Life in Crolley’s Lane
Helen Blackwood was about thirty years old and lived in a third-floor room in a tenement on Crolley’s Lane in the New Vennel area of Glasgow. She shared the cramped space with her boyfriend, Hans Smith McFarlane, two prostitutes—Mary Hamilton and Ann Young (also known as Ann Marshall)—and two orphaned brothers, eleven-year-old William and nine-year-old James Shillinglaw. It must have been an extremely overcrowded room when they were all there.
A Night of Drink and Violence
On Saturday, June 11, 1853, Ann and Mary picked up two clients, Alexander Boyd and James Law, both merchant seamen home on leave with money to spend. The group had been drinking heavily all day and eventually went to Helen’s apartment. James Law was with Mary, and Alexander Boyd arrived shortly after with Ann, Helen, and Hans McFarlane. The two Shillinglaw brothers were already asleep in their usual place under Helen’s bed.
James Law was in a stupor from drink, and Alexander was little better. Helen took some money from Boyd and went out to buy more whisky. When she returned, Mary poured something into a cup of whisky before giving it to Alexander. He drank it, staggered about, and swung a punch at Helen. She struck him over the head with a chamber pot, shattering it from the force.
Alexander fell, and Helen and Ann stripped him to his pants and socks, likely hoping to find money. Then, for some inexplicable reason, the foursome decided to throw him out of the third-floor window. He fell about twenty-five feet to his death on the cobblestones below. Ann went to the open window and shouted, “My man’s dead! He went to the window and fell over it!” She also threw out the broken chamber pot pieces to make it look like an accident.
The plan might have worked, except for two small problems—the Shillinglaw brothers, who had seen and heard everything from under the bed.
The Arrest and Trial
The noise of the body hitting the street brought neighbors out, and a passing policeman soon arrived. Helen, Hans, Ann, and Mary fled but were quickly caught. The police took the Shillinglaw brothers and James Law to the station for questioning, where the full, sordid story emerged.
The following day, Helen, Hans, Ann, and Mary were arrested and charged with Alexander’s murder. Because of the seriousness of the crime, they were tried at the High Court of Justiciary in Edinburgh on July 21. The Shillinglaw brothers were the main witnesses.
A girl named Jane Leith testified that she had seen Alexander with Helen, Hans, and Mary, followed them back to the apartment, and witnessed some of what happened through cracks in the door. She told the court she did not think Helen, Ann, or Mary were drunk that night.
Forensic evidence confirmed that Alexander’s injuries were consistent with a fall from the window. The jury found Helen, Ann, and Hans guilty, while Mary received a verdict of “not proven,” unique to Scottish law. This meant the jury believed she was involved but could not determine her exact level of guilt. Unlike an acquittal, it left the possibility of retrial if new evidence appeared.
The prisoners were returned to Glasgow and held in the New Jail in the Saltmarket area by the River Clyde.
Sentencing and Execution
Ann was recommended for mercy and later had her sentence commuted to transportation—a decision widely criticized in the press as undeserved. Hans applied to marry Helen in prison, but the authorities refused. There were no further reprieves, and the double execution was scheduled for Thursday, August 11. Neither Helen nor Hans confessed, despite the chaplain’s efforts.
Thousands gathered on Glasgow Green in front of the New Jail at eight o’clock that morning to witness the hangings. William Calcraft, the executioner from London, officiated.
An unprecedented event occurred on the scaffold: Hans, in a clear, firm voice, proposed to Helen, saying, “Helen Blackwood, before God and in the presence of these witnesses, I take you to be my wife. Do you consent?” Helen said she did. Hans continued, “Then before these witnesses I declare you to be what you have always been to me—a true and faithful wife—and you die an honest woman.” The chaplain added “Amen,” and under Scottish law, they were now legally married. At that moment, Calcraft released the trapdoor—ensuring the marriage was just as quickly dissolved.
Hans died almost instantly, but Helen struggled for three minutes before she was still. After hanging for an hour, their bodies were taken back into the prison for burial. Broadsides recounting the “lament of Hans and Helen” were sold among the crowd, and the execution was widely reported in the Glasgow press.
Aftermath and Legacy
Though robbery may have been the motive, this was one of the most senseless crimes ever recorded—committed before multiple witnesses, with virtually no chance of escaping punishment.
Helen was one of only fourteen women executed in Scotland between 1800 and 1868, and one of just five hanged in Glasgow. Only one more woman would be hanged publicly in Scotland: Mary Timney, executed at Dumfries on Tuesday, April 29, 1862, for the murder of her neighbor.
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