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Will of Charles Lynn, the Whaddon Chase Murderer
Reference D-X 274

The collections in the County Archives range in size from the extensive records generated by the Milton Keynes Development Corporation to solitary documents like this one. It is the will of Charles Lynn, a prisoner in Aylesbury Gaol, reference D-X 274. The will is dated January 6th 1843 and distributes his possessions to fellow prisoners and the prison staff. The will came to us with a letter from the descendant of Henry Sherriff (who was the son of the prison governor, and who received ‘all my box of working tools and its contents’). Also receiving bequests were James Brooks, a fellow prisoner convicted of malicious shooting in 1828, and Mr. Wall the prison storekeeper.

Lynn’s case was a sensational and controversial one. His friend Abraham Hogg had been murdered in Whaddon Chase in January 1825. A ditcher working for a local farmer witnessed Hogg being beaten with a gun, later identifying Lynn as having been the assailant. He was tried at the Assize in March 1825. Extensive articles in the London press as well as the local papers fuelled a public clamour that saw the javelin men supervising the court overpowered and the court so crowded the judges found it difficult to get in. Lynn was found not guilty for reasons of insanity and committed to Aylesbury Gaol.

The failure of the 1825 Lenten Assize to pass sentence of death on anyone tried prompted widespread discord, apparently including graffiti reading:

‘If you have done murder and wish to get clear,
Take care and be tried in Buckinghamshire’.

He had been incarcerated for 18 years by the time of his death, sharing much of that time with Brooks. His imprisonment came at a time when most prison sentences were short, several months with hard labour being customary for many offences. More serious crimes were punishable by death or transportation, so his only long term companions were the staff and fellow inmates adjudged insane. It is no surprise therefore that most beneficiaries are people from the Gaol.

The will itself shows no sign of the insanity that apparently afflicted Lynn. The language is cogent and coherent. He shows no signs of bitterness with his lot, the will concluding ‘I owe no ill will to any person. I forgive everyone I pray everybody to forgive me’.

In ‘Echoes of Old County Life’, Fowler gives a similar picture of Lynn, who was always considered perfectly sane while imprisoned in Aylesbury. He apparently became well enough known that he was able to get his beer delivered on account from the pub next door, the White Hart (sited where the arch between Market Square and the cinema is now). Lesser prisoners were forced to pay up front. He was cosy enough with the prison staff not only to bequeath them his possessions but apparently also to tip off James Sherriff, the Gaol Governor, of an escape attempt by his fellow prisoners.

The will is neither signed nor witnessed, thereby failing to reach the standards required for a proper probate process. No copy can therefore be found among our collection of wills from the Archdeaconry of Buckingham. It seems that the terms were obeyed nonetheless; in 1933 the depositor recorded that the chest bequeathed to her father had now passed down into her brother’s possession.