Firstly, James confirms that the George Harvey d'Egville living in Atherstone is indeed his brother. It's the first firm evidence that I've found and it shifts an assumption to a fact. I'd a lurking suspicion that the George of Atherstone might not be a connection of the famous James and less famous George at all. We do know that there were other Harvey d'Egvilles in the United Kingdom at the time and their connection, if any, is a mystery.
Secondly, the man who was wrongly hanged for murder in Barbados has either taken or was given the forenames that were current in the Harvey d'Egville family. We know that there was a Peter Hervez d'Aigueville who married at Portsea in the 1770s and a family who were active in East Anglia a little while afterwards. While the statistical odds of two people who share the same name meeting at a party are much less than one might think these names are quite rare.
I'm uncertain whether from what we know of James' character that we should believe this is a credible denial.
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| The Morning Post Saturday 13 December 1823 The British Library Board |
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