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FOUL DEEDS & SUSPICIOUS DEATHS AROUND BRIGHTON
by Douglas d'Enno

This gripping volume covers two centuries of murderous doings in Brighton portrayed in fifteen vivid case histories. All the crimes took place within the town except two, where the victims were prominent Brighton citizens travelling on business.

The accounts are arranged in an unusual yet logical manner, namley by theme.
The categories comprise trunk murders, poisonings,

child murders, killings over nothing, deaths suffered on journeys, and provocation, infidelity and lust. Surprisingly, no single volume devoted to murders in Brighton has ever appeared before.

This is extrordinary considering the town has been dubbed the Queen of Slaughtering Places.
As well as filling a void in the field of true crime on this part of the Sussex Coast, the book contains many rare images of Brighton in the past which admirably complement the text. Local historians and general readers alike will be fasinated by this pictorial material, much of it previousy unpublished.

Extracts from the book by the kind permission of the author.

The case of Jon Holloway who murdered Celia Holloway.

John Holloway was tried at Lewes Assizes on 15 December 1831 before Mr Justice Patteson. Ann Kennett was accused as an accessory of aiding and abetting him in the crime. Dressed in his sailor's clothing, Holloway was in aggressive mood.

On his way into court, a young boy pointed him out as someone he recognised. Holloway hit him hard in the face. When charged with murder, he claimed he did not understand a word of the indictment and insisted it be read a second time.

His response, after a pause, was By the laws of my country, my lord, I am not guilty; I am not guilty till you have proved me guilty. I am not guilty neither of several things stated there.

At every turn, he challenged witnesses in a hostile manner, refuting their statements. This was the man who, in prison, prayed and humbled himself before his Saviour and exhorted others to do the same. Now he was blaming Celia's family and the Overseers at Ardingly for his actions.

He did at least tell the court that Ann Kennett was innocent. Any part she had played was, he said, because he had forced her. During the proceedings, Kennett was tearful; she fainted and had to be physically supported; at one point she had to be taken out of the courtroom. Astonishingly, she was dismissed early in the proceedings.

On Friday, 21 December, 1831, he was hanged at Horsham before a crowd of two thousand. While the executioner put on the cap and made fast the rope about the culprit's neck, Holloway said in a low whisper, 'Give me a good fall,' and the executioner therefore gave him rather more than the usual length of rope.

 

The prisoner, who had taken the sacrament in the morning, then knelt down and prayed fervently for about half a minute, repeatedly calling on the Lord to receive his spirit. When he arose, he advanced suddenly to address the crowd, which he did in the following terms:

My dear friends, I need not tell you that sin brought me to this untimely end, and I would entreat you to be aware that he who follows a life of sin is as likely to be brought to the same condition; I tell you if you trifle with sin and folly, you know not where it will end. I justly suffer; I have spilt innocent blood, but I hope God will have mercy upon me; He has said to those who repent, 'All your sins and blasphemies shall be forgiven you.' Therefore, turn from sin, and the Lord will shew you forgiveness. All I have to say is take warning by my unhappy fate, and if you prize life sin not. Reflect on my dying words, for in a short time the eye that sees you now will see you no more, and in a few short years will all be in eternity. Now, may the Lard bless you and keep you from sin, by which I am brought to this untimely end; and may the God of Mercy, through Jesus Christ, receive my spirit.

These words were spoken rapidly, firmly and audibly and as he went on his voice rose to so high a tone that he could be heard at a great distance. He then stepped back. The executioner drew the cap over his eyes, while the chaplain continued to pray, concluding with the Lord's Prayer, during which Holloway, with great solemnity, repeatedly exclaimed, 'Lord receive my spirit' until the signal was given for the bolt to be withdrawn. So his wretched life was ended. He appeared to suffer little.

After the body had hung a little while, a labourer from Cowfold with an unsightly wen on his forehead clambered up onto the staging. He asked if the lump could be touched by the corpse. Was not sweat from a dead man a sovereign cure? Holloway's wrists were untied and a handkerchief was placed on the still perspiring chest for application.

However, a similar request from two women was refused by the hangman. Holloway's corpse was sent back to Brighton by coach, in trunk uncannily similar to that

which had held Celia torso. His body was put on display at the Town Hall for twenty-four hours and no fewer than 23,00 men, women and children come to view it. It was then removed to the hospital for dissection and for casts to be taken.

In march, Ann Kennett appeared at Lewes Assizes. She had a baby in her arms, which had named Ann. The charge against her was that of concealing and harbouring Holloway.

After brief proceedings, she was discharged. Her tearful plea of 'Not Guilty' won the sympathy of the judge and the jury were in turn swayed by his opinion. The content and tone of his address to the jury strike us today as astonishing, particularly the reference to the (absence of) guilt on the part of a wife:

The evidence against the prisoner is entirely circumstantial and if you have any doubt, you must give the prisoner the benefit of that doubt. No wife can ever be found guilty of assisting her own husband, she might be guilty in some measure; but the law cannot touch her, and if the prisoner thought that she was the actual wife of Holloway, and you find such to have been her sincere belief, she must be acquitted of the crime as an accessory after the fact.

Extraordinary. His Lordship did, however, concede that Kennett seemed to have had some knowledge that Celia was his wife, from the circumstances which have arisen'. Kennett was nevertheless promptly acquitted. In the case of John Holloway himself, justice was fully served. Society was spared any more devilry from his self-confessed 'savage nature'. With Celia's abominable murder, his prominent place in Brighton's hall of infamy is assured for ever.

When I (author) visited the churchyard of St Peter's in Preston, Brighton, in October 2003 to see the plaque marking the last resting place of some of Celia Holloway's remains, there were two artificial red roses tied beneath it. Between them was the dried-out bud of a real rose. Even now, somebody still cares.