A fairground comedian shot his mother-in-law in cold blood, on learning that his wife would inherit a fortune after her death. Charles Samuel Bartlett lived near Stapleton until 1836, and was hanged for his cold-blooded crime in Bristol.
Bartlett was 21 years old and “a mild good-looking young man”, according to a report of his two-day trial in the Kendal Mercury newspaper. He was described as “one of the comedians who frequent fairs”, through which he met a young woman who was not named in the report.
After a year of courting, Bartlett asked his beau’s father for permission to marry her. Sceptical of his ability to provide for his daughter as an itinerant comedian, the older man agreed reluctantly.
