Eugene Aram

Eugene Aram (1704-16 August 1759) was an English schoolmaster and murderer from the Georgian period.

Biography

Aram was born in Ramsgill in Yorkshire at some point in 1704. Formerly working at a counting house, he left his position and set up a school in his home county (Yorkshire) before moving to Netherdale in Scotland, becoming a teacher and getting married. He later moved again, this time to Knaresborough in Harrogate, where he remained in his teaching job.

In 1744, a friend of his named Daniel Clark suddenly came into some money (likely from swindling) before suddenly vanishing. Aram was arrested, but there was not enough evidence to convict him. After being released, Aram began travelling the country, and pioneered the field of philology, realising that Celtic was related to other European languages and that Latin and Greek were not related. However, he soon lost everything when in 1758 Clark's skeleton was discovered. A man named Houseman who was alleged to know what happened to Clark was arrested, and eventually admitted that he, Aram and another man had killed Clark and stolen his money. Aram was arrested and, despite maintaining his innocence, was found guilty of murder due to Houseman's testimony and sentenced to death. While awaiting execution, Aram admitted to the crime, claiming his wife was having an affair with Clark, and unsuccessfully attempted suicide by slitting his wrists. Aram was executed by hanging at Tyburn in 1759, and his skull is on display in King's Lynn museum.