Some years ago, while browsing
through an American bookseller's comprehensively annotated catalogue, I came across Item 290 - a reference to the proceedings of
a trial which took place in Dublin in December 1800. In the opinion of the compiler, the record of this trial had been published
'more for its scandalous aspects than for the ends of jurisprudence'. This sounded rather promising, particularly since the entry
referred to the 'witnesses' lurid and detailed accounts of seeing the couple in flagrante'. However, interesting though
the prospect of leafing through a little early-19th Century pornography might be, it was the fact that the defendant was Captain
Dive Jones, 54th Regiment of Foot, which clinched the sale. Thus a small - but choice - slice of Regimental history made its way
back across the Atlantic.
Before taking delivery of the package I carried out a little research. From Trinity College Alumni I learned that Dive
Jones, the son of William Jones, gentleman (a family distinction that, after what followed, may well be said to have died with
him), of County Dublin, was admitted to Trinity College, Dublin, at the age of 18, on 2 May 1791. He was commissioned into the
12th (East Suffolk) Regiment of Foot with the rank of lieutenant on 20 August 1794 and, on 5 September 1795, purchased a
captaincy in the 54th (West Norfolk) Regiment of Foot. Dive Jones's uncle was named during the unsavoury proceedings as the
Reverend Dive Downes: a pedigree of the Downes family in the College of Arms suggests that his great-grandfather was the Right
Reverend Dive Downes, Bishop of Cork and Ross from 1699 to 1710. One wonders what Dive Jones's clerical antecedents would have
made of his behaviour.
Some days later the Report of the Trial had before the Rt. Hon. Arthur, Lord Kilwarden, Chief Justice of His Majesty's Court
of King's Bench on Tuesday the 2nd day of December 1800 between Robert Tighe, Esq., M.P., Plaintiff, and Dive Jones, Esq.,
Captain in the 54th Regiment of Foot, Defendant, for Crim. Con. with Esther Frances Tighe, otherwise Wade, the Wife of the said
Robert Tighe, arrived from New Haven, Connecticut. An Advertisement, which would have done credit to Tony Blair's
master of spin, Alastair Campbell, read:'In the following Sheets the Public are presented with a genuine Report of the Trial
alluded to in the Title-page; which, for importance, the interest it has excited, and as disclosing scenes peculiarly marked with
the strongest features of profligate and depraved seduction, has perhaps never been exceeded. We sincerely hope, that the severe
and exemplary punishment with which it has in this instance been received by the able, moral and highly meritorious charge of
an upright and learned Judge, added to the virtuous Verdict of an honest Jury, may assist in stemming the torrent of a Vice,
monstrous and destructive, which we cannot sufficiently lament has, of late, even in this country, but too frequently broken in
upon the peace of society.'
It was a very Irish affair. The plaintiff, Robert Tighe, was MP for County Carlow and a major in the Westmeath Militia, with an
estate at South-hill in County Westmeath. He was a scion of the Tighe family of Mitchelstown and possessed 'estates of upwards
of £1,600 a year, with a place of £800 a year'. Frances's father, Robert Wade of Clonabreny, County Meath, was likewise a member
of the Anglo-Irish gentry. He served as High Sheriff for County Meath in 1772 and gave £5,000 to his eldest daughter as a
marriage portion. At that time the bride was described as being 'one of the fairest of our lovely countrywomen - arrayed in all
the beautiful, undisguised attire of artless innocence and conscientious virtue'. In the light of what was to come, it is no
wonder that the commentator wrote that this was 'language which we are not ashamed to confess our inability to follow'. Robert
Tighe and Frances Wade were married in November 1795 by Archdeacon King 'according to the rites of the Church of England'. The
marriage settlement confirming the £5,000 portion was dated 21 November 1795 and was witnessed by - among others - the Earl of
Leitrim and Sir Chapman, Bt. Soon afterwards Frances gave birth to a daughter, their only child.
The suit and the demand for £20,000 damages were for 'the seduction of a beloved wife, the contamination of her body and mind,
or what is modernly termed 'Criminal Conversation''. Allegedly Captain Dive Jones 'did make an assault and her, the said Esther
Frances Tighe, otherwise Wade, did then and there ravish, embrace, and carnally know, whereby the said Robert lost and was
deprived of the comfort and society of his said wife ...' It appears from the evidence that Dive Jones and Frances Tighe met at her
father's house at Clonabreny in 1797. At that time Robert and Frances Tighe, according to the opening address from the plaintiff's
counsel, 'lived on terms of perfect, uninterrupted, conjugal love, and domestic happiness'. Then an external catalyst forced a
dramatic change: 'Gentlemen, Dive Jones, as I am instructed, is a man on whom nature has bestowed an uncommonly graceful
athletic person - a man, who to a finished education, unites all that suavity of manners generally attached to military rank,
so peculiarly captivating to the fair sex, and which as it were, insensibly draws the object of its admiration to the jaws of
that monster, which this fair outside is but in him calculated to conceal.'
That was but the beginning and counsel continued to dazzle the court with his classical allusions: 'Gentleman, when I have thus
far travelled with you through the mazes of this odious, this execrable colusses of corrupt and debased immorality, my soul
recoils with horror at the glare of that monster who now presents himself to our view ... it yet remains with me to detail to
you, as shortly as the nature of the circumstances will admit, the birth, growth and dominion of this hydra.' Truly a Herculean
labour.
In the summer of 1799 Dive Jones was serving with the 54th Foot at Armagh. However, neither his duties nor the separation from
South-hill were allowed adversely to affect his alleged adulterous relationship with Mrs. Frances Tighe. It appears that there
was only the 'occasional absence of Captain Jones on military duty'. According to the prosecution, when Robert Tighe entered his
wife's dressing room one day towards the end of July, his attention was drawn to the packet she was holding. Unavailingly she
tried to 'thrust it between the bars of the grate, in order that it might be consumed'. This it was that the cuckolded husband
discovered what the 'menial domestics of his family' had already known for some time: the package was 'to be directed to Captain
Dive Jones, 54th Regiment, Armagh; - with trembling hands, and eyes which seemed to decline their office, he proceeded to the
perusal of the letter itself - but good God! Gentlemen, how can I describe to you those heart-rending feelings of mortification -
that melancholy calm of madness which permitted his proceeding in its further inspection - what? I say, can convey to you an
idea of his unspeakable horror, when he discovered, that this letter all in the hand-writing of his wife, commenced with the
expression of 'My darling Love' ... He instantly put her into his carriage and conveyed her to her father's house at Clonabreny,
where he left her.'
Billy Bell, a labouring boy on the Tighe's estate, was called into the witness box. He had a graphic tale to tell: 'I was then
upon my old work, scouring and cleaning out one of the shrubberies at South-hill; when who should I see but Captain Jones and
Mrs. Tighe, walking arm and arm together upon one of the by-walks, hard by where I worked - then sure enough I thought to myself
to watch them, in regard I often heard at the 'Squires among the servants, that Captain Jones and their mistress were too thick;
and then I goes and stoops behind a thick hedge to hide myself, but all the time seeing the Captain and Mrs. Tighe - and then I
sees the Captain kiss her and put his hand in her pocket under her petticoats, and then put the other hand in her bosom, and
kiss her again - then I sees them walk a while together, and then the Captain and she went under the little bushes of the big
walk, and the Captain then threw her down upon her back, with that he took up her petticoats, then loosened his breeches, and
went between her legs and thighs - this I seen - sure as day.' He was asked: 'All this you positively swear to, and you then
saw them commit the act of adultery?' He replied: 'I seen them that way and he on the top of her!'
Jack Carlin, once Mr. Wade's butler but now in the employ of Mr Tighe, was cross-examined next. When asked whether he suspected
that something improper had occurred between Captain Jones and his new master's wife, he replied: 'I and the rest of the servants
first suspected them from one day after dinner, in the parlour at Clonabreny there was a good deal of company, and they were
all talking about Lord Westmeath, and how he divorced his lady, and Captain Jones told them that there never was a woman he
would be two hours in the company of but he would seduce, and they all fell a-laughing.'
When pressed further, Jack Carlin told a now-familiar tale: 'As I was coming from the stable to the house, I saw Mrs. Tighe and
Captain Jones walking together with her arm under his, and as I long suspected them, I stood and watched them, and they walked on
until they came to a green-house that's between the stable and house, and when they went into the green-house, Captain Jones
laid her down upon her back on the green-house mat, threw up her petticoats, and went between her legs and thighs, and I saw
them criminally connected together.' Captain Jones may not have been subtle - but he was certainly effective.
There followed an entertaining exchange between Jack Carlin and Mr Bushe, the defendant's counsel:
'What distance were you from them?'
'I can't tell indeed, it was but a short distance.'
'Was it a mile?'
'A mile it was nothing like a mile, they were very near me.'
'Did you follow them?'
'No, Sir.'
'What then?'
'I stopped and watched them.'
'A very pretty employment! What position did you choose, or where were you, when you saw them?'
'I was coming from the stable to Mr. Wade's house, when I stopped and saw them.'
'And from this place you could see all you have been telling us?'
'I saw them go into the green-house, and they criminally connected.'
'So indeed you would persuade us; but pray is this green-house glassed?'
'Yes, Sir.'
'Has it a door?'
'There's a door certainly to it.'
'Was it thro' the door or glass you were entertained in the manner you describe?'
'I saw them thro' the door.'
'Was it open or shut?'
'It lay open.'
'Just that you might see them! But pray did they remain long amusing themselves under this glass case, with the
door open?'
'They were there I believe a good while.'
'You believe! Why I thought you staid the whole performance; but you probably came away after the first act;
was that the case?'
'When I saw them together, I walked away.'
'I see; what hour of the day or night might this be?'
'It was in the morning.'
'Three or four, I suppose?'
'No, sir; I believe it was before breakfast.'
'Pray, Sir, what hour?'
'Really, I can't tell; I believe it was nine or ten o'clock.'
'Was the sun shining?'
'Yes, Sir.'
'Are you a poet?'
'No, Sir.'
'I suspected you were, indeed, from the sublimity of your description.'
For the prosecution Mr Barrington then introduced Mrs Catherine Gaynor, a widow. Addressing her as 'my good woman', he elicited
the apparently innocuous confirmation that she had 'sold a little ale and spirits' in Ballynavally, near South-hill, before
moving on some twelve months previously. At his prompting she explained: 'There was a heavy shower of rain about the middle of
the day, and I heard the noise of horses at the threshold: with that Captain Jones and Mrs Tighe alighted and came into the
cabin. When he come in, he went over and sat upon an old chest that was in the place, and she stood at the door, but I could not
hear one word they said. Captain Jones then turned about and asked me, if I could get him a pen and ink, and said he lived in
Connaught, and should write a letter for some things that he forgot to give orders to the carman to bring to Dublin; and moreover
he told me, that he should put the letter in the next post town himself. Upon that I told him, that I had never a pen and ink
in the place, but I would go and get him one; then I went out a little ways from the cabin to a school-house that was hard by,
and borrowed the pen and ink; when I came back, I missed them off the floor, and was going up to the little preaty room for to
give him the pen and ink; with that the little girl was in the place, a daughter of mine, stops me and bids me not to go up for
my life. 'Why,' says I. 'Because,' says she, 'they are in bed together.''
There followed a cross-examination by the defence:
'When was it you were mistress of this hotel you have been speaking of - are you yet in the same business?'
'I don't follow the public line now, Sir.'
'Oh! you have retired, no doubt - but pray let me understand how you contrived to look through a wall and get
a prospect of this affair about Captain Jones?'
'My daughter and I looked over the wall.'
'Have you been accustomed to such sights?'
'Yes indeed - I keep a place of the sort.'
'What! A brothel?'
'Yes, but not for such quality as them.'
'You never then before entertained such company?'
'No indeed, Sir - there was no such resort to my place.'
'Does this wall you speak of, go up to the roof?'
'No, it does not, Sir.'
'How high then?'
'It is but a low wall, for I could look over it.'
'Could your daughter also, enjoy the entertainment at the same time - could she look over it?'
'She could, Sir.'
'Pray ma'am how many children have you?'
'Two little girls, sir.'
'How old are they?'
'One little girl is about twelve years old, and the other little girl is about twenty.'
'This little girl about twenty, is a very pretty girl, is she not?'
'She is indeed, Sir.'
'What's her name?'
'Mary, Sir'
'She is a very convenient girl, is she not?'
'She is indeed, Sir.'
'Very useful, to be sure, and attentive to customers?'
'She was always a good little girl, Sir.'
Mr Ponsonby, for the defence, asked: 'Pray, did Captain Jones go to school there?' At that point Mr Barrington interjected: 'My
good woman, never mind that gentleman, he is hired to confuse you.' Mr Ponsonby sportingly replied: 'If so, I'm sure there never
was money more thrown away.'
Mary Gaynor then took her turn in the witness box and was asked: 'What happened while she [her mother] was away?' She replied:
'He went off the floor into the little room, and looked about it, and says he to me coming down, 'this is a very neat clean little
place you have got here my good girl,' and says he, 'this lady is my sister, she and I has rode near 40 miles today,' and says he,
'she has got a great head-ache, and is much fatigued from riding, and I would thank you if you would let her lie on the bed in that
little room for some time to recover herself.' With that I told him she might and welcome; upon the same he turned about and asked
Mrs. Tighe wouldn't she go and lie on the bed and he would wait for her. I seeing him and her laughing, made me look very
earnest at them, with that he takes her by the arm two or three times, pressing her to go up to the little room; then at last
she went up. When he brought her up he called to me and bid me go out and see if my mother was coming with the pen and ink; with
that I got up, but only went to the door, I thinking all the time seeing them both laughing, and he pressing her to go up to the
little room, they were on nothing good, and with that I turned in upon the floor again, and looked into the little room over
the wall.'
Mr Bushe, for the defence, then asked: 'You have often met with such spectacles at your mother's place, yet
never took such particular notice before?'
'No, Sir, I never seen any such thing before or since at my mother's place.'
'By virtue of your oath have you never seen familiar conduct take place between men and women in your mother's
house?'
'I never did in my life, Sir.'
'Did not she keep a house for the purpose?'
'No, Sir; she used to sell a little malt and whiskey.'
'Are you not in that line yourself?'
'I don't understand you, Sir - in what line?'
Mr Bushe, relenting slightly, replied: 'Come, come, I'll not press you'. However, once he learned of Mary's voyeuristic tendencies,
he soon resumed his attack: 'Ashamed! After what you have already told us; but you were not encumbered with such nice delicacy
when clambering up the mud wall to obtain a peep at this unseemly piece of business; and you found such amusement, 'not
novelty', in the scene, that you coaxed your mother also to indulge herself in the pleasing contemplation; was not that the
case?'
Major Jones, Dive Jones's father, was also summoned to the witness box. He confirmed that his son and Frances Tighe were
second cousins, explaining that 'that accounts, gentlemen, for the great intimacy that subsisted between him and her father,
and husband's family'. Mr Burroughs, another defence counsel, described Captain Dive Jones as 'a young man possessing no
property, no resources but those of glory, acquired in the honourable employment of serving his country as a brave and experienced
soldier'. Having fled the country as soon as he had been unmasked, Dive Jones was now said to be at Gibraltar, having been 'on
the secret expedition at Ferroll'. This refers to the ill-conceived raids on the Spanish arsenals at Ferrol, Vigo and Cadiz in
August and September 1800.
According to the 'short hand notes taken by a gentleman concerned in the suit', Mr Ponsonby produced a notably spirited summing-up
for the defence team: 'In a statement of an hour and three quarters in delivery, which we sincerely regret our limits cannot
permit an insertion in detail, and which, for brilliancy of eloquence and marked perspicuity, we have never seen exceeded, if
perhaps equalled here, [Mr Ponsonby] rose and addressed the Court. After expatiating at large on the several points of the
plaintiff's case, flying with astonishing and truly persuasive powers of oratory to the various minutię of the evidence as delivered,
contrasting that evidence with the case endeavoured to be supported by the plaintiff, exhibiting in the vivid glow of animated
elocution and extensive imagination, the gross improbability of the story attempted to be imposed on them. He called upon the
jury, as honest and impartial men, by their verdict to acquit his client of a crime, for which there was no proof but of that
sort which in its nature was so absurd and so improbable as was not to be credited, not merely with respect to its circumstances
as delivered, but as proceeding from wretches of the most despicable description he had ever seen upon their oaths in a court
of justice.'
However, it was all to no avail: the jury took a mere 35 minutes to find for the plaintiff and awarded 'Ten Thousand Pounds
damages and Sixpence costs'. The Wade family was evidently devastated by the whole business: 'Her father, appalled with
the sense of the dishonour brought on his child, has sent her to some obscure part of the neighbouring country, where, assuming
a fictitious name, she now pines under extreme debility of body and anxiety of mind, occasioned by the recollection of her
former condition, the irretrievable loss of her husband's affection, and the contemplation of the magnitude of all that incalculable
train of evils her misconduct has heaped on the heads of her once dearest connexions. Mr Wade, from the same motive, has, with his
large landed property, disposed of the family seat at Clonabreny, and retired, to drown in silent sorrow in another country, the
pangs of wounded honour and paternal affection.'
According to Burke's Irish Family Records, Fanny, daughter of Robert Wade, later married a Mr Battersby. According to
Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, published in 1837, notes that the 'gentlemen's seats' in Clonabreny, or
Russagh, Parish 'are Clonabreny, the residence of W. Blayney Wade, Esq., a handsome mansion in a highly cultivated and richly
planted demesne of 615 statute acres; and Bobsville, the pleasant residence of Lieut.-Col Battersby'. Robert Tighe had clearly
not lost faith in the married estate and later married Charlotte, daughter of James Fetherstonhaugh of Bracklyn Castle,
County Westmeath. They raised a family together but the Tighe pedigree provides no clues about what happened to his daughter
by his first marriage. 'Only anxious for her future comfort', Robert Tighe generously settled £200 per annum on Frances, whom
he had already divorced when the trial took place.
Somewhat surprisingly, the career of Dive Jones was unaffected by the whole affair. He went on to serve with the 54th Regiment
of Foot for a further four years, before purchasing a majority in the 6th (Warwickshire) Regiment of Foot on 23 November 1804.
On 4 June 1811 he received one final promotion, to lieutenant-colonel, before selling his commission the following year. The
little booklet was described by the booksellers as 'lightly soiled and occasionally foxed', which may be a reasonable description
of how you feel, now that you have got to the end of this sordid little tale.
Click here to access other articles by Jeremy Archer
Back
