A Fatal Christmas Quarrel Over Beef

A row that broke out between family members over who should buy the beef for Christmas dinner led to a man killing his mother-in-law and being convicted of manslaughter.

On Christmas Eve 1886 Ellen Connell went from her Beaufort Street home to visit her grown up daughter, also Ellen, in Upper Frederick Street. Shortly after 8pm Ellen's son-in-law Edward McDonald, a 22 year old watchmaker, returned home along with his own mother. He was drunk and placed a bottle of whisky on the table but at first the four of them, as well as Ellen's other daughter Catherine Fitzpatrick, were all getting on well together.

Things began to go wrong when Ellen McDonald  told her mother in law to go for some beef and she refused. Edward was enraged by this and told his wife 'Don't you command my mother'. Ellen senior then intervened which only made Edward more angry and he grabbed her by the shoulders, pushing her down the steps and knocking her unconscious. Family members carried her into the house as blood poured from the ears and mouth.

Dr Johnston from Great George Square was sent for and he expressed little hope of recovery. McDonald was arrested at 3am on Christmas morning and said to the officer 'I did push her down the steps'. After Ellen died on 27th December McDonald was charged with manslaughter but when he appeared at the magistrates court on 3rd January, he was granted bail set at £25.

On 10th February McDonald surrendered himself at St George's Hall to appear before the assizes. He did not dispute pushing Ellen, but there was conflicting evidence from the different sides of the family, with McDonald's relatives saying he was sober and that the fall was an accident. Doctor Johnston, who had carried out the postmortem, told the court that the cause of death was a brain injury consistent with a fall. 

McDonald was found guilty of manslaughter and prior to sentence, Justice Hawkins told him that his witnesses had given a garbled and untrue account. He said that it would have been better to have said he committed the offence in a moment of temper and regretted it, but despite these harsh words a sentence of just six months hard labour was imposed.

Killed By a Negligent Carter

In 1877 a carter tipped a boy out of his cart causing his death leading to him being convicted of manslaughter.

On the evening of 21st May 1877 Thomas Whitfield was driving a two horse cart in Bootle, carrying a load of planks. He drew up outside a public house in Dundas Street and went inside for some refreshment, during which time a group of about eight boys jumped in the cart.

When he came out of the pub Whitfield drove the cart to Derby Road and Millers Bridge when without warning, he tilted the cart, causing the children to fall from it. He then drove away without checking to see if anybody had been hurt. 

An eleven year old named John McNulty had his thigh trapped between the cart causing a fracture. He was taken to the borough hospital but died two days afterwards. Whitfield was apprehended and charged with manslaughter, appearing at the next assizes before Justice Hawkins on 25th July.

Witnesses at the trial said that Whitfield had appeared to look around as if to see if anyone was watching before he tilted the cart, but in his defence he said that it had tilted without warning due to a fault. He was found guilty but due and sentenced to six months gaol with hard labour.

Butcher Who Helped Neighbour Killed

A man in Vauxhall who offered help to a female neighbour who had been thrown out of the house was killed by her husband, who was hanged for his crime. 

On the evening of 18th July 1877 a butcher named John Campbell was having supper at his Latimer Street home with several family members. A lady called Mrs McGovern attended, saying she had been thrown out by her forty year old husband Patrick and she joined the supper party for a couple of hours.


Shortly after midnight Mrs McGovern went back to her husband who was a marine store dealer. A few minutes later John went to the McGovern household to check everything was okay and told Patrick that he had been wrong to do what he did. Without any further provocation, Patrick picked a kitchen knife up off the table and plunged it into John's abdomen.

John ran back into his own house screaming, the knife still embedded in his body. His sister in law Ann Kearns pulled it out and sent for a policeman. When an officer arrived McGovern was taken into custody and John was removed to the Stanley Hospital. With John in a critical condition a magistrate's clerk took a deposition from him the following day in the presence of McGovern. 

John lingered on until 24th July when he died, leading to McGovern being committed to the assizes for trial. At the magistrates court hearing Detective Inspector Carlisle explained that McGovern was also under investigation for stabbing his wife's brother, who lay in a dangerous state at the Northern Hospital. He was a man known to have a history of drunken violence, once being sentenced to two months imprisonment for assaulting his wife.

When McGovern appeared before Mr Justice Hawkins on 3rd August, his defence counsel tried to suggest that the killing was no more than a struggle and it was John who had gone around with the knife. They added that by harbouring Mrs McGovern after she had been thrown out of the house, it was an act of sufficient provocation to reduce the crime to manslaughter. 

In summing up though, the judge said that given all the facts, he was at a loss to see how there could be any mitigation to reduce the crime from murder to manslaughter. This led to the jury taking just a few minutes to return a guilty verdict and McGovern responding by saying 'I am innocent of it I know nothing at all about it.' As he passed the death sentence Justice Hawkins showed no pity, telling McGovern that 'anybody that has heard the case can not hesitate to come to the conclusion that yours was the hand that inflicted the deadly wound.'

After being sentenced McGovern fainted and had to be helped up by two warders. His wife screamed and howled, and had to be escorted out of the courtroom. McGovern was hanged at Kirkdale gaol on 21st August, alongside John Golding who had killed his neighbour in Edge Hill. He showed a complete indifference to his fate whilst at Kirkdale, but as he was brought out into the prison yard he was trembling and had to be held up by warders to stop him fainting as the noose was being put around his neck. When the bolt was drawn by William Marwood, he dropped to an instant death and was buried within the precints of the prison.

Revenge Poker Killer Hanged

A man who got beaten by a neighbour who he challenged to a fight got his revenge by killing him with a poker, leading to him being hanged at Kirkdale gaol.

In 1877 John Golding, a 25 year old former soldier lived with his mother in Shenstone Street in Edge Hill whilst working as a labourer. At about 1030pm on 16th July that year he knocked on the door of a neighbour named Thomas Vaughan and asked him come outside with him to help 'soften someones head.' Vaughan declined  the invitation but Golding went ahead and challenged another neighbour called Daniel Lloyd to a fight. He then punched Golding to the ground and with his head bleeding, two neighbours then helped him home and dressed the wound.

A few minutes later Golding came out of his house with a poker and smashed Lloyd's window. When his wife Sarah came to see what was happening Golding pushed past her then struck Lloyd, who was sat at a table, four or five times on the head with the poker. Lloyd was taken to the Royal Infirmary,where he died on 24th July from a fractured skull having never regained consciousness.

The following day Golding, who had been remanded in custody the morning after the incident on a charge of assault, was committed to trial at the assizes after the inquest returned a verdict of wilful murder. At his trial on 3rd August Golding had nobody except his defence counsel advocating for him. His neighbours weren't concerned about his predicament, having described him to journalists as a 'violent fellow' and a 'terror of the neighbourhood.' He had previously been in trouble for assaulting police. 

The jury found him guilty of murder but with a recommendation for mercy. In sentencing him to death Mr Justice Hawkins told Golding that his version of events was untrue, there had been no provocation and the killing had taken place out of 'revengeful feeling.'


On 18th August communication was received from Whitehall that the Home Secretary Viscount Cross could see no grounds for a reprieve and the execution was confirmed for the following Tuesday 21st August. Golding had been hopeful of being spared the death sentence but he now resigned himself to his fate, attending divine service on the Sunday and being given communion by Father Bonte.


The executioner William Marwood arrived at Liverpool on the Monday having travelled from Ipswich, where a hanging he had been scheduled to carry out was postponed at the eleventh hour. The weather was befitting of an execution, with rain coming down in torrents throughout the night and the sky being filled with black clouds at 745am when the press were admitted to the gaol and bells began to toll.

At 8am the prison governor and Father Bonte came into the yard followed by Golding and Patrick McGovern, who was from Latimer Street and also being hanged for killing a neighbour.Golding remained calm, albeit extremely pale, even when Marwood took time adjusting the rope after being dissatisfied with his first attempt. He then writhed for two to three minutes after the bolt was drawn before life was finally pronounced extinct.

Bookseller Killed By Ex-Lodger

A callous ex lodger who killed his former landlord and left another lodger for dead was brought to justice due to his alibi failing to stand up and a nervous twitch.

In the 1890s Edward Moyse ran a bookstall in Mann Island, which was near to his home in Redcross Street where he lived above a barbers shop with 15 year old John Needham, a boy who did chores for him. On the  night of 18-19th February 1895 Moyse was battered in his bed by his ex-lodger William Miller, who was looking for the elderly man's rumoured stash of money. After killing 53 year old Moyse, Miller, who had just returned from sea, turned his attentions to Needham, raining blows on him with a poker.

It was his failure to finish off the boy however that was to lead Miller to the gallows. Needham managed to crawl into the street to raise the alarm at about 6am when he was taken to the Northern Hospital. When police searched the house they found the only money there, £8, was under Moyse's pillow.

When Needham gave a description to the police, he was able to recall a nervous twitch that Miller possessed. A woman told police that a man who only ventured out at night and fitted his description lived in Edgeware Street in Edge Hill. Miller, who was staying there with his estranged wife's mother, was arrested and a  bloodstained shirt was found in his room. He tried to account for this by saying he worked in a slaughterhouse, but when he was taken there and pointed to the spot where he claimed to have killed the animals, the superintendent of the abattoir said none had been slaughtered there for months. 

27 year old Miller was then taken to the bedside of John Needham, who had already eliminated various other suspects in identity parades. This time however Miller started to twitch and Needham was hysterical, leading to him being charged with the murder. 

The trial began on 13th May and lasted three days. Needham, who by now had almost made a full recovery, gave his evidence in an impressive manner, leading to many offers of employment. Other witnesses told how they had seen Miller acting suspiciously in the vicinity and taking a keen interest in whether one or two people were dead. Miller, whose wife gave birth to a baby while he was in gaol, was found guilty and hanged on 4th June, continuing to protest his innocence.