Joseph Ennever was born on April 23rd, 1786 in Walcot, Bath the second son of John Ennever, a cooper and his wife Sarah Hibbitt. He was a shoemaker by trade just like his older brother, George, and practised his livelyhood within the confines of the city. By 1806 Joseph and George Ennever were involved with a gang from Birmingham who made and passed forged Bank of England £1 notes. He and his brother were in the process of passing one of these notes to a shopkeeper, Elizabeth Williams, in January 1807. She or her husband obviously spotted the note was counterfeit and raised the alarm and while Joseph was apprehended his brother escaped until a later time. Joseph's trial which was held under the Lent Assizes was on March 26th at Taunton Castle during which time he was charged with twelve counts of forgery and uttering forged Bank of England notes. The solicitor for the Bank of England was a Thomas Glover who convinced the judge that Joseph was the principle forger. Punishment for this crime was particularly harsh in these days and the judge showed no mercy when he passed sentence of death without repreive." Let him be hanged by the neck until he be dead" as it was recorded on the Somerset Calendar. It was also noted that the people who testified at the trial or those who were involved in the suspects capture were given compensation and rewards for their time and efforts. The execution date was to be set for April 22nd, 1807 and was to take place at a site known as Gallows Field, just half a mile South of Ilchester and just West off the Yeovil Road. Several people were to be executed on this day including another convict called James Watts who was sentenced on the same day as Joseph for a similar crime. Execution days were considered to be a day of revelry and drunkeness and treated like a "fun fair"for all the family. The the grim spectacle also attracted all manner of low life and petty criminal elements and one can imagine the crowd jostling for the best view when the condemed approached the scaffold. In the Bath Journal dated April 29th, 1807 it stated that Joseph's behavior leading up to the final moment was "exemplary" and described him as"a shoemaker of this city, a young man of rather reputable character until his connection with a gang of forgers". In The Times newspaper on the same day it described that "several children were taken by their parents all the way from Bath to Ilchester about 40 miles on purpose that they might be touched by one of the criminals whilst suspended as a charm against the king's evil"-in other words, to ward off tuberculosis. Joseph died one day short of his 21st birthday. His body was taken by his family back to Bath where he was buried in Weston. Thankfully, his body was saved from the fate of surgical dissection which was usually given to those executed during this period. George Ennever, on the other hand remained at large during his brothers ordeal and by this time he had changed his name to Morris but incredibly, was still involved in the forgery game. George was later captured at Warwick and sentenced to transportation to Australia where a he led a happy and prosperous life.