Warning – this blog focuses upon historic murder and suicide.

On 9 October 1907, Sarah Short drowned all five of her children in a water butt/poss-tub at her home in Red Row, Sleekburn. Afterwards, she walked to Cramlington station and committed suicide on the railway line.

George Potts 

Police Constable Potts was based at Bedlington Station. On 10 October about 1.30pm, George Short informed him that his wife and five children had been missing since the previous day. At around 9.30pm he arrived at the Short household and there in an upstairs room, saw five children lying dead in bed. Two at the top, two at the foot and one across the centre. They were fully clothed save their hats, and their clothes were all wet. PC Potts then searched a poss-tub which was three parts filled with water and was standing at the bottom of the stairs. He found two small mirrors (the type found in Lucky Packets), two penny pieces, two collar studs, a brick and a boot lace. He also stated that he saw female clothes that were all wet down the front. 

Charles William Menelaws Hope 

Dr Hope was a Medical Practitioner in Bedlington. By order of the Coroner, he made a post mortem examination on the bodies of the five children on 11 October 1907. On turning the bodies over a good deal of frothy watery mucus ran out of the mouth and nose which was evidently from the air passages. There was no evidence of poisoning. All the clothes were saturated with water. After stripping the bodies no marks of violence of any kind were to be found upon them. In no case were any marks found around the neck to suggest that death had been due to strangulation. In Doctor Hope’s opinion, the death of all five children was due to drowning. 

The inquest into the tragedy was held on 11 October 1907 by Coroner Henry Taylor Rutherford. It was later adjourned until 23 October. At the inquest, Dr Hope gave evidence and was asked about the mental state of Mrs Short. He said that he had been attending her since July and she suffered with her nerves and had pains in her head. Dr Hope had advised her to go away for a break and she had gone to Cumberland and seemed very much improved when she returned. When asked if childbearing had anything to do with her condition, Dr Hope said that he didn’t think so. 

The coroner considered the evidence and stated that Mrs Short appeared to have been suffering for some time and had developed a form of homicidal mania and from some sudden impulse, she had acted. Some strange feeling had come over her and she then deliberately planned the destruction of the children. After deliberation the jury returned a verdict of wilful murder. The inquest on Mrs Short’s death was then preceded with. The foreman of the jury asked the coroner to ask Mr Short if his wife had ever shown any signs of insanity. Mr Short claimed he had witnessed no signs. He was then asked if she had ever threatened to take her life and he replied “no.” The jury agreed to a verdict of suicide whilst in an unsound state of mind.  

Not surprisingly, the newspapers took a great interest in the case. The Morpeth Herald reported that Mrs Short was seen by several people on the night of the 9 October going towards Cramlington. She was walking through fields and appeared to be wearing her carpet slippers. It was noted that she had asked a young man how far the station was, and they walked along together for a while. She was quite excitable and said that she wished to catch a train. A Signalman at Cramlington named George Little was proceeding along the line on his way to work about 10.40pm that same night when he found a body [later indentified as Sarah Short] by the side of the line. The body was dreadfully mutilated and found around a hundred yards north of the station.

It was also reported that there were extraordinary scenes at the funerals of the mother and her children. Mr T. Dodds, Undertaker and friend of Mr Short, carried out the funeral arrangements. When the six coffins were brought out of the house there was the biggest crowd of people ever to be seen in Red Row. The coffin containing the remains of Sarah Short was placed in one hearse while the coffins of all five children were placed in another. All were covered in white flowers. The service and burials were at Choppington St. Paul and thousands of people flocked to the area. Trains were overcrowded as people were packed into carriages. The chief mourner was Mr Short along with his brother and the four brothers of Sarah. Blinds were shut in houses along the funeral route and the roadside was packed with people wanting to catch a glimpse of the coffins. The police had to control the crowds outside the church in order to make way for the funeral party. The service, which was choral, was conducted by the Rev. G.A. Brown. The choir chanted the 39th Psalm and sung the hymn Rock of Ages. During the service, Mr Short broke down in a violent fit of weeping. His whole family, Sarah, Eleanor, George, Thomas, Elizabeth Annie and Robert were all buried together in one grave.  

References 

COS/3/30/11 

Morpeth Herald, 19 October 1907 

Morpeth Herald, 26 October 1907 

Warning – this blog focuses upon historic murder and suicide.

While looking through a newspaper for information about a shipwreck in 1907, I saw a large headline about an inquest into ‘The Bedlington Tragedy’. On 9 October 1907, Sarah Short drowned all five of her children in a water butt/poss-tub at her home in Red Row, Sleekburn. Afterwards, she walked to Cramlington station and committed suicide on the railway line. George Short, husband and father to all five children, lost his entire family in one day. I had never head of this horrific tragedy so checked our Coroners records and discovered a file for the children & their mother. The report contained witness statements and notes from the Coroner, Mr Henry Taylor Rutherford. 

NAME	RELATIONSHIP	AGE
Sarah Short	Mother	31
Eleanor Short	Daughter	7
George Short	Son	4
Thomas Short	Son	3
Elizabeth Annie Short	Daughter	2
Robert Short	Son	8 months

Witness Statements 

John Herron 

Mr Herron stated that he was a retired miner and the house occupied by the Short family was his property, and he was their landlord. On the afternoon of the 9 October, he went to the house at 5 Red Row and was engaged in painting the woodwork on the back door. He saw Mrs Short carry some water from a barrel into the house and she asked him if he was going to do any repairs inside of the property and he replied “no.” Thomas, one of the young boys was with her but he didn’t see any of the other children. It was about 3pm and Mrs Short took hold of Thomas’s hand and led him into the house and said, “we are going away now.” She then locked the door behind her. Mr Herron was outside for about 20 minutes longer and he heard no noise and never saw her appear again. 

Eleanor Elliott 

Eleanor, a 13 year old servant resided with the Short family and slept in the upstairs front room. Eleanor recalled that on 9 October, Mr Short left the house to go to work at 9.45am. About 11am, after the children were dressed, Mrs Short went out then returned with some Lucky Packets which she gave to the four youngest children. Eleanor, the eldest child was at school. About 12.30pm, Mrs Short sent the young servant on an errand to the grocers and then told her that she could have the afternoon off as she was going to take the children to Stakeford. She told Eleanor to meet her at 4pm. At 4pm, Eleanor returned to the Short household but the door was locked. She had a parcel so took it to Mrs Short’s mother-in-law’s house then continued to Stakeford to meet Mrs Short. She could not see her there so returned to Red Row and saw Mr Short on his way home from work and informed him that he had to go to his mother’s house for his dinner. She told him that she had been to Stakeford to meet Mrs Short but could not find her. 

Anne Short 

Anne Short stated that she was the mother-in-law of Sarah Short. On 9 October about 12.30pm, her granddaughter Eleanor Short came from school to have lunch with her then left about 1pm to go back to school. About 2pm, Sarah visited and asked her if she could cook George’s tea as she was going to Stakeford with the children. George came home from work about 5.15pm and had dinner then went to his own house to get washed and dressed. Anne accompanied him and said that there was nothing unusual about the house. The same evening George became very concerned and went away to look for his wife and children but could not find them. On the following night, (10 October) Anne, George and a friend named William Dodds [Undertaker] went to George’s house and on Mr Dodd’s suggestion a more detailed search of the house was conducted. They went upstairs and saw the bed was made. Anne took hold of the quilt and turned it up and saw all five of her grandchildren lying dead. Eleanor and Thomas were lying at the head of the bed, George and Robert at the foot and Elizabeth Annie lying cross over. In the front room downstairs and at the end of the bed were Sarah’s clothes which were very wet about the front part. The back of them was dry. The skirt and bodice were the same that Sarah was wearing when Anne saw her the previous day. 

George Short 

Mr Short stated that he left home at 9.45am on Wednesday 9 October to go to work at the pit. His wife did not say anything to him about intending to take the children to Stakeford. He didn’t think it was strange that his family were absent when he returned from work around 5.15pm that night. However, later he became uneasy & made a fruitless search for them at Stakeford and Sleekburn. On the evening of Thursday 10 October, he heard about a woman being killed on the railway at Cramlington so proceeded there and identified the body as that of his wife. When he returned from Cramlington about 9pm, he searched the house thoroughly with a man named William Dodd & found all the children dead in bed fully dressed and covered with a blanket and rug. Their clothing was still wet. He could give no reason why his wife would commit such a crime unless it was in consequence of her suffering from rheumatism nervous debility. She had been under medical treatment for this for the past six months.   

Part two to follow………

George’s burial is recorded in the register for Alnwick St. Michael: 

George’s will, dated 14 March 1827, which I was able to access on the North East Inheritance Database (ref. DPR/1/1827/D1) gives some interesting details: 

• His household goods, furniture, books, plate, linen, china, clothes and other goods were left to his “dear wife”, her executors, administrators and assigns 
• To William Davison, Chemist and Druggist of Alnwick, and to George’s brothers-in-law, Thomas Anderson, Hardwareman, of Alnwick, and Robert Anderson, Sadler, of Alnwick – all messuage, burgage or tenement with appurtenances in Alnwick in which he lived, to hold in trust, but that his wife and children must be allowed to live there until the public sale or private contract – whichever brought the best price 
• The three gentlemen also to dispose of the business in Newcastle, and to collect all debts owed to the business in both Alnwick and Newcastle, and to then use this money to pay off his debts and pay for his funeral 
• The executors to allow his wife to conduct and carry on the gun makers business in Alnwick under their direction – if she did not wish to do so, or died before the youngest child was 21 years old, the business and stock was to be disposed of and converted into money  
• Left £1 to his eldest son, Thomas Bilton Davison, once he attains 21 years of age, as he had already had a greater share of George’s effects than his brothers 
• His other sons to share everything else not already mentioned – George Davison, John Francis Davison, Edward Anderson Davison, Bilton Davison, Robert Anderson Davison, William Septimus Davison, Charles John Davison, and Anderson Davison, and any other child or children he may have 

After George’s death in 1827, it was said that Mary ran the shop as a gunmaker in her own right, but although the business was in her name, we can see from George’s will that she was under the direction of William Davison, and her brothers, Thomas and Robert Anderson. 

By 1829, George’s premises in Alnwick were to let.  A notice in the Newcastle Courant on Saturday 14 March 1829 reads: 

To be LET, and entered to at Whitsuntide first, 

A HOUSE AND SHOP, most eligibly situated in 

the Market-Place, Alnwick, at present occupied by Mrs 

Davison, Gun-Maker.  The Premises may be seen, and fur- 

ther Particulars known, on Application to Mr. F.C. Rattray. 

Alnwick, March 4th, 1829. 

Although the original shop was no longer available, the business continued.  In the Davison collection again, I found a letterhead dating to 1830, which names the proprietors as Davison and Snowdon.  This is presumably Mary, who has gone into partnership with George Snowdon – the apprentice that ran away from the business in 1820! 

Within Pigot’s Directory (Northern) dated 1834, Mary is listed as one of two ‘Gun Makers’ in Alnwick, alongside George Snowdon, who must have left the partnership to start his own business by that time. 

Ref.  Pigot’s Directory – Northern, 1834 

 Mary was still operating the business herself in 1836, as there is a letterhead, again in the Davison collection, which lists her as the sole proprietor. 

The next mention we have been able to find for Mary is in The Berwick Advertiser on 3 February 1838: 

Alnwick. 

Lately presented to the Museum of Mr. Davison, Apothe 

cary, Alnwick, Northumberland,… by Mrs Davison, gun 

maker, Alnwick, an Arctic Skua (Cataractes Parasiticus), 

and a Grey Phalarope (Phalaropus Lobatus)… 

Several online sources suggested that in 1838, Mary joined her brother-in-law, William Davison, at his gun shop in Newcastle, after filing for bankruptcy, but I was not able to confirm this.  By 1841, no Davison’s are listed as gun makers or smiths within Alnwick, according to Robinson’s Directory for Northumberland.  The only gunmaker listed in the town is George Snowdon, who still had a property in Narrowgate.  By 1887, in Bulmer’s History and Directory of Northumberland, only the Hardy Bros. of Fenkle Street are noted as gun makers. 

The last mention we found of Mary was her death in 1847, reported in the Durham Chronicle on 26 February: 

…in Prudhoe-street, 18th, aged 66, much respected, 

Mary, relict of the late Mr. George Davison, gun- 

maker, of Alnwick and Newcastle… 

Today, examples of guns made by George Davison are preserved within the Royal Armouries at Leeds, as well as within private collections. 

One caveat that I must include is that Mary Davison probably wasn’t what we would recognise as a gun “maker”.  We know that she took on the business after her husband’s death, but it is highly unlikely she would have actually “made” the guns.  This task could have been carried out by Snowdon, and when he left the business, there could have been another apprentice who took on that role.  Or the guns could have been bought in and the Davison name engraved upon them.  Mary’s business would likely have consisted of buying and selling, perhaps with onsite workmen carrying out small scale manufacture or repair – the premises on Market Street may have contained a small workshop area for this practice.  So there is no evidence of Mary making guns herself but, unless we go and visit the premises in a time machine, we will never know for certain.  & I quite like the picture I have in my mind of Mary donning her leather apron and getting down to a bit of metalwork…