First Published: August 2022
Contains 74 cases including the case of Alice Wheeldon and her relatives who were convicted of conspiracy to murder the Prime Minister of England, William Pedder who murdered his wife, John Thompson who murdered Lily Tindale in an attempted outrage, Ali Almed who stabbed a seaman at Grimsby Docks, Lily Warham who killed a woman by performing an illegal operation and Mary Saint who threw her baby out of a window.
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A list of homicide convictions 1917.
Contains 74 cases including the case of Alice Wheeldon and her relatives who were convicted of conspiracy to murder the Prime Minister of England, William Pedder who murdered his wife, John Thompson who murdered Lily Tindale in an attempted outrage, Ali Almed who stabbed a seaman at Grimsby Docks, Lily Warham who killed a woman by performing an illegal operation and Mary Saint who threw her baby out of a window.
Contains all known homicide convictions from England, Scotland and Wales in 1917.
A fantastic resource for people that need a categorical reference for all homicide convictions from 1917.
Resourced from old newspapers, court files, police files and other varied sources.
The most authoritative resource for homicide convictions from 1917 in the UK on the market.
Cases include:
William Howarth - 6 Chapel Street, Heywood: William Howarth was on trial for the murder of his wife Charlotte Howarth 52 but was found to be insane. They were found lying side by side in a bedroom, Charlotte Howarth being dead and William Howarth in a dazed condition.
Thomas Cox - 37 Upper Galdeford, Ludlow: Thomas Cox was convicted of the murder of his wife Elizabeth Cox 49 and sentenced to death. He cut her throat at 37 Upper Galdeford, Ludlow on 11 August 1917.
William Cavanagh - 1 West Street, Newcastle-upon-Tyne: William Cavanagh was convicted of the murder of Henry Arthur Hollyer 27 and sentenced to death. He stabbed him in the chest at 1 West Street, Newcastle on 21 June 1917 after which Henry Hollyer died on 25 June 1917.
Stanko Jovan Layovitch - Seaford Camp, Seaford, Sussex: Stanko Jovan Layovitch was tried for the murder of Joseph Plant Wild but was found to be insane. They were both Canadian soldiers.
Ernest Gorton - Back Cross Street, Cheetham, Manchester: Ernest Gorton was convicted of the manslaughter of his wife Blanche Gorton 26. Ernest Gorton was a soldier and had been fighting in France. However, when he returned home he found out that his wife had been unfaithful to him and he cut her throat on 15 October 1917.
Albert Edward Lorford - Bricket Wood, St Albans, Hertfordshire: Albert Edward Lorford was convicted of the manslaughter of Janet Oven 26. He killed her at Bricket Wood on 18 May 1917. Janet Owen had been on her way from her father's house in Waterdale to her work in Watford at the time. It was her habit to walk to Bricket Wood Railway Station where she would catch the 8.42 train to Watford.
Fred Oswald Dry - 12 Marne Street, Hull: Fred Dry murdered his wife Madge Dry on 25 April 1917 in Hull. He killed her after he returned from the war to discover that his wife had been unfaithful to him. He was sentenced to death but reprieved. He beat her about the head with an iron bar and stabbed her several times with a bayonet, two wounds of which pierced her heart.
Harold Ross - Cannock Road, Brocton, Stafford: Harold Ross was convicted of the manslaughter of Charles Owston 18. He knocked him down with a motor van that he was said to have been driving recklessly at night.
Mary Jane Saint - Empire, Lynn Street, West Hartlepool: Mary Jane Saint was convicted of the manslaughter of her newly born male child. She gave birth to it in a lavatory in the Empire Theatre in West Hartlepool and threw it out of the window on 18 October 1917.
Charles Bage - Hut 26, Prees Heath Camp, Whitchurch, Salop: Charles Bage was on trial for the murder of Charles Spencer 26 but was found unfit to plead. They were soldiers and he struck him with the butt of a rifle as he lay sleeping. It was noted that they had been friends and had served at the front together.
Samuel Herbert Shaw - 10 Rowland Street, Walsall: Samuel Herbert Shaw was on trial for the murder of Harold Victor Shaw 13 but found to be insane. He hit him on the head with a sledge hammer and then attempted to poison himself with spirits of salts.
Michael Connelly and Rowland Lidster - Rugeley Camp, Cannock Chase: Rowland Lidster and Michael Connelly were convicted of the manslaughter of Victor Langford 29. They had all been soldiers in the York and Lancaster Regiment.
Arthur George Lovatt - Rose Hill Gardens, Willenhall: Arthur George Lovatt was convicted of the murder of his sister Florence Lovatt 16. He beat her to death with a hammer.
George Bowes - 48 Back Wear Street, Southwick, Sunderland: George Bowes was convicted of the manslaughter of his sister-in-law Annie Bowes. He strangled her without any previous quarrel on 8 August 1917.
Elizabeth Baker - Binley, Coventry: Elizabeth Baker murdered her 9 month old child Robert H Baker on 9 July 1917 by giving him spirits of salts and zinc and then burying him in the garden. She was sentenced to death but reprieved. The body of Robert Baker was found in a sack buried in the back of the garden.
Dorothy Gertrude Ellen Lee and Florence Annie Parkes - Carlton Nursing Home, Carlton Terrace, New North Road, Exeter: Dorothy Gertrude Ellen Lee and Florence Annie Parkes were convicted of the manslaughter of 7-week-old Alfred Leonard Lee. Alfred Lee was found dead on Sunday 12 August 1917 at the Carlton Nursing Home in New North Road, Exeter.
Richard Griffiths - Dexter Street, Liverpool: Richard Griffiths was convicted of the manslaughter of Alfed Blades 26. He stabbed him during a fight outside a public house on 3 September 1917.
James Thomas Ashworth - Leeds and Liverpool Canal, Shevington, Wigan: James Thomas Ashworth was convicted of attempted murder of a 34-year-old woman who he tried to push into the Leeds and Liverpool Canal at Shevington near Wigan. James Ashworth had been a machine planer employed at the Worsley Mesnes Ironworks and had lived in Whitworth Road, Rochdale.
Joseph Wilmot - 120 Rose Street, South Lane, Edinburgh: Joseph Wilmot was tried for the murder of his wife Annie Grant 32 and two young children William Wilmot 4 and Charles Wilmot 5 but found to have been insane. He killed them at their flat at 120 Rose Street, South Lane, Edinburgh on Sunday 27 May 1917. However, their deaths were not discovered until Wednesday 30 May 1917 when Joseph Wilmot surrendered himself to the police. When he surrendered himself to the police he gave them a letter detailing what had happened.
Catherine Cowie Smart - Bankhead Farm, Grange Parish, Banffshire: Catherine Cowie Smart was convicted of the culpable homicide of her illegitimate 13-month-old child Charles Black Smart. She had formerly been a domestic servant at Bankhead in Clatt.
George Dingley - 10 Pellipar Road, Woolwich, London: George Dingley was found guilty but insane for the murder of his old friend Dugald Stewart 76. He also attempted to murder Dugald Stewart's blind 60-year-old wife.
William Crawford - Riddrie Knowes Avenue, Riddrie, Glasgow: William Crawford was convicted of the culpable homicide of James Bryce 16. William Crawford was noted for having been six days short of 16 at the time of the crime and it was submitted on his behalf that he came within the terms of the Children's Act 1908, however, a High court that later sat to consider the matter rejected the claim.
William Thomas Hodgson - 16 Central Park Avenue, Wallasey, Liverpool: William Thomas Hodgson was convicted of the murder of his wife Margaret Alderson Hodgson 37 and daughter Margaret Hodgson 3 and was sentenced to death. He battered them to death at 16 Central Park Avenue, Wallasey, Liverpool on 16 April 1917.
Ali Almed - Grimsby Docks, East Lincolnshire: Ali Almed was convicted of the manslaughter of Knut Leonard Johannsen. Ali Almed was Egyptian and Knut Johannsen was Swedish and they were both firemen on the Nimrod, the Shackleton Expedition ship which was then engaged in carrying coal.
Isaiah Gill - Barrett Forge, Thornton Road, Bradford: Isaiah Gill was convicted of the manslaughter of William Smith. They had worked at the Barrett Forge in Thornton Road, Bradford and Isaiah Gill struck him on the head with an iron bar following a quarrel on 22 June 1917.
Ethel Stevens - Duke of Northumberlands River, Stanwell, Middlesex: Ethel Stevens was convicted of the murder of her infant child Alec Hollier Stevens and sentenced to death but the sentence was commuted. She took Alec Stevens to the Duke of Northumberland’s River in Stanwell on 20 June 1917 and jumped in twice and was later found by a farmer on the river bank dripping with water. She told him that she had jumped in with the baby and had gone down twice and had been swept down the stream before being able to return to the bank.
Emily Jane Cosham - 11 Victoria Place, Eastbourne, East Sussex: Emily Jane Cosham was convicted of the manslaughter of her newly-born female child. She suffocated it on 7 March 1917 by twisting something round its neck.
Lily Warham - 11 Heath Cottages, Richard Moon Street, Crewe: Lily Warham was convicted of the manslaughter of Sarah Hannah Andrews 34. She performed an illegal operation on her.
Andrew Divine - Cowden, East Riding: Andrew Divine was convicted of the manslaughter of Joseph Henry Thompson. He hit him over the head with the butt of a rifle on the night of 5 May 1917.
Alice Hopkins - Polesden Lacey, Great Bookham, Dorking: Alice Hopkins was convicted of the manslaughter of her newly-born female child. She strangled it at Great Bookham on 24 April 1917.
Edmund Walfrid Sandstedt - Pinewood, West End, Southampton, Hampshire: Edmund Walfrid Sandstedt was on trial for the attempted murder of his wife but was found unfit to plead. He had also been charged with attempting to commit suicide.
Thomas Breen - Welcome Cafe, 3 St Owens Street, Hereford : Thomas Breen was on trial for the murder of Elfreda Wilson 25 but was found to be insane. He shot her at the Welcome Cafe in Hereford on 29 January 1917.
Caroline Louisa Tew - Glandford Villa, Westfield Road, Barton-on-Humber: Caroline Louisa Tew was on trial for the murder of her daughter, Lilian Irene Tew 3, but was found unfit to plead. She cut her throat with a razor on 27 May 1917.
Winifred Mynheer - 138 St Marys Road, Faversham, Kent: Winifred Mynheer was convicted of the manslaughter of her newly-born child. She was from Ramsgate but had been employed at the time in a munition factory in Faversham.
Rose Walling - 56 Hare Street, Grimsby: Rose Walling was on trial for the murder of her 3-week-old child John Charles Walling but the trial was postponed after she was removed to the criminal lunatic asylum. She drowned John Walling in a dolly tub at their home at 56 Hare Street.
Arthur Fitzjohn and Clara Hamilton - 1 Jubys Yard, Grange Lane, Leicester: Arthur Fitzjohn and Clara Hamilton were convicted of the manslaughter of their nine-month-old child Gertrude Fitzjohn Hamilton. Gertrude Hamilton died from starvation.
George Williams - 24 Theresa Street, Gloucester: George Williams was convicted of the manslaughter of Martha Morgan 54. He shot her in Theresa Street, Gloucester on 29 March 1917 from his house at 71 Theresa Street. Martha Morgan had been standing outside in the street at the time talking to a friend by 24 Theresa Street.
Sarah Ann Pitcher - 13 Weston Road, Olney, Buckinghamshire: Sarah Ann Pitcher was convicted of the manslaughter of her newly-born female child. A woman who lived at Weston Underwood said that on the Monday 21 May 1917 that she went to Olney and visited Sarah Pitcher at about 6pm.
Frederick Edward Livingstone - Eastwood Road, Leigh, Essex: Frederick Livingstone was convicted of the murder of Louisa Burrow Walker 40 and sentenced to death but the sentence was commuted. He shot her in the head in the street to steal her money in Southend.
Mary Murry - Newby Lane, High Cummersdale, Carlisle: Mary Murry was convicted of the manslaughter of her infant child. The child was found in a ditch in Newby Lane, High Cummersdale.
Walter Elms and Lydia Elms - River Gwendraeth, Pembrey, Carmarthenshire: Walter Elms and Lydia Elms were convicted of the manslaughter of an unknown child. The child's body was found in a river at Pembrey near Gwendraeth at an isolated spot wrapped up and weighed down by a stone.
Pauline Andrew - 46 Willow Way, Didbury, Manchester: Pauline Andrew was found guilty but insane for the murder of her aunt Constance Taylor 60. Pauline Andrew had lived at The Home, Whalley Road in Whalley Range, Manchester.
John Patrick Rowley - Rowton House, Newington Butts, London: John Patrick Rowley was convicted of the manslaughter of Walter John Fleming. He attacked him at Rowton House, a workhouse in April 1917 where they had both been inmates.
Thomas McGuiness - 101 Blackburn Street, Plantation, Govan, Glasgow: Thomas McGuinness was convicted of the murder of Alexander Imlach 5 and sentenced to death. He battered him to death at 101 Blackburn Street, Govan, Glasgow on 8 March 1917.
Elizabeth Birtles and Bertha Ellen Cardus - 243 Clowes Street, West Gorton: Bertha Ellen Cardus and Elizabeth Birtles were convicted of the manslaughter of Emily Banks. They performed an illegal operation on her.
Boys Anderson - Albert Dock, Hull: Boys Anderson was convicted of the manslaughter of John Keshmir Johnson. He killed him at Hull Docks on 21 April 1917.
Charlotte Atkinson Sissons - Dowthorpe Cottages, Ellerby, Hull: Charlotte Atkinson Sissons was convicted of the manslaughter of an illegitimate child, baby Stroud, that had been entrusted into her care. She was also charged with the manslaughter of another child, Joan Sissons Metcalfe, whose body was later exhumed during the proceedings into baby Stroud's murder.
Myer Shorenstein - 12 New Castle Place, Whitechapel, London: Myer Shorenstein was on trial for the murder of Florence Kate Vaughan Shorenstein 26 but was found unfit to plead. He beat her to death with a hammer and then went to Covent Garden where he ran amock hitting other people with it until he was arrested.
James ONeill - 4 Epworth Street, Liverpool: James O'Neill was convicted of the manslaughter of his brother William O'Neill 24. William O'Neill had lived at a lodging house at 25 Everton Crescent. His sister, who lived alone in the top room at 4 Epworth Street said that he was not a healthy man and was partly paralysed and that he did no work and had been rejected by the military authorities.
Robert Gadsby - 3 Thrift Crescent, Waterloo Lane, Bramley: Robert Gadsby was convicted of the murder of his girlfriend Julia Ann Johnson 54 and sentenced to death. He cut her throat at 3 Thrift Crescent, Waterloo Lane, Bramley on 28 February 1917.
William James Robinson and John Henry Gray - Sussex Arms Public House, Upper St Martins Lane, London: William James Robinson and John Henry Gray were convicted of killing Alfred Williams 35, a Private in the Canadian Army. William Robinson was convicted of murder and sentenced to death.
Alex Bakerlis - Bute Street, Cardiff: Alex Bakerlis was convicted of the murder of his girlfriend Winifred Ellen Fortt 19 and sentenced to death. He stabbed her to death in Bute Street, Cardiff near St Mary's Church on 25 December 1916 as she was returning from a party. He stabbed her dozens of times and then ran off but was stopped by a policeman.
Leo George ODonnell - Aldershot: Leo O’Donnell was convicted of the murder of William F Watterton 48 and sentenced to death. He shot him in Aldershot on 1 January 1917.
Thomas Clinton - Camp of the Welsh Fusiliers, Barrow: Thomas Clinton was convicted of the murder of Henry Lynch 39 and sentenced to death. He shot him at the Camp of the Welsh Fusiliers in Barrow on 13 January 1917.
John William Thompson - Constitution Hill Farm, Molescroft, Beverley: John Thompson was convicted of the murder of Lily Tindale 13 and sentenced to death. He cut her throat at Constitution Hill Farm, Molescroft, near Beverley on 15 February 1917.
Annie Drake - 12 Wilmot Place, Wakefield Road, Bradford: Annie Drake was on trial for the murder of her mother Hannah Rollings 80 but was found to be insane. She beat her about the head with a hot-water bottle.
Elizabeth Hickling - 32 Collingbourne Road, Shepherds Bush: Elizabeth Hickling was found guilty but insane for the murder of her 13-month-old son Ronald Eric Hickling. She cut his throat on the morning of 7 March 1917.
Nellie Freeman - Ecclesall, Sheffield: Nellie Freeman was convicted of the murder of her newly-born child. She had been a single woman.
Winnie Mason, Alice Wheeldon and Alfred George Mason - 12 Pear Tree Road, Normanton, Derby: Winnie Mason, Alfred George Mason and Alice Wheeldon were convicted of conspiracy to murder the Prime Minister David Lloyd George and Arthur Anderson. They were all related. A fourth member of their family, a 27 year old woman, was also tried but acquitted.
Joseph Augustus Payton - 23 Thomas Street, Llanbradach, Glamorgan: Joseph Augustus Payton was on trial for the murder of his wife Mrs Payton but found to be insane. He cut her throat with a razor on 12 February 1917 at 23 Thomas Street, Llanbradach during a drunken quarrel.
Sarah Hartley - Gateshead: Sarah Hartley was convicted of the manslaughter of her two children aged 16 months and 4 months. They died from starvation.
John Lamb - 21 Market Street, Greenock: John Lamb was convicted of the culpable homicide of his wife. She had thrown a cup of vitriol in his face four years earlier which had left him blind.
Phillip Kalisky - High Street, Shadwell, London: Phillip Kalisky was convicted of the manslaughter of seven people who died in a fire at a sack factory in High Street, Shadwell. The victims were all women and girls.
William James Pedder - Bullsmoor Lane, Enfield: William James Pedder was convicted of the murder of his wife Frances Caroline Pedder 26 and sentenced to death but reprieved. He cut her throat with a razor in Bullsmoor Lane, Enfield.
Alexei Letenock - Witley Camp, Waverley, Surrey: Alexei Letenock was convicted of the murder of William Palmer and sentenced to death, however, he appealed and his conviction was reduced to manslaughter. They had both been in the Canadian Expeditionary Force and based at Witley Camp although Alexei Letenock had been a Russian subject as he had been unable to get back to his own country and was permitted to join.
Ernest Dorsett - 5 Union Street, Blyth, Nothumberland: Ernest Dorsett was convicted of the murder of Alice Caddick at Blyth. He was sentenced to death but reprieved. He killed her on 15 December 1916.
William Ryder, Thomas Solomon and Thomas Dyer - Bank Street, Clayton, Manchester: William Ryder, Thomas Solomon and Thomas Dyer were convicted of the manslaughter of Austin Ryan 24. They had had a bare knuckle fight arising out of a dispute on some vacant land off Bank Street in Clayton on a Sunday afternoon before 180 spectators. It was arranged that they should fight for six rounds.
Edwin Thomas Ashmore - 122A Church Street, Pensnett: Edwin Thomas Ashmore was convicted of the manslaughter of his father Edwin Thomas Ashmore 79. Edwin Ashmore had lived at 122A Church Street in Pensnett. He had been an iron worker but had recently been employed in a munition works.
Joseph Hanley - Oldham Road, Manchester: Joseph Hanley was convicted of the manslaughter of James Edward Greener. Joseph Hanley was a taxi-driver and he knocked James Greener over in Oldham Road at about 11.20pm on Wednesday 15 November 1917.
Annie Mabel Motson - Steeping River, Thorpe Culvert, East Lindsey, Lincolnshire: Annie Mabel Motson was convicted of the manslaughter of her 3-week-old illegitimate child Jesse Motson. Jesse Motson was found floating naked, face down, in the Steeping River.
Thomas James Stayman - High Seas: Thomas James Stayman was convicted of attempted murder. He had been the captain of a merchant vessel trading between Rangoon and London.
Charles Edward Ward - Waltham Holy Cross: Charles Edward Ward was convicted of the manslaughter of Charles Sharp. He killed him at Waltham Holy Cross on 28 December 1916.
Frank Pieders - 2 Mains Street and 382 Argyle Street, Glasgow: Frank Pieders was convicted of the culpable homicide of Donald Macphail. They had been on a ship together and had gone to a pub where they had a scuffle during which he stabbed Donald Macphail in the neck with something like a fountain pen on 14 December 1916.
Mary Elizabeth Daniels - 1 Burnley Road, Stockwell, London: Mary Elizabeth Daniels was convicted of the manslaughter of Florence Mary Sturley 33. She performed an illegal operation on her to cause a miscarriage.
George Francis McKay - Durrington Camp, Somerset: George Francis McKay was convicted of the attempted murder of a man. He attacked him aty Durrington Camp on 28 September 1916.
Pat Finn is a writer of UK true crime books and has written over 100 books detailing solved and unsolved cases in the UK.
