Reflections: Victorian murder in Forest village
A Victorian murder in Hordle
It has been said that newspapers are the first draft of history. For a local historian, newspapers are an extremely useful primary source that can bring to light an aspect of history that may otherwise have been lost. Of course, all sources need to be treated critically and corroboration sought. In the case of newspaper articles, the information available can vary from piece to piece. A reporter for a daily newspaper may not have the full facts revealed at the time of publication. A weekly publication may have more information available to use in an article but it is published several days after the event so bias may have crept in. A review of as broad a cross-section of newspapers as possible may reveal what is consistent and what is different in the various reports. Newspapers add detail and personal information that can be otherwise lacking in formal records. This can be seen in the records of a tragic incident in 1891 which was reported in many of the national and provincial papers across the country, putting the village of Hordle in the spotlight for several months.
The case involved the Elwes family, who had originated from Portsea in Hampshire, in the mid-1800s. The family consisted of the head of the household William Elwes and Sophia Agnes Hayman, whom he married in 1843. They had two children, a daughter also called Sophia and a son, John William Elwes. They were well off financially and were able to live on their own means when William became too ill to work. In addition, they paid for John to attend London University where he studied geology. He was awarded a scholarship to Christ College at Cambridge but was unable to take up the opportunity owing to ill health. The 1881 census shows them living in Otterbourne, near Winchester. By the summer of 1890 they were living at a house called ‘The Bays’ in Cottagers Lane, Hordle.
William Elwes was by then bedridden and suffering severe mental health problems; he had apparently attempted suicide on at least two occasions. The running of the household was left to his wife. John Elwes also increasingly suffered from mental and physical health problems.
On Monday, 27th April 1891, Sophia and her mother had come downstairs to breakfast at about 8.30am. Sometime afterwards John came down to breakfast but sat alone at a small table in the dining room. Sophia heard a crashing noise from inside. On returning to the room, she found a small table overturned and the crockery smashed. Sophia was starting to walk upstairs when her brother grabbed hold of her. He then produced a revolver which he fired at her, hitting her in the shoulder. The pistol shot and scream brought Sophia’s mother into the drawing room to see what was happening. At this point John fired three shots at his mother who fell to the floor, dead.
Sophia Scriviner, the live-in servant, called for the police and a doctor to attend. The first to arrive was Dr Edward Chinery. After having been informed of the situation at the front gate, the doctor went up to the house and spoke to John through a window. John invited him into the house via the kitchen door as the main entrance was locked. On entering the house Dr Chinery located John and spoke with him. John told the doctor where he could find the revolver. The doctor located the pistol and kept it in his possession until the police arrived. This showed immense courage and calm thinking on the part of Dr Chinery. He examined the body of Sophia Elwes Senior and saw that she was dead. He then went upstairs and tended to John’s sister. When the doctor came back downstairs, Sergeant Nunn from Lymington police station was in attendance. Doctor Chinery asked John how many times he had fired. He replied that he had shot his mother three times and his sister once. He went on to say “this will either be hanging or an asylum, but I would rather the hanging”. John was arrested and taken to Lymington police station, which was at that time in Gosport Street at the bottom of the town.
The first account of this event can be found in the Southern Echo which had a headline of ‘Shocking murder near Lymington. A man shoots his mother and sister’. The article reported that at noon that day William Elwes of ‘The Bays’, Hordle, had shot his mother and sister in “a fit of passion”. The 13-line report gave details of where the bullets had struck the two women. The article stated that “the prisoner gave himself up quietly, telling Dr Chinery where to find the revolver”. The report concluded by recording that on being arrested, John had said he “preferred hanging to being sent to an asylum”. This indicates that the ‘Echo’ had a reporter in the area who had obtained some details and used a telegram to get the story sent quickly to the editor in Southampton.
The following day, the Echo reported in more detail on the case. The article retold the events of the previous day still referring to John as William but added that after shooting his sister and mother he had “put away the revolver and sat in an arm chair in the breakfast room”. The paper reported that the pistol had been frequently used and when located it still contained two live rounds. A further 11 revolver bullets were recovered from John’s bedroom. The report ended by saying that the tragedy had cast a gloom over Hordle where a “grand fashionable wedding was arranged to take place” that day.
On the 29th April 1891 the Hampshire Advertiser published a detailed account under the headline ‘Shocking murder at Hordle. A mother shot dead by her son. Attempted murder of the sister’. The paper reported that John and his mother had an acrimonious relationship and that “things had been very unpleasant between them” in the last month. This account of the incident stated that John had shot his mother three times and that when his sister tried to save her, she was shot twice. Dr Chinery arrived and found Mrs Elwes dead. He had extracted two bullets from the daughter. Sergeant Nunn arrested John and took charge of the pistol which was loaded with one live bullet. Again, it was reported that after being arrested, John was reported to have said that this would be “a case of the asylum or hanging, and he hoped the latter”.
The Advertiser gave a long account of John Elwes being questioned in the Petty Sessions court in Lymington on 28th April 1891. The paper described John as being tall, slim-built, with a pale care-worn face. He took no apparent interest in the proceedings, “for the most part he buried his face in his hand”. It appeared the newspaper had a reporter in the court as Dr Chinery is quoted at length. He describes going into the house to locate John and the conversation he had with him. Elwes was sitting in an armchair beside the fireplace and told the doctor where to find the pistol. When he recovered the weapon, Chinery noted that it was loaded with two live rounds and that there was dried blood on the muzzle. After examining the deceased, the doctor returned to speak with John in the presence of Sergeant Nunn. He asked him how many times he had fired the pistol. John replied “I shot at my sister once, and three times at Mrs Elwes.’ Dr. Chinery urged Elwes not to incriminate himself at which point he replied “this must either be hanging or an asylum, and I would rather the hanging”.
Abbreviated coverage of the case was published the same day in the Birmingham Post, the North Eastern Gazette, The Morning Post and the Bristol Mercury. All the papers reported similar facts and quoted John Elwes.
The Lymington Chronicle on 30th April gave a very similar account of the court proceedings but included coverage of the inquest into Mrs Elwes’ death, which was held in ‘The Bays’, before the coroner. John’s sister Sophia said in her account that John had been in a sullen mood and knocked the breakfast table over. She tried to walk upstairs but John had pulled her back. As she went into the drawing room, he shot her. Her mother rushed towards them and was shot three times. Sophia said that after shooting them, John went into the drawing room and played the piano. She also stated that he had pointed the pistol at her mother on previous occasions and that John rarely drank spirits. Elwes was remanded in custody into Winchester prison.
The Lymington Chronicle of 7th May published a short account of funeral of Mrs Elwes, reporting that she was buried in Hordle churchyard, not far from Mary Ann Girling the leader of the New Forest Shakers.
The newspaper published a full account of the seven-hour Petty Sessions court hearing on 6th May in Lymington, when John was formally charged with murder. Giving evidence, John’s sister stated that when the family were living in Surbiton, in about 1875, John had succumbed to “morose habits”. He would not leave the house in daylight. When he went out in the evenings and night, he carried a revolver which, on occasions, he fired in the street and in the garden. John had also threatened a servant on one occasion. Sophia was asked about the relationship between her mother and her brother. She said that when John was in good health, he and his mother were very close. However, his fits of depression would come on him at infrequent times and for prolonged periods. When this occurred, he “showed a great aversion to her”. Sometimes, periods of several months would go by when John was quite well and behaved normally. His sister went on to say that she had hidden the revolver from him on one occasion but he had complained and it had been returned to him. Sophia had frequently discussed with her mother having John placed in an asylum. Her mother had objected to this out of her fondness for her son. But John’s behaviour continued to deteriorate.
The servant, Mrs Scrivener, told the court that John had on one occasion broken the scullery door and thrown a wooden clothes horse on the fire. She admitted to being in a state of fear owing to John’s behaviour.
National and local newspapers gave coverage to the trial of John Elwes at Winchester Assizes on 6th August 1891, when he pleaded guilty to murdering his mother and wounding his sister. The Lymington Chronicle reported that Dr Worthington, a psychiatric doctor, expressed the opinion that John was insane. A guilty verdict was recorded but it was ruled that he was insane at the time of the offence. John Elwes was sentenced to be held indefinitely in Broadmoor secure psychiatric hospital. He remained there until his death in 1918.
John’s sister Sophia never married, moving back to Portsmouth and living in a boarding house for the rest of her days. ‘The Bays’ was renamed ‘The Ferns’ and sold. In later years the house was demolished and a small housing estate was built on the site. The Home Office papers concerning this case have been destroyed.
The 1891 newspaper reports are the main source of detailed information on what was a truly tragic affair for the Elwes family.
• Nick Saunders MA is a local historian and chairman of the Milton Heritage Society. He can be contacted via nick@miltonheritagesociety.co.uk
