The Harrowing & Sinister Case of Thomas Hunter

Brief Case

The case of Thomas Hunter that horrified the public and became one of the most talked about cases in Scotland at the end of the 17th centur  Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXNVw0S9_LZHhWTr-skizhg/join  Please remember to subscribe and hit the bell icon as well as leave a like and a comment for more videos every week!  Brief Case is a True Crime Channel focusing on old or lost cases that have been forgotten to history. If you have any recommendations for future cases that you would like to bring to light, feel free to reach out to me to: briefcaseuk@gmail.com  Music Credits Music by Myuu https://www.youtube.com/user/myuuji  Music by CO.AG Music https://www.youtube.com/@co.agmusic  “Cicada” by Kevin MacLeod https://incompetech.com/    Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Transcript

00:07Today we are looking at a case from the very end of the 17th century, so sit back as we

00:14go to

00:14Scotland. Thomas Hunter was born in the county of Fife in Scotland in the 1670s. His father was a

00:23prosperous farmer who sent him to school and made sure that Thomas had an excellent education.

00:28Towards the end of the 17th century, Scotland had one of the most advanced education systems in

00:34Europe. Following the Reformation, the Church of Scotland placed great importance on literacy so

00:39that people could read the Bible for themselves. Parish schools had become common across much of

00:44the country, although the quality of teaching varied considerably between towns and rural areas.

00:49Boys from wealthier families could continue their education at grammar schools before attending one

00:54of Scotland's universities such as St Andrews, Glasgow, Aberdeen or Edinburgh. University students

01:01studied a broad classical curriculum that included Latin, Greek, philosophy and logic before specialising

01:08in subjects such as law, medicine or theology. Those intended to become ministers often remained at

01:13university for further theological study. This was the educational path that was followed by Thomas

01:19Hunter. He studied the classics at the University of St Andrews, where he graduated with a degree of Master

01:25of Arts. After this, he continued his studies in theology and made very good progress, which led many

01:32of his tutors to comment that they believed he had a promising future in the church. It was common for

01:38young men training for the ministry to serve as tutors or chaplains in wealthy households. They educated

01:43their employer's children while also carrying out religious duties, which allowed them to earn a

01:49living and gain valuable experience until they could obtain a parish of their own. Such appointments

01:54were often difficult to secure as they depended on vacancies becoming available and the support of

02:00influential patrons, as well as favourable recommendations from senior members of the church. As a result, many

02:07aspiring ministers spent several years in private service before beginning their careers in the ministry.

02:14In 1698, Thomas entered the household of Mr Gordon, a highly respected Edinburgh merchant and one of

02:21the city's baileys. A bailey was a senior civic officer who helped govern the city, ministered local

02:28justice and held a position of considerable influence, roughly comparable to that of an alderman or

02:33magistrate in London. The Gordon household was a large and prosperous one. It included Mr and Mrs Gordon,

02:40their two young sons, and their young daughter. They employed a maid who attended Mrs Gordon, clerks who

02:46assisted Mr Gordon's business affairs, and a number of domestic servants. Thomas Hunter was entrusted with

02:52the education of the two boys, providing them with the classical education, which was considered

02:57essential for children from a wealthy family. Their lessons included reading, writing, Latin history,

03:03religious instruction, and the study of classical authors. It was all designed to prepare them for

03:09their future roles as educated gentlemen, and their eventual responsibilities within society.

03:14Thomas carried out his duties well, and earned the confidence and respect of the Gordon family.

03:19Mr and Mrs Gordon regarded him as an intelligent and capable young man, with an excellent character,

03:24and placed great trust in him as the tutor of their sons. They believed that he was a young

03:29man destined for a respectable career within the church. During this time, Thomas began a relationship

03:35with one of the domestic servants. At first, the pair managed to keep their involvement hidden from

03:41the rest of the household. Although there were rumours and gossip among some of the other servants,

03:45no one knew the true nature of their relationship, and the affair continued for some time without

03:50discovery. One day, however, Mr and Mrs Gordon were away visiting friends. So Thomas and the

03:56servant girl met together in his bedroom, as they had done on many previous occasions.

04:01On this particular day, however, they were careless enough to leave the door unlocked.

04:05Without warning, the Gordon children entered the room, and discovered the pair together in

04:10circumstances that left no doubt about the nature of their relationship.

04:14At first, neither Thomas nor the servant believed there was any serious cause for concern.

04:19The eldest of the boys was not yet ten years old, and they assumed that the children were too young

04:24to fully understand what they had witnessed, or to repeat it to anyone else. However,

04:29they were mistaken. Later that evening, while sitting at supper with their parents,

04:34the children innocently spoke about what they had seen. Although they may have not understood the full

04:38significance of it, their description was enough to leave Mr and Mrs Gordon in no doubt about what had

04:44taken place. The consequences were immediate, and the young servant was ordered to leave the

04:49household the following day. Thomas, however, was treated with surprising leniency. Rather than

04:55dismissing him, Mr Gordon allowed him to remain after he offered an apology for his behaviour. Thomas

05:00claimed that his actions had been the result of youthful foolishness, expressed great regrets,

05:05and promised that such conduct would never happen again. The Gordons accepted his apology,

05:10and for a time, Thomas remained in the household, and continued in the position of trust that he had

05:15previously held. Outwardly, life continued much as before. Thomas remained in his position as tutor,

05:22and to those around him, it may have appeared that the matter had been settled. Privately,

05:27however, he did not accept responsibility for his own actions. Instead, he blamed the children for

05:32revealing the affair, and exposing him to the shame and embarrassment that followed. Rather than directing

05:38his anger towards himself, Thomas's resentment became focus on the young witnesses, whose innocent

05:43honesty had brought his misconduct to light. Over time, the resentment grew into a deep and bitter desire

05:49for revenge. The trust that the Gordon family had placed in him was replaced by a determination to

05:55punish the children whom he believed were responsible for his disgrace. Over time, his feeling of resentment

06:03developed into a carefully considered plan. Whenever the weather was pleasant, Thomas would take the two

06:09boys into the fields for about an hour before dinner. Their sister would often accompany them, and

06:14because this had become such a normal part of their daily life, the family had no reason to suspect

06:19anything was wrong. In August 1700, however, circumstances unexpectedly changed. The Gordon family

06:26were staying in their country residence just outside Edinburgh, when Mr. and Mrs. Gordon received an

06:31invitation to dine in the city. Mrs. Gordon wished for all three of her children to accompany them,

06:36but her husband decided otherwise, and instead they took only their daughter. That afternoon,

06:42with the weather favourable, Thomas took the boys into the fields, as he had done many times before.

06:48To anyone watching, it would have appeared to have been an ordinary walk between a tutor and his pupils,

06:53and after a while, Thomas sat down on the grass, as though taking a rest while the children wandered

06:58nearby, happily catching butterflies and gathering wildflowers. Unaware of the danger they faced,

07:04they continued playing. While Thomas prepared to carry out the revenge he had been planning,

07:09he took out a penknife and called the boys over. Instead of speaking to them as their tutor,

07:15he reminded them of the day they had discovered him with the servants, and accused them of bringing

07:19shame upon him by telling their parents what they had seen. He then told them that he intended to kill

07:25them. Terrified by his words, the boys immediately tried to escape. They ran off, but Thomas pursued them,

07:32caught them both, and forced them to the ground. He then restrained one of the children, while he

07:37attacked the other with his penknife. After murdering the first boy, he carried out the same terrible

07:43act upon the other. This had taken place in broad daylight, in open countryside, less than half a

07:49mile from Edinburgh Castle. Given the location and the time of day, it was very unlikely that such a

07:55crime could have been carried out, without being witnessed by someone nearby, and this indeed proved to be the

08:00case. A gentleman who was walking on Castle Hill, had a clear view of what was happening, and horrified

08:06by what he witnessed, he immediately raised the alarm. He gathered several other people, and they all

08:12hurried towards the scene, where the terrible discovery awaited them. The two young boys lay dead.

08:18By now Thomas had made his way towards the nearby river, so some of the group quickly pursued him,

08:23and just as he reached the water's edge, they managed to seize him. A messenger was dispatched to

08:29inform Mr and Mrs Gordon, who were at that moment preparing to dine with friends in Edinburgh.

08:34The news was devastating. The shock experienced by the father, and the overwhelming grief of the

08:40mother, were impossible to fully describe. The two children they had entrusted to Thomas's care,

08:45had been brutally murdered by the very man they had welcomed into their home, and trusted as their tutor.

08:53Scottish law at the time, contained an ancient and rarely used provision, for cases where a

08:58murderer was captured, and there was unmistakable evidence of their crime. It declared that if a

09:03murderer should be taken with the blood of the murdered person on his clothes, he should be

09:07prosecuted in the sheriff's court, and executed within three days after the commission of the fact.

09:13Although this law was not always enforced to its full extent, Thomas Hunter's crime was

09:18considered so shocking and brutal, that the authorities decided there would be no delay and no leniency.

09:23The speed of the proceedings reflected the horror with which the murders had been received by the

09:28public. When questioned by authorities, Thomas claimed that he had intended to die by his own

09:33hand after the killings, and said that he had gone to the river with the intention of throwing himself

09:38into the water. But before he could carry out his plan, a crowd had discovered him, and dragged him

09:43away from the riverbank. He was taken into custody, and brought to prison, where he was chained to the

09:49floor throughout the night, to prevent any attempted escape. The following day, the sheriff summoned a

09:55jury to hear the case. When Thomas appeared before the court, he did not deny his guilt. Instead, he

10:01pleaded guilty to the murders. Yet even in these final proceedings, he displayed no sign of remorse or

10:07regret. According to reports of the time, his only expressed sorrow was that he had not also killed

10:13Mr. Gordon's daughter, along with her two brothers. With his guilt admitted, the sheriff passed an

10:19exceptionally severe sentence. He ordered that the following day, Thomas Hunter was to be taken back

10:24to the very place where the murders had been committed, and there his execution would take

10:28place. However, the sheriff said that hanging alone was not to be the punishment. He instructed that

10:35before Thomas be executed, his right hand, the hand that he believed had carried out the murders,

10:40was to be removed with a hatchet, and only after this brutal act had been carried out,

10:46would he then be hanged. Even after death, there would be no ordinary burial. The sheriff instructed

10:51that Thomas's body was to remain suspended in chains between Edinburgh and Leith, as a permanent

10:56warning to anyone who might contemplate committing a similar crime. He also ordered that the knife used

11:01in the murders, was to be placed through the severed hand, which would then be fixed above the wooden

11:06structure supporting his remains. Every part of the sentence demonstrated the authority's

11:12determination to make the man who had murdered Mr. and Mrs. Gordon's two sons an example of to others,

11:18showing that such a brutal crime would be met with the harshest punishment the law could impose.

11:22On the 22nd of August 1700, Thomas Hunter was executed exactly as the sheriff had ordered.

11:29Many people witnessed the execution, and to them, it was a grim reminder of the severity of

11:34punishment that awaited those who committed the most violent crimes. In an age when executions

11:39were carried out publicly, such displays were intended to reinforce the authority of law,

11:44and deter others from following a similar path. However, the grim spectacle caused continued distress

11:50to Mr. Gordon. The road between Edinburgh and Leith was one he frequently travelled, and each time he

11:55passed the hanging remains of the man who had murdered his sons. The memory of their deaths was

12:00brought back to him. Unable to endure the sight any longer, Mr. Gordon petitioned the sheriff for the

12:06body to be removed and placed elsewhere. His request was granted, and within a few days, Thomas Hunter's

12:12body was taken down, and re-hung near the small village of Broughton, on the outskirts of Edinburgh.

12:18However, it was another detail that ensured that Thomas Hunter's name would be remembered as a particular

12:23horror. Just before he was executed, he made a statement that shocked everyone who was there,

12:28when he calmly said, There is no God, I do not believe there is any, or if there is, I

12:34hold him in defiance.

12:35To many of his contemporaries, these words were almost as disturbing as the crimes he committed.

12:41Thomas Hunter had spent years studying theology, and had once appeared destined for a career as

12:46a minister of the church. Yet the man who had prepared to preach the Christian faith ended his

12:51life with a public rejection of the very beliefs that he had once studied to defend.

12:54His final words, combined with the brutality of his crimes, ensured that his name remained one

13:00associated with horror for generations afterwards.

13:05Hello everyone, and thank you so much for listening. As usual, please leave any comments or feedback you

13:12may have, and I hope to see you all again, in the next, brief, case.

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