The case Campbell v. Pepper came to trial in the Probate Court in Belfast on July 3, 1860. It was brought by Martha Campbell, which suggests she had in the meantime been unable to resume possession of the house and land seized by John Pepper’s mob in the early hours of July 19, 1858.
Competing versions of Martha Campbell’s relationship with Thomas Pepper were now aired.
The court heard that Pepper had lived in Dublin until he retired to the country, and that Martha Campbell had entered his employ at the age of 16 or 17 at his house in Ballyworkan, on a property of 35 acres which he owned. She had been seduced by Pepper, who had promised to marry her, she said, and had cohabited with him for about thirty years and had four children with him. The six of them together had worked hard at the labours of the farm and were attached to one another, the court heard, whereas Thomas Pepper was on bad terms with the rest of his family.
On three occasions over the years Pepper had made out wills in favour of Martha Campbell and their children, most recently in July 1858, when he felt himself to be ailing. The court heard testimony from various witnesses as to the validity of this last will, including from the solicitor’s clerk who had gone to Thomas Pepper’s house, sat beside him and taken down the will, dictated to him paragraph by paragraph. The clerk testified that Pepper was of above average intelligence, quite capable of managing his own affairs and had quite often been in the solicitor’s office to conduct business. This final will stipulated that Martha Campbell and her four children would inherit Thomas Pepper’s house and property and that it would revert to the Pepper family only after the last of them had died.
The Rev. Pepper, Thomas Pepper's heir at law, countered this by alleging that Martha Campbell was “a woman of the most abandoned character” who “by artifices and violence” had gained control of Thomas Pepper and his household. She had indeed married a man named Campbell but had left him; had, in fact, been fetched from Newry by Pepper himself and been brought to his house in Ballyworkan in a gig with his own cloak about her shoulders, and lived with him from that day on. It was denied that Thomas Pepper was the father of Martha Campbell’s children. Their father, it was claimed, was neither Thomas Pepper nor Martha Campbell’s deceased husband but someone altogether different!
Various witnesses were produced to paint a picture of a reign of terror exercised by Martha Campbell and her children over Pepper. He was portrayed as a man “of weak mind and eccentric character” who was known in the community derisively as “Dody Ass.” There was testimony that Pepper had been coerced into making his last will, even an allegation that a bribe had been offered to keep the conspiracy silent.
After the first day’s proceedings, the judge and jury were no doubt relieved to learn they would not be required to untangle this perplexing case after all, and the next morning it was announced that the defendant, Rev. Pepper, had conceded the validity of the will.
And that is why, in the Griffith Valuation, which I believe in the case of Ballyworkan dates to 1864, you will find the name Martha Campbell as the occupier of Thomas Pepper’s former lands.
Note on sources: "The Ballyworkan Riot and Affray Case" has been rewritten from articles in two Belfast newspapers, the Northern Whig (Wednesday 27 October 1858, pp. 3-4, and Thursday 28 October 1858, p. 3) and the Belfast News Letter (Thursday July 5, 1860, p. 4 and Friday, July 6, 1860, p. 3). All of these are available online at The British Newspaper Archive. (One sometimes has to try several different searches to find articles in this database, so don’t give up too easily. In fact it might be quicker to select the newspaper and date involved and navigate to the page you want.)