Fox and Hounds, Shildon. The author
George Atcheson, who was sixty-eight, stood trial for ‘rape on the body of Isabella Ramshaw, a child under ten years of age’.
Atcheson was found guilty and sentenced to be hanged. From the time of his arrest to his last seconds on the scaffold on 12 April he was repentant. He expressed a wish that his untimely end would serve as a deterrent to others from carrying out the crime.
An inquest was held at the Fox and Hounds public house in Shildon on the body of a newborn female child. On 14 May Christiana Jefferson, who was separated from her husband and lived in Middridge, had gone to William Bousfield who was the sexton at Shildon. She had the body of a child in a box saying that the birth had taken place two days before but she had been at work so could not bring the body sooner. Bousfield asked whose baby it was but Christiana would not tell him. Without opening the box, the sexton buried it in the churchyard. A police constable, Robert Harrison, upon hearing about the event, went to the Jefferson’s house. Christiana’s daughter, Esther, eventually admitted that the child was hers but insisted that it had been stillborn. Christiana then offered the constable a coin to keep quiet about the affair. Harrison refused and went to the deputy coroner. On 29 May it was ordered that the body be exhumed. The baby was then handed to Samuel Fielden, a surgeon to perform a post-mortem. Fielden stated at the inquest that he had attended Esther a few months before and had suspected she was pregnant. Both mother and daughter denied it. He again attended her on 11 May when she still denied being pregnant. Fielden was called out to see Esther again on 12 May but he did not go. His postmortem on the child’s body showed that it was full term but he could not say for certain whether she had been born alive. There were no marks of external violence on the body so he could not say why death had taken place.
Fox and Hounds, Shildon. The author
Dinah Rycroft, a neighbour, had been called to the Jefferson’s house on the morning of 11 May. Christiana said Esther was very ill. Dinah told her that she thought Esther was in labour. This was denied adamantly. The following day Dinah went again to see how Esther was. She seemed better but nothing was said about her having given birth.
Elizabeth Jefferson, Esther’s sister, had gone to the house on 11 May. Esther was very ill but although she was stouter there was no suspicion of pregnancy. By the time night came, Esther was worse and at about three in the morning Elizabeth sent for Dr Fielden but he did not attend. Eventually, Christiana delivered Esther of a female child. The baby breathed at first and Christiana took it to wash. The next time Elizabeth looked the baby was on the dresser and appeared to be dead. She then went to Dr Fielden and told him his services were no longer required but did not say anything about the birth. Elizabeth stated that she did not believe anyone did any harm to the child. She felt it had been a difficult and protracted birth and that was why the baby died. When all the witnesses had spoken the jury retired. After an absence of about fifteen minutes they returned an open verdict.
Samuel Price was a forty-six year old miner. He had three daughters living with him, Catherine, Susannah and Jane. His son, who was sixteen, had left home. Price’s wife had died when their youngest daughter, Catherine, was three months old.
On 25 August, Catherine, who was by this time twenty months old, took ill and on 27 August a doctor was called in. The doctor told Price that the child had an ulcerated mouth and stomach and in his opinion Catherine was undernourished. Proper food and milk was prescribed and the doctor left. The child was left in the eldest daughter, Jane’s care.
On 13 September, Jane left home. She, like her brother, had had enough of her father’s drunken habits. Jane had asked her father for money to buy food for Catherine but he refused. After Jane left, Price gave Susannah money to buy two pints of milk and some port wine for the baby. By this time Catherine was seriously ill and she died on 18 September.
Catherine’s death was due to bronchitis and pneumonia brought on by the fact that she was weak from undernourishment and was only half the weight she should have been. Samuel Price was charged with manslaughter. Price said the child had always been sickly and he had not thought she would live anyway. He said he had never refused money to Jane. Both his daughters could go to Mr Elliott’s shop at Willington and get groceries on credit. Milk was in short supply but he bought it when he could.
Susannah backed up Jane’s story and said she had heard her father refuse money to buy food for the baby. Both daughters stated their father ignored Catherine and acted as if she was not there. Samuel Ragg, a friend of Price’s, stated that he had helped Price home on 16 September because he was so drunk. When Ragg saw the little girl he had said to Price that the child was dying. Price said ‘it would have to take its chance whether it lived or not’. He then ordered Ragg out of the house.
The jury found Price guilty of manslaughter with extenuating circumstances. Justice Grantham sentenced him to six month’s imprisonment.
Jeremiah O’Connor was a miner at the Stanley pit. The fifty-five year old man had been lodging, along with another man, Michael Brown, in Pool Street, West Stanley for more than three years. The little house was the home of Thomas Donnelly, his wife and two children, a boy and a girl. The two lodgers slept in the same room as the children. Mary, who was ten, had formed a close friendship with O’Connor.
It was Monday, 14 December and O’Connor had been on a drinking binge for a few days. When he returned home that evening the little girl set off with O’Connor for a walk in the country. Neither of the two of them came home that night. A detailed search of the surrounding area was organised. On Thursday, four miles from West Stanley, at Gibside, a stranger was noticed acting rather oddly. A man had called at the cottage of Mrs Boyd on the eastern side of Gibside. He was trembling all over and could hardly eat the food that Mrs Boyd gave him. The story the man mumbled was that a navvy had attacked him, stolen his money and taken his little lass away. After showing Mrs Boyd his blood soaked shirt sleeve and several cuts on his arm he left. Returning the following day the man told Mrs Boyd that he had slept outside all night. Mrs Boyd told him that she was going to tell his story to the police, whereupon, the strange man ran off. The police were informed and the description given to them by Mrs Boyd matched the description of O’Connor. More searchers were called in, swelling the number to more than one hundred. Nearly a week after her disappearance, on Sunday 20 December, Mary’s body was eventually found under a hedge on a field at Pea Farm, which was situated a few miles from her home.
The horribly mutilated body gave witness to the fact that the little girl had died a terrible death. Mary had been brutally sexually assaulted and then violently attacked with a sharp instrument, probably a knife. The injuries were so severe that she had been almost disemboweled. Dr Benson, who examined the body, thought Mary had been dead about a week, probably since the night she went missing.
O’Connor was arrested by Inspector Stark on Saturday morning near the village of Tonfield. When the Inspector told him he had a warrant for his arrest, O’Connor collapsed and had to be taken to a nearby farmhouse until he recovered. He was then driven by pony and trap to Consett. The police felt it would be unwise to take their prisoner anywhere near Stanley because, understandably, emotions were running so high. When questioned, O’Connor repeated the story that he had told Mrs Boyd. He said that a navvy who had stolen his money and taken Mary had inflicted the wounds on his arm when O’Connor had tried to fight him off.
At the ensuing trial before Justice Lawrence, the prisoner maintained his innocence and repeated his previous story. Mr Lowenthal, for the prosecution, said that O’Connor had raped the child, killed her and then inflicted the wounds upon himself. If the story about the navvy were true, then why had O’Connor not gone straight to the police? The jury found O’Connor guilty and he was sentenced to death.
O’Connor, originally from Ireland, had two daughters and a son living in Haswell where he had stayed before moving to West Stanley. He had served in the Royal Irish Fusiliers and the Durham Militia. While in prison, O’Connor only received one visit and that was from one of his daughters and his son. He did not take advantage of the new law of appeal and neither did anyone appeal to the Home Secretary on his behalf for clemency. It was recorded that O’Connor spoke not a word and faced the gallows with resignation. Henry Pierrepoint, who was assisted by his older brother, Thomas, carried out the execution on 23 February 1909.
Had Jeremiah O’Connor, who had been a friend to Mary Donnelly for three years suddenly turned into a monster and raped and murdered the little girl? Or was his story of a navvy true? Only O’Connor, and perhaps one other, knew the truth.
Henry Pierrepoint, executioner from 1901-10 and Thomas Pierrepoint, executioner from 1906-46. Author’s collection
