Cambridgeshire Murders by Alison Bruce Page A

came from Mr James Hough, surgeon to the gaol, who stated:
    I have frequently seen the prisoner, who was suffering from a contagious disease when he was taken into custody. He was in a very bad state. Under my care he has, to a certain extent, recovered. I saw the prisoner nearly every day, and I have had the opportunity of observing his conduct. I never saw anything in his mind, manner and acts to lead me to suppose that there was anything wrong in his mind. I am not aware that a chronic state of the disease from which he was suffering has a tendency to weaken the brain. The disease, so far from affecting the brain, was of a purely local nature.
    When Browning eventually revealed his motive for murdering Rolfe it transpired that she had just been an unfortunate victim of circumstance. Browning had held a grudge against prostitutes since catching an incurable venereal disease from an encounter in Royston. It was in fact this girl, who he referred to as ‘Miss Bell’, that he had wanted to kill.
    On 29 November Browning was found guilty. Although he made very little effort to defend himself the jury showed some sympathy and asked the judge, Mr Justice Lush to consider sparing him the death penalty on the ground of his youth. Justice Lush, however, saw little reason for leniency and included the following words as he passed sentence: ‘The law, however, is more humane than you were. You felt immediately afterwards that you were taking the girl’s life away without the slightest opportunity for repentance or preparation. You will have time, and I hope and pray that you will make use of the time which the law allows you, in order to prepare for that event . . . I shall take care to convey the recommendation of the jury to the proper quarter; but I cannot hold out any hope that the recommendation will have any effect.’ After sentencing Browning was transferred to Cambridge Gaol.
    Browning was interviewed by the Inspector of Prisons, Dr Briscoe, and given the chance to put forward his case. The inspector’s report concurred with Justice Lush’s sentence and its findings were passed on to the Home Secretary.
    The sentence stood therefore. Shortly before 8 a.m. on 15 December 1876 Browning was led to the gallows. Before his execution he made a full confession which included the following statement: ‘Having promised the girl a shilling, we walked together on to the common and scarcely spoke a word, when, without provocation on her part, I committed the foul deed, feeling at the moment that I must take away the life of some one.’
    According to The Times :
    He slept comfortably during the night, and rose a little after 6 o’clock, when he partook of breakfast – bread and butter and cocoa. He walked from his cell, accompanied by the chaplain and officials, to the scaffold with a firm step but crying and sobbing. At 8 o’clock the bell of St Paul’s Church and that of the prison announced the fatal hour. The prisoner said nothing, but listened to the chaplain. Marwood, with his usual expedition, performed the execution, and in a minute or two the unhappy man ceased to live. He was heard to exclaim ‘Oh!’
    Marwood had allowed a drop of 6ft 10in because Robert Browning was of ‘light stature’.
    Browning was the first person to be executed within the walls of Cambridge Gaol. Several street ballads were composed and this is the chorus of one:
    Poor Emma Rolfe,
    Thy fate was dreadful,
    For vengeance now,
    Your blood it cries.
    We hope your precious soul’s in heaven,
    Far away in your blue skies.
    And this, to the tune of ‘Driven from Home’, was circulated while Browning was in gaol awaiting trial:
    Poor Emma Rolfe had no time to repent
    On Midsummer Common to Eternity sent
    Robert Brown (sic) was her murderer, in prison he’s cast
    From virtue she strayed to be murdered at last.

8
’TIS QUITE HARMLESS
    A t the time of his conviction the Daily News