FEBRUARY 26, 1690.

FEBRUARY 26, 1690. I opened the Old Bailey site almost at random to this page . The proceedings of the Old Bailey for February 26, 1690 show that Elizabeth Deacon was found guilty of murdering a servant girl. One of the items pleaded in her defense was that the victim was “a Girl of a very sullen, obstinate, temper.” The defendant was convicted and sentenced to death, but the sentence was remitted because she was pregnant. The site tells us that in these circumstances the sentence could be carried out after the birth, but that usually there was a pardon because of the needs of the child. One thinks of early James Bonds, each with a license to kill. Robert Hillgrave denied his crimes, “but he was known to have been an Old Thief, he was found guilty both of Felony and Burglary.” It appears from several cases that day that evidence of past crimes was admissible.