#martha ray

[venicepearl]

Martha Ray (1746 – 7 April 1779) was a British singer of the Georgian era. Her father was a corsetmaker and her mother was a servant in a noble household. Good-looking, intelligent, and a talented singer, she came to the attention of many of her father's patrons. She is best known for her affair with John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich. She lived with him as his mistress from the age of seventeen, while his wife was suffering from mental illness. She gave birth to nine children, five of whom survived, including the lawyer and philanthropist Basil Montagu. During this time, she conducted a successful singing career, for which she became well known, as well as completing her education with Lord Sandwich's support.

[serafino-finasero]

Martha Raye, U.S. comic actress and singer, 1940s

[nellygwyn]

The murder of Martha Ray (1742-1779) 

Martha Ray was the daughter of corset-maker and a maid in a noble household. Whilst her origins were not much to brag about, her talent for singing, good looks and hearty wit were. Her father’s customers noticed her various attractive assets and her name soon came to the attention of John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, a great connoisseur of pretty women and previously a long-term lover of the famous 18th century courtesan, Fanny Murray. Martha and the Earl instantly hit it off and she became his mistress when she was 17. 

It was through her relationship with the Earl of Sandwich that Martha came to prominence as a respected and professional opera singer. Sandwich set her up in a fine house in Westminster and paid for her to have singing lessons from the 18th century’s greatest music masters. And whilst the pay-off for her relationship was inducement enough for Martha Ray to stay attached to the Earl, the pair do seem to have been genuinely in love and Martha remained with him for almost two decades and comforted him in dealing with the seeming insanity of his wife (who was kept out of the public eye). Martha and Sandwich lived together as husband and wife, and she gave birth to nine of his children. 

It was during this period that Martha came to be introduced to one James Hackman, a soldier who had left the British army to train as an Anglican clergyman. Hackman met Martha when he visited the Earl of Sandwich’s Cambridgeshire home and was instantly besotted with her. Martha was flattered by his attentions at first and the two were briefly lovers. Sandwich was in debt at this point and Hackman may have provided Martha with some financial security in this period of instability. However, Hackman was becoming obsessed, frequently proposing marriage to her even after she had refused, and by early 1779, she had broken off the relationship. 

On the 7th April 1779, Martha attended a performance of Isaac Bickerstaffe’s comic opera ‘Love in a Village’ at the Theatre Royal in Covent Garden, with her friend and fellow opera singer, Caterina Galli. The pair were also accompanied by a few gentlemen, and Martha sat next to or near William Hanger, 3rd Baron Coleraine for the performance. Hackman was also in attendance, recently ordained as a priest for the Church of England and hoping desperately to win Martha back, but once he saw Martha talking with Coleraine and convinced himself they had recently become lovers, he left immediately in a jealous rage, fetched two pistols, and waited in a coffee house near to the theatre. As Martha and Caterina were leaving the theatre and were about to get into their waiting carriage, Hackman jumped out, pulled Martha to face him and shot her, point-blank, in the head. She died instantly. Hackman then proceeded to try and shoot himself, but was unsuccessful. Witnesses reported seeing him beating himself with the guns after his failed attempt and shouting ‘Oh, kill me! For god’s sake, kill me.’ Martha’s body was taken to the Shakespeare Tavern whilst Hackman was arrested. After hearing of her murder, Sandwich wept for hours. He was devastated. 

Hackman’s crime and subsequent trial caused a sensation. It was reported that anyone wishing to view the trial could pay one guinea to watch it from the gallery. On Hackman’s person had been found two letters: one addressed to his brother-in-law, Frederick Booth, in which Hackman appeared to bid his last farewells, clearly indicating the murder had been premeditated somewhat, and another love letter addressed to Martha Ray herself. When asked to give evidence himself, Hackman’s statement (probably written by one of his supporters, James Boswell) argued that he had only meant to kill himself, that he had not been himself mentally and that the love letter to Martha proved how much he had cared for her. This is what his defence counsel argued and they submitted to the court that Hackman could not be guilty of murder on account of diminished responsibility (in this case, insanity). Indeed, Hackman’s lawyer, Mannaseh Dawes argued that Martha had unfairly led Hackman on and forced him into desperation. The judge, however, dismissed all this and argued that the second letter to Hackman’s brother-in-law showed him to be of sound mind at the time and that he had committed the murder with a coolness of attitude. The jury agreed, and Hackman was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death. He was hanged at Tyburn on the 19th April, 1779, in front of a large crowd of people, many of whom were said to have pitied him believing him to be under the influence of ‘love and madness,’ though many still regarded him as the ‘vilest of men.’ 

Martha Ray’s murder continued to cause controversy in the following decades. Some believed her to have been deserving of her fate because of her loose nature and immoral relationship with Sandwich. James Boswell, one of Hackman’s most ardent supporters, believed that Hackman was simply a victim of aristocratic corruption and feminine wiles. In 1780, Herbert Croft published his novel ‘Love and Madness, a Story too True: in a Series of Letters between Parties Whose Names Would Perhaps be Mentioned Were They Less Known or Lamented.’ It claimed to be a collection of letters sent between Martha and Hackman, but most, if not all, were forged, and it presented Hackman as a romantic hero wronged by an ungrateful, sexually provocative mistress. The book was incredibly popular and proved a great source of upset for the Earl of Sandwich, whose political opponents often used the novel to antagonise and undercut him. 

[crime-notforgotten]

Reverend James Hackman was born in 1752 and by 1772 was a captain in the 68th Regiment of Foot. In 1776 he was promoted to lieutenant but shortly after would resigned his commission in order to enter the church. He was ordained in February of 1779 and was appointed to Wiverton, Norfolk, but he never actually made it there. The reason for his change in career is most likely due to the 1775 visit to the home of the 4th Earl of Sandwich, John Montagu. There he met Martha Ray, the Earl's mistress, and fell head over heels for her. Unfortunately for him, and her eventually, she did not feel the same way. Although he proposed many times he was constantly rebuffed in his romantic advances. He began stalking her, and on April 7th, 1779, he followed her to the Covent Garden Theatre. She and her friend were going to see a performance of Love in a Village. Hackman was in the audience and at some point left to go home to retrieve two pistols, he came back and waited at a nearby coffee house. At around quarter past 11, Martha Ray and her friend left the theater escorted to their carriage by an Irish lawyer named John McNamara. According to his first hand account, Martha was entering the carriage as Hackman came around the corner, he grabbed her by the gown and and shot her in the head. He then tried to shoot himself however was unsuccessful and begged passer-bys to finish him off. It wouldn't happen though, and he was arrested for the very public murder of Martha Ray. He went to trial at the Old Bailey on April 16th 1779 and due to the notoriety the case the court house was packed. He pleaded not guilty due to temporary insanity claiming he only to wanted to kill himself. The judge nor the jury bought his defense. On the 19th of April 1779, only a couple of days after Martha Ray was buried, Hackman was hanged. Since then, the love triangle between the Earl of Sandwich, his mistress and the priest has been a constant crime enthusiast magnet. Many books have been written about the case and many different opinions on what actually happened are out there. Pictured above are Martha and the Earl of Sandwich, a newspaper picture of the murderer and victim, and a picture of Reverend James Hackman. Source murderpedia

[unclesamsmisguidedclub]

New Post has been published on Uncle Sam's Misguided Children

New Post has been published on http://unclesamsmisguidedchildren.com/a-big-mouth-honorary-member-of-special-forces/

A "Big-Mouth" Honorary Member of Special Forces

With anti-military people like Lindsey Lohan, Brittany Spears, and Miley Cyrus in our roundup of female entertainers today, it’s hard to fathom that at one time in our recent past there was one lady who not only loved our military and endured hardship to serve them, but became an honorary member of the Green Berets: Martha Raye.

She called herself a “big mouth.” In the early 70’s she traveled with the USO on tour to Vietnam.

Since her story is making the rounds of the internet again, I thought it fitting to reveal the truth of this true American who deeply cared about our military. There are many stories of her willingness to cover shifts for surgical nurses who needed a break, as well as taking charge of situations in which no nurses were available.

She endured the same conditions as our military, and never whined one moment about it.

Martha Raye – entertainer, nurse, patriot

  “Colonel Maggie,” as she was designated, was no ordinary entertainer. She was born  Margaret Teresa Yvonne Reed in 1916. She was a singer, comedienne, and actress..but also a nurse. During the Vietnam War, she spent months of her busy life helping and encouraging the troops. But she also stepped up and worked to save the lives of American servicemen.

In 1967, Martha and a clarinet player visited a Special Forces Camp. Though they went there to entertain the troops, the North Vietnamese attacked the base before her scheduled performance.

The Vietnam Experience wrote,

It appeared that there was a full-scale assault on the base camp. It was uncertain if the camp would be able to hold off the assault. The camp medic was hit, and so with her being a nurse, she took over and began to assist with the treatment of the wounded who kept pouring into the aid station.

The camp was in great danger for several hours of being over run. The higher-ups in the military were trying to dispatch helicopters to the camp, but a combination of very bad weather and heavy fighting made that task a very dangerous mission for any crews that would be trying to come in to get the wounded, or to pull her out to a safer place. All this time, she was subjecting herself to the dangers of flying shrapnel and incoming automatic rifle rounds. She tended to the task that she was trained for – treating the wounded. She was said to have remained calm and fully active in doing her work – even with all the action taking place just outside the aid station. She kept focused on treating the wounded and did not seek shelter or safety for herself.

She kept refusing any and all rescue missions. She spent hours putting her skills as a nurse, to use treating patients and even assisting with surgery. She was in the operating room for 13 hours; she then went through the aid station talking with the wounded and making sure that they were okay. It was said that she worked without sleep or rest, until all the wounded were either treated, or evacuated out on a Huey (helicopter). She did not leave that camp until she was satisfied that all wounded were taken care of.

Honors

Martha Raye, known as “Colonel Maggie of the Boondocks” to her Military friends, received her Green Beret and title of Lieutenant Colonel from President Lyndon Johnson for her service to military personnel. Unafraid of the sounds of mortar fire around her, she set about to help the wounded.

In 1993, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in addition to her many other awards. She died in October of 1994, and is buried at Fort Bragg, North Carolina – a special honor to a fearless woman who loved the members of the United States Armed Forces.

[blushingkate]

How a dark tale of love, madness and murder in 18th-century London became a story for the ages