The Murder Stone (James Stares)

James Stares, a 46-year-old labourer from Soberton, walked to Hambledon on the evening of 21 August 1782 to collect a debt at the New Inn, then set off home along Cams Hill with a young blacksmith from Hoe Cross, John Taylor, who'd offered to walk with him 'for company and safety' - dressed in a round-necked frock and carrying a mop handle as an improvised walking stick. Taylor beat Stares to death with it, then robbed him of his purse, the buckles from his shoes, and the buttons off his sleeves; a group of labourers found the body the next morning. What actually sealed Taylor's conviction was almost novelistic: officers searching his smithy found a blood-spattered rural worker's smock hidden behind the forge, and had his own mother identify it as belonging to her son - she gave the statement apparently knowing it would send him to the gallows. Taylor was convicted at Winchester Assizes largely on this circumstantial evidence, an early and notable case for that reason, and hanged; he never admitted guilt. TWO SEPARATE MONUMENTS EXIST for this case, worth keeping distinct on the site: (1) the roadside murder stone at Cams Hill, where only the opening fragment 'Let future generations know...' survives; and (2) his full headstone at St Peter's Church, Soberton, beneath the large stained glass window, which reads in full: 'SACRED. With solemn thought survey this grave on the untimely death of thy fellow mortal and whilst as a Man read of the inhumane narative drop a tear for his family's loss. On the 20th August 1782 JAMES STARES was murdered and robbed in the 46th year of his age. Is it nothing to you all ye that pass by, behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow which is done unto me. Herewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger.' DATE RESOLVED: the headstone itself gives 20 August 1782, and Find A Grave's own burial record (memorial 47496421, maintained by Julie Brutnell since 2010) independently agrees: death recorded as 20 Aug 1782. Since both primary sources - the stone and the parish burial record - agree with each other, 21 August (as repeated by Hampshire History, the Meon Valley Times, and even Historic England's own listing) looks like a secondary-source error that's been copied forward rather than a genuine alternate tradition. Worth using 20 August as the correct date on the site, with a note that most secondary write-ups get it wrong by a day. GENEALOGY: per Find A Grave, James Stares was the son of James Stares Sr. and Mary Arnold, and husband of Mary Cleverly; born 1737, making him 44-45 at death (the headstone's 'in the 46th year of his age' is consistent with this, since being 'in' one's 46th year means having completed 45 years). UPDATE: the roadside stone was severely damaged in June 2020 - the Meon Valley Times reports the cause as unknown, though a theory (not independently confirmed here) points to accidental damage from a hedge-cutter or other mechanical equipment during verge maintenance. Its Grade II listed status remains on Historic England's register regardless of its current physical condition.