1/ Shrewsbury Steeplejack Death, June 1883
2/ Billingsley Rectory near Bridgnorth, November 1894 (Child Skeletons)
Two skeletons were found at Billingsley Rectory, a few miles south of Bridgnorth. They are of children and have laid there for nine years and six years respectively, and were buried in Billingsley churchyard the other night. Due to the amount of time spent in the ground, post-mortem examination finding would prove to be fruitless. Were they brother and sister? (Are they still buried in Billingsley? Names?)
3/ Clunton Child Remains, April 1891
A man named Morgan was walking through Cwm Wood near Clunton, when he stumbled on the remains of a small child, maybe three or four years of age.The decomposition rendered identification near impossible. The skeletal remains had been stripped clean and had lain there at least a year.
4/ Sundorne Estate near Shrewsbury, June 1873 (Dead Child)
On Friday, May 30th, two poachers were going through woodland on the Sundorne estate near Shrewsbury, when they saw some dogs gnawing away at the body of a dead child. They shooed them away and buried what was left, the head and the trunk of the body under some stones. They informed police of what had happened and when they found the spot, the dogs had dug up the corpse and had only left the head this time. A verdict of “Found Dead” was returned but no evidence to say what had happened or who’s child it was due to the dogs eating most of the body. That little was left it was impossible to tell how old it was or what sex it was. Poor little bugger!
5/ Mailbeach Lead Mine, (Seven Dead) March 1895
6/ Shrewsbury Railway Station, January 1868 (Dead Child in Package)
A box had been taken out of a train from Hereford in October of 1867 which was directed to an address in Edinburgh-“Till called for”. This was now in “Lost Luggage” in Shrewsbury Railway Station. Nobody claimed it and as it was found in a carriage, eventually it was opened and inside was the body of a full-grown child. It was wrapped in newspaper but not one item of clothing or any clue to the identity of the little infant. The box appeared to have crafted especially for this purpose and was tightly packed. It had laid in the office for over three months and was perfectly preserved. Due to decomposition, the age or how it died was nearly impossible to say. The newspapers were from Worcestershire and over five years old.
7/ Cloverley Hall Suicide, August 1878
The area of Whitchurch is embroiled in gossip about the suicide at Cloverley Hall. Amy Aldall, the 24-year-old laundry maid at Cloverley Hall killed herself in the Mere near to the Hall. Amy had been seeing one of the male servants, so she handed in her notice but was asked to reconsider her decision, so she did. The two had a chat which became heated, and they broke up with each other. At 9-30 one night she got ready, went out, and was never seen alive again. Friends and relatives got the police to look for her, as they thought she would do something silly. The Mere was dragged and her dead body rose to the surface. The post-mortem revealed that she was pregnant as well. Amy left a suicide note on a desk addressed to the man she split up with, and she wished him every happiness that this world could give when he was married.
8/ Wellington (Poker Murder) March 1892
9/ Severn near Shrewsbury, July 1889
Two lads, named David H.Williams and Edward Price, were drowned in the Severn near Shrewsbury on Friday while bathing.
10/ Coalbrookdale Suicide, December 1842
This is a most painful suicide I can imagine. It’s a young lad, only eighteen, by the name of William Maybury. An old man who worked at the forge named David Williams said they were all doing some work for William Jenks, an engineer. The payment was a couple of gallons of ale which they drank that in the evening at the forge. Maybury was in a funny mood and began to bite John Salisbury. Williams told him off so did his father who also worked there. He then burst into tears and seized the “gate”, which disengaged the water that moved the machinery of the hammer, set the forge to work, and threw himself under it. The hammer pounding down struck him several times before they could stop it. Salisbury tried to stop him but his head was already crushed to pieces.Verdict “Temporary Insanity”.
11/ Shrewsbury, (Orders Coffin, Then Suicide) September 1878
A man by the name of Reynolds, aka “Bold Harry”, called upon an undertaker and ordered his own coffin. He said that he wanted the ends to be free so that if he were buried alive he could make his escape. (Fairly popular in Victorian times, as were bells that rang above ground if you were buried alive. A great fear for Victorians). When he met the undertaker he said he’d changed his mind and he wanted the ends leaving in. Then he chose the coffin bearers, even getting some boots for the short fellow of the group so that he’d be level with the rest of them. Everything was settled, he then had a quiet moment on his own and then slit his throat from ear to ear.
12/ Wellington, April 1899 (Collier Entombed)
13/ Ludlow Castle Fatality July 1831
Mr Richard Jackson, a plumber and glazier, was employed in the Castle Green to paint the fire engines. He was ahead of schedule so took a break, and took some visitors around the Castle. He was going over some worn timbers that lay over an old well when they gave way and he fell a hundred feet to the bottom. (The well used to supply the garrison with water)
14/ Apsley Park, Wellington, February 1883 (Head Found)
Police in Shropshire are still trying to find the identity of the head that was found in the pond at Apsley Park, Wellington. The pond has been drained, but no other remnants of the body are therein. A bag with a large stone in it was found, and one theory is that the head was carried from a museum nearby. Several locals have identified the head as that of a dim-witted girl of about twelve years of age named Mayers, of Kynnersley. The girl has been missing for a month or so when she went on an errand to Shrewsbury. Police, later on, arrested Mr and Mrs Mayers for the murder of the girl.
15/ Kings Arms beer-shop, Oswestry, April 1841
Mr Minshall, who ran the Kings Arms beer-shop in Oswestry, hung himself. He was found by a young lad who was going to ask for some beer on tick and he went to call him from the foot of the stairs but no answer was forthcoming, so he went upstairs. There was Minshall hanging from a nail, over the landing. The verdict was “Temporary Insanity”.
16/ Wellington Murder, June 1885
17/ Albrighton, (Ice Fatality) January 1885
18/ Kemberton Pit near Shifnal, December 1910
A dreadful accident has happened at the Kemberton Pit of the Madeley Wood Company’s Colliery near Shifnal. The death toll, so far, is four men, and three youths. The miners were on duty at 10 o’clock at night and were being lowered down the shaft when the cage suddenly dropped and fell over 300 feet. The cause of the accident was due to the rope breaking which was attached to the cage. (Memorial anywhere?)
19/ Shrewsbury Suicide, June 1919
The Onslow estate which belongs to Major Wingfield was the scene of a grisly discovery. A farmer was walking through a coppice when he saw the body of a man hanging from a tree. He was identified as Matthew Price, an old miner from the Rhondda Valley who had been staying in Shrewsbury for a few days, at a hotel there. He had a watch on him, £5 note, and a bank-book showing £100 in war stock.
20/ Woore Double Suicide, January 1903
The dead body of Robert Lewis, widower, and well-known provision merchant of Woore was found with his throat cut in an adjacent brickyard. The house-keeper gave evidence at the inquest then a couple of days later, she was discovered hanging in an outbuilding of Mrs Wilson’s cottage. The house-keeper, Mary Elizabeth Morris, was under the apprehension that her boss was about to propose marriage. The death of Lewis certainly unhinged her mind.
21/ Near Shrewsbury, October 1896 (Kleptomaniac Lady of Manor)
22/ Ketley, December 1843 (Child Suicide)
James Colley’s daughter was sent by the mother to get some coal from one of the pits, and when she hadn’t returned after her usual time, her brother saw her and told her that she’d be in for a good hiding when she got back. The girl was petrified at the thought of getting a smack so she took off her bonnet and pinafore then threw herself into the pit. The body was recovered from the 200-foot deep pit and was dreadfully mangled.
23/ St Martin’s Moor, (Body in Canal) October 1873
An inquest was held at the house of the lock-keeper to the North Shropshire Union Canal, William Clay, on the body of a girl that was found in the canal. Clay said that the water was low when he spotted something in the water. He fished it out and found it was the body of a child. A medical examiner said the body was so decomposed that it was impossible to perform a post-mortem. Estimates suggest that it had been there for around two months with the head and chest area had been gnawed away by vermin and rats. (Ever identified?)
24/ Shrewsbury, March 1899
Thomas Sail Harris of Iffley, Shrewsbury, late secretary and manager of Lowcock’s Iron Foundry, Shrewsbury, on Tuesday night committed suicide by hanging. Mr Harris was a member of the Shrewsbury Town Council for eight or nine years but was recently declared bankrupt, and a meeting of his creditors was fixed for Friday.
25/ Dawley, November 1902
26/ Longford near Market Drayton, September 1833 (Deathbed Confession)
A man died in the Ellesmere region a few days ago, but before he breathed his last he admitted to a clergyman that he’d killed two old people at Longford near Market Drayton. The two were Francis Bruce and Ann Taylor, and a blacksmith named Preston was executed for the murders. The deceased were found with their throats slashed and the place ransacked and all valuables were taken. Preston was under suspicion because he arrived in the area the same day that the couple were slain. He arrived penniless and a few days later had a great wad of cash. Indeed Preston had taken part but had not participated in the murder, he was simply watching the door. Just before his hanging Preston said he had no part in the murder.
27/ Market Drayton Murders, April 28th, 1899
28/ Market Drayton Murders, May 5th, 1899
29/ Market Drayton Murders, May 6th, 1899
30/ Broseley, December 1856 (Four Lads Dead)
Four collier boys, James Pope aged 16, John Taylor aged 15, John Yate aged 14 and Charles Simmonds aged 13, turned up after dinner to work in the mine. They got on, to make the 250-foot descent and had gone a matter of yards when the machinery gave way and they plummeted the full distance. The workmen at the top could not bring themselves to go down but one volunteered and when he reached the bottom he found Yate, and he disentangled him from the chain. He stood up and walked about, a bit groggy but generally OK. He was taken up to the surface and was greeted with stares of disbelief from the other pitmen. The next trip down they brought up Simmonds alive and well but the other two were both dead. They were taken home and they partook of tea and gruel, but one died that night and the other a few hours later. They were buried in the churchyard in the same grave, and it seemed as though the whole population of Broseley, around 5000, had turned up to see them off.
31/ Woore, January 1903 (This is the clipping from Woore tragedy at top of the page)
32/ Near Rednal Railway Station, July 1885 (Fatal Accident)
33/ Shrewsbury Railway Station Death, August 1870.
34/ Suicide by Slitting Throat, Shrewsbury. April 1866
35/ Drowned in the Severn, near Shrewsbury. June 1866
36/ Deaths from Exposure, Shropshire. January 1867 (Oakengates – Telford Area)
37/ Drowning Victim Identified at Cressage, February 1867
38/ Murder at Duddlewick Mill near Bridgnorth, January 1866
Murder in Shropshire, February 9th, 1866 (Murder of Edward Edwards)
39/ Westbury Barmaid Murderer Executed, Shrewsbury. March 1902
40/ Three Killed at Granville Pit, near Wellington. April 1904.
41/ Railway Tragedy at Shrewsbury (Nineteen Killed) October 1907
42/ Attempt to Poison a Family, Uppington. 26th November 1880
Tuesday, 14th December 1880.
A further reward of £100, with a free pardon to any accomplice other than the actual perpetrator of the attempted murder, has been offered by the Government for information leading to the discovery and conviction of the person or persons who sent a poisoned joint of mutton to Mr S.H.Ashdown, of Uppington, near Shrewsbury.