Subject

Banker and murder victim. He was beaten and robbed while he travelled on the 9.50pm train from Fenchurch Street to Chalk Farm. The assailant took his gold watch and gold spectacles, but left £5 in Briggs's pockets. His body was thrown from the compartment, and just after 10.00pm, the driver of a train travelling in the opposite direction spotted him lying on the embankment next to the tracks. He was taken to the nearby Mitford Castle public house (later renamed the 'Top O' the Morning') but died of his wounds.

Suspicion fell on a German tailor called Franz Müller, who, after being pursued to the USA, was tried, found guilty and publicly hanged outside Newgate Prison. The attack had taken place in a closed compartment, and the subsequent public reaction led to the introduction of communication cords and carriages with corridors.