George Henry Lamson

Lamson was born on 8 September 1852. He was the son of Julia Wood Schuyler and William Orne Lamson, who married in 1850. His maternal grandfather was Robert Schuyler, himself the son of U.S. representative Philip Jeremiah Schuyler, the brother of Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton and brother-in-law of Alexander Hamilton. His uncle was Robert Sands Schuyler, a prominent New York architect. ==Career==

Lamson fought during the Franco-Prussian War with the French Ambulance Corps during the 1871 siege of Paris, receiving a Legion of Honour for his work. Lamson was tried at the Old Bailey in March 1882 before Mr Justice Hawkins and a jury; Montagu Williams acted for his defence: he was found guilty of murdering Percy in order to secure his share of the family trust fund, some £3,000 which Percy would have inherited on coming of age. He had poisoned his victim with aconitine in the cake, a substance which Lamson had learned about from Professor Robert Christison at Edinburgh University. Christison had taught that aconitine was undetectable, but forensic science had improved since Lamson's student days and the poison was easily identified, as well as Lamson's purchase of it from a London pharmacist. Lamson's execution was delayed when U.S. president Chester Arthur, Lamson was hanged by William Marwood at Wandsworth Prison on 28 April 1882, having admitted his morphine addiction and effectively his guilt of murdering Percy John. ==See also==