27 October 1817:
Execution of Private John Jenny

"On Monday morning last John Jenny Private Soldier in H.M. 73d Regt. of Foot suffered Death by being shot, on the South Esplanade pursuant to the Sentence of a General Court Martial having been found guilty of Mutinous conduct in striking his Superior Officer Captain Smith of that Regiment. — The Prisoner attended by the Honble & Revd T.J. Twisleton & the Revd. Messrs. Harvard & Clough Wesleyan Missionaries, was conducted to the ground under the usual escort & passed slowly down the line preceded by his Coffin.

The Troops were formed into three sides of a square (the fourth being open to the Sea) in the centre of which, the unhappy man being placed, prayed devoutly for a few minutes & the Death Warrant being read, he underwent the awful Sentence of the Law; the Scene was solemn & impressive & appeared to have its due effect on the minds of the Soldiery. The conduct of Jenny tho' previously very irregular & bad, had since the period of his confinement, been extremely meritorious — being resigned & penitent, acknowledging the fairness of his trial, the justice of his Sentence & imputing blame to no one but himself, he passed the great part of his time in Devotion & received the Sacrament the evening before his execution. The Prisoner was brought to trial about two years since on suspicion of having, in conjunction with an accomplice, robbed the Treasury in Kandy, of which charge he was acquitted — His confession has now thrown light on this circumstance; He acknowledged he was implicated in that affair, but stated, that the man who gave Evidence against him was not in possession of the facts being only influenced in the hope of reward & he stated moreover that the man accused with him was innocent."

Source:
Ceylon Government Gazette 1 November 1817 [No. 841] pp. 3b-3c.

Manuscript Transcripts
Transcript prepared by Robin Walsh
Macquarie University Library, Sydney, Australia. © 2003

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