2-704-490 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

'John Donellan Esq.', c1780. Portrait of Captain John Donellan who was executed for murder. In 1780, Sir Theodosius Boughton was suffering from syphilis and was being treated with mercury, one of the few treatments available at the time. He died in convulsions, and his brother-in-law, Captain John Donellan, was tried at the assizes at Warwick, and convicted of poisoning him. Their were irregularities during the trial, however, and it is still not clear whether or not Donellan was guilty. Being married to Boughton's sister, he stood to inherit on Boughton's death. [J. Hinton, Paternoster Row, London]