deacon brodie
The real story behind Edinburgh's most enduring legend
Deacon Brodie's Trial
The Jury
Below is a list of the jury pool and final jurors, or assize in Scottish judicial parlance, for the trial of Deacon Brodie and George Smith. This list is taken from original court documents, and the names are in the order found within those documents. The method of juror selection for William Brodie’s trial is not known. There were a few different methods of assize selection employed in Scotland at the time. What we do know is that in the Scottish judicial system, forty-five men made up the jury pool and lots were drawn from that forty-five to form the final jury of fifteen. In Scottish justice, the jury did not have to come to a unanimous decision to the guilt, innocence, or charge being not proven for a defendant. A majority vote is necessary to secure an outcome of a trial.
List of Assize
Final Jury
1. Andrew Bonar, banker in Edinburgh.
2. Alexander Houston, banker there.
3. Robert Forrester, banker there.
4. Robert Allan, banker there.
5. Henry Jamieson, banker there.
6. John Hay, banker there.
7. William Creech, bookseller there.
8. James Carfrae, merchant there.
9. William Gillespie, merchant there.
10. William Simpson, banker there.
11. George Kinnear, banker there.
12. John Black, merchant there.
13. Francis Blair, merchant there.
14. Elphingston Balfour, bookseller there.
15. Peter Forrester, merchant there.
16. John Thomson, insurance-broker there.
17. Thomas Elder, merchant there.
18. Edward Innes, confectioner there.
19. John Balfour, merchant there.
20. William Fettes, merchant there.
21. John Milne, founder there.
22. Dunbar Pringle, tanner there.
23. Peter Robertson, goldsmith there.
24. Thomas Campbell, merchant there.
25. William Turnbull, merchant there.
26. Alexander Brown, merchant there.
27. Charles Cowan, merchant there.
28. David Paterson, insurance-broker there.
29. Francis Sharp, merchant there.
30. James Donaldson, printer there.
31. John Hutton, stationer there.
32. John Balfour, papermaker there.
33. Robert Young, upholsterer there.
34. John Learmonth, junior, tanner there.
35. Thomas Cleghorn, coachmaker there.
36. Thomas Hutcheson, merchant there.
37. James Craig, corn merchant there.
38. Alexander Bruce, merchant there.
39. Benjamin Yule, baker there.
40. William Smellie, printer there.
41. Orlando Hart, shoemaker there.
42. James Ranken, merchant there.
43. William Young, baker there.
44. William Brown, grocer there.
45. Alexander Weir, painter there.
1. Robert Forrester
2. Robert Allan
3. Henry Jamieson
4. John Hay
5. William Creech
6. James Carfrae
7. John Kinnear
8. William Fettes
9. John Milne
10. Dunbar Pringle
11. Thomas Campbell
12. Francis Sharp
13. James Donaldson
14. John Hutton
15. Thomas Cleghorn
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