“I didn’t like my cousin. He looked at me in a funny way.” This was the explanation Charles Fooks, 49, gave for shooting dead his cousin and neighbour Daniel Stone at Walditch, Bridport, in August, 1862. Fooks turned the gun on himself but survived, and was sentenced to death for the murder.

He was hanged for the otherwise motiveless crime on Friday, March 27th, 1863, alongside Edwin Preedy, 20, a prisoner who killed a warder at Portland Prison in September 1862. Preedy, who was clearly mentally ill, went berserk in court and had to have his arms and legs strapped throughout the day-long trial.