Murder and Suicide in Berwick Street

When a Kensington man was struggling due to being out of work, he shot his wife dead and turned the gun on himself. 

On the evening of 16th August 1900 Hugh Murphy, a 24 year old shipwright, shot dead his wife and then turned the gun on himself at their home in Berwick Street. The two bodies were found a few hours later by Hugh's aunt, who lived in nearby Every Street. A policeman was summoned and the bodies were taken to Princes Dock mortuary. 

At the inquest Hugh's widowed mother Ann told the Coroner that the couple lived with her. She described how they had a habit of getting worse for drinking and quarrelling, but that generally they were happy together. However she also said that in the preceding days Hugh had told her he was tired of life, due to criticism from Florence because he had been out of work for two months. 

In summing up the Coroner told his jury that this had been a terrible occurrence and that Hugh had evidently been suffering from mental depression. A verdict was returned that Hugh had murdered his wife then committed suicide whilst in a temporary insane condition. 

Drunken Row Leads to Death

In 1900 a man who struck his partner after a drunken row was convicted of manslaughter after she died of her injuries.

William Hughes, a 41 year old labourer, lived with 50 year old Margaret Cornwell in Skirving Street, along with Margaret's daughter and her husband.  The relationship was generally a good one, but both were prone to drink and would often quarrel when under the influence of alcohol.

On 29th October 1900 one of those rows took place and Hughes hit Margaret, causing her to fall and hit a mangle, then bang her head on the floor. Two days later she died in hospital, a post mortem revealing that the cause of death was compression of the brain caused by blood clots.Although there was plenty of bruising, the skull had not been fractured.

Hughes was charged with manslaughter and appeared at the Liverpool assizes on 3rd December, where he was sentenced to nine months imprisonment with hard labour.

Mother Kills Baby With Boiling Water

A woman who killed her three month baby after scalding him with boiling water was given a lenient sentence after her defence said she was not responsible for her actions due to drink.


On the 29th May 1900 Mary Doyle, a 38 year old mother of two whose husband was away at sea asked her son John to take his six month old baby brother Christopher for a walk in the pram. He did so but on returning to their Robsart Street home Mary took the baby and threw him on the floor.

The older boy became alarmed and went to fetch his aunt who lived nearby but by the time she arrived it was too late. Mary had took some boiling water from the fire and drank some herself, before squirting the rest over Christopher and collapsing.

Mary said to the others that she had done what she did as God had told her to do so. Christopher was taken to the Dispensary from where he was then removed to the workhouse hospital. The following day he died from shock and exhaustion caused from the burns.

Mary was an alcoholic who had twice been hospitalised due to insanity and when she appeared at the assizes on 30th July her counsel said she could not be held responsible for her actions and had no premeditation or motive. After accepting she was suffering from delirium tremens following heavy drinking the jury found her guilty of manslaughter and she was sentence to three months imprisonment with hard labour.

Killing Follows an Orgy

An orgy in the Scotland Road area at the beginning of the 20th Century ended in one of the participants being killed and a man being sentenced to fifteen years in gaol for manslaughter.

On the evening of 22nd December 1900 Margaret Roxburgh did some shopping then attended an illicit gathering in Raymond Street, which descended into some drunken chaos and led to her threatening James Maloney with an ashpan. Both then left and the arguing continued in the street, the issue seeming to be that Maloney had not followed his brother to South Africa to fight in the Boer War. 

Maloney followed Margaret into her house where they struggled on the floor. Neighbours were alerted by Margaret's screams and entered to find Maloney with a knife in his hand and Margaret bleeding from the stomach. Maloney's father was quickly called and he managed to get the knife from his son and usher him out of the house. Margaret, whose bowels were protruding, was taken to hospital but she died on Christmas Day after peritonitis set in.

Margaret had been able to give a deposition stating that Maloney had been about to strike his father when she intervened, and that she had had no previous bad relations with him. She described him as being very drunk but said that she had only had three glasses of beer and a small brandy during a four hour period.

When Maloney appeared before Mr Justice Bigham at the Liverpool assizes on 18th February 1901, the Lancashire General Advertiser described him as 'a labourer of imperfect education'. He pleaded not guilty to murder and often burst into tears as the evidence was being given. After his defence submitted that there had been an element of provocation, he was found guilty of manslaughter and then sentenced to fifteen years imprisonment.

Murder at the Asylum

In 1900 there was a terrible tragedy at the Rainhill Hospital when one inmate killed another with a knife that they had managed to obtain from one of the kitchens.

The Lancashire County Asylum, to give the hospital its official title, was first opened in 1851 and by 1900 had extended to have a capacity of 2,000, making it the largest psychiatric facility in Europe. One of the patients was 29 year old Mary Grainger, who had been transferred there from London on 28th March, having first been admitted to an asylum following bouts of depression and delusions that people were out to poison her.

Grainger had been stable for 6 weeks and was being considered for discharge when the incident that led to her being detained indefinitely occurred. On the morning of Wednesday 1st August Medical Superintendent Joseph Wigglesworth was eating his breakfast when he heard screams coming from an upstairs room. On going to investigate he found Grainger, who had been employed in his quarters for just two days after being transferred from the matron's kitchen, sawing away at the neck of Hannah Hancox with a kitchen knife.

Wigglesworth managed to restrain Grainger but the blood loss to Hancox was so great that she died two hours later. Two days later at the inquest Grainger had to be removed from the courtroom by nurses on the order of the coroner after repeatedly interrupting he proceedings to ask what they were all about.  Wigglesworth explained to the Coroner that the Grainger had not caused any prior concern and had probably got the knife out of the matron's kitchen cupboard. He also explained that in the immediate aftermath she had told him she had a urge to kill somebody, not minding whom, indicating a sudden homicidal impulse.

The coroner's jury returned a verdict of wilful murder and Grainger then appeared before St Helens magistrates' court where she was committed for trial. She was then transferred to Walton Gaol but at the end of the month the Home Secretary, having been made aware of he full facts of the case, intervened and ordered her removal without trial to the Broadmoor Asylum for Criminal Lunatics. Rainhill Hospital closed in 1992 and has now been demolished.

Liverpool Mercury 27th August 1900

Man Kills Lover After Religion Gets Between Them

In October 1900 James Bergin shot his girlfriend as she refused to continue their relationship due to their different religions.

28 year old Bergin was from Ireland and working in Liverpool as a grocer's assistant in 1898 when he began seeing local girl Margaret Morrison. They got engaged and the banns were read but Margaret then broke off the engagement under pressure from her Protestant family.

Bergin remained friendly with Margaret but in March 1900 after an argument he tried to shoot her but missed. Margaret escaped and after Bergin came to check she was ok, she managed to get the revolver from him and disposed of it in a sewer. Four months later in July Bergin went to 24 year old Margaret's house in Brasenose Road and tried to slash her with a razor blade which she wrestled from him. As he left, he told her mother that he would do 20 years for Margaret and no other man would have her.

Despite previous incidents, Margaret's parents allowed Bergin to take their daughter to the theatre on the evening of 27th October.  At about 11pm the couple were in Bank Hall Street quarelling and Bergin shot Margaret before running off. Two police officers tended to the victim, who had two gunshot wounds to the head and she was taken to the Stanley Hospital accompanied by her mother who was sent for.

The following day Bergin was arrested at his lodgings in Howe Street and initially charged with wounding, although by now Margaret was not expected to recover. She died on 29th October after suffering convulsions and Bergin was committed for trial at the next Liverpool Assizes on 4th December.

At his trial, Bergin pleaded insanity but the judge told the jury that he had told Mrs Morrison of his intentions to kill Margaret, which implied premeditation and that he was aware of the consequences of his actions. Bergin was found guilty with a recommendation for mercy, but this was not acted upon by the Home Secretary. On 27th December, exactly two months after the murder he met his fate at Walton Gaol, the first execution in Liverpool of the 20th century.