Love and Madness: The Murder of Martha Ray, Mistress of the Fourth Earl of Sandwich
Martin Levy | 2005-01-01 00:00:00 | Harper Paperbacks | 256 | England
In eighteenth-century England the aristocracy dominated the imagination, their exploits -- and misdeeds -- discussed, debated, and gossiped about in the salons and parlors of London. Now author Martin Levy vividly re-creates one of the most shocking and scandalous events of the period, in a riveting true tale of passion, obsession, murder, and courtroom drama.
On a spring evening in the year 1779, a young woman emerged from London's Covent Garden Theatre amid a grand swirl of lords and ladies, their servants and coachmen. From out of the shadows a man emerged, dressed in a black suit. He raised a pistol and fired one fatal shot point-blank into the woman's head. A sudden and brutal murder, it was all the more shocking because of the identities of those involved. The victim was Martha Ray, famed aficionada of fashion and the arts, and longtime live-in mistress of the Earl of Sandwich, high-ranking minister to King George III. The assailant was James Hackman, a respected Anglican minister and Martha Ray's former lover.
It was a savage crime that rocked both British high society and the church, and inflamed the interest and imagination of such renowned personages as Samuel Johnson and James Boswell, noted biographer and lover of prostitutes and executions. And it resulted in a courtroom extravaganza unique in the annals of legal proceedings -- where passion was the motive, the madness of "momentary phrenzy" the mitigating circum-stance . . . and love the ultimate justification for a crazed act of murder.
With consummate skill, author Martin Levy brings to breathtaking life the sights and sounds of an unparalleled era in history -- when hangings were public entertainment and debauchery was a popular pastime of the wealthy and the titled -- and expertly unravels the mystery behind a truly sensational slaying. Fascinating, startling, edifying, and entertaining, Love and Madness is a brilliant tale of crime and punishment as vivid and compelling as the headlines of today.
Reviews
Some things never change, like war, taxes, and the public's morbid fascination with crimes that involve the rich and famous.
Love and Madness is the retelling of the murder of Martha Ray, an actress and singer who was also the mistress of the fourth Earl of Sandwich. The crime rocked eighteenth century London and drew spectators, from all walks of life, to the courthouse to witness the trial of James Hackman (Martha's one-time lover and murderer).
Martin Levy starts the book on the evening of the murder and then deftly weaves in bits of backstory to give the reader a full picture of the crime and the players involved. He includes contemporary accounts and surprises the reader by indicating that most of British-society viewed Martha Ray's murderer with more sympathy, and seemd to treat his memory with more care, than they did the victim.
The Positives:
Love and Madness is written in an easy-to-read, easy-to-engage style that immediately draws readers in, even those without much experience in eighteenth century studies. Levy stays focused on the tragic story of Martha Ray's murder but is clever enough to include quotes from 18th century illuminaries like James Boswell, Charles James Fox, Lady Sarah Lennox, and Horace Walpole, making this true-crime tale read like a savory article from PEOPLE magazine.
Levy does a splendid job of bringing James Boswell to life (using only a dozen or so pages). Indeed, he piqued this reviewer's interest about the famous lawyer and diarist's insatiable proclivities enough to send her back to Amazon in search of a more complete biography on the man.
The Negatives:
The story is told in a coldly detached manner that this reviewer found disappointing, and, a trifle disconcerting. Clearly Levy is an accomplished researcher, historian, and journalist. However, he tells this passionate, tragic tale as if merely relating dry facts. He does not bring Martha Ray, James Hackman, or the Earl of Sandwich alive. He does not give the story the heart that it needs to really rivet readers. For those who would like to know more about the life and loves of Martha Ray or the motives that inspired her lover to murder her, this is not the book. For those readers who simply want to know the who, what, when, why and how of a tragic crime, Love and Madness will satisfy.
The Bottomline:
At less than 200 pages, this slim volume is an entertaining look into a forgotten, but once notorious, crime.
Reviews
While I'm not a fan of true crime, I do enjoy 18th-century British social history. I found plenty to like here. The book is rich in details, and therein lies its interest for me. For instance, the first chapter presents a vivid picture of the last night of Martha Ray's life. She went to the theatre and the reader goes along for the ride. We even see tufts of grass growing between paving stones. At the theatre, a bell signals the start of the performance. So on and so on. The book is full of these period details. The diet at Newgate, for those who couldn't afford to buy their own food, was a penny loaf. And "all prisons in England had a table of fees, and Newgate's was inscribed on a painted board hung up in the felons' court." Also, prisoners were charged three shillings as an entrance fee! (If a prisoner couldn't pay, was he turned away?) We're also given a detailed picture of the trial and the procession from Newgate to the place of execution. I could have done without the latter, but it belonged in the book. Overall, well done.
Reviews
I was a little disappointed. While I admit it's a captivating title, Love and Madness goes little beyond tabloid speculation in its investigation of the murder of Martha Ray in the 18th Century. Set in the midst of a fascinating political and social era, the book should have filled in a lot more gaps than it does.
An apparent celebrated crime of passion, much is made of the young man's utter desolation over the lady's death, of his willingness to die for his crime, of his total infatuation with his victim and of his completely unrealistic expectations with regard to their relationship. Meanwhile, despite the author's professed concern that the victim herself received little attention or sympathy during her time, he too focuses more on the prominent males of the era and on the pathetic condition of the perpetrator of the murder. He gives a slight nod to the lady's ability to hold her own in a class where she was neither accepted nor treated with civility, but one feels that a lot more might have been said. Given the power of mistresses in the English and French courts of the time, it's difficult to believe that the lady had no impact on the decisions of the day.
Martha Ray was the mistress of a powerful governmental figure, the Earl of Sandwich, who as Minister of the Admiralty figured prominently in George III's conflicts with the American revolutionaries. This was the world of William Pitt and Samuel Johnson, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, James Boswell and the Fielding brothers, a raucous world with one foot in the risque and boisterous past of the 17th century and one in the buttoned up world of the upcoming Victorian England of the 19th century. Though she was perhaps a peripheral character in the ongoing events of the time, Ms Ray's was a story that might well have cast considerable light on these transitions. Almost in passing does one learn of the status of women at the time, about society's expectations of class behaviors, misbehaviors and interactions, about the avenues for advancement of the average person, about how individuals fit into world events etc.
In reading Mr. Levy's book it would be difficult to say whether Ms Ray was a victim of society, a major player in affairs of state, whether she was happy or not. Certainly she seems to have been a competent individual in so far as one has any access to her personal life. Since the author makes use of most of the documentation available from the time: biographies, letters, newspapers, diaries, one must assume that there is simply little more than bare detail known about the woman, her life, influence and the events of her death. Since the Earl himself fell into disgrace not long thereafter and fades into obscurity, one can only wonder if Martha's death was part of a plot to damage an unpopular bureaucrat. It certainly seems odd that the murderer could grab hold of the woman's skirt, draw two pistols--both of which would have to be manually cocked to fire them--and manage to fire one fatally at her and the other at himself. Something doesn't quite ring true.
Seems like a missed chance to me.
For those WRITING PAPERS in: English or 18th Century world history, sociology, anthropology, political science, or women's studies: How might the biography of a woman such as Martha Ray illuminate some of the social and political events of her time in a way that those of more prominent individuals might obscure or miss? What was the status of women during her time? How did it compare with earlier times (think of pre-Roman and post-Roman times as well as Anglo Saxon and Norman Britain)? Later times (think of Victorian, Edwardian and Modern England)? What kinds of political clout did mistresses of important individuals exert on the politics of the day? Might this be considered an avenue of professional advancement for a bright and capable individual for whom other avenues were essentially closed? Could such a person actually have more latitude for expression of power as an "outsider" of upper class society than mainstream individuals might? What happened to children of such individuals (you might look at the lives of Juan, Cesare and Lucetcia Borgia among others)? What impact did they have on society? Would they have been so positioned had their mother not chosen the lifeway she did?
Reviews
Martin Levy, a scholar of 18th century life, exhaustively covers the public murder of the mistress of Lord Sandwich by a clergyman and spurned lover. Although Levy's scholarship and research is everywhere evident, the writing is nowhere leaden or academic; he approaches his subject with the relish of a true-crime writer. In an age when criminal justice was in its infancy, the corpse of the slain woman was carried to the nearest alehouse and left there for all to see; her killer was brought to trial just nine days later. While the Rev. Hackman admitted he killed Martha Ray, he said he did it in a "momentary frenzy" and actually intended to kill only himself. The argument over why, if this was his intention, he brought two pistols to the scene of the crime is a fascinating one, and Levy offers arguments on both sides. The killing was a cause celebre in its time, and the latter half of this slim volume contains examples of the poems, broadsides, ballads and even a short novel published at the time. A remarkable achievement, and highly recommended.
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