Book Review – Murder & Crime, Essex

There are probably more murders in this book than in Midsomer. Martyn Lockwood has brought together an anthology of the ‘best’ of Essex murders. The book draws on sources within the Essex Police Museum in Chelmsford. Fifteen chapters each describe either a single murder or develop several related murders of a specific type into a ‘thematic group’. These groups relate to murder in circumstances such as body snatching and witchcraft. Descriptions of a number of murders, perhaps more recent, are collected together in two later chapters in the book.

Body snatching was the only way that the demands of the increasing number of anatomy schools could be satisfied. Typically more common in urban areas, the unguarded churchyards in rural Essex were still vulnerable to the snatch, as Little Leighs experienced in 1823. Witchcraft has a celebrated tradition in Essex, usually centred on Matthew Hopkins, the self styled ‘Witchfinder General’. This tradition extended even into the reign of Queen Victoria when in 1863 an elderly man died in Sible Hedingham as a result of villagers ‘swimming’ him to determine whether he was in fact a witch. Those responsible both received six months hard labour, certainly lenient even after taking into account their mental state and their eventual but unsuccessful actions in attempting to save their victim.

A chapter is devoted to poisoning by arsenic, ‘the inheritance powder’. Its label attributed to a much-feared weapon often used by a relative or acquaintance on the way to claiming a life assurance pay-out from a deceased; in some cases the life assurance had only recently been taken out, and often in the name of a young child. It is claimed that the ingestion of one hundredth of an ounce could be sufficient to cause death, and such a small quantity would be difficult to discover, of course. However, a reliable test for the detection of arsenic poisoning, developed by a Dr Marsh in the 1830s, would lead to a slow decrease in the popularity of arsenic use as the crime became more easily detectable. Changes in the law attempted to limit its availability; for example, the 1851 Sale of Arsenic Act required white arsenic to be mixed with a colouring agent, soot or indigo, to make it more difficult to introduce the powder into food without suspicion.

Comparing the crimes, trials and the sentencing of offenders, as described in the book, allows general conclusions to be drawn, as follows:
i) It is evident that sentencing was heavy but the examples quoted seem to indicate that capital punishment appears to have had limited deterrence. Its ultimate severity as a punishment resulted in a penalty that was often commuted to life imprisonment, hard labour or transportation.

ii) Examples of legislation often demonstrated reasoned attempts to adapt to changing circumstance. The restrictions, placed on the use and purchase of arsenic, demonstrate a range of reactive and resourceful measures.

iii) Without modern standards in the collection of forensic evidence, courtroom deliberations were largely dependent on witness evidence. Examples are given in the book where a crime without witness sometimes carried no safe conviction.

iv) In a number of cases, suspects absconded. It seems surprising that they could be re-arrested, sometimes apparently very efficiently even within England. Presumably the suspect would be prominent in any new locality. The arrest of suspects was generally quick and ‘justice’ followed without delay.

Martyn Lockwood is already well known through his work in the Essex Police Museum. This is an interesting addition to his successes, a book with plenty of background facts to ponder. We should congratulate our Secretary, and Journal Editor for his industry. Doubtless he will be asked to return to the subject for a further talk based on the topics raised in the book.