The Shady Shenanigans of the Heiress Hunters

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nJanenAusten Pride and Prejudice

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n                       If Miss Austen is correct in hernassertion, it surely follows that the converse must also be a truth equally acknowledged, that a single woman in possession of a good fortune must too benin want of a husband. So thought many men in the past, who sought to relieventhemselves of their financial embarrassments by the marrying of an heiress. 

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nOnensuch gentleman was Captain Sir John Johnston, born at Skickaldy, Fifeshire andnwho had fought under the command of the Duke of Monmouth at the siege ofnMaestrich and at the Battle of the Boyne. Finding himself in straitenedncircumstances, Sir John sought to insinuate himself into the affections of onenMiss Magrath of County Clare, Ireland, who happened to have an inheritancenof  £10,000. He made the acquaintance ofnher uncle and managed to inveigle himself into the Magrath household, receivingnmany invitations to dinner, where he set about persuading Miss Magrath that shenshould elope with him. Mr Magrath’s avuncular suspicions were alerted and henbanned Johnston from the house and placed his niece under a close watch. She,ninfatuated with gallant Sir John, managed to persuade a kinswoman to deliver anletter to him but this lady thought it better to advise the uncle instead, whonopened and read the letter, before resealing it and having it delivered. 

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nArdentnSir John set out to meet the object of his devotions but arriving at the placenof assignation he found not the maid he expected but instead men in thenemployment of Mr Magrath, who set about beating him with sticks, clubs andncudgels so thoroughly that he promised immediately to leave both County Clarenand Miss Magrath. He went off to Dublin, where he managed to run up enoughndebts as to be thrown into debtor’s prison. He contacted an acquaintance, LadynThomond, a faithful Roman Catholic, whom he knew kept a priest in hernhousehold, and told her he wished to be reconciled with the Roman Church,nasking if she would send a confessor to him. This innocent lady sent off hernpriest to Sir John, who told the unfortunate cleric that since King William hadnrecently conquered the country, it was his loyal duty to inform His Majesty’snauthorities of this priest’s existence. The priest, fearful for his life,nturned over what money he had with him but the naughty knight thought that thisnwas not nearly enough so he had a scrivener sent for, who drew up a bond for anfurther £60 from the priest. Funds thus raised, Sir John settled his debts,nsecured his release and made straight for England. 

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nHere he met with a formernarmy colleague, Captain the Honourable James Campbell, son of the ninth Earl ofnArgyle, and a Mr Archibald Montgomery. Captain Campbell had designs on annheiress of his own – a certain Miss Mary Wharton, who, on the death of hernfather, came into an income of £1,500 a year, with £1,000 in property, anfortune in total worth over £50,000 and who was, at the time, thirteen years ofnage. She lived with her aunt, Mrs Bierley, in Great Queen Street, London, andnit was there that Captain Campbell came in a coach drawn by six horses, bearingna haunch of venison as a gift for the Bierley household, on the evening ofnFriday November 10^th 1690. At about nine in the evening thenprecocious Miss Wharton climbed into the coach with Campbell and his companionsnand they drove to a coachman’s house, where a parson was waiting. 

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nIn an uppernroom, Campbell and the girl were married, with Johnston and Montgomery asnwitnesses; the ring which Campbell had brought was too large for the bride’snfinger but she said she thought it was bad luck to change it, so she wrapped anribbon around her finger to make it fit, and after the nuptials were concluded,nthe newly-weds went off to bed. The following morning, Johnston suggested tonthe new Mrs Campbell that it might be a good idea if she advised her aunt ofnher recent matrimonials, so she sent for pen and paper and wrote, 

nAt no time during the whole proceedings was the girl made to donanything against her will, indeed she was positively enthusiastic aboutneverything. Her friends and relations, when they heard about the marriage, werenoutraged and Lord Wharton, a near kinsman, sought the assistance of the King,nwho issued a Royal proclamation for the apprehension of Campbell and his abbetorsnon charges of kidnap, with a reward of £100 for Campbell and £50 for thenothers. Campbell scarpered to Scotland and Montgomery went into hiding butnJohnston’s landlord turned him in for the reward, and on December 11^thn1690 he was tried at the Old Bailey. Great applications were made to the Kingnand the Whartons, and evidence produced that Miss Wharton was at no time forcednor coerced but all to no avail. Captain Sir John Johnston was sentenced to thengallows. 

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nAt eleven o’clock on the morning of Tuesday December 23^rdn1690, he was taken in a mourning coach, with a hearse following, and in thencompany of a friend and two divines, from his prison to Tyburn, where he stoodnon the back of a cart and made a speech to the crowd, declaring his innocence,nthen offered up prayers, recited the 51^st and the 103^rdnPsalms and put the cap over his own head. The rope was placed about his necknand the cart was drawn away, with Sir John praying and raising his hands tonheaven several times before he finally expired. 

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nThree weeks after the wedding anBill was brought before the House of Commons to make the marriage void, andnalthough the Earl of Argyle spoke against it, it was quickly passed in bothnHouses. Miss Wharton later married Colonel Robert Bierley, who just happened tonbe the son of her guardian Mrs Bierley, who was undoubtedly vexed when hernniece had married someone else. Captain James Campbell married another heiress,nHonourable Margaret Leslie, who brought him estates in Burnbank and Boquhan,nand in 1699 became the Member of Parliament for Renfrew and later the AyrnBurghs. Unlike Captain Sir John Johnston, he escaped all punishment. 

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