THE trial and execution of a Bridport woman who was the inspiration behind a literary classic will be examined again in a television programme airing next week.

Martha Brown was tried and subsequently hanged in the summer of 1856 for the murder of her husband, John Brown. She was the last woman to be publicly hanged in Dorset.

She was executed outside the gates of Dorchester Prison in a public hanging witnessed by a young Thomas Hardy. It is widely believed the Mrs Brown and her hanging were the influence behind Hardy's 'Tess of the d'Urbervilles'.

BBC's Murder, Mystery and the Family returns to the case of Mrs Brown to further analyse whether she was given a fair trial and if she was acting in self defence.

The episode will air on BBC One at 11am on Wednesday, July 21 and will see barristers - prosecution lawyer Sasha Wass and defence lawyer Jeremy Dein QC - put the case to a judge who will re-examine the case and verdict.

A previous episode on the accusations against Mrs Brown was aired on August 6 2020 and featured the pair investigate the controversies surrounding the trial and whether Mrs Brown was in fact guilty.

Representatives from the programme contacted Bridport resident, Frances Williams, and her sister, Irene Craig - both of which are descendants of Martha’s brother-in-law. They have wanted the case to be re-examined since discovering it themselves and don't believe Mrs Brown should have been found guilty of murder.

Mrs Williams said: “I don't think she was given a fair trial, within a month she had been tried and executed.

"It was widely believed that Martha's husband was beating her. Someone like Martha wouldn't be up for murder today, it would more likely be manslaughter due to the provocation.

"The Home Secretary at the time had been under scrutiny from the press, with people saying he had been too lenient with women. So it's likely he rushed the trial through to save his reputation."

She added: "I think people will certainly be interested in the programme as some new information has come about that we didn't have at the time of filming the first programme."

The trial concluded just two weeks after Mr Brown’s death and the hanging went ahead two weeks later outside of Dorchester Prison, in front of a crowd of around 4,000 people.

There were witness reports that Mr Brown was abusive to his wife and had returned home drunk on the night, which suggests Mrs Brown may have been acting in self-defence.

Through documents found while researching the life of Martha Brown, local film-maker, Nick Gilbey, found out where Martha was buried within the walls of Dorchester Prison. He took Frances and Irene to the spot where Martha is buried so that they could lay flowers on her unmarked grave.