In March 1735 Mary Ormand appeared before Sir
William Thompson kt., and Henry Wood esq., at the assizes for the City of York,
where Ormand was charged with burglary and Elizabeth Torton and Jane
Hickeringill were charged with receiving stolen goods. Ormand was found guilty
of burglary and sentenced to death, though later reprieved and her sentence
commuted to transportation for seven years. While the case raises a number of questions
on the issues of gender, co-accused evidence, sentencing and reprieves, it is
also provides an extraordinary body of evidence of the tastes and fashions of the eighteenth-century elite.
Ormand was first examined on 22 January 1735
before Richard Osbaldeston J.P. when she confessed that on 4 January, between 6
and 7p.m., she broke the cellar window of the house of Sir William Lowther, in
Little Alice Lane, York.
Sir William Lowther, 2nd
Baronet (c. 1694 – 6 March 1763), merchant, was educated at schools in Wakefield
and Leeds before being admitted to Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, on 28
February 1713. He succeeded his father as baronet and as M.P. for Pontefract in
1729. However, in 1740 he fell into financial difficulties and was forced to
sell his Pontefract burages (rental properties) from which he derived most of
his influence in the constituency, and left Parliament the following year.
At the time of the burglary, Sir William’s house
stood in Little Alice Lane which ran from Goodramgate to Minster Lane. The name
‘Little Alice Lane’ apparently came from a diminutive woman who once lived there,
though it was formerly known as Vicar’s Lane and currently as College Street. The
names ‘Vicar’s Lane’ and ‘College Street’ refer to St William’s College built
between 1465 and 1467 being the home of the cathedral chantry priests (who were
paid to chant masses for the souls of the dead) and which stands about halfway
up the street.
College Street, York: https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7375/9977564164_495d16425a_z.jpg
Ormand confessed to breaking into Sir William’s
house and said that she remained there on the first occasion for several nights,
during which time she drank a bottle of ‘surfitt’ water and took away a bottle
of cowslip wine and another of surfitt water. It is likely that the surfitt
water had been produced by a member of the Lowther household as a
recipe for ‘Surfitt Water’ (a remedy for the plague or small pox) can be found
in the Lowther family archive at the Welcome Library (MS3341_thumb_0071).
John Gerarde, in his Herball, noted that
cowslip plants “grow very plentifully in moist and squally grounds in the North
parts of England”, and it is likely that cowslip wine made from the flowers of
the plant had also been brewed in the Lowther family kitchen: having a narcotic
quality, it was often taken as a sedative.
Ormand further confessed that she returned to the house for a
second time and took a bottle of claret. Then again on a third occasion, about
7 January, she returned with a female accomplice and took two gowns, a quilted petticoat and a shift: at the time of her examination Ormand
was wearing one of the dresses and the petticoat. She also confessed to taking
a pair of stockings and a mantle lined with silk and decorated in gold and
silver thread, a pair of breeches and a pair of gloves.
In total, fifteen witnesses provided information
and gave recognizances for their appearance the assizes in this matter and
their statements provide evidence of the true extent of Ormand’s activities. Mary
Boynton bought a dress belonging to Sir William’s servant; Martha Scott bought
a nightgown and waistcoat; Mary Whitehead purchased two shifts and two pillows;
a pair of breaches were delivered to John Campbell, a foot soldier in Col.
Harrison’s Regiment. Constable Henry Lightfoot gave evidence that he searched
the house of Michael Colburne, a bricklayer, on 24 January and gave a statement
listing about twenty items discovered in the house. Mary Colburne, his wife,
explained that they had been brought to her by Ormand on 8 January so that she could
sell them.
A schedule
of the Goods Taken by Henry Lightfoot Constable of the Minster Yard of the
House of Michael Colburn Bricklayer in Goodramgate York this Twenty fourth day
of January in the year Of our Lord 1734
One pair of Black Cloth Breeches Lined with Shammy Leather
One Yellow Silk paddesway Gown and a tail to the said Gown
One Ash Colour’d Shagereen Cloak lined with a Persian …
One Ash Colour’d Shagereen Silk Night Gown
Two pair of White Thred Stockings
One pair of purple Colour’d Worsted Stockings
One pair of Scarlet Cloth Shoes wth Gold lace
One piece of new Lining Cloth
One Diaper Napkin mark’d wth a letter (L)
Two Holland Shifts & one Shirt
One Holland Apron
One Lace Handkerchief flower’d wth Gold & Silver
One Short Apron flower’d wthSilk
One White Dimothy petticoat
Two Girdles one Green & the other Yellow
One piece of Yellow Silk Persian
Several piece of White Sattin flower’d wthSilk
A Tail belonging to a Strip’d Turky Silk Gown
One piece of Green Tabby Silk
Less familiar terms found in that list are:
Shammy or Chamois leather - a type of porous leather that was used in the
manufacture of gloves, breaches, jackets, and pouches.
Paddesway or paduasoy - a grosgrain weaved silk. The weave was more delicate than
the grosgrain used today yet it was a heavy material which was often used in
day wear clothing.
Shagereen or Shagreen was introduced to Europe from Japan during the seventeenth
and eighteenth centuries. It is
an untanned leather with a granular surface, prepared from the hide of certain
animals, particularly horses, or from rays, sharks and dogfish whose skins have a smoothly pebbled texture.
Worsted is a woollen yarn which was widely
manufactured in the West Riding during the eighteenth century and it
was the textile manufacturers of Yorkshire who were instrumental in the
persuading Parliament to pass the Worsted Acts of 1777, which established an inspectorate
to police workplace theft (17 Geo. III, c.35).
Holland was the name given to the fine, plain-woven linens imported from
Europe, particularly the Netherlands.
Dimothy
or Dimity is a lightweight, cotton
fabric, suitable for the manufacture of undergarments.
American, first half of 19th century. The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston,
accession nr. 99.664.33 - http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/a5/d9/71/a5d97188e75f553aeb4946c965c1b779.jpg
Turkey
or Ottoman silk is
characterized by large-scale stylized motifs often highlighted with metallic
threads. The silk was produced for use both within the Ottoman Empire
and for export to Europe and the Middle East.
1750: Lime green silk ottoman with wide blue, black and white
stripes.
Tabby is a fabric with a watered
pattern, such as silk or taffeta.
Ladies hooded long silk cloak
1790’s Brown tabby silk.
Sir William Lowther’s and his wife (there were no
children) must have expended a significant amount of money in maintaining their
liking for high fashion. What is most surprising is the fact that, following Ormand’s
conviction for such audacious acts of burglary and theft on an significant scale,
her sentence was commuted to transportation to America for seven years. This
case, if nothing else, provides significant evidence of the reluctance of eighteenth-century-assize judges to execute female convicts.
Other sources:
Lowther
MSS, Denbighshire Record Office.
John Gerarde (1597) The Herball,
or, Generall historie of plantes /gathered by John Gerarde of London, master in
chirurgerie.
ASSI 41/2 Gaol Delivery, City of York, 11 March
1734/35.
ASSI 45/20 Depositions, North Riding, 1734/35.
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