The Pickering Axe Murder
While
Peabee was collecting material for his recent blog post – The Cousins – or
where they? – he stumbled on the tale of a domestic murder in Yorkshire in
1888. Rather than confuse the original blog’s story, he decided to put together
some of the newspaper reports of the time into a separate blog. The perpetrator
of the crime had not been found when most of the reports appeared. The suspect
was the husband who was believed to be either on the run or had committed suicide.
If he had lived, been caught and gone for trial, goodness knows what the trial
judge would have made of these stories. Perhaps such explicit and prejudicial
reporting was allowed in the 19th century, but certainly today most of the
reporters, editors and publishers would have had to stand trial themselves for
perverting the course of justice!
First
some family background:
James
Pennock was born on 12 March 1848 in Cropton, Yorkshire, the eldest of ten
children born to William Pennock, a farmer worker, and his wife Elizabeth (nee
Carr) .
James
married Hannah Bielby on 6 December 1869 in Pickering. Hannah had been born in Marishes,
Yorkshire, in 1851, the daughter of William Bielby, a farmer, and his wife Jane
(nee Pratt). Hannah was the fifth of 11 children in that family.
James
and Hannah had nine children: Ellen (born 1869), William (1870), Jane (1873), Elizabeth
(1876), Harry (1877), Hannah (1881), James (1883), Charles (1886), and Mary
Pennock (1887).
The
rest of the story is told in the following newspaper articles:
The
York Herald 9 November 1888
THE
WIFE MURDER NEAR PICKERING.
EXCITEMENT
IN THE DISTRICT.
THE
CAUSE OF THE CRIME.
(From our own Reporter.)
Some
most erroneous reports having appeared as to the particulars of the horrible
tragedy enacted at a gatehouse on a crossing of the Malton and Whitby line on
Tuesday night, the following facts, verified by our own reporter yesterday,
will clear the matter up, and also show that the tragedy, in its horrible
details, is almost as shocking and exciting as the sensational Cropton murders
which, about 15 years ago, alarmed the whole of north-east Yorkshire. The
murdered woman’s name is Hannah Pennock, nee Bielby, about 43 years of
age, who with her husband James Pennock, the supposed murderer, had for some
time past lived at a crossing near the Black Bull beerhouse on the Malton and
Whitby line. Pennock himself had been in the employ of the North Eastern Railway
Comppany, about 20 years, and was generally looked upon as a quiet, mild,
industrious fellow, yet withal at time peculiar in his ways as regards his
social characteristics. He was about the same age as his wife, and they had a
family of eight children, five of whom lived with the father and mother at the
gatehouse, and the others were in service. The house where the couple lived is
a substantial commodious building, which in the earlier years of the railway
was used as a station, and all the rooms are on the ground floor. The first
room is a kitchen; at an angle was the bedroom of the husband and wife, and
next to this the children’s bedroom, in which slept several young children, and
also a lame youth of 17 or 18 years of age. Singularly, not one of these had
heard any noise during the night, nor the slightest indication of the terrible
tragedy being enacted near them. On Tuesday night the children went to bed at
their usual hour, the mother followed them, leaving the father and the eldest
son up. Pennock himself had to “light” the nine o’clock train past the crossing,
and previous to doing this he had arranged with his son to take a parcel of
books for him down to Marishes Station. The son went to bed after the mother,
and when the father had done his work, he entered the childrens’ (sic) bedroom,
carefully wrapped them up, and asked them if they were all right. Nothing more
was – nor has been since – heard or seen of Pennock. Nothing was heard during
the night, but at seven next morning, when a little girl, Hannah Pennock, entered
the bedroom, she found her mother weltering in her blood. An alarm was at once
raised; two doctors and the police were sent for, and Dr. Donald Robertson, of
Pickering, got there just before Mrs. Pennock died. Pennock had disappeared,
but his watch, daubed with blood, was found in the house, and a hatchet, also
covered with blood, was found in the place where it was usually kept. With this
instrument the bloody deed was evidently committed, for on the right temple of
the deceased is a fearful wound, jagged and deep, as if caused by the blunt end
of the axe, and her right jaw is smashed. The walls of the bedroom are splashed
with blood. The body was laid athwart the bed, with the arms under the
bedclothes, and the fatal blows had evidently been struck when the poor
creature was asleep, so that all the tales of quarrels during the night are
purely mythical. Yesterday a post-mortem was made by Dr. Walker, of
Pickering. Nothing has up to the time of writing been heard of Pennock, who, it
is confidently believed, has committed suicide, and Supt. Spence has a force of
police labourers out dragging the ponds in the vicinity and searching the
rivers Rye and Derwent. The affair has caused the greatest excitement in the
district. There is only too much reason to fear that jealously (sic) was
the cause of the crime, as the statements of the eldest son of the deceased and
the neighbours to our reporter show that frequent quarrels have of late taken
place between the unfortunate couple, and the husband had been heard to
threaten his wife, who was far advanced in pregnancy when she was so ruthlessly
killed.
Whitby Gazette 9
November 1888
WIFE
MURDER AT PICKERING.
LATEST
PARTICULARS.
(By Our Own Reporter.)
On
Wednesday morning the people of the usually quiet neighbourhood of the market
town of Pickering were startled by the report that a shocking murder had been
committed on one of the neighbours during the dark hours of the previous night.
The reports, wild and exaggerated at first, had substance in fact, insomuch
that inquiries immediately prosecuted on the spot, revealed the awful
circumstances that a woman, living in a house less than two miles from
Pickering, had been murdered during the night by her husband. The victim is
Mrs. Pennock, wife of James Pennock, employed by the North Eastern Railway
Company, in whose employment he has been for 16 or 17 years. They occupied a
house known as the Black Bull Old Station, which was formerly used as a
road-side station on the Kirby Misperton line, but has been discontinued as
such for about thirty years. Pennock and his wife were allowed to occupy the
house free the return for the privilege being that Pennock looked after the
gates there, which protect the high road from passing trains. It would appear
from inquiries made by our reporter, that for some time the relations between
Pennock and his wife have not been anything like of a felicitous character from
causes which, whether well-founded or not, Pennock himself did not hesitate to talk about. Anyhow, he
professed to be jealous of his wife, and to many of those with whom he was
personally acquainted he related what he represented as his domestic and
marital troubles. Whether he actually believed in all that he represented need
not be the cause of much speculation, though by some persons it is believed
that he was not sincere in this respect, and that his quarrels with his wife
had their offspring in his own individual peculiarities. It is quite certain,
however, that his wife during her lifetime, and particularly within the last
month or so, was frequently subjected to coarse sneers, jeering remarks, and
corporeal ill-usage. Only a week or two back he severely maltreated the woman,
bruising her severely on several parts of her body which was outwardly
testified to by subsequent lameness and blackened eyes. It would appear that
the last serious quarrel was never made up, the wife, it is said, refusing to
be conciliated. That he was exasperated by this is quite probable, and it may
have been the immediate cause which led up to the awful crime which he
committed. Between nine and ten o’clock, on Tuesday night, the house was
observed to be in darkness, and presumably all the occupants – Pennock, his
wife, and four young children – had gone to bed. During the night no sound was
heard, and, from what anyone outside knew, the lonely house was wrapped in
perfect repose. But early in the morning, the flickering dawn of a winter day,
revealed a spectacle which demonstrated that a horrid work had been enacted during
the dark hours of the night. One of the children going into a bedroom was
paralysed to see there, partially laid on the bed and tumbled in a heap, the
unclothed bleeding form of her mother, apparently lifeless. The poor child was
sickened at the sight of so much blood, which was oozing from a gaping wound in
the skull of the prostrate and dying woman. Terrified as the girl was, benumbed
as she was with the horrible spectacle which met her young eyes, it was some
time before she could realise anything like what had happened. As she recovered
from the shock, she screamed aloud for help, and the other children rushed to
see the cause. They, too, were painfully shocked. An alarm was speedily raised,
and a docter (sic) sent for, and in course of time Dr. Robertson, who is
in practice at Pickering, was on the spot. He found the woman as we have
described. She was not quite dead, but absolutely unconscious, and life was
very obviously fast ebbing away. In a few moments all was over – the woman lay
dead, the victim of anger and murderous passion. A search of the premises was
afterwards made by the police under the direction of Supt. Spence, of
Pickering, and the result seems to leave no doubt that the murder was committed
by the husband, who was missing. An axe used for the purpose of chopping wood
and such like domestic offices, was found besmeared with blood, sticking to
which were small streaks of human hair, corresponding in colour and texture
with that on the dead woman’s head. An examination of the wound on the head of
the corpse left no doubt that it had been inflicted with a blow by this
instrument, administered with a heavy hand. There were other wounds and bruises
about the body, but none of them in itself likely to have caused death. Turning
away at last from the scene of the awful crime, the children were removed and
the house locked up, its only occupant being the body of the lifeless woman.
During
the whole of Wednesday and yesterday diligent search was made all over the
countryside to discover the missing man. A rumour gained credence that he had
committed suicide, and it was held probable that he had drowned himself in the
waters of the river Derwent, which runs close by. The river was dragged for a
considerable distance, the pools were sounded or run clear, but in vain. The
immediate district was scoured, and enquiries were especially made at houses
which Pennock was accustomed to visit, but with no result – the man had
disappeared, leaving no trace behind him except his bloody work. The police
have officially communicated with all the outlying districts and centres of
population, and give the following description of the missing man :
“Wanted,
at Pickering, for the murder of his wife, at Black Bull, near Pickering, on the
7th inst., James Pennock, railway platelayer, 42 to 45 years of age, 5 feet 8
or nine inches high, rather stout built, grey eyes, dark complexion, bushy dark
ginger beard and whiskers, moustache cut short, lump about the size of a marble
on the top of his head. Dressed in an old blue cloth jacket and vest, which had
belonged to a signalman, buttons stamped N E R, moleskin trousers, with
linings, black soft billy-cock hat, and strong laced boots.”
The
murdered woman was about 42 years of age. She is the daughter of a farmer named
Beilby (sic), of Marishes, and she was married to Pennock about 18 years
ago. James Pennock himself is the son of Mr. Pennock, of Cropton, who for some years
was Parish Clerk there as also was his uncle. The murderer is the son of Mr.
Pennock by his first wife. The father married a second time, but his wife
separated from him some years ago, and is now living in Whitby. The murderer,
before he went into the service of the North Eastern Railway Company was a
farmer’s servant. By his wife he had nine children, the eldest of whom, born
before marriage, being 18 or 19 years old. There were four children at home,
all young. At the time of her murder, Mrs. Pennock promised to become the
mother of another. The man of whom Pennock appears to have been the most
jealous resides at Cropton, but, from all accounts, there would appear to be
little or no cause for it. Anyhow, the man was so angry at Pennock so
frequently mentioning his name in connection with his wife’s misconduct that he
had frequently threatened to take legal proceedings against him, and it is
stated that he had actually instructed a solicitor to serve Pennock with a writ
charging him with slander in this connection, and it is further stated that
this reached Pennock’s ears on the day preceding the committal of the crime.
Pennock himself bore outside the character of a steady, quiet man, and was
generally respected by those who knew him, despite some few individual
singularities. He was a teetotaller and a local preacher on the Primitive
Methodist Plan, and regularly and diligently went the circuit allotted to him.
On the occasions of the Railway Servants annual gathering at Whitby, Pennock
was one of the principal speakers, and, having a fine, sonorous voice,
invariably led the singing both in camp and in the processions through the
public thoroughfares of the town. It is said, however, that recently he has not
been in very high favour with the leaders of the Primitive Methodist body,
because of the frequent charges which he brought against his wife and which he
was unable to prove. When investigation were made as to his statements, and he
was brought face to face with the parties whom he had mentioned, he discovered
himself incapable of remembering the particulars which he had previously given,
and, indeed, so shuffled and prevaricated as to induce the belief that he had
either grossly exaggerated minor circumstances of that he was labouring under
some unfortunate delusion.
Yesterday,
Dr. Robertson made a formal post mortem examination of the body of the murdered
woman.
LATEST
The
inquest will be held at 12 o’clock, at noon, to-day (Friday.)
The
murderer is still at large.
The
York Herald 10 November 1888
WIFE
MURDER NEAR PICKERING.
THE
INQUEST.
Yesterday
morning, at the Black Bull Gatehouse, about two miles from Pickering, Mr.
Arthur Wood, coroner, of Kirbymoorside, held an inquest on the body of Hannah
Pennock, aged 43, wife of James Pennock, platelayer in the employ of the North-Eastern
Railway Company, who was ruthlessly murdered on Tuesday night. The body was
laid at the Gatehouse, which was kept by the husband of the murdered woman. Mr.
Baines, of Malton, represented the North-Eastern Railway Company, and Superintendent
Space watched the case on behalf of the police. The first witness called was
William
Pennock (17), son of the deceased, who deposed that on Tuesday night he was at home.
Four of his little brothers and sisters went to bed about eight, and his mother
went about half an hour afterwards. He and a little sister went later, leaving
his father up in the house. After he had gone to bed his father went into the
bedroom for a hand lamp to put on the railway. That was about nine o’clock. He
heard no noise, nor any talking in the house during the night. If there had
been he could have heard it, as his bedroom was near to his father’s, on the
ground floor. He got up about 7.15 on Wednesday morning. His sister Hannah, a
child of seven years, had then gone into the mother’s room, and she went
screaming back to the witness, who went into the bedroom and found the bed all
covered with blood. He examined her head, and when he saw the wounds he
searched for anything “he” had done it with. (Witness said by “he” he meant his
father, as he at once thought his father had done it.) Had not heard his father
and mother quarrelling that night, but had heard them previously. He found an
axe belonging to the house in a tub, where they usually kept it. His father and
mother did not speak to each other on Tuesday evening whilst he was there. They
often quarrelled. Never saw his father strike deceased, but he once saw him
push her out of doors. That was about fourteen weeks ago. Had seen marks on his
mother’s person caused by his father. When the father put her out of the house
she had thrown several plates in his face. The axe, produced by Supt. Spence,
was like the one he found in the tub, and the thick end of the head was then
all blood. The watch produced was also his father’s. It was found on the
kitchen table, and had blood on it. His mother was alive when he first went
into the room, because she was breathing and “ruttling” in the throat. She
could not speak. Did not think his mother was afraid his father would do
something of the sort, but had heard her say she should stop till she was killed.
Had seen his mother strike his father. That was last week. She was forced to do
it because he told a great lie, and witness and his mother proved it to be
such.
William
Hardwick, platelayer, employed near the scene of the murder, spoke to hearing
the children call to him on Wednesday morning when at work. He went in and
found deceased on the bed with her head all covered with blood. She was not
dead, and witness went off to Pickering for a doctor. Sometimes Pennock did not
speak to them, appearing as if there was something on his mind. Could not say
he was “in a low way.” Had not heard him quarrelling with his wife lately.
Charles
Bustard, signalman, deposed that when he passed Pennock’s house at 5.30am on
Wednesday morning he heard no noise, nor were there lights in the house, which
there usually were at that hour, as Pennock had to be at work at six. He
noticed the bed, and the pillows were quite straight. Did not think the bed had
been occupied by two persons, as the pillow on the other side of the body
seemed untouched. (This observation was made by Hardwick, according to the
report in The North Eastern Daily Gazette of 10 November)
Superintendent
James Spence, of Pickering, spoke to going to the scene along with Dr. Walker,
of Pickering. Witness examined the house and found the axe produced in a tub at
the back entrance. The axe was covered with blood on one side.
Elizabeth
Pennock, a daughter of the deceased, said that at dinner time on Tuesday, the
day before the murder, her father and mother were quarrelling, and her mother
threw a basin full of broth into her father’s face. Her father also once
“bunched” her mother on the leg. The reason she threw the broth was because her
father charged her with having been with another [whom witness named.] There
had been frequent quarrels between her father and mother. When her mother threw
the broth at him he “brayed” her over the head.
Dr.
John Harrison Walker, of Pickering, deposed to being called by the police to the
Black Bull Gatehouse. Saw the deceased woman in bed. She was dead when he
arrived, but the body was warm. Could not, from what he saw, say how long the
wounds on deceased had been inflicted, but they must have been very recent –
perhaps some hours before. On making a post-mortem he found on the head
of the decease a triangular would in the temporal region, on the right side,
about an inch long. In it witness found a loose piece of bone, and some brain
substance escaped from the wound. There was another contused wound on the right
side of the head, of irregular shape. It was filled with coagulated blood. The
bone beneath was found fractured. There was a bruise on the right jaw, the bone
of which was fractured. Blood escaped from the left ear, the nose, and the
mouth. The skull over the left ear was extensively fractured, the whole of the
bones except the occipital being broken. There was another fracture at the base
of the skull, which extended from the frontal bone across the base of the skull
nearly from left to right. The molar bone was fractured, and laid loose.
Witness had no doubt but that the deceased died from fracture of the skull and
extensive injuries to the brain. The axe produced was a very likely instrument
to cause those injuries, and great force must have been used in causing them. –
By the Jury: There had been at least three blows struck. She had a very thick
skull. He never saw but one thicker, and that was the case of a woman also. The
hair he found on the axe closely resembled that on the head of the deceased.
Could not say that the blood was human blood.
The Coroner
the summed up. He referred to the doctor’s evidence as to the fearful injuries
inflicted upon the deceased, which were undoubtedly the immediate cause of
death. Who had inflicted them was another matter, and was solely for their
consideration. They had heard what the witnesses had said about the frequent
quarrellings between the deceased and her husband. No other person had been
seen about the house. The husband had absconded, and could not be found,
notwithstanding the closest search made by the police. The jury were then left
alone to consider their verdict, and just as the police and reporters left the
room, a telegram was handed to Supt. Spence to say that Pennock had been
captured at Yedingham, only a few miles away, and an officer was at once
despatched for him. The fact of this opportune capture of the missing man
shortened their deliberations, and they at once returned a verdict of “Wilful
murder” simply, leaving it to another court to decide who is the guilty party.
THE
REPORTED CAPTURE OF PENNOCK A HOAX
The
telegram sent to Supt. Spence announcing the capture proved to be a hoax, for
which the perpetrators will be taken severely to task. Supt. Spence drove off
at once from the inquest to the place indicated, and found the rumour
originated on nothing but gossip, and had been wired from one signal-box to one
close by where the inquest was held. Pennock had not been seen at all in Yeddingham
(sic). The rumour has got such good hold that large crowds of people
assembled there and in villages near, and the excitement became intense while
waiting for the arrival of Supt. Spence and his expected prisoner. He had a
constable in the conveyance with him, and the crowd were actually under the
impression that he was taking Pennock to the cells. It was not till a long time
after that the real fact became known.
The Northern
Echo 12 November 1888
THE
SHOCKING WIFE MURDER NEAR PICKERING,
FUNERAL
OF THE VICTIM.
On
Saturday, the remains of Hannah Pennock, the unfortunate victim of the murder
committed at Black Bull Gatehouse, between Malton and Pickering, on Tuesday
night last, were interred at Pickering, in the presence of a large company, who
expressed the deepest commiseration at her sad fate. The poor woman had left
eight children behind her (the youngest but two years old and the eldest son a
cripple, having recently lost a leg), and these all followed in the sad funeral
procession. The husband, James Pennock, who is suspected of having so brutally
murdered his wife, is still at large, notwithstanding the most zealous efforts
of the police to capture him. Since nine o’clock on the night of the murder not
the slightest trace of him has been seen or heard. The police believe he has
committed suicide, but a thorough search of the Rye and Derwent and of all the
ponds in the district, has so far yielded nothing. Th search was continued up
to Saturday night. The sympathy of the neighbours seems to be with the
fugitive, who state that he “had a deal to put up with.” He seems, however, to
have been outrageously jealous of the deceased.
Bradford
Weekly Telegraph 8 December 1888
The
Pickering Murder.
A
Queenstown correspondent telegraphed on Sunday night – The latest American
papers of the 23rd ult. just received state that a mysterious man, who admits
that he is travelling incognito, was arrested at Castle Garden, New York, on
the previous evening, after alighting from the Guion steamer Wyoming, from
Liverpool. The police were armed with a cablegram from the Chief of Police of
Northallerton, England, asking them to take into custody a passenger who was
registered as James Shaw. The prisoner, who gives his name as Mr Pennock, of
Pickering, North Riding, Yorkshire, was then charged with the murder of his
wife on the 7th ult. He declared that his name was James Shaw, and he came from
Leeds. He says he parted with his wife and three children at the Leeds railway
station on the 9th ult., and has no reason to believe his wife is not alive. He
came to America to better his prospects, and left his wife and family with a
widow, named Chapman, in Dyer Street, St. Peter’s Square, Leeds. He further
states that wife’s name is Alice, whereas the name of the murdered woman was
Hannah. The American papers further say that Shaw fully answers the description
of “Jack the Ripper,” and there was in his pocket a paper containing the illustrated
account of the Whitechapel horror, and the rumour spread that the Whitechapel
murderer was a prisoner in New York. The prisoner having complained of being
hungry, was then taken to a restaurant by the police, where he ate ravenously,
and was apparently unconcerned about the charge of murder.
The
report that the Pickering murderer had been arrested in New York has proved to
be nothing more than a false alarm, and that the man travelling under the name
James Shaw is not the man Pennock who is wanted for the murder of his wife near
Pickering. It seems that on the 8th November a girl (a native of Cropton, near
Pickering), who is in the service of Dr Wills, near Leeds, made a statement to
her mistress that she had seen the man Pennock in Leeds. The police at
Pickering were communicated with, and after making careful inquiry in
conjunction with the Leeds police it was found that a man answering the
description given by the girl took out a passage for New York on board the Wyoming
on November 8 under the name of James Shaw, of Swinton, near Malton. Further
inquiry showed that there was no person of that name and address, and the
police felt confident that this was the man they wanted. They communicated with
the authorities at New York to detain this man, and arrangements made for his
extradition. The man was arrested as reported, but the authorities, after careful
inquiry, were satisfied that he was not the man, and having explained his
reasons for travelling under an assumed name, he was discharged.
Yorkshire
Evening Post 6 April 1889
THE
PICKERING MURDER.
DISCOVERY
OF THE BODY OF PENNOCK THIS DAY.
(From our own Correspondent.)
This
morning, the body of James Pennock, the man accused of the murder of his wife
at Black Bull Gatehouse, near Pickering, on November 7th last year, was
discovered in the beck near Pickering Low Mill. The body was found by Robert
Sellars, son of the occupier of the mill, whilst clearing away some rubbish to
allow the water to pass into the mill race. He saw something floating on the
surface of the water, and on turning it over saw the man’s face. The body was
found to be in an advanced stage of decomposition owing to the length of time
it had been in the water, and it had on the jacket, bearing the initials
“N.E.R.,” the letters being covered with a piece of cloth stitched over. The
boots were also on the feet, but trousers were minus. It is supposed that the
body had been lodged in another part of the beck for some time, but had been
removed by the present pressure of water. The place is about a mile and a half
distant from the scene of the murder. Capt. Spence at once communicated with
the coroner.
Yorkshire
Gazette 13 April 1889
THE
PICKERING MURDER.
DISCOVERY
OF THE BODY OF THE MURDERER.
Early
last November a horrible murder was committed at Pickering, the victim being
Mrs. Pennock, the wife of James Pennock, a labourer employed on the North-Eastern
Railway, and living at the Old Station, between Pickering and Malton. The
unfortunate woman went to bed as usual on the evening of Tuesday, the 6th
November, and nothing of an unusual character was heard by the family during
the night. On the following morning, one of the children went into the bedroom,
and was horrified to find the mother lying on the bed, her clothes being
saturated with blood. Her head was much bruised and cut, and life appeared to
be extinct. The crime, it was believed, was committed by the husband, an axe,
stained with blood being found in the house, and the medical gentlemen were
agreed that the wounds had been inflicted with this instrument. The deed was
attributed to motives of jealousy. The husband was well known in the district
as a local preacher in connection with one of the local religious bodies. The
police had failed to find any clue to his whereabouts, he having decamped
immediately afterwards; but his dead body was found in the river at Pickering
on Saturday. It will be recollected that a man was wrongly arrested in America
on this charge. The finding of the body caused excitement in the district.
Dr
Arthur Wood, coroner, of Kirbymoorside, held an inquest at Law (sic) Mills,
Pickering, on the body of James Pennock, railway labourer, who was found dead
in the mill-race. Evidence of identification was given, and also the condition
of the deceased before death, and the Coroner, thinking that there was not
sufficient evidence to show the man’s real state of mind, suggested an adjournment,
but the jury considered the man was sane when he committed the foul deeds, and,
consequently, returned a verdict of felo-de-se. The body of the murderer
was subsequently interred at ten o’clock on Saturday night in the graveyard
attached to the Wesleyan Chapel, Pickering, and close by the body of his
victim.
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