Eugene Aram
Eugene Aram was an 18th-century schoolmaster in England who gained notoriety due to his alleged involvement in a murder case. Born in Ramsgill, he initially lived a modest life but later moved to Knaresborough, where he formed a friendship with a shoemaker named Daniel Clarke. In 1745, Clarke mysteriously vanished after borrowing valuables from neighbors, which also went missing. Although Aram was interrogated, he was acquitted of theft, leading him to abandon his wife and live a nomadic life focused on his scholarly pursuits, including research on language.
In 1758, a skeleton was discovered, prompting Aram's wife to accuse him of murder, claiming he was involved in a conspiracy with Clarke and others. Aram was later captured and tried in York, where he defended himself but ultimately failed to discredit the testimony against him. He was convicted and faced execution, which raised questions about the validity of the evidence presented. His case captured public attention and inspired various literary works, including a novel by Edward Bulwer-Lytton, exploring the complexities of his character and circumstances. Historians continue to debate the fairness of his conviction, noting inconsistencies and possible perjury in the testimonies against him.
Subject Terms
Eugene Aram
English murderer
- Born: September 1, 1704
- Birthplace: Ramsgill, Netherdale, Yorkshire, England
- Died: August 6, 1759
- Place of death: York, England
Major offense: Murder
Active: 1745
Locale: Knaresborough, Yorkshire, England
Sentence: Death by hanging
Early Life
The son of a gardener, Eugene Aram (YEW-jeen AY-ram) procured enough education on his own behalf to become a schoolmaster, initially in his native Ramsgill. In 1734, he and his wife, Anna, moved to Knaresborough, where he met and befriended a shoemaker, Daniel Clarke. Clarke disappeared mysteriously in February, 1745, after borrowing various items of silver, silver plate, and jewelry from his neighbors, all of which also vanished with him.
Criminal Career
Local residents assumed that Clarke had fled with his booty, but several men were interrogated as possible accomplices, including Aram; Richard Houseman, a flax dresser; and Henry Terry, an innkeeper. Some of the missing property was found in Houseman’s home and more in Aram’s garden, but Aram was acquitted of theft for lack of proof that he had hidden it there. Aram left Knaresborough thereafter, abandoning his wife and followed a nomadic existence for some years. He made a living as a schoolmaster while doing research for a book he planned to write on the relationship between the Celtic and Indo-European languages.
When a skeleton was found in August, 1758, on Thistle Hill, near Knaresborough, Anna Aram declared that it must be that of Clarke and alleged that Aram, Houseman, and Clarke had come to Aram’s house at 2:00 a.m. on February 8, 1845, and left together at 3:00 a.m.; they returned without Clarke at 5:00 a.m. and lit a fire. Anna claimed that she had overheard them planning to shoot her and had subsequently discovered pieces of cloth and a bloody handkerchief in the ashes of the fire. When questioned, Houseman denied that the skeleton was Clarke’s but eventually elected to prove it by leading the authorities to the place where the body was actually buried, near St. Robert’s Cave. Houseman claimed that he had seen Aram bludgeon Clarke to death.
Legal Action and Outcome
Aram was found living in King’s Lynn in Norfolk and was brought back to Yorkshire for trial. At first, he denied everything but then admitted to being in on the fraud with Clarke, Houseman, and Terry. However, he claimed that he had not gone into St. Robert’s Cave when the three had returned to meet their co-conspirator and did not know that Clarke had been killed.
The trial was held at York on August 3, 1759. Anna could not testify against her husband, but Houseman gave evidence for the crown, this time telling a different story that was incompatible with his having known where the body was buried. Aram conducted his own defense, allegedly eloquently, but he failed to attack the inconsistency in Houseman’s evidence and was convicted. Aram was said to have confessed to the crime thereafter, but that sort of claim was routine. He wrote a suicide note but failed in his attempt to anticipate the hangman by slashing his own wrists.
Impact
Eugene Aram’s case attracted a great deal of publicity, by virtue of his having labored so long as a respected schoolmaster and his scholarly work. His story became the basis for several literary works, most notably a novel, Eugene Aram, penned by Edward Bulwer-Lytton in 1832 and a long poem by the younger Thomas Hood titled The Dream of Eugene Aram: The Murderer (1832). Bulwer-Lytton’s dramatization assumes that Aram’s conviction was just and attempts a proto-psychological explanation of how a man of learning and apparent good character might have committed a dreadful act. Subsequent historians, however, have wondered whether the conviction was correct, since the only evidence given against Aram was evidently perjured; it was offered by a man who was certainly involved in the murder. A much stronger case could have been made against Houseman, since Anna’s evidence would have been admissible against him, and he knew where the body had been buried.
Bibliography
Bulwer-Lytton, Edward. Eugene Aram: A Tale. 3 vols. London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, 1831-1832. Bulwer-Lytton’s characterization of Aram purports to explain how an educated and seemingly respectable person might commit an ostensibly aberrant act.
Fryer, Michael, of Reeth. The Trial and Life of Eugene Aram. Richmond, England: M. Bell, 1832. An updated version of the 1765 account, striking a more obviously Victorian (that is, sternly disapproving) attitude to the protagonist’s career.
The Genuine Account of the Trial of Eugene Aram for the Murder of Daniel Clark. York, England: Etherington, c. 1765. A typical and anonymous sensational eighteenth century pamphlet that recounts the case for the benefit of thrill-seeking readers.
Hood, Thomas. The Dream of Eugene Aram: The Murderer. London: Charles Tilt, 1832. A poem that attempts, less pretentiously than the Fryer account, to provide a speculative analysis of the psychological aftermath of Aram’s presumed crime.
Watson, Eric R. Eugene Aram: His Life and Trial. Edinburgh: William Hodge, 1913. A further updating of the earlier accounts, this time adapted to twentieth century interests; it pays more attention to the actual legal proceedings and the dubious value of the evidence.