John Newbolt Hepburn

John Newbolt (or Newball) Hepburn was born in about 1769 and would become an Ensign in the British Navy, eventually stationed in the West Indies. During the "Vere Street Coterie" in 1810, a scandal involving a gay brothel called the White Swan in London. An acquaintance told authorities that Hepburn had a sexual relationship with a 16 year old drummer boy named Thomas White at the White Swan. Both were arrested and brought to London for trial for buggery. Upon conviction, they were both executed at Newgate Prison on March 7, 1811. Hepburn was 42 years old.