Hugh Pollard Willoughby - half-brother of Sir Henry Willoughby
More information about the sad case of Hugh Pollard Willoughby. Hugh, who was born in 1801 was the half-brother of Sir Henry Willoughby who was an MP and owned most of Marsh Baldon. The Victoria County History says ’The institution of Hugh Pollard Willoughby [as rector of Marsh Baldon] in 1831 might have been expected to result in harmonious relations with the squirearchy, but owing to his quarrel with his half-brother over tithes he went abroad and the parish was neglected by the squire and rector alike.’
In 1854 Hugh tried to murder a barrister in the Central Criminal Court by shooting him in the cheek but the gun didn’t fire properly and the barrister was barely hurt. Hugh was tried for attempted murder, and found not guilty (non compos mentis) and send to Bethlem hospital where he died on Christmas Day 1857. He appeared to have some grievance about the barrister, claiming an incident in a Cardiff court.
Apparently at his trial at the Old Bailey he exhibited two characters in the dock, the one, gentlemanly and intelligent, the other a bible-thumping ranter – see https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Willoughby-2773
There is evidence the half-brothers were not completely estranged as there is documentation of Sir Henry Willoughby asking the Bethlem authorities for improved conditions but the reply was that he already had all of the concessions that were available.
There are a large number of newspaper articles from around the country reporting on the case and I have included some of these below – there is quite a bit of duplication between them but each have some unique details too. They are definitely worth a read – they might require enlargement on your screen to be able to read them. They agree about his insanity.
Sources - Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser 27th September 1854, Yorkshire Gazette 30th September 1854 (mistakenly says he is of Toot Baldon rather than Marsh), Dublin Evening Mail 20th September 1854, Southern Times and Dorset County 8th May 1858, (Old Bailey Records 1854 also included).
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