Phoenix
18-10-11, 17:38
Thank you everyone who helped me with George Broomfield.
Before yesterday, I wasn't at all certain whether he was a close relation or not, given the ambiguity over age and birthplace.
Now I know that he was definitely the son of James Broomfield and Amelia Hedger.
I hadn't realised that the murder was a cause celebre because he had been shot in the head by Lord Falkland in 1862, which seems to have exacerbated a mental decline, so that it was ruled he was insane and should not be hanged.
I also hadn't realised that he was initially imprisoned in Millbank, before being moved to Broadmoor.
So when his sister-in-law was convinced her husband was trying to murder her (and was committed to an asylum for the rest of her life) perhaps some garbled version of the story had started her off? She was a second wife and may not have been aware of the tale when she married.
My ancestor John Horne married George's neice, Catherine. The family story was that he had run away from home because of his father's violence. He was still in touch with his mother's family, so he probably knew that while George was languishing in Broadmoor in 1871, his own mother, Maria Horne, was in prison in Millbank!
And when I started my research, I thought they were all just ag labs!
Before yesterday, I wasn't at all certain whether he was a close relation or not, given the ambiguity over age and birthplace.
Now I know that he was definitely the son of James Broomfield and Amelia Hedger.
I hadn't realised that the murder was a cause celebre because he had been shot in the head by Lord Falkland in 1862, which seems to have exacerbated a mental decline, so that it was ruled he was insane and should not be hanged.
I also hadn't realised that he was initially imprisoned in Millbank, before being moved to Broadmoor.
So when his sister-in-law was convinced her husband was trying to murder her (and was committed to an asylum for the rest of her life) perhaps some garbled version of the story had started her off? She was a second wife and may not have been aware of the tale when she married.
My ancestor John Horne married George's neice, Catherine. The family story was that he had run away from home because of his father's violence. He was still in touch with his mother's family, so he probably knew that while George was languishing in Broadmoor in 1871, his own mother, Maria Horne, was in prison in Millbank!
And when I started my research, I thought they were all just ag labs!