The Slaidburn Angel

by M. Sheelagh Whittaker

  Margaret Isherwood, aged nine years, living at Meanley Farm with her father and stepmother, stated: I have seen the dead child. I know it. It was named Thomas Dockrah, and has lived at our house for a week. Isabella Gardiner brought it. It was two years old, and could walk about. I saw it last on Saturday forenoon. Gardiner took it out of the house, and I did not see it again alive. She came back on Saturday night with my mother and my little brother James and the deceased child. They came back about five o’clock, but Gardiner did not come in. She was carrying a child, and went down the meadow to Slaidburn. My mother came into the house, and in a short time followed Gardiner toward Slaidburn. I was in bed when they came back. On Saturday morning Gardiner told me they were going to Clitheroe. I identify the clothes produced as those worn by the child on Saturday morning.

  Jane Hayhurst, of Chapel Street, Slaidburn, deposed to washing the deceased and laying it out. She found a black mark on his forehead and a few scratches on his cheek. There were no other wounds. The child was healthy looking. The inquiry was then adjourned.

  Saturday, May 23rd, 1885

  THE SUSPECTED MURDER AT SLAIDBURN. THE ADJOURNED INQUEST. VERDICT OF WILFUL MURDER.

  Further investigations made by the police into the circumstances connected with the suspicious death of a child at Slaidburn have resulted in disclosures which go far to indicate that a murder has been committed. The adjourned inquest was held on Thursday afternoon, at the Black Bull Inn, Slaidburn, before Mr. A.I. Robinson, coroner, and revelations were made which had justified the arrest in the earlier part of the week of the two women — Grace Isherwood, wife of John Isherwood, farmer, Meanley Farm, Newton; and her sister, Isabella Gardiner. The prisoners, it appears, are natives of Dalton-in-Furness, and the daughters of a miner residing in that town. Grace Isherwood was married to John Isherwood about last Christmas, after having been in his service for a short time as domestic servant, in which capacity she had been employed for twelve months previously in the neighbourhood of Bolton-by-Bowland. Prior to her marriage she had two illegitimate children, but it transpires that her husband was only aware of the existence of one, she having kept him in ignorance of the other by having it nursed at Dalton-in-Furness. The child which had been out to nurse was, however, returned to Mrs. Isherwood about a fortnight ago. Her sister, who was a domestic servant at Dalton-in-Furness, came with it, and the pair concocted a story with a view to deceiving her husband. They informed him that the child’s name was Thomas Dockrah, that it belonged to a woman named Elizabeth Dockrah, and that the sister was nursing it. On Saturday they set out for Clitheroe with the child, and endeavoured to secure its admittance into the Clitheroe Union Workhouse. They were unsuccessful, as they were not in possession of the necessary admittance order from the relieving officer. The same evening they appear to have made a pretence that they were going to meet the child’s mother, and they took the child and drowned it in a brook close to the highway some distance from Slaidburn village. The body was discovered on Sunday evening, and after due enquiries the prisoners were arrested on Tuesday. The affair has created much excitement in Slaidburn and the neighbourhood, and during the progress of the inquest on Thursday the villagers congregated to await the result. In the course of the afternoon the prisoners were brought from the Bolton-by-Bowland Police Station to Slaidburn to be present during the inquiry. Mrs. Isherwood was in a delicate condition, seeming to feel her position acutely, and had to be supported by an officer when walking from the Slaidburn Police Station to the room in which the inquiry was held. She is 26 years of age and of respectable appearance. Her sister, who was only eighteen years old, wore a look of quiet unconcern, as she walked by her sister’s side accompanied by two police officers. During the proceedings Mrs. Isherwood’s husband entered the room and was accommodated with a seat. On his arrival both he and the prisoners burst into tears. The following additional evidence was called:

  Jane Gordon, a widow residing at Dalton-in-Furness, said: I nursed a child belonging to Grace Gardiner for three months following Whit-week last year. It was a boy, and I identify Mrs. Isherwood as the child’s mother. I do not know who was the father of it. I believe that the dead child is the same that I nursed. I identify the clothes worn by the deceased; some of which I myself made for the child. I did not receive anything toward the child’s maintenance, and therefore took it to Ulverston workhouse. It was, however, taken out by the prisoners parents, for I saw it three or four months ago at the house of Mrs. Gardiner, at Dalton-in-Furness, when I went there for a sovereign that Grace (the prisoner) had sent for me.

  Catherine Lofthouse, wife of Young Lofthouse, master of the Clitheroe Union Workhouse, deposed: on Saturday last, between two and three o’clock, two women came to the workhouse and wanted to leave the little boy. One of them had two children. She said she could not maintain both, and wanted to leave the boy. I told her Mr. Lofthouse was out, and she would have to get an order from Mr. Harrison, relieving officer, for its admittance. She did not give any name. The child she wanted to leave was about two years or 2 1/2 years old. It was dressed in plaid coat and round hat. I identify the two prisoners as the women who came. I believe the deceased to be the same child.

  Dr. Bridgman, of Slaidburn, deposed to making a post-mortem examination of the body on Wednesday. It appeared to be a healthy and well-developed male child about two years old. There were no marks of external violence except the scratches about the face. He was of the opinion that the child died from asphyxia, or the prevention of air into the lungs. He thought death would be caused by drowning as the probabilities pointed in that direction.

  Supt. Inman stated: about twelve noon on Monday last I went to John Isherwood’s Meanley Farm, Newton. I there saw Isabella Gardiner and Grace Isherwood. Gardiner made a statement voluntarily in response to my enquiries as to the death of the child. She said: “I am eighteen years old, and a domestic servant, of No.3, Victoria Street, Dalton-in-Furness. I live with my father at that address. His name is Edward Gardiner, and he is a miner. I know Elizabeth Dockrah. We lived at the same village, Silecroft, near Bootle, Cumberland, about two years since. Dockrah was enceinte. She was confined at Dalton-in-Furness, at her father and mother’s house who were then both living in Dalton. Her father and mother have both since died. When she lived at Silecroft she went with several men. She was a loose character. She lived at a farmhouse at Silecroft, but I don’t know the name. I lived with John James Woodhead, Old House Farm. She left Silecroft before I did. I did not see her again until about four months since, when I met her by accident in the main street at Dalton-in-Furness. She had no child with her, but she asked if I would nurse her child until this Whitsuntide, but she said, “I will get you 4s.6d. per week for nursing it.” About 8:30 p.m. Mrs. Cornish (since dead) brought the child to me. I met her in the street with it. Its mother was not with her and I have never seen Dockrah since then until I met her at Clitheroe railway station about 4 p.m. last Saturday. She was then in company with a man. Dockrah said, “His name is John Stables; we have been married about a month.” I had the child with me at Clitheroe. The man that was with Dockrah never spoke. He was drunk. Dockrah asked me to meet her at the Black Bull Inn, Slaidburn, the same night with the child. I and my sister went, and soon afterward Dockrah and Stables came to us. Stables went into the inn, and Dockrah stood outside with us. At Clitheroe Station Dockrah gave me 2s. Stables, Dockrah, my sister, and myself all went down to Slaidburn bridge, and it was at this place that Dockrah took the child from me. It was crying at the time, and Dockrah took no notice of it. I asked Dockrah for some more money, and Stables said, “I will do for both you and the child.” I got afraid, and left them. They said, “We will go to Bolton-by-Bowland.”

  Continuing, Superintendent Inman said: “She gave a description of Dockrah and the man Stables. I then came to Slaidburn and saw the deceased child, and I had taken from its body the little shirt, red petticoats, and her skirt. I proceeded to Dalton-in-Furness the same afternoon. From information I rece
ived there, I by telegram gave instructions for Mrs. Isherwood and Gardiner to be apprehended at once. About 12:30 on Tuesday I saw the prisoners in the police station at Slaidburn. I charged Grace Isherwood with having caused the death of her illegitimate child Thomas Gardiner, aged about two years, on the night of Saturday the sixteenth or on Sunday, 17th May, 1885, in Easington Beck, at Langcliffe Cross Bridge, Slaidburn. I cautioned her. She made no reply to the charge. I then charged Gardiner, and she replied, “I have not done it, sir.” On Wednesday I received the letters produced, eight in number. They have been sent by the prisoner Isherwood at various times to Jane Gordon, respecting a child that the latter was nursing. I also produce from the Registrar of Births at Dalton-in-Furness a notice certifying that on December 15, 1882, Grace Gardiner, domestic servant, 9, Stafford-street, Dalton-in-Furness, gave birth to a boy named Thomas Gardiner. The reason they went to Clitheroe, from a statement made by Isabella Gardiner at the interview on Monday, was in consequence of having a few days previous to Saturday received a letter from Elizabeth Dockrah, the letter being dated from Rimington, asking for the child to be taken to the Clitheroe Railway Station at noon on Saturday. Mrs. Isherwood said Dockrah came off a train from the direction of Blackburn at 4 p.m. She also said that Dockrah had a ring on her finger. She knew her at Dalton-in-Furness, but was not much acquainted with her as she was a bad character and untidy.

  Inspector Prosser deposed to receiving a telegram on Tuesday at 5.15 a.m. instructing him to apprehend Grace Isherwood and Isabella Gardiner. He went to Meanley Farm, Newton, and apprehended the prisoners. On Sunday Afternoon he received from John Isherwood clothing which he was told was worn by the child.

  Supt. Inman said that was all the evidence he had.

  The Coroner said that before they proceeded to consider the evidence it was only right that the prisoners should have an opportunity of making any explanation they liked in regard to the matter. But he must inform them that he could not take any statement except upon oath, and of course everything taken upon oath would go upon the depositions, and might be used against them. The prisoners had better consider whether it was not more prudent for them to say nothing.

  On being asked whether she desired to say anything, Isabella Gardiner said, “I am innocent of it.” Mrs. Isherwood, who had her face buried in her handkerchief, did not seem inclined to say anything, but after being asked several times, uttered a feeble “No, sir.”

  The Coroner then said he was afraid there was no other course open but to find a verdict against both women of having wilfully murdered the child. He could see nothing in the evidence to bear out any other suggestion or to corroborate the tales that the women had brought forward in reference to the woman Dockrah. It seemed to him that Grace Isherwood had had the child; that she did not like to tell her husband about it, but desired to keep the matter quiet, and not knowing what to do with it, tried to get it into the workhouse at Clitheroe, but failing that, made away with it. It was not a case in which the jury could return a verdict of manslaughter. It must either be wilful murder or nothing.

  The jury, after a few minutes’ deliberation, returned a verdict of “Wilful murder” against both prisoners.

  The prisoners, who had been removed whilst the jury were considering their verdict, were then called into the room, and the Coroner, addressing them, said: It is my duty to inform you that the jury have found a verdict of “wilful murder” against you. It is my duty to commit you both to take your trial at the Leeds Assizes.

  Prisoners made no response, and they were then removed.

  Stone under Langcliffe Cross Bridge.

  Photo by Sue Burton.

  Crime Scene Investigation: Slaidburn

  I pored over the contents of the website, desperate to understand what had really happened on that Saturday in May 1885. Each time that I read the newspaper report, I noticed a new piece of information. It took a while for the significance of items like the eight letters from Grace about Thomas that Jane Gordon had kept to register.

  Penny and I continued to discuss the case on the phone:

  “How do you think they did it?”

  “Did you see that our grandma called Grace her ‘mother’ and referred to a ‘little brother James’? Was that her mother Jane’s child or Grace’s?”

  “Did you notice that Grace is described as ‘in a delicate condition’? That means she was pregnant again, of course.”

  “Poor John. Did you read that he and Grace and Isabella all burst into tears when he arrived at the inquest?”

  “That Isabella was some piece of work! Or do you think she was just a teenager with no idea how much danger she and her sister were suddenly in?”

  “Did you notice the details about the baby’s clothes? Imagine being so poor that you would take the clothes off a dead baby.”

  “What happened to the baby’s hat?”

  “Did you see grandma was only nine? How scary was that, to have to testify at an inquest into a murder!”

  Our speculations were lengthy and I was very keen to determine the outcome. Did my grandmother have a stepmother who was hanged for murder? Families are great places for secrets and maybe this one was ours.

  Thinking about it all, I realized that my father had never spoken of grandparents of his own, and that, typically self-centred child that I was, it had not occurred to me to wonder why I had grandparents but he did not. Of course, my mother never mentioned grandparents either, but then, poor dear thing, she never really had a chance to mention much of anything to me.

  Margaret’s Place in the World

  When Margaret Isherwood had just started at the Quaker school in Newton, near Slaidburn, the year before her mother died, thanks to that mother she could already read and write. All through her life, Maggie remembered her disdain at being asked by the teacher to make rows of pothooks on her slate as a warm-up to learning to form letters.

  While the children around her, tongues edging out of the corner of their mouths or just between their teeth, struggled with the strange shapes, Maggie defiantly wrote across her slate: SILLY POTHOOKS. Her pride in her ability did not diminish despite the punishment she got for her defiance.

  Margaret was tough and resilient. She needed to be. As soon as she could comprehend responsibility she had been expected to help out, to keep the family going and to look after her little brothers. When her mother got sick, it fell to Margaret, as the only girl, to keep the boys fed and quiet so that her mother could rest.

  Margaret was bright too. She was quick and observant and determined to make the best of every situation. It was a lot of work, but there was honour in being her da’s big girl and the little boys had learned to mind her words. She loved them all fiercely.

  Margaret had at first been a little slow to make space for another woman living at the farm. The baby was no problem, Margaret was accustomed to welcoming new little boys into the household. But where Grace, the hired woman, should fit into the family was a different issue.

  Nobody but Margaret gave any thought to how she would get along with the Grace. John Isherwood was simply relieved to have someone to help out and a little adult company in the evenings. His sorrow over the loss of Jane, mixed with fear of loneliness in the years ahead and worry that he wouldn’t be able to cope, had left him feeling hopeless. Being with Grace made him feel almost contented again.

  The luxury of worrying about the children’s feelings was unimaginable to John. Besides, despite her human baggage, Grace was a real charmer, with rounded edges and an accommodating way about her.

  The rapid changes in Grace’s role at the farm surprised Maggie, but in her whispered conversations with Blue she admitted she was happy to have a grown-up woman around again. It was a relief to her to be able to relinquish some of the duties she had taken on. She hoped to be able to spend more time playing with Blue up in the loft now that Grace was there.

  After the wedding, da had told Maggie that Grace was going to have a new little sister or brother for h
er to play with, and Maggie had her heart set on a girl. Grace thought a girl would be nice, too, and the two of them had begun a tentative discussion about what name might suit. Margaret favoured Jane or Primrose, while Grace wondered about a lofty name like Victoria. They both fell into fits of silent giggles at some of the names they made up, like Manura, which Margaret insisted was a great name for a farm girl.