Crossley’s original mill, which was built around 1822.
North Bridge, Halifax, 1906.
A man named Ephraim Smith, around forty-years-old, was employed as a carpet weaver at the works and was known to be a good, steady, reliable worker. Smith was caring for his three children, William, aged thirteen, Elizabeth, aged ten and Emma, aged five, at their home, which was one small room at the top of a three-storey building on Lee Bank. Despite his regular employment the house was described as being wretchedly furnished and, as was usual in those times, the occupants all slept in the same bed. The children’s mother had been removed to the Wakefield Lunatic Asylum two years previously and it was known that the loss of his wife had left Smith very low-spirited at times.
On Saturday, 30 June 1866, William had gone to a fair in Halifax and returned home later than usual at about 11 p.m. He was surprised to find the house in darkness and the door locked and bolted. He called out to his father to let him in but there was no response. He managed to open a window close to the door and put his arm through to let himself into the house. Once inside, he struck a match and was horrified to find Elizabeth at the back of the door and his father lying a few yards away from her, both with their throats cut. He ran to the nearest house to raise the alarm and two neighbours, a man named Solomon Broadbent, and a retired policeman, Gibson Walton, followed the boy back into the house. Blood was splattered all over the floor and walls as well as over a mirror which was hanging on the wall. Ephriam Smith’s body was leaning against a wall underneath the front window. The cut in his throat was so deep that it had almost severed his head from his shoulders. All around him was a large pool of blood and an open razor was found on the floor, about half a yard away from his body. Behind the door was the body of Elizabeth, also lying in a pool of blood. It was evident that she had struggled with her attacker, as her hands were covered in slash marks.
The two men went upstairs where they found the body of the youngest child, Emma, also dead; she had been suffocated. It was thought that she had been held face downwards on the bed and smothered with the bedclothes. A constable was sent for and when he spoke to the neighbours it appears that only one neighbour had heard any noise at all, and that had been at around ten o’clock. After investigating the scene of the crime, it was deduced that Ephraim had committed the crime; killing the younger child first, then Elizabeth, before he committed suicide.
Lee Bank, where Ephraim Smith lived with his three children in 1866.
* * *
‘the cut in his throat was so deep
that it had almost severed his
head from his shoulders’
* * *
The inquest was held before the coroner, Mr Dyson, on Monday, 2 July 1866 at the Shears Inn, Lee Bridge. The first witness called was William Greenwood, a carpet weaver who had worked with Smith for about ten years. Although he told the coroner that Smith’s conduct had been rather strange at times, he had never heard him complain about his children or treat them unkindly, nor had he said anything about killing himself or the children and had shown no sign of it in his behaviour. Greenwood admitted that since his wife had been taken away, Smith had been low-spirited at times but stated that despite his depression, he was a hard-working, quiet, diligent man.
William Smith stated that his father had not been drinking during the week of the murder and neither was he given to be drunk. He told the inquest that his father had been behaving rather strangely the week before the murders and that he had tried to commit suicide once before, after his mother had been taken to Wakefield. He then described entering the house and finding the bodies.
Solomon Broadbent, Smith’s neighbour, told the inquest that they had been a quiet family and he had noticed nothing strange in his neighbour’s behaviour. He said that Smith had always appeared to be good and kind with his children. Another neighbour, Grace Wade, also agreed with the previous witness and said that the family was quiet and retiring in their nature. She said that although they had all been very distressed when their mother had been taken to the lunatic asylum, matters seemed to have improved for them of late. Wade had gone to the house after hearing the alarm and she described how several articles of furniture had blood smeared on them, and that Emma’s face had been pushed deep into the bedding.
PC Wilson said that he had heard of the murders and went to the house at 11.20 p.m., which, by now, was full of people. He then described finding the razor, before he produced it for the coroner; it was noted that it was still smeared with blood. William Smith identified the razor as belonging to his father. Mr J. Hodgson Wright, the surgeon, described the bodies, which he had examined just before 1 a.m. on the Sunday morning. He said that Smith’s wound was quite deep, about four inches long across the neck, and so severe that death would have been immediate. The older girl had a wound about the same size and depth, along with a slight wound on the right-hand thumb and left knuckles. She also had slight bruising to her hands and arms. He said that the youngest child had been suffocated and that she too had bruises on her arms as if she had struggled with her father.
Gibson Walton stated that he had heard nothing untoward coming from the house on the night, but had noticed that Smith had sent Elizabeth running on several errands for him. The coroner supposed that during this time Smith had killed the youngest child. In summing up, the coroner stated that he thought that Smith had deliberately planned the murders and that he would have killed his son as well if he had been at home. Fortunately he had been late coming home from the fair, a fact which had saved his life. The jury returned a verdict of guilty of murder, but what state of mind he was in at the time could not be ascertained. There was little doubt that Smith had been a steady and industrious man and his general conduct in the neighbourhood was such that people found it hard to believe that he had committed this heinous crime.
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First published in 2013
The History Press
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© Margaret Drinkall, 2013
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Halifax Page 9