James Pratt (1805–1835),[1] also known as John Pratt, and John Smith (1795–1835) were two London men who, in November 1835, became the last two to be executed for sodomy in England.[2] Pratt and Smith were arrested in August of that year after being spied on through a keyhole allegedly having carnal knowledge of each other in a room rented by William Bonill a friend or acquaintance of one of the men, or possibly both. Bonill, although not present when the men were spied on, was nevertheless transported to Australia as an accessory to Pratt and Smith's alleged crime, where he died.
Some modern human rights activists have cast doubt on the facts and legality of the conviction. In January 2017, Pratt and Smith were among those who were posthumously pardoned by the Alan Turing law which pardoned those who had been convicted of same-sex carnal offences which no longer exist in the UK.[3]
| James Pratt | |
| Birth Date: | 1805 |
| Death Date: | 27 November 1835 (aged 30) |
| Death Place: | Newgate Prison, London, United Kingdom |
| Conviction: | Buggery (posthumously pardoned in 2017) |
| Conviction Penalty: | Death |
James Pratt was born in 1805 and worked as a groom. He was married and lived with his wife and children at Deptford, Kent.[4]
| John Smith | |
| Birth Date: | 1795 |
| Death Date: | 27 November 1835 (aged 40) |
| Conviction: | Buggery (posthumously pardoned in 2017) |
| Conviction Penalty: | Death |
John Smith was born in 1795 and was from Southwark Christchurch. He was described in court proceedings and contemporary newspaper reports as an unmarried labourer, although other sources state he was married and worked as a servant.
William Bonill, aged 68, had lived for 13 months in a rented room at a house near the Blackfriars Road, Southwark, London. His landlord stated that Bonill had frequent male visitors, who generally came in pairs, and that his suspicions became aroused on the afternoon of 29 August 1835, when Pratt and Smith came to visit Bonill.
The landlord climbed to an outside vantage point in the loft of a nearby stable building, where he could see through the window of Bonill's room, before coming down to look into the room through the keyhole. Both the landlord and his wife later claimed they both looked through the keyhole and saw Pratt and Smith engaging in carnal relations with each other. The landlord after seeing what he saw broke open the door to confront them. Bonill was absent but returned a few minutes later with a jug of ale. The landlord went to fetch a police constable and all three men were arrested.
Pratt, Smith and Bonill were tried on 21 September 1835 at the Central Criminal Court, before Baron Gurney, a judge who had the reputation of being independent and acute, but also harsh.[5] Pratt and Smith were convicted under section 15 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1828, which had replaced the 1533 Buggery Act, and were sentenced to death.[6] [7] William Bonill was convicted as an accessory[8] and sentenced to 14 years of penal transportation.[9] A number of witnesses came forward to testify to the good character of Pratt. No character witnesses came forward to testify on behalf of Smith.
The conviction of the three men rested entirely on what the landlord and his wife claimed to have witnessed, and the evidence of the police constable who had examined the clothing of both men after his arrival at Bonhill's lodging house. Modern commentators have cast doubts on their testimony, based on the narrow field of vision afforded by a keyhole and the acts (some anatomically impossible) the couple claimed to have witnessed during the brief length of time they were looking.[10] [11]
The magistrate, Hensleigh Wedgwood, who had committed the three men to trial,[12] subsequently wrote to the Home Secretary, Lord John Russell, arguing for the commutation of the death sentences, stating:
Although Wedgwood was a deeply religious man[13] he did not concur with the then prevailing view of society that sodomy committed between humans should be a capital offence. He also judged it unjust that it was a sentence more likely to befall poorer men than richer men as richer men could afford a private space that would make their arrest less likely. And even if arrested, Wedgwood might have observed, a richer man would have had the resources to post bail money, and then flee abroad.[14] [15] However, despite this degree of sympathy, Wedgwood described the men as "degraded creatures" in another letter.[16]
On 5 November 1835, Charles Dickens and the newspaper editor John Black visited Newgate Prison; Dickens wrote an account of this in Sketches by Boz and described seeing Pratt and Smith while they were being held there:[17] [18]
The gaoler who was escorting Dickens confidently predicted to him that the two would be executed and was proved right. Seventeen individuals were sentenced to death at the September and October sessions of the Central Criminal Court for offences that included burglary, robbery, and attempted murder. On 21 November, all were granted remission of their death sentences under the Royal Prerogative of Mercy with the exceptions of Pratt and Smith.[19] There had been previous reprieves of men sentenced to death for sodomy, such as Martin Mellet and James Farthing who had been condemned in 1828 but were instead transported to Australia.[20] But this was not granted to Pratt and Smith despite an appeal for mercy submitted by the men's wives that was heard by the Privy Council.[21] A petition for mercy was even made by the landlord and his wife who had been witnesses against them.[22]
Pratt and Smith were hanged in front of Newgate Prison on the morning of 27 November. The crowd of spectators was described in The Times' newspaper report as larger than usual;[23] this was possibly because the hanging was the first to have taken place at Newgate in nearly two years.[24] [25]
The report of the execution in The Morning Post states that when the men were led onto the scaffold the crowd began to hiss, and this continued until the moment of their execution. Possibly this indicated the crowd's disagreement with the execution, or it may have indicated disapproval of the men's alleged acts.[26] Pratt was reportedly too weak to stand, and had to be held upright by the executioner's assistants while preparations were made to hang him.
The event was sufficiently notable for a printed broadside to be published and sold. This described the men's trial and included the purported text of a final letter that was claimed to have been written by Smith to a friend.[27]
Bonill was one of 290 prisoners transported to Australia on the ship Asia, which departed England on 5 November 1835 and arrived in Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) on 21 February 1836.[28] Bonill died at the age of 74 at New Norfolk Hospital in Van Diemen's Land on 29 April 1841.[29]
A collection of contemporary documents, including petitions made on behalf of the men, and letters about their case are held by the United Kingdom National Archives.[30]
Both Pratt and Smith are central characters in the stage play Particular Disposition, written by Benjamin Fulk.[31] [32] [33] [34] The song "45 George Street" by Bird in the Belly tells their story.[35]
The case of Pratt and Smith is the subject of the non-fiction book James and John: A True Story of Prejudice and Murder by Chris Bryant MP published in February 2024.[36]