Letter from G. Gavan Duffy to E. Blackwell, 4 August 1916

Foo, Bar; Bar, Foo

Letter from G. Gavan Duffy to E. Blackwell, 4 August 1916

1 4 Raymond Buildings, Gray's Inn. W. C. 4th August 1916. The Under Secretary of State, Home Office, Whitehall, S. W. Sir: - 311643/146:- I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter
of yesterday's date from which I understand that the Home Secretary
takes the view that section 6 of the Capital Punishment Amendment
Act, 1868 applies to a case of execution for treason. I most
respectfully dissent from this view inasmuch as that Act has always
been considered to apply to cases of murder and none other, and
the principal section of the Act (Section 2) as to carrying out of
judgement of death is expressly confined to murder. In view of the submission which I ventured to put before
you in my letter of yesterday, the relatives of Roger Casement
consider that a grievous wrong has been done to them, since it is
apparent that the question of burial within the prison walls has
never been considered by the Home Secretary otherwise than in
connection with a Statute which they are advised has no application. I have the honour to be,
Sir,
Your obedient servant, G. GAVAN DUFFY..

A letter from George Gavan Duffy (1882-1951) to the under secretary of state for the Home Office in London, E. Blackwell. This letter is in response to the Secretary of State's decision to apply the capital punishment amendment of 1868 to the execution of Casement. This act requires the body to be buried within the prison. Gavan Duffy argues that this applies only to murder and not for treason. He also comments on the family's belief that they have been 'grievously wronged' by the State in the rejection of their request for private burial. The letter was written the day after Casement's execution.George Gavan Duffy was an Irish politician, barrister and judge. He unsuccessfully defended Roger Casement at his trial for high treason after the Easter Rising.

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How to cite

Letters 1916, published by the Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities, Vienna, 2026 (https://letters1916static.github.io/letters1916-static/item__1306.html)