Lodger Killed by Landlady

A pre Christmas quarrel in Victorian Liverpool between a man and the woman he lodged with led to his death and her conviction for manslaughter.

John Farrell, a 23 year old sawyer, lived in Banastre Street (one of many streets cleared to make way for the Wallasey tunnel) with his 60 year old landlady Johanna Bell, both of them sleeping in the same room in separate beds.

On the evening of Friday 17th December 1869 the two people took supper together at about 9pm, but an argument broke out and Farrell punched Bell on the side of the head. She responded by picking up a kitchen knife and stabbing him in the neck and above the eye.

Farrell sought help outside and was taken to the Northern Hospital where he died in the early hours of Sunday, the principal artery in his neck having been severed. He had been able to give depositions to a magistrate though, claiming that he had been upset at a remark she had made about a girl he had been seeing and pushed her, leading to the stabbing.

At her trial, Bell claimed that she had been punched on the head after an argument broke out when he was unhappy some soap had been removed as he was behind with his rent. She admitted stabbing him but maintained it was purely due to the force of his punch, which she said gave her a black eye.

Bell was found guilty of manslaughter but with a recommendation for mercy. Mr Justice Willies took this, her age and the provocation into account when he sentenced Bell to just twelve months imprisonment.