Arsonist.- Set fire to York Minster.- Storey (J., publisher) The Life and Trial of Jonathan Martin, for setting Fire to the Minster at York, broadside with title and wood-engraved vignette at the top, detached from the main body of text below, 480 x 210 mm (18 7/8 x 8 1/4 in), under glass, tipped onto paper support in two sections, minor handling creases, framed, [circa 1829]; together with a hand-coloured lithographic portrait of Martin after a drawing from life by Kilby 'when in the New York Gaol', 370 x 270 mm (14 1/2 x 10 1/2 in), under glass, some spotting and browning, framed (2)
⁂ 'After escaping from a mental asylum in 1821 Martin's mental instability slowly grew, and he became obsessed by the idea he was being tasked by God to cleanse York Minster, saying later at his trial that:
‘I felt a voice inwardly speak, that the Lord had chosed me to destroy the Cathedral for the wrong that was doing by the clergy, on going to plays, and balls, and card tables, and dinners I thought that I should be fulfilling the word of God!'
So after attending evensong at York Minster on 1st February 1829 he hid in the cathedral, set fire to the choir, and escaped through a window. The roof of the central aisle was entirely destroyed, as was most of the woodwork in the interior, including the bishop's throne and the pulpit. Martin was arrested on 6th February and tried at York Castle. He was declared not guilty on grounds of insanity and sent to the Criminal Department of Bethlem Royal Hospital, London, where he died on 3 June 1838.' [Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, Physicians blog]
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