s;ex.</HI></P>
<P>With the Carriage of him and his Companion that &s;uffered with him for the &s;ame Fact, both at the Bar, in Pri|&s;on, and at the place of Execution, the 15th of this In&s;tant <HI>March</HI> 1676.</P>
<LICENSE LANG="eng">
<P>With Permi&s;&s;ion,</P>
<CLOSER><DATELINE><DATE><HI>March</HI> 23. 1675/6.</DATE></DATELINE>
<SIGNED>H. O.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</LICENSE>
<P><HI>London:</HI> Printed for <HI>D. M.</HI> 1676.</P>
</DIV1>
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<DIV1 TYPE="text">
<PB REF="3">
<PB N="3" REF="3">
<HEAD>News from <HI>Su&s;&s;ex:</HI> or the barbarous Robber &s;trangely convicted.</HEAD>
<P>THe Lent-A&s;&s;izes held at <HI>Ea&s;t-Green|&s;tead,</HI> for the County of <HI>Su&s;&s;ex,</HI> yielded few extraordinary or re|markable Occurrences, be&s;ides the Condemnation of one <HI>Gardiner</HI> for a barbarous Burglary and Robbery, by him com|mitted above a year and a half ago; which was not till the&s;e A&s;&s;izes di&s;covered, being then po|&s;itively proved again&s;t him by his own Daugh|ter: the Circum&s;tances of the matter being thus.</P>
<P>This <HI>Gardiner</HI> had for the mo&s;t part of his time been a very bad liver; &s;everal times taxed for pilfering and purloyning tricks, and once branded in the hand already for Felony. He li|ved not far from <HI>Hor&s;ham,</HI> and (as I am infor|med) had no more Children but this Daughter that gave evidence again&s;t him, and was legally in&s;trumental to his puni&s;hment: For though he had received &s;everal cheks and corrections, as by Impri&s;onment and Burning in the hand, as afore|&s;aid, that it &s;eems he was &s;o far hardned in evil, that he would take no warning, but &s;till pur&s;ued his wicked cour&s;es, till they brought him to de|&s;truction and an untimely end. For this Daughter
<PB N="4" REF="4"> after her Mothers death being by him put out unto, or taken to keep by one <HI>Davis</HI> her Mothers Brother living in the Pari&s;h of <HI>Shipley</HI> about 4 or 5 miles from <HI>Hoa&s;ham.</HI> Her Father was wont of|ten to come thither to vi&s;it her, being kindly en|tertained and made welcome by his Brother-in-law: But notwith&s;tanding the&s;e civilities, com|ing, by I know not what means, to under&s;tand that there was a pretty con&s;iderable &s;um of mo|ney in the hou&s;e, and ob&s;erving that there was u&s;ually no more that lay in the hou&s;e a nights but this Daughter and her Uncle, he re&s;olves with &s;ome of his Confederates to make them|&s;elves ma&s;ters of it.</P>
<P>And accordingly about a week before <HI>Micha|elmas</HI> la&s;t was twelve months, he and one or two of his A&s;ociates came in the night-time (the pro|pere&s;t &s;ea&s;on for &s;uch deeds of darkne&s;s) to this <HI>Davis</HI>'s hou&s;e, and having got a Coulter (an iron In&s;trument belonging to a Plough) they there|with forced open the door; the noi&s;e whereof a|wakened the man of the hou&s;e, who perceiving Thieves entering into his hou&s;e, and concluding he &s;hould be undone if they effected their wicked de&s;igne, took courage (though he had none but this poor maid to &s;econd him) to oppo&s;e them; and accordingly with what Weapon he could light upon in that di&s;traction, he fought with them a con&s;iderable time, keeping them out of the door of the room wherein he lay; but at la&s;t one of them (who &s;ince appears to be this <HI>Gardiner</HI>) broke in upon him through the wall,
<PB N="5" REF="4"> and then &s;eeing him&s;elf overma&s;tered, he &s;ubmit|ted: But their <HI>Mercies</HI> proved very <HI>Inhumane Cruelties;</HI> for this per&s;on that came in through the wall, not content to conquer and rob him, after he had yielded to their violence, mo&s;t bar|barou&s;ly with the afore&s;aid Coulter, broke both his arms, and gave him &s;everal other grievous brui&s;es and wounds; and then having laid him as it were dead on the floor, and bound the young wench, and turned her on her face, &s;wearing, <HI>They would kill her if &s;he durst look up:</HI> They lighted a Candle and fell to pillaging the hou&s;e, but fir&s;t broke open a Che&s;t wherein the mony was, which they took away to a con&s;iderable va|lue, and &s;everal other things which they thought fit for their turn; and &s;o leaving the Girl bound and the man in that lamentable condition, they departed with their Booty; no le&s;s wickedly got, than it was like to be dearly paid for.</P>
<P>For notwith&s;tanding their &s;evere Charge, the maid apprehending them very bu&s;ie in rumma|ging the Che&s;ts, took the boldne&s;s now and then to peep up a little, and by the light of the can|dle could plainly di&s;cover her Father to be the man that carried the Coulter in his hand, which he &s;till made u&s;e of to open Boxes or any thing he had a minde to look into. She likewi&s;e had an opportunity to view the face of one other of the Thieves, and took &s;uch good notice as to know him again: but when they were gone, would not di&s;cover a word of it to her Uncle, fearing, as &s;he has &s;ince confe&s;&s;ed, that if &s;he
<PB N="6" REF="5"> &s;hould have &s;poken any thing, her Father or &s;ome of his Comrades would kill her.</P>
<P>It was a long time before the poor wounded Man got the u&s;e of his Limbs again, his Life being for a great while much di&s;paired of. But he alwaies had a violent Su&s;picion of his Brother-in-Law, to be the principal Villain that did him the Injury; having had &s;ome glimp&s;es of of him as they fought together in the Dark and afterwards; yet deferr'd the Pro&s;ecution, the rather, for that in truth, this <HI>Gardiner</HI> follow|ing continually &s;uch ba&s;e cour&s;es, was not to be found.</P>
<P>But at la&s;t, Providence having de&s;igned him a Puni&s;hmenr &s;uitable to his Wicked Waies, both he and his former Practi&s;es were brought to light: For this la&s;t Winter having with one <HI>Deadman</HI> been concerned in &s;tealing &s;ome <HI>Wheat</HI> out of a <HI>Barn,</HI> they were appehended there|upon, and Committed to the common Goal for the County of <HI>Su&s;&s;ex.</HI> And then, and not till then, the young Maid acquainted her Uncle, that it was her Father that was one that robbed him: Whereupon he carried her with him to the A&s;&s;izes, in order to pro&s;ecute again&s;t him. And it is &s;aid, That a&s;&s;oon as <HI>Gardiner</HI> (who before was very chearful, not fearing but to get off about the Wheat, for which he was com|mitted) heard they were come to Town, he pre&s;ently began to de&s;pair of e&s;caping, and was heard to &s;ay; <HI>O then I am a dead man.</HI> And a&s;&s;oon as his Daughter &s;aw him and the re&s;t of
<PB N="7" REF="5"> the Pri&s;oners, &s;he pointed to <HI>Deadman,</HI> affirm|ing, That he was one that was with her Father in the robbing of her Uncle.</P>
<P>Whereupon an Indictment being preferr'd a|gain&s;t them by <HI>Davis,</HI> and found by the Grand Inque&s;t, they were brought to their Tryal, where <HI>Davis</HI> &s;wore onely to Circum&s;tances, and that to the be&s;t of his knowledge, they were the men; but the Daughter &s;wore it directly and po&s;itively, that they were the very &s;ame: Upon which <HI>Gardiner</HI> &s;poke to her in Court in the&s;e words: <HI>Childe, look upon me, am I not thy Fa|ther? and what have I done, that thou &s;houlde&s;t go about to take away my Life thus fal&s;ly and maliciou&s;ly?</HI> And thereupon proceeded to make many prote&s;tations of his Innocency in the Fact charged again&s;t him, but the Maid with much a&s;&s;urance, an&s;wered to this effect:
<Q>I confe&s;s you are my Father, and I am &s;orry to &s;ee you in this Condition; but many a good Childe may have a bad Father: I am upon my Oath, and my Soul is dearer to me than my Father: I &s;peak nothing but the Truth, and that I mu&s;t and will &s;peak.</Q></P>
<P>And &s;o repeated her Evidence, and per&s;i&s;ted in it, That he was one of them that robbed her Uncle, and the very man that gave him tho&s;e cruel blows whereby his Limbs were broken, and that <HI>Deadman</HI> was another of them; where|upon the Jury for life and death, brought them
<PB N="8" REF="6"> in guilty, and they both received Sentence to die for the &s;ame.</P>
<P>After their Condemnation, they denied their doing it to a <HI>Mini&s;ter,</HI> that went to vi&s;it them in order to Preparation for their latter End; but did not &s;eem to expre&s;s &s;uch outward &s;igns of their being &s;en&s;ible of their &s;ad Condition, as might have been expected. One of them be|ing que&s;tioned as he went to Execution by a Gentleman of Quality, formerly his Ma&s;ter, whether he had ever wronged him. He &s;o|lemnly prote&s;ted, that <HI>He had not;</HI> but con|fe&s;&s;ed, that &s;ince, he had been very <HI>Guilty of Theft,</HI> and injured divers Per&s;ons: but affirmed That for <HI>that very Fact,</HI> for which he was now to Die, he was <HI>innocent.</HI> And &s;o they both avowed at the Gallowes: But very few peo|ple have yet the Charity to believe them. How|ever the Law proceeded ju&s;tly, and the Exe|cutioner did his Office: And their Ca&s;e is now left to the Judgment of a Higher Tribunal, where no mi&s;takes can be committed.</P>
<P>There were no more Executed the&s;e A&s;&s;izes.</P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
<PB REF="6">
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