Centenaries - whole and half

[Pcdunn]

I did not know Blackadder was a real surname! Fascinating!

[Mayerling]

450 year ago - 1567 February 10 - In Edinburgh, the bodies of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley and King Consort of Mary Queen of Scots, and his valet, William Taylor, are found outside their living quarters that have just been rocked by two explosions. It was never determined if they were killed by the detonations or were murdered by other means while attempting to escape the blasts. It was suspected that the killings were a plot by nobles with the possible compliance of the Queen. Mary and James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, were tried for the murders but were not convicted. An almost certainly innocent soldier, named William Blackadder, was convicted for the killings in a show trial and executed. The Queen was later executed for treason in an unrelated proceeding.

Mary was tried in 1587 for complicity in the plot of a group of conspirators around a wealthy English Catholic, Anthony Babington, who intended to kill Queen Elizabeth I of England and replace her on the throne with her cousin Mary. There have been difficulties (over the years) with this particular set of circumstances leading to Mary's execution after a trial. To begin with, Elizabeth had given Mary sanctuary in England in 1570 when she fled Scotland after a successful coup against her led by her illegitimate half-brother the Earl of Moray. But Elizabeth did not allow Mary freedom - instead she kept her in a series of castles and palaces under strict house arrest. This was still the situation in 1586 when Mary was approached by a messenger from Babington about the conspiracy. The messenger (supposedly a Roman Catholic priest in disguise) was actually a double agent of Elizabeth's secret service head, Walsingham, and basically Mary fell for an entrapment scheme (Walsingham felt that Mary alive was a perennial threat to the safety of Elizabeth, and decided to end the situation by revealing the ex-Scottish Queen to be a secret conspirator). Babington and his co-conspirators were rounded up, tortured, forced to confess or stand trial, and executed (in the horrible manner of that period). Mary was put on trial separately at Fotheringay Palace. She was eventually found guilty, and the jury recommended a verdict of death. Elizabeth hesitated because she did not like shedding her cousin's blood, or executing a royal queen (reminder of the fates of her own mother Anne Boleyn, and her step-mother Katherine Howard). Walsingham manipulated Elizabeth by passing the unsigned death warrant papers in some other papers she had to sign - there is some actual question about whether or not Elizabeth was actually fooled by her minister. Later, when she learned "she was tricked" she put her secretary into prison for a number of years (the secretary to the Queen's secretary was one William Brewster - later one of the leaders of the Pilgrim colony at Plymouth).
Mary was beheaded at Fotheringay. Her pet dog turned out to be hidden on her person when she was executed, and was licking her dead body after the beheading occurred. Sadly too, her age had caught up with the pretty Queen of the Scots. She was wearing a wig, and it fell off when her head fell.

Later on events were to occur connected to this tragedy. Phillip II of Spain sent the Spanish Armada (of 1588) to invade England and avenge Mary by capturing and executing Elizabeth. One party who did not really cover himself with much glory in all this was Mary's sole child, the Protestant King of Scotland King James VI. King James did protest the trial and sentence, but did nothing further. Many felt he either should have demanded his mother's return, or invaded England in retaliation. But "cagy Jamie" knew he was the most likely heir to the British throne when Elizabeth (who was childless) died, and did not wish to ruin his chances. After all, his cousin Arabella Stuart was waiting in the wings if he blew it. So James restrained any possible anger towards Elizabeth. However, in 1603, when King James VI of Scotland inherited the English throne as King James I (the title he is recalled for) he did do one act of belated anger - he had Fotheringay torn down.

The anniversary of Mary, Queen of Scots' execution was (I believe) either yesterday or today).

Jeff

[sdreid]

150 years ago - 1867 February 26 - Mary Durgan, a servant, stabs Mary Coriel, the wife of her employer, to death in their New Jersey home. The motive was said to be to enhance her standing as the only woman left in the house. Durgan was hanged for murder later in the year.

[Mayerling]

150 years ago - 1867 February 26 - Mary Durgan, a servant, stabs Mary Coriel, the wife of her employer, to death in their New Jersey home. The motive was said to be to enhance her standing as the only woman left in the house. Durgan was hanged for murder later in the year.

Funny but in August 1927 there was a popular Broadway hit play, "The Trial of Mary DUGAN" (not Durgan), that was about a murder trial of the named woman (she supposedly stabbed her lover), and it ran for 427 performances (a good theatrical run at the time). It was made into a motion picture in the 1927, the first talkie of MGM star Norma Shearer, with Lewis Stone and H.B. Warner in the cast. In 1941 it was remade (same title though) with Lorraine Day and Robert Young. It was even made into a television version in 1957. The author of this piece (in his day a popular dramatist) was one Bayard Veiler (died 1943).

[sdreid]

50 years ago - 1967 February 27 - In Mississippi, Wharlest Jackson, an officer in his local NAACP branch, is killed with a car bomb. Although a racist splinter group was suspected, the murder remains officially unsolved.

[sdreid]

50 years ago - 1967 March 2 - Forty-one-year-old June Cook is dragged from her car and beaten to death then put back into the vehicle which was then run into a tree to simulate an accident. Her husband Raymond got into the passenger seat and pretended to be also injured in the "mishap". The actual beating was administered by one Eric Jones who was a former lover of Valerie Newell who was now involved with Mr. Cook. Ms. Newell was believed to be the instigator of the plot and she, Eric Jones and Ray Cook were found guilty of murder by an English jury and sent to prison for life.

[Pcdunn]

Regular soap-opera plot there...

50 years ago - 1967 March 2 - Forty-one-year-old June Cook is dragged from her car and beaten to death then put back into the vehicle which was then run into a tree to simulate an accident. Her husband Raymond got into the passenger seat and pretended to be also injured in the "mishap". The actual beating was administered by one Eric Jones who was a former lover of Valerie Newell who was now involved with Mr. Cook. Ms. Newell was believed to be the instigator of the plot and she, Eric Jones and Ray Cook were found guilty of murder by an English jury and sent to prison for life.

... I think they got what they deserved!

[sdreid]

50 years ago - 1967 April 8 - In Naples, California, fashion designer Elaine Terry Kirschke is shot and killed along with her lover Orville Drankhan. Her husband Deputy D.A. Jack Kirschke was found guilty of the murders and sentenced to prison for life but was paroled after only eleven and a half years.

[sdreid]

50 years ago - 1967 April 10 - Cook County, IL Sheriff's Deputy Ralph Probst, 30, is shot and killed through the kitchen window of his house. The murder is still unsolved.

[sdreid]

50 years ago - 1967 April 19 - Coby van der Voort is beaten and stabbed to death by her sometime lover Hans van Zon. The woman was one of the serial killer's five known victims. He was convicted and sent to a Dutch prison for life but was released in 1986 and died in 1998.

[sdreid]

150 years ago - 1867 April 21 - The English woman who will become known as Mary Ann Cotton murders her stepson James Robinson, 6, with arsenic. He was one of about 21 the murderess dispatched over a 15 year period. The serial killer murdered several husbands, her children, additional stepchildren, a sister-in-law and a lover. Mary Ann went to the gallows in 1873.

[sdreid]

50 years ago - 1967 April 24 - In New Jersey, Darlene Polizzi, 19, vanishes from the apartment she shares with her husband. She has not been found and some believe she could have been slain by an acquaintance who some think might be a serial killer. The man was never charged and the case is still unsolved.

[Pcdunn]

"Dark Angel"

150 years ago - 1867 April 21 - The English woman who will become known as Mary Ann Cotton murders her stepson James Robinson, 6, with arsenic. He was one of about 21 the murderess dispatched over a 15 year period. The serial killer murdered several husbands, her children, additional stepchildren, a sister-in-law and a lover. Mary Ann went to the gallows in 1873.

I'm looking forward to the drama series about this case, "Dark Angel", which is coming to PBS, and will star Jane Froggett, formerly of "Downton Abbey."

The summary I read on the case suggested that Cotton murdered for personal or practical reasons, mostly to avoid having to be tied down by husbands or children. Perhaps she had been born too soon.

[GUT]

I'm looking forward to the drama series about this case, "Dark Angel", which is coming to PBS, and will star Jane Froggett, formerly of "Downton Abbey."

The summary I read on the case suggested that Cotton murdered for personal or practical reasons, mostly to avoid having to be tied down by husbands or children. Perhaps she had been born too soon.

I think that's right about her motive.

And I'm hoping we get the series here.

[sdreid]

150 years ago - 1867 April 26 - The English woman who will become known as Mary Ann Cotton murders her stepdaughter Elizabeth Robinson, 8, with arsenic. She was one of about 21 the murderess dispatched over a 15 year period. The serial killer murdered several husbands, her children, additional stepchildren, a sister-in-law and a lover. Mary Ann went to the gallows in 1873.