* * *
‘The old man backed away, missed
his footing and fell down the stairs’
* * *
Meanwhile, Brett calmly sat in the kitchen and lit a clay pipe and began to smoke it. After hearing the commotion, some of the neighbours had arrived on the scene, and one of them asked him why he had done it. He illogically told them, ‘What’s done can’t be undone, but she was a good lass to me.’ In response to a similar question from another neighbour, he answered, ‘I have only been acting like Jack the Ripper.’ He then made a move to leave but the neighbours held on to him until the police arrived. Mr Henry Smith, a surgeon of Rhodes Street, was sent for but Margaret was dead before he arrived. Brett, meanwhile, was taken to the Town Hall and questioned before being arrested on a charge of murder.
The same night an inquest was held into the death of Margaret Brett at the Granby Inn in front of the coroner, Mr Barstow. Before the inquest began the jury viewed the body as it lay in the coffin. The first witness to be heard was the surgeon, Mr Smith, who told the jury that the wound in the woman’s throat had severed the major vessels and that it could not have been self-inflicted. He stated that, judging by the serious nature of her injuries, death must have been almost instantaneous.
James Hindley then described the day’s events and his horror at seeing the woman on the bed, her throat covered in blood. He told the coroner that relations had been so bad between the couple that he had asked them to leave the premises on several occasions. Another neighbour, John Denton, corroborated Hindley’s evidence and stated that after the old man had raised the alarm he had gone into the house and seen the woman’s body on the bed. Police constable Turner gave evidence next, saying that he had been on duty in Gibbet Street when Hindley had approached him and told him that a murder had been committed at his house. He immediately went to the address, but when he got there the woman was already dead. He asked Brett where the knife was but he replied that he did not know. The knife was later given up to PC Turner, who showed it to Brett and asked him if that was the knife he had used to cut his wife’s throat, and Brett agreed that it was. When asked by the coroner if Brett had anything to say in his own defence, he replied, ‘No Sir.’ After a very brief consultation, the jury returned a verdict of wilful murder.
* * *
‘death must have been almost
instantaneous’
* * *
Gibbet Street, Halifax, where Frederick Brett and his wife Margaret found lodgings.
On Monday 21 October at noon, Brett was brought before the Halifax Borough Court where the magistrate, Mr E.M. Wavell, heard the case. Brett gave his name and address and told the court that he had lived at Manchester until a few weeks previously, when he had moved to Halifax. He stated that during their brief married life his wife had scandalized him and that he could do nothing right for her. The Chief Constable, Mr Pole, stated that the prisoner knew no one in Halifax and, because he was virtually unknown, he needed to make further enquiries about him from Manchester and requested a remand for the prisoner to the following day. The remand was granted and the inquiry was adjourned. When the inquiry resumed, little material evidence was heard and it seems that Brett had previously been of good character, although it was said that he was addicted to drink. The magistrate summed up the evidence and found him guilty of the wilful murder of his wife and committed him to stand trial at the next assizes.
* * *
‘found him guilty of the wilful murder
of his wife’
* * *
Brett appeared at the winter assizes in Leeds on Friday, 13 December 1889, in front of Mr Justice Manisty. He was defended by Mr C. Mellor, and Mr C. Briscoe and Mr Harold Thomas acted for the prosecution. Mr Thomas opened the case by stating that when the couple had initially moved to Halifax, they had seemed amicable enough for the first fortnight, but then they started rowing. Mr Hindley was not happy about the way that Brett spoke to his wife and had complained about it on several occasions. Brett, in return, complained to him that his wife was too free with the other navvies. The prosecution agreed and stated that the motive for the murder was jealousy of his wife’s conduct with other men. His defence stated that at the time of the crime, Brett had been sodden with drink and did not know what he was doing, but the judge countered that it was all too common an excuse and therefore it could not been seen as an argument for his defence. The judge summed up in minute detail all the points which the jury needed to consider, and they took just over an hour to find him guilty. Mr Justice Manisty put on the black cap and, in very solemn tones, sentenced Brett to death.
Armley Gaol, where Frederick Brett spent his last few days before execution.
It was through this building at Armley Gaol where the executed bodies of prisoners were removed for burial on a site which is now a car park for the staff of the prison.
On Tuesday, 31 December 1889, Brett was hanged at Leeds Armley Gaol. As the clock struck 8 a.m. Brett walked boldly towards the scaffold and, after making sure the hood was put on and the noose arranged around his head, the bolt was drawn and he was launched into eternity. The black flag was hoisted at the prison gate to let the people assembled know that the execution had taken place.
CASE THIRTEEN 1892
MURDER IN
THE CELLAR
* * *
Suspect: Arthur Shaw
Age: Seventeen
Charge: Murder
Sentence: Penal Servitude
* * *
On Thursday, 24 May 1892, at Calder Street, Caddyfield, sixty-six-year-old widow Mrs Susan Townsend was found battered in her home, lying almost insensible. Discovered by her neighbour, Mrs Adeline Shaw, she appeared to be seriously injured; her face covered with blood. A bloodstained hammer was found near the door of the cellar. The doctor was called for and she was taken to Halifax Infirmary, where a nurse heard her cry out, ‘Oh don’t hit me again with that hammer!’ She later told one of the nurses that a man had hit her. Mrs Townsend died from her injuries at about 6 a.m on Monday 30 May.
Halifax Infirmary, where Mrs Susan Townsend spent her last hours on 24 May 1892.
It seems that the police were suspicious of seventeen-year-old Arthur Shaw, the son of Adeline Shaw, who told the police that she and her husband would not allow their son to live with them due to his bad character. The police made a number of investigations into the crime and questioned Arthur Shaw, but little could be proved and they were forced to let him go.
* * *
‘her face covered with blood’
* * *
The inquest was held before the coroner, Mr Barstow, on 1 June 1892 at the mortuary on Lister Lane. The jury viewed the body at the Infirmary and listened to the evidence of some of the nurses, as well as one of the other patients, a woman named Ester Simpson, who had known the victim before her untimely demise. She stated that when asked whether a man had attacked her, Townsend had replied, ‘No.’ She then asked if a woman had done it, and again she replied, ‘No.’ The nurses stated that their patient was clearly confused, no doubt due to the terrible injuries she had received. Simpson revealed to the jury that the deceased woman had previously considered taking her own life. She stated that about six weeks previously, Mrs Townsend had told her that she had been up all night and if she could have found a piece of rope she would have hung herself because she was tired of living.
The jury returned to the mortuary and the inquest was reconvened in the presence of the Chief Constable of Halifax, Mr Pole. Dr Adams, the house surgeon at the Infirmary, stated that Mrs Townsend had four serious scalp wounds and it was more than likely the skull had been fractured in four places. He expressed the opinion that the wounds could not possibly have been self-inflicted, nor could they have happened from a fall. Despite the hammer, which was found in the basement with blood and hair attached to it, the jury deliberated and returned an open verdict, claiming that there was no evidence to show how the wounds had been inflicted.
> Lister Lane, Halifax, as it is today.
At the end of January 1893, Arthur Shaw, now a prisoner in Wakefield Gaol, confessed to the crime, stating that it had been on his mind and he could not rest. He was serving a two-month prison sentence for a gross assault on a little girl at Ovenden and during his incarceration he had tried to commit suicide twice. He had asked to speak to the governor of Wakefield Gaol and confessed to killing Mrs Townsend. The governor then communicated with the Chief Constable of Halifax, who went to see him at Wakefield on 10 February, along with the deputy magistrate’s clerk, who took the confession down in writing. Shaw admitted that he had been living at a lodging house on Winding Road, Halifax, and had gone to his mother’s house at about 10 p.m. to borrow a penny to pay for his lodgings. When his mother told him that she had no money, Shaw then went to Mrs Townsend’s house to see if he could borrow the money from her. As he approached the house he saw Sarah Butterworth leaving, but she didn’t see him as he claimed that she was drunk. He entered Mrs Townsend’s house and he said that she also appeared to be a little drunk.
As he entered, the old lady was sitting in a chair near the fireplace with her back to him and a shawl over her shoulders. He asked her if his mother could borrow her coal hammer and she replied, ‘Yes lad, get it, it’s in the coal cellar.’ He asked her for a penny, but she told him that she had spent her last penny on beer. Shaw described how he waited a long time, swinging the hammer about, unsure whether to strike her or not. He had heard that she had money in the house and with this in mind he struck her once, and she fell forward in her chair. He searched the house and found nothing, and then, because he knew that she would be able to identify him, he hit her three more times on the back of her head. He then calmly went back to his lodging house, only once being stopped by a constable at Caddyfield Bridge, who asked him what he was doing out so late at night. When he told him he was going to his lodgings, the constable told him that he should have been at his lodgings earlier and advised him to get off home.
Winding Road, Halifax, where Arthur Shaw had lodgings.
In the morning, he had returned to his mother’s house, who told him about finding her neighbour badly injured. She also told him that the police wanted to see him at the Town Hall. Mr Pole interviewed him and asked him if he seen any suspicious people when he had left his mother’s house the previous night and he answered that he had seen some workmen, who looked like they had finished work and were on their way home. Shaw told him that he had been at his lodging house all night and the Chief Constable, unable to find any evidence against him, allowed him to go home. However, the matter had preyed on Shaw’s mind and he had decided to confess.
After listening to his statement, Chief Constable Pole asked him to sign the written version, but before he did so, Shaw added another couple of sentences. He stated that he had gone to the old woman’s house with the intention of killing her and stealing her money and to stay at her house for the night before travelling to Hull the next day. He then signed the confession, adding at the bottom: ‘I make this statement entirely of my own free will and because the matter is continually troubling my mind as I cannot think of anything else.’ Once he had signed the statement, the Chief Constable asked him if he had anything else to say, to which he replied he did not.
On Friday 3 March, Shaw was taken from Wakefield Gaol to Halifax Borough Court, where he pleaded guilty to the charge of wilful murder. He was closely attended by one of the warders – a man named Stephenson. Mr Keighley Walton, for the prosecution, opened the case and the Chief Constable read out Shaw’s confession. After hearing all the evidence the jury returned a verdict of guilty of wilful murder, and Shaw was sent to stand trial at the next assizes.
On Thursday 16 March, Shaw appeared at the Leeds Assizes, where he pleaded guilty to murder. He had no defence and no evidence was offered on his behalf. He appeared to be calm when coming up from the cells into the courtroom. After it was discovered that he had been given the nickname ‘Mad Shaw’ while he had been working as a ship’s cook, an enquiry into the state of his mental health was carried out. As a result of this, the judge ordered that Dr Henry Clarke, the medical officer at Wakefield Gaol, attend the assizes and give his opinion of whether Shaw was fit to plead; the assizes were adjourned until later that day. During the short hearing, Shaw gave the impression of being quite unaware of the seriousness of his crime as he gazed around him at the other people in the court. Later, when the trial was reconvened, Dr Clarke said that he had observed the prisoner since he was first brought to Wakefield Gaol and offered the opinion that he was perfectly competent to plead. It took a matter of five minutes after Shaw’s appearance in the dock for the judge, Justice Bruce, to read out the death sentence. Shaw showed no reaction to the sentence, but it caused a great sensation in the crowded court.
Despite Dr Clarke’s assurances that Shaw was fit to plead, doubts were expressed about his sanity. Another medical man, Dr Lewis from the Wakefield Asylum, was asked to assess Shaw and give his opinion. He stated that Shaw was insane and therefore incapable of understanding his crime. The judge was criticized for sentencing Shaw to death, despite the fact that he had sought a medical opinion before sentencing him. Following Dr Lewis’s opinion, attempts were then made by the people of Halifax to have the death sentence commuted to life imprisonment. On Monday 27 March it was announced that a petition was being collected in Halifax in favour of his reprieve. The petition was passed to the Home Secretary in London later that week, with almost 2,000 signatures on it – many from the most respectable industrialists of the town. In the meantime, Shaw had written a letter to his mother which read:
I am quite happy and contented, but have a hope I get pardoned by the Home Secretary. You know while there is life, there is hope. I am paying strict attention to the chaplain’s advice and I have felt a lot happier since you can come and see me any day. But you must not walk it. If you cannot get the money, write instead. I might get pardoned yet. You can write to the Home Secretary, Home Office London and plead for me. It will do a lot of good. Ask him to have mercy on me as I am only very young. You must state my case to him, and you might be able to save me. Do not forget it is my only hope. You know I have not written up myself, but I will do so and I hope if I do get pardoned that you will always write to me. Will you please write by return and let me know if you have written to the Home Office; it will cheer me up more still. Dear mother, I am prepared for the worst if it comes. I am quite safe, I am sure, and if we never meet on earth, I hope to meet in heaven. What made me do it, God only knows. But if I do get off, I shall still keep the chaplains words.
His mother went to Armley Gaol to visit her son, and afterwards told reporters that she was surprised to see him looking so well. He had seemed more hopeful when she told him that she was going to contact the Home Secretary, but she told him not to get his hopes up for a response. She wrote to the Home Secretary stating that the evidence of Dr Lewis had said that her son was of unsound mind and that she felt, as a mother, he was not answerable for this dreadful charge. It was finally announced on Tuesday 28 March that a reprieve had been given by the Home Secretary and that Shaw’s sentence had been commuted to penal servitude for life.
This case underlines the ambiguity that some judges had towards people with mental health issues throughout the Victorian era. The McNaghten Rule, which was made in 1843 following the attempted assassination of the Prime Minister, Robert Peel, became a standard test in establishing criminal responsibility in cases of insanity. Nevertheless, cases which had to prove whether or not the prisoner was insane meant that judges and magistrates still had to rely on medical opinion, which, as we have seen, could be in opposition. In such cases the prisoner was usually kept in an asylum at Her Majesty’s pleasure and the death sentence could not be imposed upon them.
CASE FOURTEEN 1866
MURDER
AND SUICIDE
* * *
Suspect: Ephraim Smith
Age: About f
orty
Charge: Murder/Suicide
* * *
Carpet manufacturing was a common trade throughout Halifax, and one company in particular became world famous; Crossley Carpets. The works were started by John Crossley in around 1822 at Crossley Mill, where he employed a workforce of around 300 people. Rapid expansion led to more factories being built on the site, which now spreads out over 20 acres and can be seen behind North Bridge. The site is now known as the Dean Clough works and has around 150 businesses within its walls.
Halifax Page 8