Chapter 29

George Frank Harvey

1934

George Frank Harvey had lived at the Westminster Poor Law Institute, at 367 Fulham Road, Chelsea, for some time. By April 1934, he had earned the respect of Harry Pocock, the labour superintendent of the institute, so much so that Pocock appointed Harvey as his batman. Amongst his other duties, Harvey would carry Pocock’s meals to him each day, and clean his room. In order to carry out these duties, Harvey was given two keys to Pocock’s rooms. He was also given a key to a storeroom, room B77, in the basement. It was there that he washed Pocock’s plates after he had eaten, and where he kept various tools.

On Thursday, 25 October, Pocock saw Harvey a number of times during the day. He first saw him at 8.00am, whilst he was going about his duties. Pocock’s final sighting of Harvey was at 4.50pm when he called into Pocock’s room to see if he needed anything. Pocock said he was fine and Harvey then mentioned that he was going out for a couple of hours that evening.

The Institute had some rather strict rules for the inmates. Inside the building, all of them had to wear institute clothing, a sort of uniform, but they were forbidden from leaving, whilst wearing institute clothes. First, they had to ask permission to leave the building. If that were granted, they would be given a ticket and, just before they left, would sign for their outdoor clothes, change, and then check out at the main entrance.

Five minutes after Pocock had last seen Harvey; that is at 4.55pm, a bell rang. This was a signal to the inmates that it was teatime and that they should all report to the dining hall. This meant that at this time, all of B Block, would be empty of inmates.

At 5.15pm, George William James, the leave ward attendant, was in his office when Harvey reported to him with his exit ticket. By now he was wearing his outdoor clothing and, as was the custom, handed his institute clothing, in a bag, to James. The officer could not help but notice that Harvey was sweating profusely, as if he had been running, but thought nothing of this. Perhaps Harvey was just in a hurry to leave. However, before he could do so, James had to check that all the institute clothing was accounted for. James tipped the bag of clothing out onto the floor and checked it, only to find that a shirt was missing. James looked up, ready to confront Harvey about this, only to find that he had already gone.

Frederick George Oliver was another of the institute’s attendants and on this particular day, he was on duty on the exit door. At around 5.20pm, the telephone in his office rang. When he answered it, Oliver found that it was George James, asking him not to let Harvey out of the building, until the missing shirt was accounted for. It was already too late. Harvey had shown his exit ticket and dashed out into the street.

Although room B77 was officially for Harvey’s use, whilst it was not locked other inmates often went in there. One person in particular who used this room was George Hamblin, a close friend of Harvey’s. Hamblin was the unofficial bookmaker for the other inmates and he took small bets on horse and dog races. He often operated this business from room B77 and it was there that the day’s papers were taken to him, by William Richardson.

On 25 October, Richardson had taken the first newspaper to Hamblin, at 4.30pm. At that time Hamblin was in the storeroom, with Harvey, and they were discussing some bets. However, when Richardson took the second newspaper, at 5.30pm, he found that the door to the storeroom was locked, and that there was no answer when he knocked.

At some time between 10.30pm and 10.40pm that same night, 25 October, the labour master, Albert George Poole, checked all the beds in the institute. He found that two inmates were missing: George Harvey and George Hamblin. Both would be in trouble when they finally bothered to reappear.

The following morning, 26 October, at 7.05am, Albert Poole’s shift was over and he was then relieved by the other labour master, Frederick Thomas. Mr Thomas was informed about the two missing inmates and decided to check the premises. One of the first ports of call was the storeroom, which both men were known to use. The door was still locked, but Thomas had a master key. He opened the door and even as he clicked on the light he almost lost his footing on something slippery. Looking down, Thomas saw a great deal of blood on the floor. He also saw the battered body of forty-eight-year-old George Hamblin. A bloodstained hammer lay nearby, and it appeared that the motive for this crime had been robbery, for Hamblin’s trouser pockets were pulled inside out and their contents had been taken.

Although a full police search was launched for the missing inmate, Harvey, and details of the crime were published in the local newspapers, there was no real need for a manhunt for, at 2.10am, on Sunday, 28 October, Harvey walked into the police station at Paddington and gave himself up. He greeted the desk officer with, ‘I’m Harvey. I understand you’ve been broadcasting for me.’ He was then interviewed, by Inspector Ernest France, who charged him with murder later that same morning.

George Harvey’s trial for murder opened on 21 January 1935, before Mr Justice Atkinson. The trial lasted until 24 January, during which time Harvey was defended by Mr FJ Eastwood. The Crown’s case was led by Mr Eustace Fulton, assisted by Mr LA Byrne.

One of the first witnesses was Herbert Edward Hamblin of Sherborne in Dorset. He told the court that he had identified the body of his brother, at the Hammersmith mortuary, on 29 October. The dead man’s full name was Allan George Hamblin, though he never used his first name. He had been born in Lambeth, in 1886.

Details of Harvey’s movements on the day in question were then given. Arthur Burness Rose was the acting assistant manager of the institute, and he testified that at 9.00am, on 25 October, Harvey had asked him for a ticket to leave the premises. Originally he had only asked for a couple of hours, starting at 5.00pm. Rose had granted him a pass from 1.00pm until 8.00pm instead.

At 9.50am, Harvey was showing that pass to George Simpson, the senior receiving ward attendant. It was Simpson who handed Harvey his private, outdoor clothing, so he could change whenever he wished to leave.

Another part of the routine was that an inmate going out would also be issued with clean institute clothing. That would be left in his room so that when he returned, he could change out of his private clothing again, and put on a fresh, clean uniform. That was why the old one was supposed to be handed in. Richard George Barber handed the fresh uniform to Harvey at some time before 11.00am on 25 October. All clothing was marked and amongst the new clothing handed over was a shirt, which bore the mark B/132 on the inside of the collar.

Where had Harvey gone, after he had left the institute on the evening of 25 October ? The answer to that was provided by Clara Barnes who lived at 2 Colville Houses, Talbot Road, in Bayswater. She reported that she had first met Harvey in Hyde Park, some time in early September. They had soon become rather friendly and he had taken her to see a show.

On 24 October, Clara received a letter from Harvey saying that he had not forgotten her and asking to meet her on the coming Saturday, which was 28 October. He said he would be at the Regal cinema at Marble Arch at eight o’clock and hoped that she would condescend to meet him.

Clara did not reply to that letter, but she had intended to keep the suggested appointment. In the event, she was surprised to find Harvey at her house at some time before 5.45pm on 25 October. He explained that he was a bookmaker and had just lost rather a lot of money on a certain horse. Despite this he then gave her ten shillings, mostly in sixpence and shilling coins.

They discussed going to see a film and she had told him that she wanted to see one called Manhattan Melodrama. He agreed, but first they went for a walk to the Portobello market, where he bought her some grapes, before they went on to the Blue Hall cimema, back in Edgware Road. They bought two shilling circle seats and, like almost everything else that day, Harvey paid with a handful of silver coins.

At one stage, just after the film had started, Harvey excused himself, saying that he needed to use the toilet. He was gone for quite a long time and, when he returned to his seat, he immediately made it clear that he didn’t like the film. Despite her protestations, he insisted they leave the cinema immediately.

From there, they went to a public house, Finch’s, on the corner of Elgin Road and Portobello Road. Yet again more coins were brought out and at one stage Harvey asked the barman to change three shillings worth of coppers for him. They then went back to Clara’s house and spent the night together. Clara woke up a number of times that night and each time she found that Harvey was sitting up in bed, smoking. He said he couldn’t sleep and had something on his mind.

The next morning, they were both up at 6.00am. Harvey counted what money he had left and handed Clara a bloodstained postal order for 1/6d. He said that he had accepted it as payment for a bet he had taken. As he counted his money, Clara saw that he still had lots of small change and, curiously, a French 25 centime piece. He also had a key, which he said was to his large house in Wembley. He gave this to Clara for safekeeping, saying that he might lose it.

Later that day, Harvey bought a copy of the Evening Standard and mentioned that there had been a murder in the workhouse in Chelsea. That night they went to the Metropolitan Theatre, to watch a show, and then returned to Clara’s house once again for the night.

The following morning, 27 October, Harvey admitted to Clara that he had been the man who had committed the murder. She was so shocked, that she fainted. When she came round, she begged him to go to the police, and said she would go with him if it helped. They decided to go to Hyde Park to talk things through and it was there that Harvey told Clara that if she went to the police he would kill her and then would kill himself. He added, ‘They won’t catch me alive.’ She was terrified of what he would do and, after talking for hours, she agreed to go off on her own but said she would go back and meet him in the park at midnight. Instead she went straight home and bolted the door. She went to the police herself, the next day, not knowing that Harvey had already handed himself in.

Only three more witnesses were needed to tie up all the loose ends. Henry John Clarke worked at the Blue Hall cinema and he confirmed that he had found a bloodstained shirt in the gentlemen’s toilets, on 26 October. The shirt bore the number B/132.

Walter Blanchett was another of the inmates at the institute, and he said that on 21 October, he had received a 1/6d postal order from his sister. He had given this to George Hamblin on 23 October, to cover a bet of 9d each way on a horse. Finally, yet another inmate, Charles Bushell, told the court that he knew that Hamblin kept a French 25 centime piece, as a good luck charm.

Giving his own testimony, Harvey claimed that the coins, which he had spent, had all been earned by him from selling cups of tea to the other inmates at a few pence a time. He went on to say that Hamblin had confided in him that he was being blackmailed. At one stage Hamblin had showed him a curious note which read, ‘Yes, 13, Yes’, but he would not say what it meant. However, none of this explained the bloodstained shirt, or his confession to Clara Barnes. The jury were far from satisfied and returned the expected guilty verdict. An appeal was entered and heard on 25 February, before Justices Avory, MacKinnon and Greaves-Lord. They found no reason to overrule the trial verdict and the appeal was consequently dismissed, and the death sentence confirmed.

At his trial, Harvey had revealed that this was not his real name. He claimed that he didn’t want his family to know the trouble he was in, or that he had been living in poverty at the institute. It transpired that there were other things he had not wanted his family to know, including the fact that he had four previous convictions, all for stealing, and had served two terms of imprisonment, the last being a six months’ sentence on 22 October 1929.

On Wednesday, 13 March 1935, thirty-seven-year-old George Frank Harvey was hanged at Pentonville by Robert Baxter and Henry Pollard. Only now did the authorities reveal that his real name had been Charles Malcolm Lake.