From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia London Monster
London Monster
to approach a lady in the dark lest they scare her. Some
of the reports of the would-be-attacks were likely to be
fabrications or results of a lady being afraid of an inno-
cent man who had somehow attracted suspicion. Some
men even founded a No Monster Club and began to wear
club pins on their lapels to show that they were not the
Monster.
Londoners were outraged when the Bow Street Run-
ners, the London police force, failed to capture the man.
Philanthropist John Julius Angerstein promised a reward
of £100 for capture of the perpetrator. Armed vigilantes
began to patrol in the city. Fashionable ladies began to
wear copper pans over their petticoats. There were false
accusations and attacks against suspicious people. Local
pickpockets and other criminals used the panic to their
advantage; they picked someone’s valuables, pointed at
him, shouted "Monster!", and escaped during the result-
ing mayhem.
On June 13, 1790, Anne Porter claimed she had spot-
ted her attacker in St. James’s Park. Her admirer, John
Coleman, began a slow pursuit of the man, who realised
he was being followed. When Rhynwick Williams, an un-
employed 23-year-old, reached his house, Coleman con-
fronted him, accusing him of insulting a lady, and chal-
lenged him to a duel. He eventually took Williams to meet
Porter, who fainted when she saw him.
May 1, 1790, artist’s depiction of the London Monster attacking Williams protested his innocence but, given the cli-
a woman. The likeness was created from various reports from mate of panic, it was futile. He admitted that he had once
alleged victims and before the arrest of Rhynwick Williams. approached Porter but had an alibi for another of the at-
tacks. Magistrates charged Williams with defacing cloth-
The London Monster was the name given to an alleg- ing — a crime that in the Bloody Code carried harsher
ed attacker of women in London between 1788 and 1790. penalty than assault or attempted murder. During the
First reports of the Monster appeared in 1788. Ac- trial, spectators cheered the witnesses for the prosecu-
cording to the victims (most of them from wealthier fam- tion and insulted those for the defence. One of the
ilies), a large man had followed them, shouted obscen- claimed victims confessed that she had not been attacked
ities and stabbed them in the buttocks. Some reports at all.
claimed an attacker had knives fastened to his knees. Realising the absurdity of the situation, Williams was
Other accounts reported that he would invite prospec- granted a retrial. In the new trial Williams’ defence
tive victims to smell a fake nosegay and then stab them lawyer was Irish poet Theophilus Swift, whose tactic was
in the nose with the spike hiding within the flowers. to accuse Porter of a scheme to collect the reward (Cole-
In all cases the alleged assailant would escape before man had received the reward money, and Porter had
help arrived. Some women were found with their clothes married him). Despite the fact that a number of alleged
cut and others had substantial wounds. In two years the victims gave contradictory stories and that coworkers
number of reported victims amounted to more than 50. testified that he had an alibi for the most famous attack,
The press soon named the maniac The Monster. How- Williams was convicted on three counts and sentenced to
ever, descriptions of the attacker varied greatly. When two years each, for a total of six years in prison.
people realised that the Monster attacked mainly beau- Historians have speculated whether Williams was the
tiful women, some women began to claim that they had culprit and have even questioned whether the London
been attacked to gain attention and sympathy. Some of Monster existed at all beyond the hysteria. Reports of
them even faked wounds. Some men, in turn, were afraid Monster-like attacks continued to be reported for many
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia London Monster
years, although they lessened somewhat while Williams
was imprisoned.
External links
• Old Bailey Proceedings, 8th July 1790
• Renwick Williams in the Newgate Calendar
See also Persondata
• Garrow’s Law (episode 2 of this TV series had its plot
Name Monster, London
based on the London Monster case)
• Jack the Ripper Alternative names
• Mad Gasser of Mattoon Short description
• Piquerism Date of birth
• Spring Heeled Jack
Place of birth
• The Halifax Slasher - a similar incident in 1938 in
Halifax, West Yorkshire Date of death
• Whipping Tom Place of death
References
• Jan Bondeson — The London Monster: A Sanguinary Tale
(2000) ISBN 0306811588
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=London_Monster&oldid=448067154"
Categories:
• English criminals
• 18th century in London
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