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The
Official Website of S. C. Lomax
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Brutal Belper murder Revisited
The
following article appeared in the Belper News on 5
November 2011: A
BRUTAL murder in Belper in 1869 is one of the cases
featured for the first time in a new book by a Derbyshire true crime writer. The
book, ‘Deadly Derbyshire’, by author Scott Lomax, features the
case of Matilda Hitchcock. On
the morning of November 2, 1869, at Farnah Green, a
mile from Belper, William Hitchcock, a 47-year-old
stonecutter, set off to town. His plans for the day, if they extended beyond
his usual session of ale drinking, are unknown but they ended in one of the
most horrifying murders to take place in Victorian Derbyshire. When
he was turned away from pubs in Belper on account
of his drunkenness and the knowledge of his violence when heavily under the
influence, he became violent towards his wife, Matilda. The couple were seen
by passers-by arguing. Hitchcock was then seen to become violent. Eventually
some women intervened and demanded the dying woman be taken home. Hitchcock
proceeded to drag his wife along the ground for more than a mile. She died
hours later. The
killer never stood trial. Following his arrest, he was found hanging in his
cell at Belper police station. The book features almost 50 real life
cases of murder and manslaughter and is available through Amazon or any good
bookshop. To return to the menu of articles in which
I am referred to please click here
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Website created by
S. C. Lomax in September 2004. |
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