Henry John Hatch

It seems extraordinary that it was twelve years ago that I published an account of the trials and tribulations of Reverend Henry John Hatch. He was the first chaplain of Wandsworth Prison in 1851, and he ended up in Newgate Prison doing four years’ hard labour for indecent assault. He was pardoned after six months, but the experience would have broken many a person of his character and gentile background.

The book, my first ‘literary’ effort, does contain many faults; it is far too long and would have benefited from some radical editing. But it does serve as testimony to the extraordinary indomitability of the human spirit. Here was a man knocked down again and again by circumstance. On each occasion, nothing daunted, he got up, dusted himself down, and embarked on a new venture.
 
The title of the book, Henry’s Trials, although a rather lame pun is a good description of what happened to the man; here is a list of his ‘trials’:
 

• Henry’s first publishing venture, the New South Wales Magazine, which he purchased in 1843, was forced to close due to the recession in Australia and dwindling advertising revenues. It was a total investment loss.

• In 1854, after three years as Wandsworth Prison chaplain had taken their toll, Henry sought ownership of the ‘family living’ of the rectorship of Sutton which he had been left by his father. His grandfather’s will had left it to his uncle. The conflict of wills came to the Court of Chancery for resolution, and Henry lost.
• In 1855 he became proprietor and editor of a relaunched journal The Philanthropist, in parallel with his duties at the prison. Just as the journal was staring to pay its way the Surrey Magistrates, Henry’s employers, demanded that he sell the journal because it was incompatible with his prison duties. He sustained a substantial loss. On this occasion at least Henry did bring misfortune upon himself by having criticised two of the magistrates in print.
• In 1859 he became involved in another Chancery case which he was obliged to defend, and this further depleted his inheritance. It concerned the insolvency of one of his brothers-in-law, a claim on his sister’s inheritance, and a demand that the Sutton living be sold to defray the cost. Eventually, the Sutton living had to be sold.
• In October 1859, Henry was pressured to resign as chaplain of Wandsworth Prison following a charge from Mr and Mrs Plummer, the parents of two female children he had taken on as paying pupils, that he had indecently assaulted them.
• In November 1859, he received a demand from Chancery for £200 in respect of his directorship of a defunct insurance company. He was unable to pay, and fled to secret lodgings to avoid being arrested for debt.
• In December 1859 Henry was convicted of the assault charges and sentenced to four years in Newgate Prison. His defence was handled appallingly. His solicitor had arrived late for the magistrates’ hearing, did not interview the defence witnesses, and failed to provide Henry’s barrister with a legible defence brief. The barrister also declined to call defence witnesses.
• In January 1860, a comprehensive petition to the Queen for a Royal Pardon was prepared. It included statements from Henry’s defence witnesses and a letter from eleven of the jury that had convicted Henry; they stated that had they heard the evidence from Henry’s defence witnesses, they would never have convicted him. The Home Secretary rejected the petition, because of a rumour he had heard from the Plummers’ lawyer, that Henry had made a confession of guilt.
• An action initiated by Henry's friends against the lawyer for gross misconduct was dismissed.

 
Henry was released from Newgate after his main accuser, the twelve year old daughter of the Plummers, was found guilty at the Old Bailey for wilful and corrupt perjury. He brought an action for damages against his solicitor for bungling his defence in his trial for indecent assault.
 

• The judge in the damages trial was very hostile towards Henry, claiming that he had ‘fled justice’ when in fact he had been trying to avoid imprisonment for debt. The jury found in his favour, but the damages awarded were just forty shillings!
• Because the damages awarded were below five pounds, Henry was denied costs. An action to declare a mistrial on the basis of the trial judge was rejected—by the trial judge himself...
• A move for costs was similarly rejected.

 
Henry’s reputation had been restored, and he became rector of Little Stambridge in Essex where he stayed for twenty one years ... until the parish itself was abolished as being too small to sustain itself. While he was at Little Stambridge, he contributed some stories and other material to a book. One of the stories, founded on his experience as a prison chaplain, was about a reformed prisoner returned from transportation. After all he had been through, Henry was still proselytizing his Christian values and belief in the basic goodness of his fellow human beings.