C harles Maidment was in love and the object of his affection, eighteen year old Dorcas Houghton, seemed to return that love. By the spring of 1899, the couple, who both lived in Sarisbury, had been seeing each other for some two years but then, on Tuesday, 18 April of that year, Dorcas dropped a bombshell on twenty-two year old Maidment.
Dorcas and Maidment met by arrangement early on the evening of 18 April and she informed him that she didn’t want their relationship to continue any longer. She would not walk out with him anymore and would see him the following evening so that she could return the presents he had given her. Charles tried to persuade Dorcas to stay with him, but she was not to be moved.
The presents Dorcas referred to were actually of little import. They consisted of nothing more than two handkerchiefs and a card Maidment had given to her the previous Christmas, written in affectionate terms. Maidment, however, suspected what was behind all this. Dorcas had mentioned another young man she had met, a marine artilleryman who was due to return home in May after serving his country overseas. It was obvious to the grief-stricken young man that Dorcas preferred the marine to him and would soon be walking out with him instead. A saddened Charles Maidment returned home that evening and brooded on his position, having arranged to meet Dorcas in Swanwick Lane the next day.
At 6.00pm on Wednesday, 19 April 1899, Dorcas left her home. She was seen going out by her mother, Augusta, who noticed that she was carrying two things: a book and a small brown-paper parcel. Augusta watched as Dorcas headed off towards Swanwick Lane. Augusta thought that perhaps she was going to visit her sister who lived over that way.
Henry Fielder was a letter-carrier or postman and part of his duties involved delivering mail in the area and emptying the postboxes each evening. It was for this latter reason that he walked past Manor Farm, to clear the box in Swanwick Lane. As Fielder strolled down the lane he noticed Maidment leaning over a gate near the farm. Maidment appeared to be in good spirits as he shouted: ‘Good evening Mr Fielder,’ and Henry returned the friendly greeting.
It was just as Henry Fielder was emptying the postbox that Dorcas came into view, walking down the lane towards where Maidment waited. Fielder saw that she carried a novel in her left hand, which she was reading as she walked. Underneath her arm, she carried a small parcel. Fielder nodded to her and continued with his duties.
The postbox was emptied and locked and Fielder turned to face up the lane, in the direction he had just come. As he turned he saw Dorcas and Maidment exchange a couple of words and then walk off together. In effect, Fielder was now following them up the hill.
The young couple were some distance in front of Fielder, with Maidment walking on the right side of his young lady. There was a curve in the road ahead and the couple vanished from Fielder’s sight as they passed around that bend. Seconds later, a loud report rang out, shattering the quiet of the country lane.
Even as Fielder puzzled over what the noise might have been he saw Maidment running back towards him. Then, just as suddenly, Maidment changed direction and headed off over a field. Concerned that something might have happened to Dorcas, Fielder ran to the top of the hill and turned the curve in the lane. There, to his horror, he found Dorcas Houghton quite dead, a single bullet wound underneath her right ear. Further, there were clear signs of burning and scorching around the wound showing that the gun used to kill her must have been held quite close to her head.
The shot, heard by Fielder, had also been heard by others. Edward Knapp lived with his father in Swanwick Lane and was in a field adjoining the lane when he heard a loud bang. Turning in the direction the noise had come from, Edward saw Charles Maidment running across the field towards him. Edward knew Maidment well and shouted: ‘Hello Charlie, what’s up?’ Maidment did not reply directly to the question but muttered something about needing to find the footpath. Edward pointed out that there was no footpath nearby but before any other words could be exchanged, Edward’s father was calling out for him, from the direction of Swanwick Lane. Edward headed off over the field to see what the problem was. He found his father and Mr Fielder standing over the body of Dorcas Houghton and was told to run off and get some help.
Police Constable H W Smith was on plain-clothes duty in Osborne Road, Fareham when, at 8.15pm, a young man approached the nearby police station. Constable Smith watched with interest as the young man hesitated for a few minutes and then drew a revolver out of his pocket. Smith did not hesitate. He marched across to the man, and bravely took the gun from him.
‘You had better keep me here,’ said the man. By this time, Constable Smith had heard about the shooting in Sarisbury so asked the man if his name was Maidment. The man gave the one word reply: ‘Yes.’ He was then arrested and taken in to the station where, after being searched and interviewed he was charged with wilful murder.
There could be no doubt that Maidment was responsible for the death of Dorcas Houghton. The couple had been seen together just before the shot was fired, Maidment had been seen fleeing the scene, he had the murder weapon with him when he was arrested by Constable Smith and, after being interviewed, had made a full statement admitting that he had shot her. The only defence open to him at his trial would therefore be one of insanity.
That trial opened on 27 June 1899, before Mr Justice Wright. The prosecution was led by Mr C T Giles, assisted by Mr Hunt whilst Maidment’s defence rested in the hands of Mr Clavell Salter.
The post-mortem on Dorcas, had been carried out by Dr Cade. He reported a single wound, behind the right ear. He was also able to tell the court that he had previously attended to the accused, Maidment, in November 1898. It appeared that Maidment had purchased the revolver some time before and on 19 November, he had accidentally shot himself, injuring a finger on his right hand. Dr Cade had treated Maidment until 17 December and during his various visits had found him silent and morose.
John Tucker, a fruit-grower, told the court that he was the prisoner’s uncle. Maidment had lived with him for the past two years. After giving details of the wound, which Maidment had accidentally inflicted upon himself in November, he turned to the day of Dorcas’ death.
On that morning he had last seen his nephew at around 5.40am. He had been very quiet and somewhat strange the previous evening and it was clear that he had something on his mind. In his opinion, Maidment had always been ‘not quite there’ and he had often described him as being ‘ruled by the moon’, a reference to the idea of mental instability being governed by the cycles of the moon.
More evidence as to Maidment’s possible mental condition was given by Thomas Cuff, his grandfather. He reported that his wife’s first cousin was in the Dorset County asylum after attacking his wife with a knife. Another cousin, Samuel Hopkins, had died in the Fisherton asylum. His own son, also Samuel, was in the Charminster asylum and his daughter, Harriett, had suffered from fits all her life. In short, there was the taint of insanity in his family spanning no less than three generations.
Thomas went on to say that Maidment had lived with him until two years ago when he had moved in with John Tucker. His behaviour was always strange. He would scream at night, say he was going fishing and try to climb out of the window. On other occasions he would simply sit in a corner crying and sweating profusely.
Much of this testimony was confirmed by Dr Brown who had been a medical officer in an asylum and had a great deal of experience in treating the mentally ill. Prior to the trial, on 18 June, Dr Brown had examined Maidment in prison. He declared that the prisoner did not have a normal or healthy mind and showed certain homicidal tendencies.
Unfortunately, the prosecution called Dr T P Richards, the medical officer at Winchester prison. He confirmed that Maidment was admitted to the jail on 20 April and he had kept him under observation ever since. In Dr Richards’ opinion, Maidment was certainly depressed but that was common in any prisoner facing such a serious charge. There was no sign or symptom of insanity.
Despite all the evidence as to Maidment’s mental problems, the jury still took just ten minutes to decide that he was guilty as charged. Maidment was then sentenced to death and the date for his execution was set.
There may well have been some Home Office disquiet over the possibility that the condemned man was suffering from mental impairment for two medical gentlemen, Dr Brayne and Dr Nicholson, were then sent to Winchester to examine Maidment. They visited him over two days, 6–7 July and submitted their report to the Home Office on 8 July. The basic conclusion of that report was that Maidment was of low intellect and had a somewhat boyish appearance but he was not of unsound mind.