Später wurde behauptet, dass er bereits 1829 seinen Onkel Thomas Griffiths mit Strychnin vergiftet hätte, um in den Besitz von Linden House zu gelangen, wo er seine Kindheit verbracht hatte. ###>He had in his possession a quantity of strychnine, and it was widely suspected that he had poisoned, not only his sister-in-law, his uncle, but also his mother-in-law and a Norfolk friend, although this was never proved.