The Affair and the Murder Plot
Nineteen-year-old Catherine was having an affair with her brother-in-law, John Camaish, who was nine years her senior. She was described as having “uncommonly interesting and rather handsome features.” John had married Catherine’s older sister but had always harboured feelings for Catherine. They plotted to murder Mrs. Camaish, who was pregnant at the time, to get her out of the way and allow their relationship to become permanent.
To this effect, Catherine put some arsenic powder into her sister’s porridge. Although it caused vomiting and severe stomach cramps, it did not have the desired result. John then purchased more arsenic from a shop in Ramsey, telling the chemist that he intended to use it to kill vermin. He persuaded his wife to take the arsenic on the basis that it would cure her of some unspecified illness. She died very quickly after this second dose. It should be noted that arsenic is a cumulative poison and builds up in the body, so there would still have been residue present from the previous attempt.
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Investigation and Trial
Suspicions were aroused about the untimely death of Mrs. Camaish due to the behaviour of Catherine and John. An inquest was held which found she had died from arsenic poisoning, rather than a severe attack of gastroenteritis that had similar symptoms and was a common cause of death. Catherine and John were arrested and charged with the killing—he as principal and she as an accessory to murder.
They came to trial in late March 1823 before the Deemster, as Manx high court judges are known, at Castle Rushen, Castletown. The jury returned a verdict of guilty, and the pair were sentenced to be hanged and their bodies to be dissected afterward, not to be permitted a Christian burial, in accordance with Section 53 of the Manx Criminal Code of 1817. They were returned to the island’s then-main prison within the Castle to await their fate. The prison had been substantially upgraded in 1815 to provide accommodation for both debtors and criminals.
Execution Arrangements
In the Isle of Man, the Coroner of the Sheading in which the crime occurred was responsible for carrying out death sentences, whereas in England it was the sheriff of the county. As in England, it was normal for him to appoint a hangman, but no one volunteered for the job, so the Coroner of Ayre Sheading, John Cowley, ended up having to perform the execution himself.
(Ayre is one of the six Sheadings, which are administrative areas, this one forming the northern tip of the island. Each has a Coroner whose role nowadays might be likened to that of the leader of a council.)
Catherine’s Religious Conversion
It was reported that Catherine was so poorly educated that she was unable to pray when first committed to prison and had to be taught by the Chaplain. Once she had mastered prayer, she spent many hours doing so and was judged fully penitent by the time of her execution. This, of course, was considered most important for her spiritual salvation. She also confessed to her part in the murder.
John, in contrast, showed no remorse until four or five days before he was to die. He then began to become increasingly desperate, shaking constantly and refusing food. He made a confession on the morning of his death, admitting buying both lots of poison.
The Final Meeting
Catherine asked to see John on that morning, and this was allowed. She told him that they should forgive each other, which they did, and then they shook hands before being returned to their cells. This is quite unusual; often when couples were to be executed for the same crime, there was animosity and no rapprochement between them at the gallows, each blaming the other for their fate.
The Execution
On the morning of Friday, 18th April, they were brought out from their separate cells to be pinioned and have the nooses placed around their necks before being loaded into the cart for the journey from the Castle to the place of execution near the water’s edge. They were accompanied by ministers of religion.
An immense crowd of spectators had gathered around the gallows to await the arrival of the prisoners. It was reported that every vantage point was covered with people of both sexes and all ages, as hangings were rare events on the island.
The cart was backed under the gallows, similarly to Tyburn executions in London, and the ropes tied up to the beam. The Reverend Mr. Kewley then recited prayers for the condemned couple for several minutes, and when he finished, he embraced Catherine and shook hands with John. He and the other officials got down from the cart, and the order was given for the horse to move forward, leaving the prisoners suspended—at least in John’s case.
Catherine was less fortunate because the rope slipped and her feet were able to touch the ground. As a consequence, while John expired very quickly, Catherine struggled for some time before succumbing.
They were left hanging for half an hour before being taken down and placed back into the cart to be taken back to the Castle, prior to being sent to Douglas for dissection. It appears that this part of their sentence was not actually carried out and their bodies were returned to their friends for burial.
Aftermath and Legacy
A broadside was published by John Muir of Glasgow and sold widely at the execution and afterward, both on the Isle of Man and on the mainland.
These hangings were two of only seven to be carried out on the Isle of Man in the 19th century. Catherine Kinrade was the only female to be hanged there in the 19th or 20th centuries.
The Isle of Man is a self-governing British dependency which did not finally abolish the death penalty until 1993.
Catherine Kinrade’s case is a notable example among Manx executions, reflecting the unique legal history of capital punishment on the Isle of Man.
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