Georgian True Crime Murder: Elizabeth Boardingham and Thomas Aikney

In the early February of 1776 a man and a woman walked arm in arm together in Yorkshire. Elizabeth Boardingham and Thomas Aikney looked, to all concerned, like a regular Georgian couple that were in love but there was little that was traditional about their affair. For one thing, Elizabeth was already married and as for another, they were whispering plots to commit a brutal murder. 

At the Assizes at York in April 1776 the court heard an account of the murder of John Boardingham, Elizabeth's husband. He had been arrested and imprisoned in York Castle for smuggling and remained there for some time. With her husband securely detained within the brick walls of the prison, Elizabeth invited a lover, Thomas Aikney, into her home to live with her. Elizabeth lived in the village of Flamborough in the East Riding of Yorkshire, close to the coasts and bays of the county and with sweeping views of the mossy cliffs and the Humber nearby. The couple became so attached to one another that on her husband's release, Elizabeth chose to leave her home and travel to live with Thomas in Lincolnshire. 

Johann Lorenz Haid, 1702–1750, Portrait of a Man and Woman, undated, Mezzotint on moderately thick, slightly textured, beige laid paper, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Fund, B1970.3.1374. Public Domain.

The court heard that it was Elizabeth who was adamant that her husband, recently returned to the couple's marital home, should die. Thomas repeatedly tried to put her off the idea, suggesting they run away and get married instead to start a new life together, but Elizabeth would not be convinced.

On 5 February 1776 the plan was set into motion. Elizabeth returned to her Flamborough home to live with her husband, giving the impression that she had reconciled with him. On the night of the 13 February, at around 11pm, Elizabeth woke her husband sleeping next to her, telling him that she heard a noise at the door and that he should investigate. John diligently swung his legs over the edge of the bed, put on a coat and waistcoat and padded downstairs to the door of their home. But Thomas Aikney was waiting for him. In the cold night Thomas stabbed John in the thigh, removed the knife and then plunged the blade into John's left side, leaving the knife in the wound before running away. John staggered into the street, crying 'Murder!', a trickle of concerned neighbours running towards him in the gloom. John was said to have pulled the knife out of the wound in his side, holding the weapon with one had and trying to hold together the gaping injury together with his other hand. Covered in blood, he survived overnight but died the day after. 

Thomas Aikney was a reluctant and somewhat hapless murderer. His pleas for Elizabeth to abandon the plot and the haphazard way in which he committed the act show that this was a clumsy attempt on John's life and not a thought-out attack by an experienced criminal. His actions convey panic, fleeing the scene and leaving behind the murder weapon lodged in his victim's body. It is likely that the neighbours that John called on for help that night knew all abut Elizabeth and her lover. He had lived in her and John's home and would have been noticed by locals arriving and leaving as he went about his business in the village. It is unsurprising then, that he was quickly caught and stood accused of John's murder. The murder weapon was 'proved' to be Thomas', although the account doesn't state how, and when asked to defend his case, he immediately admitted his guilt. Their relationship, the murder plot and Elizabeth's demands that Thomas commit the act were all unravelled in court, and the couple received sentence of death. Later, Thomas' body was taken to Leeds infirmary 'for dissection'. 

We often hear of similar True Crime stories today, but Georgian Britain wasn't all rosy-cheeked women selling apples, fancy ballroom dances and trips to the theatre. It had a darker side, and Elizabeth, Thomas and John's stories wove into one with fatal consequences for all. These are the true stories of eighteenth-century Britain and are crucial to our understanding of the era.

Liked this? You might also like John Conyers and the Copped Hall Robbery of 1775, Mary Edmondson, Accused Georgian Murderess, and LGBTQ Georgian Britain: Mary East

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