Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths in Southampton Read online

  Having taken the money, Brown then took off his oilskin and put it inside his bag. He placed the razor and the hammer underneath a hedge close to the gate and headed off for Winchester. He confirmed his railway journey to Woking and then hitched a ride on a cart to London Bridge before going on to Deptford. He ended by saying that there had been no intention to kill Parker and he had not known what had come over him.

  On 25 May, a final attempt was made to save Brown’s life. Mr Joseph Bell, a gentleman who knew the family well, forwarded evidence that as a child, Brown had fallen from a third storey window and badly injured himself. He had suffered a bad head injury and there was a suggestion that he had never been in his right mind since that time. Examples of his bizarre behaviour were given including that whilst at sea, he had been known to strip himself naked and sleep on deck underneath the sails.

  None of this served to save Brown. After the jury had been out for just over an hour, they returned to announce that Brown was guilty. As a result, on 31 May, he was hanged at Winchester alongside James Whelan who had killed George Richardson, on board a ship at sea and thrown his body overboard. It was reported that whilst he stood on the trap, waiting to be launched into eternity, Brown had cried out: ‘Lord Jesus, have mercy on my soul.

  Chapter 3

  Circumstantial Evidence Frederick Burden 1896

  Towards the end of 1880, Angelina Stainer, the daughter of a brothel-keeper, married Alfred John Faithful, a seaman, and moved into 29 Mount Street, Southampton. By the census of 1891, the family, now also including an eight-year-old daughter Ethel and a five-year-old son, Alfred, had moved to 14 Wharf Street. Some two years after this, on 14 December 1893, Angelina walked out on her family and began earning her living as a prostitute.

  Very soon after she had left her husband, Angelina became friendly with Annie Nicholls who lived at 16 Brooklyn Road, Portswood. At one stage, Angelina even lived with Annie’s mother, who also had a house in Brooklyn Road, but then, early in 1896, Angelina moved further along the same street, into number 9. By then she had met Frederick Burden and they had started living together. Unfortunately, there were constant arguments between the couple and in due course, Frederick moved out, though he was still a regular visitor to the house.

  Eleven-year-old Sarah Matilda Philpott was yet another resident of Brooklyn Road, residing at number 14. Sarah had become quite friendly with Angelina and would often run errands for her. At around 1.00pm on Thursday, 20 February 1896, young Sarah called at number 9, to see if Angelina needed anything. She knocked, but there was no reply. Luckily, she had a front door key which Angelina had given to Annie Nicholls and which she, in turn, had passed on to Sarah.

  Sarah took out the key but for some reason it would not turn in the lock. Not one to be deterred, Sarah ran around to the back door, which she found was unlocked. She entered the house and called out for Angelina but again there was no reply. Going upstairs, Sarah entered the front bedroom and saw Angelina lying in bed, with a great deal of blood about her face. Sarah touched nothing but immediately ran to get help.

  Sarah had run home to tell her mother what she had found. Mrs Philpott then ran to number 15, a house occupied by Charles Murray and his family. Charles listened to the story of what Sarah had found and then went to Angelina’s house to investigate for himself. He too was unable to gain access through the front door and went around the back. Inside Angelina’s bedroom he saw the scene for himself and, disturbing nothing, went for the police.

  Inspector Henry Hurst was the first police officer on the scene and it was he who sent for Doctor Ives. Meanwhile, Hurst made a careful inspection of the premises. The bedroom in which the body was found was the only furnished room in the entire house. It contained a chair, a dressing table, a bed, a fender, the frame of a sewing machine, a basket which stood near the bed, a hearthrug and a carpet, all of which were of poor quality.

  Angelina was lying on her left side, facing the window. Her throat had been cut so badly that her head was almost severed from her body. A bloodstained razor, presumably the weapon used, lay loosely in Angelina’s right hand between her extended thumb and forefinger. The body was fully clothed, apart from boots and an apron lay underneath the neck. By the side of the bed, in the basket, lay a bodice, spotted with blood. There was a towel lying alongside the body and a sheet underneath. The pillow beneath Angelina’s head was very heavily bloodstained but two other pillows, on one side of the body, only bore a few spots of blood. A bucket to one side of the bed contained some water, which was mixed with blood. Finally, Inspector Hurst noted that an oil-lamp was still burning in the room.

  The fact that the razor was found in Angelina’s hand might have suggested that she had taken her own life but when Doctor William Robert Yeates Ives made his initial examination, he stated that the wound could not possibly be self-inflicted. This was a case of murder and the killer, whoever he or she was, had tried to make it look like a suicide. It was time to find out who Angelina had been close to and, once the neighbours were interviewed, Inspector Hurst found that one name was repeated again and again; that of Frederick Burden.

  It soon transpired that the last person to see Angelina alive had been Sarah Matilda Philpott, the same young girl who had found the body. Sarah had called on Angelina at around 5.00pm on Wednesday, 19 February. It was Sarah’s habit to light the fire for Angelina most evenings but on this occasion she found that it was already burning. At the time, both Angelina and Burden were in the house. They were arguing and Sarah reported that she believed that Angelina was drunk.

  After some time, there was a knock on the front door and Burden went to answer it. He returned to say to Sarah that her father wanted her but she ignored this and stayed. Some time later there was a second knock and this time, everyone ignored it and the caller went away. At around 7.00pm, Sarah left and found her sister, Jane, waiting for her outside. The two girls went home together. This was the last time anyone would ever see Angelina alive. The police were now sure that Angelina Faithfull had been killed at some time between 7.00pm on 19 February and 1.00pm on the 20th.

  Annie Nicholls had much information to give to the police. The first incident she referred to had taken place on 1 February of that year. She had gone across to Angelina’s house to find her with Burden. Angelina was lying on her bed, gasping for breath and couldn’t speak. Annie assumed that Burden had hit Angelina or hurt her in some other way and told him to fetch the doctor. He had merely replied that he had no money to pay for a doctor. At that point Annie left the house but returned later to ask Angelina what had happened. Angelina told her that she had argued with Burden and told him she was going to leave. He had said that if she left, she would leave without a limb.

  Another incident had taken place on 16 February, just a few days before Angelina had been killed. Once again, Annie had found them both in the bedroom and upon seeing her friend, Angelina complained that Burden had tried to strangle her. As if to prove this, she showed Annie some red marks upon her neck. Angelina also said that she believed Burden had poisoned some beer that was in a jug. Hearing this, Burden had poured himself two and a half tumblers of the brew and quickly drank it down. However, Annie was able to report that he had then left the room and gone into a back room. Annie had heard the sounds of a window being opened, followed by the sounds of retching and vomiting and when Burden returned a few moments later, he was wiping his mouth. Did this mean that the beer had been poisoned after all?

  Soon after this incident, Annie had asked Angelina to go to the Brook Inn for a drink. Burden had gone too and after having yet another glass of beer he went outside the pub. He was back inside a minute and volunteered the information that he had just been sick. The three only stayed in the pub for some eight minutes and as they left, Burden kissed Angelina and bade her goodnight, adding: ‘I shall not trouble you anymore.’ Finally, Annie was able to say that she had seen Burden twice the next day, 17 February, but had not seen him since.

  It was now crucia
l for the police to speak to Frederick Burden but he had gone missing from his father’s house at 168 Middle Street, Kingsland Drive. Further, there was evidence that he had suddenly walked away from his work.

  Burden was employed by the Union Company, on the docks, and his immediate boss was John Barton. Barton told the police that Burden had reported for work at 7.00am on 19 February, but at 8.30am, he had been seen leaving the ship he was working on and had not returned to his post. Burden was supposed to work until 5.00pm.

  In due course it came to the attention of the police that Burden had indeed returned to his father’s house. So it was that at 9.15pm on Saturday, 22 February, Detective Sergeant John William Boggeln and Detective Hatcher called at the house in Middle Street to question him. Burden was in a back room and immediately the police officers noticed that he had an injury to his throat. Asked about the death of Angelina faithfull, Burden made a full statement, which was taken down in writing.

  Burden began: ‘I am not guilty. I was on the bridge at Winchester, near the barracks, at nine o’clock on Thursday morning. I then went to Romsey where I slept under a hayrick and I went on to Salisbury where I saw, on a placard, ‘A Sad Fate of a Woman in Southampton’.

  ‘I came back to Romsey and had a pint of beer at the Sun and asked the landlord for a paper. I then read the full account and came back to Southampton where I intended to give myself up.’

  Burden was then escorted to the police station where he was formally charged with murder, his only reply being: ‘I suppose it looks pretty black against me.’ He was then searched and Boggeln found a dock labourer’s work ticket for 19 February. His clothes were taken and handed to Dr Ives for examination and Burden was then taken to Winchester prison where he would be held prior to appearing in court.

  Frederick Burden’s trial opened at Winchester before Mister Justice Day on 29 June 1896. The case for the prosecution was led by Mr C T Giles and Mr Barnes whilst Burden was defended by Mr E H Bullen.

  The court opened at 10.00am and there was a rather undignified rush for spaces in the public gallery, which was soon filled, leaving many would-be spectators outside the room. Burden appeared soon after 10.25am and, asked how he wished to plead, answered ‘Not Guilty’ in a strong voice.

  In his opening speech for the prosecution, Mr Giles detailed the wounds inflicted upon Angelina stating that the cut in her throat ran from ear to ear and was so deep that even the bones in the neck had been severed. There was blood upon the handle of the razor found loosely held in Angelina’s hand but none upon the hand itself. This indicated that the wound must have been inflicted by someone else. Mr Giles then began to call his witnesses.

  One of the first of those witnesses was Sarah Philpott. She gave her evidence in a very quiet voice and the judge complained that he couldn’t hear what she said. Sarah was asked to speak up. After outlining what she had already told the police, Sarah agreed, under cross-examination, that she had seen other men besides Burden calling at Angelina’s house but added that this hadn’t happened very often.

  Dr Ives, the police surgeon for the district, gave full details of the injuries Angelina had suffered. The wound in the throat began one and a half inches below the lobe of the right ear and ran across to a point two and a half inches below the left lobe. In the doctor’s opinion, according to his initial examination, Angelina had been dead between twelve and fourteen hours.

  On Monday, 24 February, Dr Ives had conducted the postmortem. In addition to the wound in the neck, Dr Ives had also seen a round bruise over the navel, some three and a half inches across. Angelina also had a black eye and death had been due to loss of blood, the body being almost drained.

  Two days earlier, on 22 February, after Burden had been arrested, Dr Ives reported to the police station to make an examination of the prisoner. Burden had incised wounds to his neck. These were mainly superficial and were around two or perhaps three days old. Burden had claimed that he had sustained these when he fell onto a barbed wire fence at Romsey but Dr Ives did not think this could be the case as such wounds would almost certainly have been infected.

  Turning to his examination of Burden’s clothing, Dr Ives reported that there were bloodstains on the right hand sleeve of his coat and another large stain on the inside of the lining. There was blood around the collar of Burden’s shirt and several spots on the sleeves. In addition, bloodstains were seen on his vest, though these were only small spots, and a single spot of blood had been found on Burden’s drawers, on the left leg.

  Dr Ives was able to give one final piece of interesting information. When Angelina’s body had been found, the lamp was still burning in the bedroom. Tests had shown that this lamp would burn, assuming that the reservoir was full, for between twelve and fourteen hours. The body had been found at 1.00pm on 20 February suggesting that the very latest the lamp could have been lit would be 11.00pm the previous night, some four hours after Angelina had been seen in Burden’s company. This fitted in with the testimony as to the time of death, placing it at some time between 11.00pm on 19 February and 1.00am on the 20th.

  George Parton said that at some time between 7.00am and 9.00am, he had seen Burden some 500 yards away from the murder scene. Parton could not be sure of the exact date this encounter had taken place but he recalled that he had first heard of the murder that same evening. The inference was that this must have been on the day the body was discovered, Thursday, 20 February. This testimony was greatly devalued, however, when Parton said that he had heard of the murder at noon. Angelina’s body was not found until 1.00pm. Further, Parton said that the man he had seen was heading towards Southampton, not away from it.

  Stephen Paddick lived in Banner Street, Romsey and he testified that at around 7.00am on Friday, 21 February he was on his way to Squab Wood when he saw a man crossing a field, which contained two hayricks. The man got on to the Salisbury road and waited for Paddick to approach. The two men fell into conversation and the stranger asked for a light for his cigarette. Paddick positively identified the man as Burden and added that he had asked him if he had heard of a murder in Southampton. He went on to ask if he had seen the previous night’s newspaper and then sought confirmation as to how long it would take him to get to Salisbury.

  Much was made of this comment in Mr Giles’ summation for the prosecution. He stated that it was well known that Burden had threatened Angelina. They had been together until at least 7.00pm on 19 February and there was no evidence that anyone else had argued with her after this time. Dr Ives had confirmed that Burden had come into contact with a good deal of blood and this did not seem to be accounted for by his own injuries. Mr Giles referred to Burden being seen 500 yards away from the house, early on 20 February, by George Parton, even though this evidence had largely been discounted and finally, he had spoken to Stephen Paddick about the murder in Southampton. How could he have known about it, unless he had committed it?

  For the defence, it was confirmed that reports of the murder had appeared in the later editions of the Southern Daily Echo on 20 February. Burden claimed to have heard a news-vendor shouting out about the murder and had later read reports that showed he was being sought by the police. It was readily acknowledged that Burden had returned voluntarily to Southampton and this was hardly the action of a guilty man.

  Turning to the previous incidents, mentioned by some of the witnesses, Mr Bullen said that there had indeed been frequent quarrels between his client and the dead woman. She had persuaded him to leave his family and live with her but had then continued to see other men. As for the supposed incident of the poisoned beer, Burden had already been drinking rather heavily and the two and a half tumblers of beer he then consumed so quickly, naturally made him sick. There was no proof that the beer had ever been poisoned. Finally, although the razor used to kill Angelina did indeed belong to Burden, he had left that at the house and so anyone could have picked it up and used it.

  The jury retired at 3.00pm. Two hours later they returned to court to sa
y that they could not agree on a verdict. The judge asked them to continue their deliberations but by 6.00pm, the foreman confirmed that it was impossible for them to agree, even if they had to stay together all night.

  On 30 June, the day after the trial had concluded and the jury had been discharged, Mr Bullen was back in court asking the judge if it was his intention to try Burden again at this same assizes or order some future date. The problem was that many of the witnesses called were rather nomadic and there might be a good deal of difficulty in getting them all together again.

  In the event, the second trial opened on 1 July. The same witnesses gave the same evidence and the second jury retired to decide on the guilt or innocence of the prisoner. After a deliberation of some twenty-five minutes they returned to announce that Burden was guilty, though they did add a recommendation to mercy on account of the prisoner’s age. Asked if he had anything to say before the sentence of death was passed, Burden replied: ‘All I can say is that I did not do it.’

  There was to be no reprieve. Despite the fact that all the evidence was circumstantial, that one jury had failed to agree and that the second had recommended him to mercy, twenty-four-year-old Frederick Burden was hanged at Winchester on Thursday, 16 July 1896. In fact, this was a triple execution, Burden being hanged alongside Samuel Edward Smith, a soldier who had killed a corporal at Aldershot and Philip Matthews, who had murdered his daughter at Teignmouth. It was the last ever triple execution in England.

  In the days before he died on the gallows, Burden had been visited several times by his father. His mother, however, showed a much more callous attitude. Whilst it was true that she maintained that her son was innocent, she did not visit him once in prison and, on the day following the execution, had a friend write to the governor of the prison asking for the death certificate, so that she would be able to claim a £25 insurance policy on Frederick’s life.