"Preferring Death": Suicidal Criminals in Eighteenth-Century England

Suicide was a crime throughout the eighteenth century, but was not always punished as such, and some self-murders were treated with lenience and sensitivity. This article discusses suicidal criminals in eighteenth-century England who challenged state power and the legal process by taking their lives before their arrest or punishment. It also introduces several understudied cases of judicial suicides: people who deliberately committed crimes in order to receive the death sentence. These cases provide new insights into the process of prosecution, punishment, and pardon in the eighteenth century. This article argues that the treatment of suicidal criminals in the eighteenth century was shaped by changing moral, spiritual, and emotional standards, but also by popular literature and press reporting.