View Full Version : Murder?!
BK6 updated from this thread
Thought you might like something to get your teeth into!!
I have a copy of some reseach done by a cousin back in the 1950s. She was researching the name Mitchell and sadly she has gone wrong because she didn't have access to the Victorian censuses, so didn't realise the family had moved parishes a few times. Hence she has followed the wrong line back.
Because there were a lot of mistakes, I didn't take too much notice of the more recent parts of her tree, which was rather remiss of me because she has included some interesting snippets, many of which are personal memories which I am now adding to my tree.
This entry should be researchable though - it rather surprised me as she is apparently refering to a child of my 2xg-grandfather who I didn't know existed! (after all these years of research I didn't expect to have missed a child in this generation!).
Firstly what I know already:
Thomas Mitchell 1822-1905 married twice. The first time in 1844 to Mary Lewis. She died in 1875 aged 52. I'm descended from this couple.
Thomas then remarried on 25th Nov 1875 to spinster Elizabeth James at Horfield Gloucestershire (where they lived afterwards). As far as I was aware they had no children together. (none with them in 1881 or 1891)
This is what my cousin has to say though:
Child of Thomas and Elizabeth Mitchell (second wife)
1878 Emily Mitchell. Emily was a nurse, married to a postman, Robert Austin McBrearty, on 12.2.1901, and lived at 26, Maple Road, Horfield. Robert's father was a police constable and lived at 21 St Leonard's Road, Horfield. Emily later moved to 3 Hughenden Road, Horfield, where she was murdered.
So what happened to Emily and is she the child of Thomas and Elizabeth?
Forgot to say my FMP sub has expired and I can't afford to renew it yet, so I couldn't look at the 1901 census addresses.
Robert Austin McBrearty names this bride as his executrix in 1933:
Marriages Mar 1934
Guttridge Ada F Seymour Winchester 2c 191
McBrearty Violet Wiltshire Winchester 2c 191 <<<<<<<<<<<
Seymour Wilfred C Guttridge Winchester 2c 191
Wiltshire William G A McBrearty Winchester 2c 191 <<<<<<<<<
There's a possible death for her in 1953 suggesting she was born in 1904, but that isn't helping!
Think I've found them on Ancestry transcribed as Robert A McDurstey and Emily McDurstey though looking at it carefully it could be McBriertey.
Class: RG13; Piece: 2398; Folio: 26; Page: 13,
http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/7814/GLSRG13_2397_2399-0408/13010696?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.co.u k%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3fgst%3d-6&ssrc=&backlabel=ReturnSearchResults
they are at 21 St Leonards Road, parish of Horfield. He is a postman, (got to nip out for a while unfortunately, will get back to you later)
In 1901, the policeman was living at 2 Old Park Cottages, Bristol
Robert, head, 43, police constable, b Sunderland
Caroline, wife, 43, b Cheltenham
Caroline, dau, 21, tailoress, b Cheltenham
Alice, dau, 19, tailoress, b Cheltenham
John, son, 14, b Bristol
Jessie, dau, 9, b Bristol
Edith, 4, b Bristol
Oh, stop everyone!! Thanks for that entry Jill. Seeing Emily was born in Ireland reminds me I've done this before, but a long time ago so available records have changed. I don't see why Emily would be connected if my lot lived tidily in Horfield!
Just off to see if there's an old thread :o
Can't find anything about the murder of Emily, but there is this...
Horfield is a suburb of the city of Bristol, in southwest England. On Wednesday September 20th, 1950 began as an ordinary sort of day for Ethel Worth (nee Mitchell) and her 40 year old son, Frederick. After he had departed for work (he was employed at the B.A.C.) she set about her household chores.
She had been widowed three years previously and now rarely left the house.
Ethel came from a well-known local family and had spent all her 65 years in the neighbourhood.
Her youngest sister Gertrude lived nearby in Gloucester Road.
As usual, Fred came home at quarter to one for his lunch break. When he left after lunch to return to Filton, his mother was about to settle down in her favourite armchair for her customary afternoon nap, with the fire burning brightly in the living room hearth.
Ethel poured herself a glass of water and placed it within easy reach on the mantelpiece for when she awoke.
When Fred returned at half past five there was no answer to his greeting, which he thought was odd. He pushed open the living room door and found his mother slumped in the chair, a woolly coat over her face.
He first thought that she had suffered a stroke but when he approached her, Fred saw that she had been battered about the head and strangled. He immediately called in their G.P., Dr. Courtney who promptly contacted the police.
Det. Inspector Ivor Godden made the initial investigation at the scene of the crime. The wall by Ethel Worth's armchair and the chair itself was liberally splashed with blood.
The last person to see her alive, apart from the killer, was Harold Clarke, a disabled ex-serviceman of nearby Rozel Road. When he passed her house at two o'clock he saw her standing in her front room window and they had acknowledged each other with a brief wave.
When he walked back down Hughenden Road 15 minutes later there was no sign of her.
Mrs Worth's next-door-neighbours at number 3 Hughenden Road were brother and sister, Harold and Lilian Woodfield.
They had a married brother, Edward, aged 49 who lived in Southmead Road. Ted was on friendly terms with the Worths, mother and son, and had been known to borrow money from Ethel.
At 11.20 a.m. on Thursday September 21st, Det. Sgt. George Cox called on Ted Woodfield and acquainted him with the news of Mrs Worth's death.
Ted replied, 'Oh, I'm sorry. That is the first I've heard about it.'
He then accompanied Det. Sgt. Cox to Police HQ where he was interviewed by Supt. Melbourne Phillips, who was in charge of the case. Ted was asked to account for his movements on the preceding day and he stated that he'd spent the afternoon in bed.
Supt. Phillips warned him to be careful, reminding him that Hughenden Road contained only a few houses and if he had been there at the relevant time it was quite possible that he had been seen by someone.
It was at this juncture Woodfield broke down and began to cry. After a moment or two he controlled himself, looked up from where he had buried his head in his hands said; 'It was a mad impulse. I will tell you.'
He then proceeded to recount the events of the previous day.
On the morning of the day in question he had received a reply to a letter he had written to his former employers, the B.A.C. Ted had asked for his old job back, which he had left in July for no apparent reason. But the B.A.C. were unable to reinstate him. His wife was later to tell the court that this letter seemed to depress him greatly and she was concerned at leaving him on his own when she went off to work that morning.
He had been unemployed since leaving the B.A.C.
That morning, after his wife had left the house, Ted got himself ready and went to the Labour Exchange. On his way home he stopped at a pub at the bottom of Chock Lane, Westbury-on-Trym for a couple of pints of cider, which he obtained for the princely sum of one shilling and fourpence.
Ted then returned home and got himself some dinner, deciding while he was eating to call on Mrs Worth and try to borrow some more cash. He was already in debt to her to the tune of £1.00. On his way out of his house he inexplicably picked up a lemonade bottle which he pocketed.
When Ethel Worth answered her front door to him he put his hand in his inside jacket pocket to give her the impression he was going to repay her loan. She invited him in and as he followed her down the hallway towards the living room he struck her on the head with the glass lemonade bottle.
Poor Ethel must have been totally bewildered and absolutely terrified at the turn events were taking.
'Don't Ted,' she pleaded as she sank into her armchair. He responded by hitting her again. Things were moving too fast for Ted Woodfield to stop now. Putting on a pair of his wife's gloves he just happened to have in his coat pocket, he clutched at the frail little lady's throat and squeezed the life out of her.
He then searched the house, taking money from the handbag she kept in the living room cupboard and a gold wrist-watch and field glasses from her bedroom.
He walked home across Horfield Common, abandoning the bottle and gloves on the way. He arrived back at Southmead Road at 4.20 p.m. He placed the watch in a cigarette case and buried it, together with the field glasses, by his back door.
He then set about preparing tea for his wife, Katherine, who got back from her job at about five o'clock.
That night Ted Woodfield felt compelled to spend the fruits of his ghastly crime, knowing it was only a matter of time before the police were on to him. He took Katherine for a night out at the Beehive on Wellington Hill West. Little was she to know that it was to be the last evening she would ever spend in a pub in her husband's company.
The case came to court the following month, and Woodfield's counsel, Mr J.D. Carswell KC entered a plea of insanity on his client's behalf. He described Woodfield as 'timid' and 'mild' and as being one who so 'hated the sight of blood' that a 'street accident would upset him badly.'
Katherine Woodfield and her husband's relatives all testified to the fact the Woodfield had never been known to lose his temper. Katherine, who had known him over thirty years, said 'He is the kindest man I have ever known,' while his sister announced him to be 'One of the best. I can't say anything against him.'
So what did cause this gentle man to act as 'a vicious beast' to quote the words used to describe him in court?
There was a history of insanity in his family, it is true. Both his grandmother and aunt had been inmates in Gloucester Asylum, and his mother suffered from delusions.
Some three years prior to the tragedy Woodfield had been examined and X-rayed by neurologists after experiencing some sort of attack when bending over.
This had caused 'a click in his head' and he then suffered from double vision. He had been diagnosed as having hardening of the arteries and a blood clot on the brain.
There was a conflict of opinion among the medics called in to give evidence. Dr Gibson, for the defence, thought his condition could make him 'liable ... to abnormally violent reactions in response to very small stimuli or upsets,' while Dr Hodge, for the prosecution, considered that although he 'might be more vulnerable to applied stress than the average individual,' Woodfield was, in his view, 'fully able to comprehend the nature and quality of his act and the consequences that would naturally follow.'
The jury returned a verdict of 'Guilty' and Edward Isaac Woodfield was sentenced to death. Appeals were lodged by his solicitor and by Dr Gibson but to no avail.
The sentence stood and Woodfield was hanged, close to the scene of his crime, at Horfield Jail on December 14th, 1950, by Albert Pierrepoint and Herbert Allen.
When asked if he had anything to say before sentence of death was passed he said, 'God knows best, sir.'
So just how sane or insane was Ted Woodfield when he beat and throttled a defenceless pensioner who had shown him nothing but kindness for the sake of a few pounds, a gold watch and a pair of field glasses?
Famous son of Horfield, Hollywood actor Cary Grant, who was born at 15 Hughenden Road, Horfield Bristol in 1904.
Hmmm.....very odd. Robert and Emily are in Leyton Essex in 1911 with a few children. What was she doing being murdered in Horfield? (if she was.....)
Just realised I'm cross posting with Shona who seems to have been typing for England (or Scotland?!!) so must read that first....
Oh thanks Shona. I definitely needs something for amnesia!
I researched the murder of Ethel Worth (my first cousin twice removed) a few years ago, but had forgotten about it - but murder and Mitchell was ringing a bell :o Ovviously it did to my cousin in Horfield as well!
Cary Grant went to school with some of dad's older brothers and sisters :)
So, the two names are mixed up and it's unlikely Thomas and Elizabeth had any children.
I'll have to make a big note about this somewhere or I'll be asking again in another five years!!
Sorry to waste your time :o:o:o:o:o
kiterunner
04-11-13, 12:12
FamilySearch has a transcription of Emily's marriage to Robert and it gives her age as 22 and her father's name as Thomas Mitchell.
Thanks Kate. I suppose my relative searched the PRs for Horfield and made an assumption about who the father Thomas Mitchell was! As Emily was 22 she then assumed her to be a child of Thomas's second marriage, but wouldn't have known Emily was born in Dublin.
maggie_4_7
04-11-13, 16:28
Oh thanks Shona. I definitely needs something for amnesia!
I researched the murder of Ethel Worth (my first cousin twice removed) a few years ago, but had forgotten about it - but murder and Mitchell was ringing a bell :o Ovviously it did to my cousin in Horfield as well!
Cary Grant went to school with some of dad's older brothers and sisters :)
You must mean Archibald Leach :)
Very interesting report even if its not yours though.
That's right Maggie. My auntie sat behind him at Bishop Road school. :)
Very interesting report even if its not yours though.
Julie, the report Shona posted is for my relative, it's just not the person I was looking for originally!!
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