ANNE PADFIELD 1837 – 

MIDSOMER MURDERS (well almost)
PART TWO

 While I’m taking a break from researching and recovering from having a brand new knee fitted a few weeks ago, my cousin Sherlock Steve has been keeping himself busy with more research into Ann Padfield’s very sad and tragic story. So here’s the next chapter:

Welcome to part two of Anne Padfield’s story.

I do have this addition to Part 1 which I managed to find.
It is a record of Anne’s committal for trial in the Central Criminal Court at the Old Bailey on October 22^nd 1860.

When we left Anne on 29^th October 1860 she had been convicted of murder and sentenced to trial at the Old Bailey with a postponement until the November sessions.

The November Sessions at the Old Bailey commenced on
Monday 26^th November 1860.

The first mention is on Sunday 25^th November 1860 in
THE WEEKLY DISPATCH (LONDON)

Anne’s trial was Wednesday 28^th November 1860 with the start of proceedings reported in the early editions of various newspapers.

THE GLOBE, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 1860

The following pages are the copies of the original court entries available to view online at www.oldbaileyonline.org 

The entry is dated 26^th November as that was the date at the start of the November sessions.
The verdict was added after the trial had concluded.

The following day, Thursday 29^th November 1860 the verdict is reported country wide.
I have included a few snippets just to show the coverage.

NORTHERN DAILY TIMES

JERSEY INDEPENDENT AND DAILY TELEGRAPH

BRISTOL DAILY POST

THE SCOTSMAN

LEEDS MERCURY

All the London newspapers included the full transcription of Anne’s trial.
In the Morning Advertiser on Page 3 appeared the following
(The report of Anne’s trial appeared on Page 7) and our introduction to “EAGLE EYE”.

The following day, Friday 30^th November 1860, The Morning Advertiser had this report.

From www.wikipedia.org I have copied their description of The Morning Advertiser.

The Morning Advertiser was first published in 1794 by the London Society of Licensed Victuallers.^[2] It was devoted to trade interests, rather than to the support of a political party. Its circulation, however, fostered by the society, was, in the middle of the 19th century, second only to that of The Times. Charles Dickens was an early contributor and journalist, broadcaster and Labour Party communication director Alastair Campbell worked as a reporter on the paper early in his career. Founded in 1794 as The Publican’s Morning Advertiser,^[3] it is the UK’s oldest continuously produced paper. In 1858 the paper became the first newspaper to subscribe to Reuters‘ news service.

At the time of Anne’s trial, the editor was James Grant.

James Grant was born in 1802 in Elgin, Moray, Scotland.
He helped to found the Elgin Courier in 1827 before moving to London in 1833. He worked on the Standard, the Morning Chronicle and the Morning Advertiser.
From 1850 to 1871 he edited the Morning Advertiser.
He was a Calvinist by religion and edited the Christian Chronicle from 1871 until his death in 1879.

Then on Saturday 1^st December 1860 all the weekend publications carry the story. As they are so numerous I will just list the counties that covered Anne’s trial and verdict.

• Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Renfrewshire, Lincolnshire
• Yorkshire, London (various local papers), Glasgow, Devon
• Gloucestershire, Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire
• Berkshire, Lancashire, Hampshire, Surrey, Kent, Cheshire
• Westmoreland, Leicestershire, Warwickshire

In total there were 47 articles covering Anne’s trial and verdict.

(I didn’t read them all)

All the articles I did read emphasised the need for leniency.
Many included the words “when sentence of DEATH was announced, shrieks of mercy rang through the court”.

Then on Sunday 2^nd December 1860 in the Weekly Dispatch (London), we have the moral dilemma.

With the starting of a new month in Anne’s story, I will leave it there and let you digest the articles.

As Lynn says “’till next time then”.…………..