A Grim Almanac of Leicestershire E-Book

Nicola Sly

• Herausgeber: The History Press
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2013

Beschreibung

A Grim Almanac of Leicestershire is a day-by-day catalogue of 366 macabre moments from the county's past. Featured here are such diverse tales as mining disasters, freak weather conditions, industrial catastrophes, train crashes and tragic accidents, including the Oadby woman who was killed by a wasp sting in 1925 and Dorothy Cain, who performed her first ever parachute jump in 1926 — without her parachute. Among the murders detailed in this volume are the assisted suicide of the vicar of Hungerton in 1925, and the unsolved 'Green Bicycle Murder' of 1919 at Little Stretton. Generously illustrated with 100 pictures, this chronicle is an entertaining and readable record of Leicestershire's grim past. Read on... if you dare!

Leseprobe

CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE

INTRODUCTION & ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

BIBLIOGRAPHY

ALSO BY THE AUTHOR

COPYRIGHT

INTRODUCTION & ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I have now written several books for The History Press in their Grim Almanac series but, for me, this one was especially enjoyable to write, since it is about Leicestershire, the county where I was born and where I spent the first twenty-nine years of my life. (It even features two of my ancestors.)

The true stories within are sourced entirely from the contemporary newspapers listed in the bibliography at the rear of the book. However, much as today, not all reporting was accurate and there were frequent discrepancies between publications, with differing dates, names and spellings. There are also some Leicestershire villages, such as Quorndon / Quorn, which have changed their names over time. I have used whichever version was current at the time of the featured incident.

I would like to thank Matilda Richards, my editor at The History Press, for her help, encouragement and enthusiasm in bringing this book to print. As always, my husband Richard remains a constant source of support, as does ‘Harris’ – a great friend for more than forty years – who corrected my memory of the county of Leicestershire on more than one occasion.

Every effort has been made to clear copyright; however, my apologies to anyone I may have inadvertently missed. I can assure you it was not deliberate but an oversight on my part.

Nicola Sly, 2013

JANUARY

Loughborough Market Place and Town Hall, 1960s. (Author’s collection)

1 JANUARY 1899 Peter Hubbard lived and worked with his uncle, sixty-eight-year-old Josiah Hubbard, at the village bakery in Bitteswell. On 2 January, their assistant, Thomas Church, reported for work at 6.30 a.m. and was greeted by Peter, who asked him to fetch some brandy as he didn’t feel well. On his return to the bakery, Church was appalled to find a large pool of blood on the floor and, when he questioned Peter, he was told that Josiah had fallen. The elderly man lay dead in the bake house with extensive injuries, apparently caused by a blunt instrument, although when blood and grey hairs were found on Peter Hubbard’s boots, the doctors concluded that he had kicked his uncle to death.

An inquest held by coroner George Bouskell returned a verdict of wilful murder against twenty-eight-year-old Peter, who was committed for trial at the next assizes. Peter claimed to have knocked his uncle down and kicked him during an argument on 1 January about Peter’s desire to get married. However, the medical superintendent of the Leicester Borough Asylum and the prison surgeon were both of the opinion that Peter was ‘feeble-minded’ and deficient in understanding.

Both Peter’s parents had spent time in a lunatic asylum and he was found guilty but insane. He was ordered to be detained during Her Majesty’s pleasure and died in November 1926, while still in custody.

Leicester County Police were heavily criticised for allowing Church to get on with the day’s baking after the body was found, having moved the corpse into the next room.

2 JANUARY 1899 Intending to wash his knives and tools, Leicester pork butcher Joseph Henry Hillyer filled a tin bath with boiling water and placed it in his back yard. He momentarily left the bath unattended while he went to collect something from indoors but rushed back when he heard screaming. He was horrified to find that his four-year-old son had climbed into the bath. Joseph Henry Hillyer junior was badly scalded from the waist down and died from shock that night in the Leicester Infirmary.

At an inquest on 4 January, coroner Robert Harvey recorded a verdict of ‘accidental death’.

3 JANUARY 1907 Kate Morley of Loughborough woke to find all three of her sons dead in their beds. An inquest was opened and adjourned for post-mortem examinations on the boys, who were aged five, three and one year old.

When the inquest concluded on 11 February, doctors stated that the boys died from ‘carbonic oxide gas poisoning’, due to the inhalation of fumes from the coal fire in their bedroom. The police testified that the chimney was so caked with soot that there was no draft at all until a chimney sweep was brought in to clear it.

The coroner stressed that Kate was a good mother and the jury returned verdicts in accordance with the medical evidence.

4 JANUARY 1886 Selina Mary Redfin was playing in a field in Snarestone, which was used as a public recreation ground. The canal ran through a tunnel beneath the field and, at the tunnel’s end, only an 18-inch high parapet protected the children from a 24-foot drop into the canal below.

When nine-year-old Selina toppled into the water, another girl tried to reach her with a stick, while two more children ran for help. Two men raced back to the canal with them but, by the time they got there, all they could see was Selina’s hat floating on the water.

Coroner George F. Harrison recalled another fatal accident at the same place a few years earlier, at which time a request was made to the canal company to do something about the dangerous parapet. However, shortly afterwards, ownership of the canal passed to the Midland Railway Company and the coroner’s recommendations were not acted upon.

In returning a verdict of ‘accidentally drowned’, the jury asked the coroner to write to the railway, calling their attention to the danger and recommending that the parapet should be at least 4 feet high, with narrow coping on top to prevent children from walking on it.

5 JANUARY 1823 Joseph Hurst and William Peet had a trifling dispute at Hinckley, which they resolved to settle by fighting. It was obvious that Peet was getting the worst of the bout and spectators separated the two youths after just a few blows had been exchanged. The men shook hands and Peet was taken into a nearby cottage, where he expired within seconds. Horrified, Hurst handed himself in to the police to await the coroner’s inquest.

Fortunately for Hurst, the inquest found that Peet ‘died from excessive passion and not by blows received from his antagonist’. No criminal charges were brought against Hurst in connection with Peet’s death.

6 JANUARY 1897 A rent collector visiting a property in Loughborough found the tenant dead. Seventy-year-old Harriett Rushden (or Rushton) lay on a heap of rags on the floor, naked apart from a bodice. Her emaciated body was filthy and verminous and her house so disgusting that coroner Henry Deane ordered it to be cleaned before he would allow the inquest jury inside.

Having been ill with bronchitis, Harriett had been of concern to her neighbours for many months – according to Ann Dickens, she was destitute and had to pawn things to survive. Mrs Dickens had supplied her with food and coal and had also lent her money, although she could ill afford to do so.

Harriett was well known to the local relieving officer but when Francis J. Rowbotham visited, she refused to allow him into the house, telling him to mind his own business. Neighbours believed that Harriett would be better off in the Workhouse, but having been rebuffed, Rowbotham washed his hands of her and said that he could not intervene unless Harriett herself asked him to.

The inquest jury returned a verdict of death from natural causes but asked the coroner to investigate Rowbotham’s conduct. Accordingly, Mr Deane asked the Board of Guardians to carry out a thorough enquiry.

When the clerk to the Guardians reported back, he advised the coroner that there was plenty of food in Harriett’s house including bacon, bread, tea, sugar, oatmeal and a roast duck, as well as jars of beef extract. There were also seventeen rabbits, although these had been kept for so long that they were unfit for eating. Harriett had lots of clothes and bedclothes, which were folded and wrapped in tissue paper. She also had two shillings in cash and several valuable pieces of jewellery.

7 JANUARY 1943 An inquest held by coroner Mr E. Tempest Bouskell into the deaths of five soldiers concluded in South Croxton. When an army lorry carrying twenty soldiers crashed in the village on 7 December 1942, four men were pulled from the wreckage dead, a fifth dying in hospital on 29 December.

During the blackout necessitated by the Second World War, the lorry was driving without headlights. The vehicles had a tendency to pull to the left and the country lane was bordered by high hedges and trees, which gave the impression of travelling along a tunnel. Driver J. Stoddart stated that he was driving very slowly owing to the fact that he had no lights. He felt a bump and suspected that he was on the grass verge, so braked and then released his brakes to avoid skidding, at which point the lorry hit a tree.

The inquest returned five verdicts of ‘accidental death’ on Privates Leslie John Oliver (32), Edwin Dare (19), George Sharples (25), Leslie Robertson (30), and Martin Kelly (23).

8 JANUARY 1900 A new kiln was under construction at a brickyard in Loughborough. The outside walls were finished and the framework supporting the arched inner roof had been removed three weeks earlier but, on 8 January, while several men were working on the top of the kiln, it collapsed. James White shouted a warning to his colleagues, who scrambled clear, but White himself didn’t make it and was buried by debris, dying instantly from crushed chest walls.

The kiln had been inspected several times after the timber supports were removed and was judged safe – indeed, it had supported up to twelve men, more than double the number on the roof when the collapse occurred. The only possible explanation was that the incident occurred on Monday morning and it had rained heavily since the men finished work on Saturday, possibly softening the clay and weakening the unsupported ceiling.

Baxter Gate, Loughborough. (Author’s collection)

At the inquest into White’s death, the coroner advised the jury to consider whether there was any negligence or if this was a totally unforeseeable accident. The jury returned a verdict of ‘accidental death’, although they recommended that the supports should be left in any future kilns until construction was complete.

9 JANUARY 1886 Although Millington’s Pit in Leicester was private property, it was close to a recreation ground and when it froze over, people flocked to skate and slide on it.

On 9 January the ice broke, sending two men and six boys into the water. The men and three boys were rescued but Joseph Winterton Bennett (10), William Alton (11), and Harry Swingler (13) drowned.

Coroner George F. Harrison held an inquest, at which witness Alfred Sarson claimed to be a member of an organisation called The Railway Ambulance Society. Sarson was fully trained in artificial respiration and was convinced that he could have saved the boys had he been permitted to do so, but told the coroner that members of the public refused to let him assist, insisting on trying their own methods of resuscitation, which were completely ineffective.

The three deaths were not the first to have occurred at the pit, which was referred to as ‘a mantrap’. The jury returned verdicts of ‘accidental death’, adding a rider that the pit should be filled up or fenced. They asked the coroner to severely reprimand the owner, who had been warned about the dangerous state of the pit and had failed to take action.

10 JANUARY 1893 Three boys decided to walk across the frozen River Soar but the ice broke when they reached the middle. Two young boys saw the accident and heard one of those in the water shout ‘Come and get me out,’ but neither witness was able to swim and there was nobody else in sight who might have attempted a rescue. By the time Thomas Dawson and Joseph Tarry had raced home and told their parents what had happened, there was no possibility of recovering anyone from the river alive. At an inquest held by coroner Robert Harvey, the deaths of eight-year-olds Joseph Manship and William Ward and seven-year-old William Burton were deemed ‘accidental drowning’.

11 JANUARY 1876 The Groby Granite Company had a three-mile-long railway line to their works and, on 11 January, eight men were riding on an engine, pulling three waggons laden with granite to the weighing machine (six were quarrymen, going for their dinners).

Without warning, the train derailed and overturned, trapping four men beneath it. One scrambled out with only minor injuries but James Gamble, William Grimes and Ralph Richards were all more seriously injured. Grimes and Richards are believed to have survived the accident but, on 14 January, Gamble was still complaining of terrible pain and was taken to the Leicester Infirmary, where he died from internal bleeding.

Central buildings, Leicester Infirmary. (Author’s collection)

An inquest held by coroner George F. Harrison learned that the track and engine were well maintained, although there was one place on the line where the ground had sunk slightly. Nobody considered this a serious safety issue and the train had progressed at least 10 yards past the defective section of line when it left the rails. The most likely explanation for the accident was the frosty weather and, having heard this, the jury returned a verdict of ‘accidental death’.

12 JANUARY 1892 Coroner Mr G.A. Bartlett held an inquest into the death of five-year-old Alfred Barrowcliffe.

When George Biggs went to Syston on 9 January, his landlord’s son, Alfred, begged to be allowed to go too. Once George completed his business, they went to Syston Station to catch the train back to Leicester. George sat Alfred on a seat in the weighing shed and made him promise to stay there while he went to buy their tickets. Alfred had an orange and some biscuits and George left him eating them and went to the booking office on the opposite side of the line. He was gone for less than three minutes but when he returned, Alfred had disappeared.

There was only one other person on the platform, a Mr Morris, who told George that he had not seen Alfred since the express train went through a minute or so earlier. George alerted station staff then began searching for Alfred but was interrupted by Morris, who shouted that Alfred had been found. His terribly mutilated body lay on the railway line and footprints in the snow on the platform suggested that he had walked off the edge.

Nobody had actually seen the accident but it seemed probable that Alfred became anxious on his own and tried to find Biggs. The inquest jury returned a verdict of ‘accidental death’.

13 JANUARY 1862 Farmer Edward Dunmore of Staunton Wyville hired a steam-driven threshing machine from Henry Butcher, which proved far from satisfactory. It had numerous leaks, the pump was faulty, the water gauge was broken, it kept stalling and, at midday, it broke down yet again. Twelve men gathered round, watching Butcher repair a pipe with string and red lead, grumbling all the while about how unreliable the machine had become, when the boiler suddenly exploded.

Thomas Lee was blown 40 yards into a ditch, dying instantly. William Woolman’s body parts were scattered far and wide, his head travelling 30 yards in one direction, his leg 15 yards in another, and the rest of his body flying more than 50 yards. Samuel Ashby was struck on the chest by a boiler part and died instantly, while George Woolman was seriously injured and died within hours. Five more were injured, although all eventually recovered.

An inquest deemed that the deaths were ‘owing to the culpable negligence of Butcher and his partner William Bloxam’. When the coroner pointed out that this was manslaughter, seven of the jury baulked and eventually the coroner agreed to receive the verdict as delivered and leave the magistrates to decide if the two men should be formally charged.

Both were committed for trial at the Leicestershire Assizes, although the Grand Jury found no bill against Bloxam, leaving Butcher to face a charge of ‘feloniously killing and slaying’ the four men. His defence counsel blamed the tragedy on Samuel Ashby, who was feeding the boiler with water. It was suggested that, observing the leakage, Samuel screwed down the safety valve as far as possible, thinking it would prevent too much water flowing into the boiler. Unfortunately, this prevented the escape of steam and the pressure caused the boiler to explode. The fact that the safety valve was found screwed to within two threads of the bottom convinced the jury to give Butcher the benefit of the doubt and he was acquitted.

14 JANUARY 1895 Coroner Robert Harvey held an inquest at Leicester on the deaths of a father and son.

On 12 January, policemen were posted along the canal banks, warning people not to venture onto the highly dangerous ice, but most people ignored them. Thus there were numerous people on the canal when eleven-year-old Frank Arthur Perkins fell through the ice near Walnut Road Bridge. His fifty-two-year-old father, William, went to his assistance but he too fell in. Other skaters flocked to help and before long there were six people in the water, only four of whom were saved.

People tried to throw ropes but they proved too short, as did a ladder that was pushed across the ice. Someone fetched a life buoy but it broke on entering the water. Eventually, somebody placed a gate in the water, sliding it underneath the two casualties. Perkins and his son were dragged to the bank but were pronounced dead at the scene.

The inquest jury returned a verdict of ‘accidental death’ on both father and son and asked the coroner to commend PC Harvey. Although wearing a uniform, complete with greatcoat, leggings, heavy boots and ice skates, Harvey managed to tread water for almost twenty minutes, holding Perkins under the armpits and keeping his head above water.

15 JANUARY 1897 Lettice and George Lee lead almost separate lives. Lettice worked as a charwoman and shared one bedroom at their home in Leicester with their seven children, while George lived on an allowance from his sister, bought and cooked his own food, and had his own bedroom. However, the couple must have enjoyed a relationship of sorts, since on 3 January, Lettice suffered a miscarriage.

A neighbour nursed Lettice for a few days, until twelve-year-old Maud told her that she would be caring for her mother in future. The neighbour told George Lee that he must get medical help for his wife, which he agreed to do. However, it wasn’t until 15 January, when Lettice was at death’s door, that he fetched a doctor and, even then, he failed to stress the severity of her condition and she was dead when the surgeon arrived. The doctor was certain that, had he been called earlier, he could have saved her life and an inquest returned a verdict of manslaughter by gross and wilful neglect against Mr Lee.

When he appeared before magistrates, George made a statement, against the advice of his solicitor. He said that he had not known how ill his wife was, claiming that she was terrified of going into hospital and refused to allow him to call a doctor, continually reassuring him that she was fine and he should not worry. ‘There was no wilful negligence, only negligence through ignorance,’ concluded Mr Lee.

The magistrates committed him for trial at the assizes, where he was found guilty. However, since one of George Lee’s daughters confirmed hearing her mother say that she did not want a doctor, the judge sentenced him to just nine months’ imprisonment, with hard labour.

16 JANUARY 1899 As baker’s wife Mary Ann Barnett of Somerby prepared bread and cheese to be sent out to a boy working in the fields, she suddenly gave a strangled cry.

Her husband caught her as she collapsed but was unable to ascertain what the matter was and sent for a doctor, who realised that Mary Ann had something lodged in her gullet and was choking. With assistance from the village constable, the doctor tried unsuccessfully to clear the obstruction, keeping up artificial respiration for some time, but Mary Ann never regained consciousness and died from suffocation. An inquest held by coroner Mr A.H. Marsh returned a verdict of ‘death from misadventure.’

17 JANUARY 1891 Josiah Dakin (23), Thomas Porter (18), and Edward Hull (17) decided to go skating on the River Soar at Sileby. Job Bailey was spearing eels in the river and, when they asked him about the condition of the ice, he replied that it was safe enough at that particular spot but he couldn’t vouch for its condition up or downstream. After Edward tested the ice by jumping on it, the three skated off towards Cossington Mill.

Clifton Bunney was putting on his skates when his friends suddenly vanished from view. He and Bailey ran to where the men had fallen through the ice but Josiah and Thomas had already disappeared, while Edward clung to edge of the broken ice, begging for someone to get him out. Bailey tried to reach him with his eel spear but it was too short. He also tried to walk across the ice but it cracked and he was forced to retreat. He and Bunney watched helplessly as Edward grew too exhausted to hold on and the water closed over him.

The three men were recovered with drags and an inquest ruled that they had accidentally drowned. The ice on the sides of the river was around 5 inches thick and the inquest jury spent some time pondering why it was so much thinner in the middle. They concluded that chemicals and sewage flowing from Leicester, coupled with a fast current, were unlikely to make ‘good ice’.

18 JANUARY 1899 Shortly after midday, two-and-a-half-year-old William Pryor fell into a brook at the rear of his parents’ house in Leicester. The brook was swollen and fast-flowing after recent heavy rain and the toddler was swept away. He was spotted downstream by construction workers who managed to get him out, but by then, William had drowned.

There had been numerous complaints about the low brick wall separating the brook from gardens in Cottesmore Road, which had completely collapsed in places. William had already fallen in twice before and been rescued but, even so, no attempt was made to fence off the water and this occasion proved third time unlucky for the child.

19 JANUARY 1899 Deputy-coroner Mr W.A. Clarke held an inquest into the death of Eliza, the newborn daughter of Henry Barradale and his wife of Leicester.

According to Mrs Barradale, her husband refused to fetch the midwife when she went into labour, telling her, ‘I hope you die.’ By the time a neighbour realised that Mrs Barradale needed assistance, it was too late. Midwife Mrs Plumb arrived to find the baby drowned in the ‘night commode’ and sent for Dr Lewitt.

At the inquest, Dr Lewitt stated that he saw the baby shortly after midday on 18 January. He was sure that she was born alive and asked Mrs Barradale why she had not sent for someone earlier.

Barradale actually walked past Mrs Plumb’s house on his way to work. At the inquest, he denied having been asked to fetch her, saying that although his wife had been ill all night, he hadn’t realised that her confinement was imminent. He insisted that all that she asked for that morning was a cup of tea, which he made for her.

Unfortunately, Mrs Barradale’s testimony before the coroner was hearsay evidence and although Clarke told the jury that he had not the slightest doubt that she was speaking the truth, there was no legal redress for Barradale’s gross misconduct.

The jury returned a verdict of ‘accidental death’, adding that mere words were not strong enough to express their opinion of Barradale, who they described as ‘an inhuman monster’.

20 JANUARY 1895 Fifty-year-old Elizabeth Sharman appeared at Leicester Borough Police Court charged with cruelly ill-treating Percy Ambrose Tollington between 1 October 1894 and 1 January 1895.

One-year-old Percy was an illegitimate baby, whose mother paid Mrs Sharman 3s a week to look after him. However, Miss Tollington was in arrears and Mrs Sharman seemed to think she could just stop feeding Percy until she was paid. A doctor called by the NSPCC found that Percy weighed around 12lbs, when he should have weighed more than 20lbs. He was emaciated, filthy and malodorous, and covered from head to foot in running sores.

On her first appearance before magistrates, Mrs Sharman complained that Percy’s mother owed her 22s and she could not afford to keep the child for nothing. She insisted that Percy had plenty of food, suggesting that he had inherited consumption from his father as the more he ate, the thinner he got. Mrs Sharman detailed Percy’s diet, including patent baby food, milk and boiled bread, but her milkman was called as a witness and insisted that she only spent 1d a day on milk, far less than she claimed to give Percy.

At Mrs Sharman’s request, the hearing was adjourned so that she might call more witnesses. However, when proceedings resumed on 20 January, the only new witnesses were Mrs Sharman’s daughter and neighbour.

Hearing that Percy had gained 2lbs in three weeks in the Workhouse, magistrates found that Mrs Sharman had neglected him and imposed a fine of £2 or fourteen days’ imprisonment in default.

21 JANUARY 1934 Four young boys were playing on the canal bank at South Wigston when one fell in. Seeing his four-year-old brother, Belmont, floundering in the water, eight-year-old Eric Sharp stripped off his clothes and jumped in, even though he couldn’t swim. Meanwhile, five-year-old Royston Dilks went to two men fishing nearby and told them that there were two little boys in the water but the men quickly packed up their fishing gear and bicycled away, leaving the Sharp brothers to drown.

At the inquest held by coroner George Bouskell, Royston was the chief witness and Bouskell informed the jury that, so far, the police had been unable to trace the men. If Royston’s story was true – and Bouskell had no reason to doubt it – then, in direct contrast to Eric’s bravery, the anglers had been callous and un-English in allowing the children to drown. The jury returned two verdicts of ‘accidental death’.

22 JANUARY 1883 Italian Dominic Mossorella appeared at the Leicestershire Assizes charged with the wilful murder of James Green on 5 November 1882.

Green died during a street fight in Leicester between two Italians and two Irishmen. According to witnesses, five Italians walked past the Irishmen and, after an exchange of words between the groups, two doubled back and challenged Michael Gavin and James Allen to a fight. After being knocked down, Mossorella got to his feet and stabbed Green, an innocent bystander, severing his femoral artery and causing him to bleed to death.

At Mossorella’s trial the judge stated that, had Gavin or Allen been killed, Mossorella would have been charged with manslaughter, since the fight would have ‘excited his passion’ and temporarily prevented him from having full control of himself. The judge suggested that, in the dark street, it was not unreasonable for Mossorella to mistake Green for one of the party by whom he had been knocked down and instructed the jury that they should only find him guilty of murder if they believed that he was aware that Green had taken no part in the quarrel.

The jury found Mossorella guilty of manslaughter and he was sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment. He was followed into the dock by Giuseppe Valvona, who was charged with maliciously wounding Gavin, with intent to do grievous bodily harm. Valvona was found guilty and sentenced to eighteen months’ imprisonment.

23 JANUARY 1880 William Swain Antill appeared at the Leicestershire Assizes charged with shooting with intent to murder.

On 30 September 1879, Rothley farmer Samuel Priestley Simpson was walking to Mountsorrel and caught up with twenty-two-year-old Antill. The men walked on together and, when Simpson had concluded his business, he saw Antill shivering in a doorway. Antill told Simpson that he was planning to walk into Leicester and, seeing how cold the young man was, Simpson invited him to warm himself at his home on the way. When they arrived at Simpson’s farmhouse, he went into the parlour to light a fire and, as he was doing so, Antill entered the room. Suddenly, a shot was fired, the bullet passing through Simpson’s coat collar and lodging in his jaw. Antill told Simpson that he had fired the pistol for a lark and meant to hit the ceiling. He then left hurriedly, but was apprehended the next day in Loughborough.

Even at his trial, Antill continued to insist that he intended only to play a practical joke on Simpson, but nobody found his actions amusing and he was sentenced to twelve months’ hard labour.

24 JANUARY 1948 Frank Timson’s taxi was called to The Grand Hotel, Leicester, to take a couple to Kitchener Road. As they got into the car, the man handed the driver £1, saying that it would cover the fare plus a generous tip, but, as Frank turned to thank him, he realised that the man was holding a gun to the woman’s head.

The Grand Hotel, Leicester. (Author’s collection)

Ordering Frank to drive, the man handed him a further £7. ‘When we get there, fetch the police,’ he instructed, asking Frank to mention that there were letters in his pocket. When they reached Kitchener Road, the woman climbed out of the car. ‘I don’t care. I’m not frightened,’ she said, before her companion fired several shots at point-blank range, fatally injuring her before turning the gun on himself.

Frank asked the occupant of a nearby house to send for the police and an ambulance and, when he returned to his cab, the shooter was struggling to reload his automatic pistol. The police disarmed him and he was taken to hospital, as was the woman, who was identified as Joan Henson. Her killer was Polish Air Force Squadron Leader Josef Zadawski.

Joan was married, but met and fell in love with Zadawski while her husband was serving abroad. Zadawski was also married but before long he and Joan were living as man and wife. Joan gave birth to their son in 1946 but left Zadawski the following year, when he was about to be sent back to Poland. He had hoped to take Joan and their son with him, so he invited her to The Grand to try and get her back, but, although he showed her his gun and threatened to kill them both if she wouldn’t return, she refused to change her mind.

Josef survived to be tried for wilful murder at the Leicester Assizes on 15 March. His defence counsel plumped for an insanity defence, suggesting that Joan’s behaviour had pushed the already mentally troubled Zadawski over the edge. It was a persuasive argument and, when the jury found him guilty but insane, he was ordered to be detained during His Majesty’s pleasure.

25 JANUARY 1863 When Mr Flaville and his family returned to their home in Ashby Folville from church, they were alarmed to find their servant, William Harvey, slumped over the kitchen table, dead from a gunshot wound under his right ear. The family’s other servant, Thomas Buswell, was apprehended in Leicester the next morning, when he told the police that his name was Thomas Brown and denied ever having visited Ashby Folville. However, when searched at the police station, a letter addressed to Thomas Buswell, Ashby Folville, was found in his pocket, along with Harvey’s prayer book.

His cover blown, Buswell admitted to shooting Harvey but swore that he intended only to scare him. While making up the fire, he saw Flaville’s gun standing in a corner and loaded it with a cap. He crept up behind Harvey, who was writing a letter, and pulled the trigger, expecting nothing worse than a loud bang. Unfortunately, the gun was loaded.

Fifteen-year-old Buswell was tried for wilful murder at the Leicestershire Assizes in March. He and Harvey shared a room and even a bed at their place of work and, since there was no suggestion of any quarrel between them, the jury seemed to accept the defence’s explanation that Harvey’s death was the tragic result of an ill-advised practical joke and found Buswell guilty of manslaughter only. The judge stated that he was taking into account Buswell’s youth, while at the same time awarding a sentence that would give a warning to those who were wicked or insane enough to take up a gun to frighten anyone, without first checking to see if it was loaded. He decided on two years’ imprisonment, with hard labour.

Ashby Folville. (Author’s collection)

26 JANUARY 1897 An inquest at Leicester Town Hall returned verdicts of ‘accidental death’ on three boys, who died after falling through ice.

On 24 January, people began skating and sliding on the canal at Aylestone, ignoring warnings from the police that it was unsafe. (Witnesses later stated that the ice was so thin that it rocked as people passed over it.) Between Boundary Road and Batten Street, the ice gave way beneath James Boot (14), Matthew Henry Barratt (14) and George Edward Narroway (10), who all fell into the water. One boy managed to scramble onto the ice but was pulled back into the water by his terrified friends. Bystanders held out a pole to the boys and several people locked hands and tried to reach them, while George Herbert walked across the ice, but he too had to be rescued when it failed to support his weight.

Men from the local gasworks helped drag the canal but it was ninety minutes before the first body was recovered, and the third was not retrieved until the following morning. PC Dixey told the inquest that he personally had warned hundreds of people about venturing onto the ice that day but was largely ignored.

Note: Even within the same newspaper article, there is variation in the boys’ names and ages. Barratt is referred to as both Matthew Henry and Alfred Henry, aged 12 or 14. James Boot’s age is variously given as 13 and 14.

27 JANUARY 1827 Mary Measures, the landlady of The Queen’s Head Inn at Ashby-de-la-Zouch, sent her servants to bed at around midnight, saying that she would follow shortly. Sometime later, Ann Hill was concerned that her mistress still hadn’t come to bed and went downstairs to check on her.

She found Mrs Measures lying on the hearth, the kitchen full of acrid smoke. With the sole exception of her corset stays, all of her clothes had been burned from her body and her torso and limbs were badly scorched. Ann gave a terrible shriek and Mrs Measures told her, ‘Don’t make a noise; I shall be better presently.’ Ann threw some water over Mrs Measures then, at her request, assisted her upstairs to her bed, where she languished until her death on 4 February. She remained lucid until the end but had no memory of how she came to be on fire, other than remembering holding a lighted candle. Mrs Measures did not cry out for help so it was assumed that she was unconscious when the fire started and an inquest jury surmised that, since a candle was found underneath her, she had probably suffered a fit or stroke and fallen onto the flame, setting her clothes on fire. A verdict of ‘accidental death’ was recorded.

28 JANUARY 1897 Six-year-old Elizabeth Thompson of Leicester came home from school sobbing and revealed that Charles Stenton had given her an apple, before taking her into a stable and sexually assaulting her.

The NSPCC got wind of the case and Inspector Ritchings took it upon himself to visit Stenton and take him to Elizabeth’s home, where he questioned him about her allegations. Stenton admitted taking Elizabeth into the stable but denied assaulting her in any way. He was charged with criminal assault and appeared at the Leicestershire Assizes in February. When Ritchings was admonished for exceeding his authority and asked if his actions were sanctioned by the society, he admitted to acting on his own initiative. He was then asked if he thought that Stenton was ‘of particularly bright intellect’ and replied, ‘His manner appeared guilty,’ which the judge deemed a highly improper remark.

With or without the testimony of Inspector Ritchings, the jury found eighteen-year-old Stenton guilty of criminal assault but recommended mercy on account of his youth and lack of intelligence. He was sentenced to four years’ penal servitude, at which his mother went into hysterics and had to be removed from the court.

29 JANUARY 1870 Frederick Bennett was employed as an under-shunter by the Midland Railway Company and, at around midday, he and Thomas Foster were shunting waggons, which they intended to couple to an engine.

Foster signalled for the engine to come a little closer and, as it did, nineteen-year-old Bennett slipped on a patch of ice and one of the wheels ran over his left foot. The train was moving so slowly that driver Dick Bryan was able to stop immediately, before any further damage was done. Bennett was taken to the Leicester Infirmary, where he was found to have a crushed foot and a 3-inch long wound across his instep. Within days, the wound was swollen and suppurating, causing Bennett a great deal of pain, and he grew gradually weaker until 5 March, when he finally succumbed to his injuries.

Throughout his spell in hospital, Bennett continually stressed that nobody was to blame for his injury, saying that he had simply slipped. Coroner John Gregory recorded the jury’s verdict of ‘accidental death’ at the subsequent inquest.

30 JANUARY 1868 As thirteen-year-old Mary Ann Quenby and her friend walked through fields at Shepshed, they were overtaken by a man, who grabbed Mary Ann’s friend and sexually assaulted her. The girl managed to escape but as she ran away, the man turned his attentions to Mary Ann. By the time help arrived he had fled, leaving Mary Ann to limp home, where a medical examination confirmed that she had been brutally assaulted.

Both girls were confident that they could identify their attacker and gave an excellent description of the clothes he was wearing. However, when twenty-four-year-old Samuel Wain was arrested, the most compelling evidence against him was that he was suffering from a venereal disease, which he transmitted to Mary Ann while attempting to rape her.

Found guilty at the Leicestershire Assizes of ‘feloniously assaulting and ravishing’, Wain was sentenced to two years imprisonment with hard labour.

31 JANUARY 1894 After labourer George Remington beat his wife with a chair, Esther, who had been married to him for fourteen years and borne him five children, finally left him. Two days later, George tracked her down and asked her to come back. When she refused, he punched her in the face, knocking her down, and kicking her as she lay on the ground.

One week later, George was brought before magistrates at Leicester Borough Police Court charged with assault. When magistrates heard that Esther had not seen a doctor, they stopped the hearing and sent for one, who found that she was black and blue all over and told magistrates that her extensive bruising could well have been caused by a chair.

Remington had a long string of previous convictions, mostly for assaults on the police or on women, and his wife was adamant that she would never live with him again. Magistrates granted her a separation order, giving her custody of the three youngest children and ordered Remington to pay 7s 6d a week maintenance, before sentencing him to six months’ imprisonment with hard labour for the assault. ‘I shall not pay it. I would sooner be hung,’ vowed Remington, as he was led from the dock to start his sentence.

FEBRUARY

Leicester city police station, 1946. (Author’s collection)

1 FEBRUARY 1868 As Joseph Rudkin stood talking near the Abbey Meadow Gate in Leicester, a woman walked past carrying a little girl in her arms. Rudkin knew her as Emma Jane Crofts, an alcoholic who led a very dissolute life, and there was something about her manner that disturbed Rudkin so much that he followed her.

He passed his own home, where his wife was standing at the gate. ‘I believe that woman is going to drown herself,’ Rudkin told her. He almost caught up with Emma and shouted, ‘What are you going to do?’ at which she ran to the canal, hurled the child into the water and jumped in herself.

Rudkin raced to his house for drags and, when he returned to the canal bank, Emma had been swept 20 yards towards Belgrave. Rudkin threw the drag towards her but it fell short and, in his excitement, he let the rope slip through his hands. He fetched his boat and managed to rescue the child, passing her to neighbours, then retrieved his drag with a rake and began dragging for Emma, who had now disappeared. She was eventually pulled from the water dead and, sadly, it proved impossible to revive her nineteen-month-old daughter, Amy Preston Crofts.

An inquest held on 3 February heard that Emma took to drink after her husband left and went to America. Amy was the result of a relationship after Emma’s marriage ended, but that too broke down. Since then, Emma had threatened suicide numerous times and had previously been prevented from drowning herself and from taking an overdose of laudanum. The inquest determined that ‘the deceased woman drowned herself and child when in an unsound state of mind, brought on by excesses of alcohol.’

2 FEBRUARY 1894 Twelve-year-old Norman Colson and his fourteen-year-old brother, Douglas, were playing in a field with pupils from Milton College, Countesthorpe, when a sudden landslip left the brothers buried up to their waists in sand and earth. Neither boy was hurt but as they struggled to free themselves, a further fall buried them completely.

Their companions raised the alarm and several men quickly began digging. Douglas was rescued, exhausted but unharmed, but it took more than half an hour to find Norman, by which time he had suffocated.

At an inquest held at the college the following day, the coroner recorded a verdict of ‘accidental death’.

3 FEBRUARY 1898 Deputy Coroner Mr A.H. Marsh held an inquest at Croxton Kerrial into the death of farmer George Cobley.

The day before, sixty-four-year-old Cobley was working on a threshing machine. His farm labourer, Albert Bailey, was passing corn to Cobley, who was feeding it into the machine but Cobley asked to change places with Bailey and, as they switched, Cobley stumbled. His arm went into the machinery and was ripped off at the shoulder.

A doctor was in attendance within minutes but Cobley died from shock and blood loss. The inquest jury returned a verdict of ‘death from misadventure’.

4 FEBRUARY 1891 At Sketchley Dye Works in Hinckley, seventeen-year-old Charles Payne and his workmate, Mr Hogg, were asked to clean out a benzine tank.

Payne entered the tank through a manhole at the top, climbing down a ladder to the bottom. A few minutes later, Hogg heard a strange noise and, looking into the tank, saw Payne fall over. Hogg called foreman Mr Dillon and the two went to fetch Payne, but were badly affected by fumes and had to get out before they were completely overcome.

Almost an hour elapsed before Payne was removed from the tank, by which time he was long dead. An inquest held by coroner George Bouskell returned a verdict of ‘death from suffocation’, finding that nobody was to blame for Payne’s death.

5 FEBRUARY 1895 As collier Harry Holt and two workmates, Aldridge and Davis, were walking between Ibstock and Hugglescote, they came across a man slumped against a gate. They lifted him up and he managed to walk a few steps, remarking how cold it was. Holt asked the man his name and he replied that he was Edward Smith from Heather.

Holt and his companions then continued their journey, leaving Smith in the middle of the road, where he was found by two colliers nearly five hours later. George Cox spoke to Smith but he could only groan in reply, so Cox sent his friend for help then fetched some hot tea, but Smith was unable to swallow it. When the police arrived, Smith was carried to a nearby public house, where he died within minutes. A post-mortem examination showed that he was practically frozen solid and his death was due to exposure.

Returning a verdict in accordance with the medical evidence, the inquest jury pointed out that had Holt, Aldridge and Davis acted as most humane persons would have done, Smith’s life might have been saved. The coroner reprimanded them, saying, ‘If you three men were all drunk, I could see how it might come about, but how anyone who was sober could leave a poor man to his fate in such a manner is past comprehension.’

6 FEBRUARY 1863 Charles Mollard Randall, the landlord of The Craven Arms public house on Humberstone Gate, Leicester, was larking about with some of his regular customers. Randall was sitting on the back of a chair, with his feet on the seat and one man made a bet that he could lift his leg over Randall’s head, but when he tried to do so, he accidentally kicked Randall and knocked him to the floor.

Humberstone Gate, Leicester (the Craven Arms Hotel is on the left). (Author’s collection)

The fall broke a small bone in Randall’s hand and precipitated an attack of delirium tremens, to which Randall was predisposed. In the past, such attacks had been successfully treated with chloroform but on this occasion, when the chloroform was administered, Randall suddenly went rigid and died.

An inquest jury later returned a verdict of ‘accidental death’.

7 FEBRUARY 1898 Kate Danvers of Shepshed appeared at Loughborough Police Court charged with cruelly neglecting her four children in a manner likely to cause them unnecessary suffering and injury to health.