Amongst the Library’s recent purchases is a rare pamphlet reporting the trial of Renwick Williams, a 23 year old from Radnorshire, at the Old Bailey in 1790 for attacking a number of women in central London and damaging their clothes. The report includes evidence against and for Renwick Williams. First Miss Ann Porter recounts how he attacked her outside her father’s front door when she was returning from a ball celebrating the Queen’s birthday, injuring her leg and damaging her clothes. Miss Porter’s sisters confirm her testimony. Then a number of people who have worked with Williams in a clothing business testify in favour of his character and confirm that he was at work at the time of the attack. The pamphlet ends with the judge’s charge to the jury.
Renwick Williams was found guilty of this attack and two similar ones and sentenced to six years in prison. The case attracted a great deal of interest at the time and inspired caricatures and plays. But some people were unconvinced of Williams’s guilt, including the judge himself. In 2003 a book by Jan Bondeson, an academic from Cardiff University was published with the title "The London monster: terror on the streets in 1790", claiming that Williams was innocent. The debate about this young Welshman and his part in a scandal in central London continues after more than two centuries.
Title of banner image: A representation of Rynwick alias Renwick Williams, commonly called the Monster
Page URL: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_representation_of_Rynwick_alias_Renwick_Williams,_commonly_called_the_Monster_(BM_1868,0808.5930).jpg
Source: British Museum, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Permission and license: The Trustees of the British Museum, released as CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Category: Article