Mr Briggs' Hat: The True Story of a Victorian Railway Murder (44 page)

72
Old Ford:
Area descriptions from Hamilton et al.,
National Gazetteer
.

73
omnibus passing the end of Park Terrace:
See
Liverpool Mercury
, 23 July 1864, p. 5 col. c.

73
sweated labour:
Booth,
Life and Labour of the People
, also Schmiechen,
Sweated Industries and Sweated Labor
.

73
Seventy-two-hour working weeks:
Lattek,
Revolutionary Refugees
, p. 220 ff.

73
twenty thousand stitches:
Schmiechen, op. cit., p. 24 ff.

74
At six o’clock:
Some reports state 7 a.m., but police expenses in the MEPO file show that they had left Old Ford by that time.

74
two small upstairs rooms were generally let:
Manchester Guardian
, reprinted
New York Times
, 28 August 1864, report of testimony at the inquest on 22 August. The Blyths rented to Müller and another man, called Goodwin.

74
paying four shillings a week:
‘The Murder of Mr Briggs’,
Manchester Guardian
, 10 September 1864, p. 5, no column given.

74
Müller had given proper notice:
Blyth’s testimony taken primarily from the CCC transcript, supplemented by his statement of 8 November in Home Office files, the Bow warrants and Tanner’s closing report in the MEPO files.

74
a quiet, inoffensive, well-behaved young man
:
CCC transcript, evidence of Ellen Blyth.

76
Dear Friends
:
CCC transcript. Later newspaper reports would occasionally state that the letter was sent to Goodwin, another German lodger at the Blyths’, and that Goodwin gave evidence to Müller returning at 11 p.m. on Saturday 9 July, appearing much confused and having hurt his ankle, e.g.
Leeds Mercury
, 21 July 1864, p. 2 col. e. No police statements were taken from Goodwin, however, and he was not called to give evidence during the trial held later that year.

CHAPTER 11: TUESDAY 19 JULY 1864

78
an omnibus over London Bridge:
See CCC evidence of Charles Foreman, omnibus conductor.

80
Close to seven hundred pawn shops:
Sims (ed.),
Living London
, p. 36.

81
a magistrate stood ready:
The Times
, 23 July 1864, p. 7 col. a.

83
a plain black beaver
:
CCC transcript and Irving (ed.),
The Trial of Franz Müller
, p. 35.

83
I went on board the
Victoria:
Widely reported, e.g.
Jackson’s Oxford Journal
, 23 July 1864, p. 3 col. d.

84
the silversmith was ready to swear:
Lloyd’s Weekly Newspaper
, 24 July 1864, p. 7 col. b.

84
dingy, fetid, close smelling rooms
:
Illustrated London News
, 22 August 1846, p. 125. See also Miller,
Cops and Bobbies
, p. x.

85
collect government dispatches:
MEPO 3/75, letter from Sir George Grey to Sir Richard Mayne, 19 July 1864. See also ‘The Murder of Mr Briggs’,
Caledonian Mercury
, 20 July 1864, no page col. g.

85
create a line of communication:
A transatlantic cable that sent messages via Newfoundland to London from New York in ten hours had been established in 1858 but its success was short-lived. Attempting to raise the volume, a New York operator blew the voltage of the system and it was not effectively replaced for another eight years.

85
an effective cable:
The notorious fugitive Dr Crippen was caught in 1910, his arrest facilitated by wireless communication. It made the case the greatest cliffhanger in newspaper history, a blow-by-blow account of the case afforded by the Atlantic cable telegraph (see Evans,
The Father of Forensics
, p. 3).

85
Tanner was caught off guard:
MEPO 3/75, Tanner’s final report, 2 January 1865.

CHAPTER 12: FLYING FROM JUSTICE

89
four-pound ticket:
Advertisement for tickets on the
Victoria
: see
The Times
, 4 July 1864. Estimated journey time, see
The Times
, 20 July 1864, p. 9.

89
Basic weekly provisions:
For details of the food given to each passenger for them to cook for themselves, and of the fights over the limited supply of pork in the stews they made, see
Daily Telegraph
, second edition, 17 September 1864, p. 3 col. e.

90
Manchester:
Information from
Illustrated London News
, 19 July 1851. Fare details from advertisement in
The Times
, 15 July 1864, reprinted 19 and 22 July.

91
132,000 emigrants:
Details about emigration to the USA: see
Liverpool Mercury
, 25 July 1864, p. 6 col. d (reprinting an article in the
New York Times
, 9 July). Immigration figures also from
The Times
, 9 September 1864, p. 7 col. d. German immigration statistics from <
www.archaeolink.com
>.

91
Frederick Adolphus Williamson:
See Cavanagh,
Scotland Yard Past and Present
, p. 62.

91
In case the
Victoria
should dock in Ireland:
MEPO 3/75. Queenstown, named after a visit by Queen Victoria in 1849, was renamed Cobh in 1922.

92
When Townsend saw Müller’s photograph:
HO 12/152/63401. From the Memorial presented to Sir George Grey in Müller’s defence before the execution.

92
16 Park Terrace:
MEPO 3/75, Superintendent Tiddey’s expenses, dated 23 July 1864.

92
torn sleeve lining:
Report of the discovery of the sleeve lining from
Morning Star
, 22 July 1864, p. 5 col. b. See also
The Times
, 23 July 1864, p. 7 col. b.

92
jigsaw of the pawnshop transactions:
MEPO 3/75, Tiddey’s expense claims, particularly 20 July 1864.

93
Glass told Tiddey:
CCC transcript, evidence of John Henry Glass.

94
It was a good deal for both men:
Details of transactions from evidence given at the trial. See CCC transcript, evidence of John Henry Glass, Henry Smith and Alfred Wey. There are some discrepancies and contradictions in the evidence in relation to the exact amounts the items were pledged and redeemed for but they all agree about the actual items and the rough amounts they were thought to be worth. Since the discrepancies are tiny, I have here used Glass’s evidence as to the amounts.

94
alarmed its readers:
The Times
, 19 July 1864, p. 7 col. d and e.

94
The Discovery of the Murderer
:
For example,
The Times
,
Daily News
.

94
London and all the world
:
The Times
, 20 July 1864, p. 9.

CHAPTER 13: A FABRIC BUILT OF STRAWS

95
the actual murderer
:
Morning Star
, 21 July 1864, p. 5 col. b.

95
barring accidents
:
The Times
, 20 July 1864, p. 9.

95
a truce:
Within a fortnight, on 1 August 1864, in talks preceding the eventual Treaty of Vienna, Denmark agreed to accede the disputed Duchies coveted by Prussia and Austria and lost around 40 per cent of its total landmass. The Treaty of Peace would not be concluded, however, until 30 October.

95
a Cologne family of gun-makers:
Morning Star
, 21 July 1864, p. 5 col. b.

96
According to … Matthews’ friends
:
Daily Telegraph
, reprinted
Manchester Guardian
, 22 July 1864, p. 3.

96
murderer in intention
:
Liverpool Mercury
, 21 July 1864, p. 7 col. c.

96
great resolution
:
Ibid.

96
links
in the chain of circumstantial evidence
:
Daily News
, 20 July 1864, p. 5 col. a.

96
that wonderful fabric … built of straws
:
Braddon,
Lady Audley’s Secret
, p. 97.

97
the individual alluded to
:
Reported widely in regional papers, but see e.g.
Leeds Mercury
, 20 July 1864, p. 4 col. a.

97
another worrying detail:
Ibid.

99
Mr Knox of Camberwell:
MEPO 3/75, date unknown, letter from William [?] Knox stored in July date order with other letters from members of the public.

99
his daughter was able to confirm three things:
Atkinson’s evidence that he carried around twenty-six letters, Hackney inquest 22 August, reported
The Times
, 22 August 1864, p. 8 col. f. Information also from Howie’s reports, MEPO 3/74, 20–22 July 1864. Forename from Hackney inquest, reported
The Times
, 22 August 1864, p. 8 col. f.

99
Professor Taylor’s scrutiny:
MEPO 3/75, Tiddey’s expenses between 18 and 26 July 1864.

99
a respected warder:
MEPO 3/75, Detective Police Special Reports, 19 July 1864.

CHAPTER 14: NINETY IN THE SHADE

Information for this chapter is informed by the copies of the second Bow warrants, 22 July 1864, contained in the US extradition papers.

101
several instances of oneupmanship:
Walter Fifield,
A History of the Extradition Treaties of the United States
, University of Southern California, Ph.D. thesis, 1936, p. 31.

102
ninety degrees in the shade:
Illustrated London News
, vol. xlv, no. 1270, 23 July 1864, p. 87 col. a.

103
extremely temperate habits
:
Report of the taking of warrants:
The Times
, 23 July 1864, p. 7 col. a.

104
a bundle of new documents:
Evidence of Walter Kerressey, extradition papers.

104
He also carried:
Extradition evidence. The crumpled hat and battered cardboard box remained in England, required as evidence in the ongoing Hackney inquest.

104
City of Cork
:
The
Manchester
was a comparatively slow steamer. See
Liverpool Mercury
, 21 July 1864, p. 7 col. c, and
The Times
, 23 July 1864, p. 7 col. a

105
man in custody
:
MEPO 3/75, telegraph to Sir Richard Mayne, 22 July 1864.