This unfortunate man was but one degree from being in a state of idiotcy. He was a native of Eckington, in Derbyshire, and was accustomed to wander about the country from place to place, making melody with a flute as a means of livelihood. To this vagrant life he superadded a habit of indulging in petty depredations, so that, where most known he was least esteemed. He was also very irritable; being one day at Mansfield the sport of some lads, who were annoying him in every possible way, he ran after them with an open knife, and stabbed one of them, who was deaf and dumb, so severely as to occasion his death almost instantly. Downe made no effort to escape, and suffered himself to be taken, scarcely seeming sensible that he had committed a crime. He was executed on Gallows-hill, and his body, after dissection, was hung in chains on Mansfield Forest, near the spot where the murder was perpetrated.

Editor's Note:
Reports of Robert's trial, and execution, are recorded in the booklet What The Papers Said (Derbyshire in Nottingham Newspapers, 1714-1776). The boy he murdered was named Thomas GREENWOOD, and said to be about 15 years of age.

Transcribed by Jayne McHugh. Reproduced with kind permission.