Life Confession & Execution, of Mr. & Mrs. Manning, for the murder of Mr. O'Conner [sic], with copies of the letters.

Life Confession & Execution, of Mr. & Mrs. Manning, for the murder of Mr. O'Conner [sic], with copies of the letters.

Marie Manning (1821–13 November 1849) was a Swiss domestic servant who was hanged outside Horsemonger Lane Gaol, London, England, on 13 November 1849, after she and her husband Frederick were convicted of the murder of her lover, Patrick O'Connor, in the case that became known as the "Bermondsey Horror." It was the first time a husband and wife had been executed together in England since 1700.

Harvard Law School Library Special Collections, Rare Trials Broadside 122, Record ID: 990080893890203941

Attention give, both old and young
Of high and low degree;
Think, while this mournful tale is sung,
Of our sad misery.
We've slain O'Connor, both good and kind,
Who oft to us has been a friend,
For which we must our lives resign,
Our time is near an end.

Oh! hark, what mean that dreadful sound?
It sinks deep in our souls.
It is the bell that sounds our knell,
How solemn is the toll.
See, thousands are assembled
Around the fatal place,
To gaze on our approaching fate,
And witness our disgrace.

Let pilfering passions not intrude,
For to lead you astray,
From step to step it will delude,
And bring you to dismay.
Think of the wretched guilty Mannings,
Who thus die on a tree,
A death of shame, we've nought to blam
But our own base infamy.

Mercy on earth we'll not iimplore,
To crave it would be vain.
Our hands are dyed with human gore,
None can wash off the stain.
But the merits of a Saviour,
Whose mercy alone we crave,
Good Christians pray, so thus we die,
We may has pardon have.

hanging

murder

Horsemonger Lane Gaol, London

Paul, Whitechapel
(printing details partially torn)

First person voice of Mannings at their execution