The Grave of the Unknown Sailor

​In September, 1786 an unnamed sailor was murdered at Hindhead in Surrey, England. His murderers were eventually tried and hung for their crime at the appropriately named Gibbet Hill. What was left was the mystery of his identity, and a curse laid on his grave.

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Gravestone of the murdered sailor in Thursley churchyard

On September 24, 1786 a lone sailor was making his way back on foot from London to Portsmouth to join his ship. He visited the Red Lion Inn at Thursley, where he crossed paths with those who would murder him. They were seafarers named James Marshall, Michael Casey and Edward Lonegon. He must have felt at ease in their company, since he paid for their drinks and food and afterwards left with them to Hindhead Hill. This was the last time he was seen alive.

Later that day, a shepherd boy tending his flock on the Common spotted a ragged bundle on the ground in the distance. He found the sailor's body, his throat had been cut, his head almost severed from his body. His clothing had been stripped off.

Like other criminals, greed became their downfall when the murderers tried to sell the victim's clothing at either the Sun Inn in Rake, or at the nearby Royal Huts Inn in Hindhead.
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The Hampshire Chronicle, dated October 2, 1786, read:

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​Sunday last a shocking murder was committed by three sailors, on one of their companions, a seaman also, between Godalming --- They nearly severed his head from his body, stripped him quite naked, and threw him into a valley, where he was providentially discovered, soon after the perpetration of the horrid crime, by some countrymen corning over Hind Head, who immediately gave the alarm, when the desperadoes were instantly pursued, and overtaken at the house of Mr. Adams, the Sun, at Rake. They were properly secured, and are since lodged in gaol, to take their trials at the next assizes for the county of Surrey. 

Hindhead Hill, by J.M.W Turner c.1808 The gibbet can be seen in the distance.

Six months later they were tried at Kingston assizes and two days after that, on Saturday, April 7, 1787 they were hanged in chains on a triple gibbet close to the scene of the crime in Hindhead. Along with drawing great attention from the surrounding area, the occasion drew the dubious boast that it was the only gibbet in the country at the time to have held the weight of three bodies.

​The unknown sailor himself was buried in Thursley Churchyard, where his grave can still be seen today. His gravestone was paid for by the residents of the village. The inscription reads: 

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In memory of
A generous but unfortunate Sailor
Who was barbarously murder'd on Hindhead
On September 24th 1786
By three Villains
After he had liberally treated them
And promised them his farther assistance
​On the road to Portsmouth.

Richard Court, the blacksmith who made the chains and gibbet died in 1791, four scant years after the execution. He was 65 years old. His headstone bears the inscription:

My Sledge and Hammer lie reclin’d,
My Bellows too have lost their wind;
My Fire is out, and Forge decay’s,
​And in the Dust my Vice is laid.’

The 13 Club moved the cursed stone in defiance of the curse c.1930

The Sailor's Stone was erected by James Stillwell of nearby Cosford Mill soon after the murder. It was situated on the Old Coaching Road from London to Portsmouth, close to the site of the murder.

In 1930, in defiance of the curse The Thirteen Club offered to move the "Curse Stone, the tablet commemorating the murder of a sailor at the Devil's Punch bowl", when a new road was being built in the area.

The inscription on the front of the stone reads:

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ERECTED In detestation of a barbarous Murder
Committed here on an unknown Sailor
On Sep, 24th 1786 By Edwd. Lonegon, Mich. Casey & Jas. Marshall
Who were all taken the same day
And hung in Chains near this place
Whoso sheddeth Man's Blood by Man shall his
Blood be shed. Gen Chap 9 Ver 6

The inscription on the back of the stone reads:
THIS STONE
was Erected
by order and at
the cost of
James Stilwell Esqr.
of
Cosford
1786

Cursed be the Man who injureth
or removeth this Stone

The Celtic Cross on Gibbet Hill

Hindhead Common was a location much feared even before the murder. The route was indeed a dangerous one, with highwaymen and footpads waiting to relieve the unsuspecting traveler of their belongings and lives, with strange lights and unexplained shadows lurking to frighten even the hardiest soul who strayed there after dark.

In an attempt to counteract the negative associations with the spot, in 1851 a granite celtic cross was erected on Gibbet Hill, paid for by Sir William Erle. The cross has four Latin inscriptions around its base.

​They read:

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POST TENEBRAS LUX
IN OBITU PAX
IN LUCE SPES
​POST OBITUM SALUS

19th century English sailors

The inscription translates to: "Light after darkness. Peace in passing away. Hope in light. Salvation after death."

Despite the erection of the Celtic cross, stories of the ghosts of the three murderers continued to fill the public's imagination, since their bodies were left hanging in chains for several years. The reason of course was to serve as a deterrent to anyone who thought of committing a similar crime.

The event was referred to by Dickens in Nicholas Nickleby, S. Baring-Gould's 1896 novel, The Broom-Squire, and was the inspiration behind a painting by J.M.W Turner.

Gilbert White of Selborne records, in his Naturalist's Journal 1768–1793, that on December 23, 1790 there was a terrible thunderstorm during which: "Two men were struck dead in a windmill near Rookshill on the Sussex Down and on Hindhead one of the bodies on the gibbet was beaten down to the ground". How long the other bodies remained there is unknown, however in 1827 the gibbet was still standing

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Article about the curse of the Sailor's Stone c.1937

There was a hidden reason for the curse connected to local politics. In 1826, a road passing through Hindhead was moved which set in motion a feud between the Turnkpike Trustee and Mr. Hawkins, who was Stilwell's nephew.

The Sailor's Stone was moved to the side of the new road, but after an argument over the placement, it was returned to its original location. This was when the inscription with the "curse" was etched into the stone. There was also insults against those who had moved it, which were since removed.

This was by no means the end of the feud, since a replica stone was erected at the new road, however this stone was vandalized by unknown parties, and eventually stolen since by 1889 only the original stone was left. 

Some disputed that the curse never existed, however there were others that insisted ill-luck visited any involved with moving the stone.

In 1937, a story was published concerning the Sailor's Stone. It stemmed from the plans to move the 5-foot monument in 1930.

Laborers drew lots after they each wrote their name on a piece of paper, and threw them into a hat. The men whose names were drawn, refused to do the work

Rupert Chandler the owner of a local garage, laughed and said he would do the work. Charles Harris, one of his employees volunteered to help him. They were the only two who touched the stone, and nothing happened until 7 years had passed.

Chandler, took sick, and died in January, 1937 at the age of 50.

Not long after Harris, 60, fell off a ladder and injured his shoulder. He lost the use of his arm, and would never be able to work again.

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Painting made of Gibbet Hill

WHO WAS THE UNKNOWN SAILOR

Peter Moorey who wrote Who was the Sailor Murdered at Hindhead (1986), reviewed the trial documents of the offenders, where they were described as laborers who worked in Thursley, and not sailors. On another page they were described as mariners, and review of the parish baptism and marriage records found no reference to them.

Moorey also came across two letters written by a Mrs. Macmillan in 1911 and 1932, where she claimed to be a relative of the unknown sailor. She wrote the sailor was her father's grand-uncle, who was wealthy, but loved the "seafaring life." She only knew his surname was Hardman, a brother of Samuel Hardman of the 10th Hussars, who married Penelope Newton in 1815.

According to her the "unknown sailor" left behind a a quarter of a million of money which was never claimed and was in Chancery.

Her father had visited the grave in 1862 before leaving for Cape Town, South Africa.

Mrs. Macmillan was 12 years old in 1881, when her father, Edward Rawdon Hardman told her the story. He also detailed that after the bodies of the murderers had decayed and fallen on Gibbet Hill, the middle finger bone of one hand of each man was taken and made into "tobacco presses, gold tipped and kept as heirlooms."

Later it was discovered that a sailor Hardman was listed in the Journals of Captain Cook (Vol.II), in the crew list of Endeavour 1768-1771. A comparison of the age of this sailor does not coincide with the age of the sailor killed, who would have been younger. Also why would a wealthy man being walking to his destination.

Moorey believed the original story was distorted through time and each retelling.

In the children's novel Punchbowl Midnight (1951), one of the characters discovers the curse after she scratched her name on the stone.

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"It was for his money they did it, of course," Lindsey said. "And there's a curse, you know."
"What sort of curse?"
"Someone put a stone where the crime was committed and it says on it, 'Cursed be the man who injureth or moveth this stone.'" ...
"Lindsey, are you sure it says 'injureth' as well as 'moveth'?"
"Of course. Why?"
"Well, it's a pretty slender outlook for me, then. I found the stone two days ago and I scratched my initials on it with the marline spike of my knife. Funny thing, I didn't notice any curse at all."
"It's on the back of the stone," said Lindsey.

Five paintings depicting this macabre event used to hang on the walls of the Royal Huts Hotel. They resurfaced at an auction some years ago and were bought for Haslemere Museum.

According to local lore the Devil's Punch Bowl, the wood by Hindhead earned its name because it was created by the devil himself since he was vexed by the number of churches in Sussex. He dug up the ground intent on flooding the area, and the lumps of earth cast upward became the landmarks Chanctonbury Ring, and Cissbury Ring.

In another version Thor, the Norse god is annoyed by the devil jumping from hill to hill, so he tries to strike him down with thunder and lightning. The devil in turn threw clods of earth at Thor, which led to the creation of the Punch bowl.

So long before the unfortunate sailor met his end, the area was laced with superstition and occult beginning. So it should come as no surprise that even present day, there are whispers that eerie cries echo out at night near Gibbet Hill. Some say it's the wind, but others insist it's the sailor's ghost still restless after his act of kindness was repaid with murder.

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