A MAN who was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in 1778, only to be saved by a royal pardon, will be ‘re-tried’ by a contemporary jury at Leicester’s Guildhall on Saturday (16 May).
Members of the audience at the reenactment of The Trial of Francois Soulés will hear how John Fenton lost his life when a shot was fired at him during a scuffle on 16 May 1778.
Evidence from the original trial will be presented to the ‘jury’ – selected at random from the audience – which will reveal that the fatal shooting took place following an altercation between John’s brother, James, and a French national called Francois Soulés.
The incident happened at the Green Dragon Inn on Leicester’s Market Place, close to where the Alice Hawkins statue now stands.
At his trial at the Guildhall in 1778, Soulés - a renowned author and linguist - was found guilty of murder and an order was sent for his execution.
In a remarkable twist, however, a messenger arrived shortly afterwards, bearing a royal pardon, and Soulés’ life was spared. He left Leicester and returned to France.
Now, nearly 250 years later, members of the audience at The Trial of Francois Soulés will be asked to listen to the evidence and determine whether he was indeed guilty of murder.
“This tale of how an argument between two men led to the death of another is a tragic one – but it’s also an intriguing one,” said assistant city mayor Cllr Vi Dempster.
“The detailed information we have from the original trial paints a vivid picture of life in 18th century Leicester, with an argument over a billiards game ending in a scuffle that led to the death of John Fenton.
“What we know for sure is that Soulés was both detained and tried at Leicester’s Guildhall – and now, 248 years later at the same location, a contemporary jury will reassess the evidence and pass judgement on the man who was sentenced to death but saved by a royal pardon.”
The roles of the accused and the prosecution in the reenactment will be played by Joanne Vigor-Mungovin and Eddie Smallwood, both local authors and historians, while Radio Leicester’s Ben Jackson will act as the presiding judge.
Tickets for the reenactment of The Trial of Francois Soulés at the Guildhall are priced at £17.78 and can be purchased here. Doors open at 7pm on Saturday (16 May) and a licensed bar will be available.
More information is available at leicestermuseums.org
Picture caption: 'Town Hall Lane', top left, shows the location of the Guildhall (which was Leicester's Town Hall until 1876); the Green Dragon Inn, scene of the shooting of John Fenton in 1778, can be seen at the centre of the map.
Extract of map from the 1844 Ordnance Survey, courtesy of the Record Office for Leicestershire, Leicester & Rutland