Murder of Suzannah Jaggers - near Parkgate Works
On 30th May, 1847, Suzannah Jaggers aged 59 of Masborough, was murdered by Samuel Linley, while on her way to Parkgate.
Yesterday forenoon a murder of a most atrocious description was committed in open day, on the Rotherham and Rawmarsh turnpike-road, between Park-gate works and Aldwark Bar. From information gathered upon the spot, it appears that between 10 and 11 o'clock a man named Samuel Linley, a joiner employed at Park-gate, was seen by Mrs. Turner, the toll-keeper, to pass through the bar, in the direction towards Park-gate. For reasons which will afterwards appear, she stood to watch him down the road. An Irish woman, hawking small wares, was coming in the opposite direction towards the bar. When she met Linley he attempted to stop her. She succeeded in passing him, and he went forward. Some 10 or 12 yards further a woman about 60 years of age, named Susannah Jaggers, was walking in the middle of the road, also in the direction to meet Linley, when he turned from the footpath and seized her by the arm. She struggled to escape his grasp, get loose from him, and ran along the road. He followed and struck her on the back of the head with his fist. She fell upon the road, when he threw himself upon her, and commenced beating her about the head. Mrs. Turner, who was still watching, ran to Cocking's public-house, which is only separated from the bar by the lane turning off to Aldwark, and gave the alarm that Linley was killing a woman. Mr. Cocking, who was in an upper room, immediately came down, and ran out of the house. Joshua Heward, a cowkeeper, residing at Rotherham, came up to the bar at the same time, and he hearing the alarm, ran with Mr. Cocking to the place. As they ran they saw Linley still beating Mrs. Jaggers with both fists. She was screaming for assistance. She was attempting to get up, when Linley, who was down on one knee, put his left arm round her neck, and with the left hand held one of her hands, with which she was struggling. With his right hand he took from his trousers pockets a knife, and opened it with the assistance of his left. The two men, who had quickened their pace, on witnessing his increased violence, cried out to him to be quiet. Almost before they had uttered the words, he said - "Oh, - - her," and some other words which the men did not clearly catch, and with savage violence drew the knife across the right side of the poor woman’s neck, and severed the carotid artery and the jugular vein, inflicting a wound seven inches long, and an inch and a half deep. Heward seized him by the arm while the knife was still in the wound, and both he and Linley were immediately covered with blood spurting from the wound. Heward and Cocking with one voice exclaimed - "What have you done?" and Linley replied - "I hope the lord will forgive me." The unfortunate woman was supported by several other persons who came up. A vain attempt was made to check the bleeding, but she died in the course of 10 minutes. Mr. Cocking attempted to take the knife from the prisoner, and he made several strokes at him with it, but without doing further injury than to inflict a scratch on Mr. Cocking's hand. When he was overpowered, he gave up the knife to Mr. Cocking. During this struggle, and when he was surrounded, Linley several times exclaimed, "I've made a pretty job of it." When asked why he had done it, he at first said he did not know, but afterwards that it was drink that had done it. He was asked if he was drunk then, and he replied, "No; he had had only a little peppermint water that morning."
Messengers were immediately despatched to the offices of the Coroner, in Rotherham, and to Clarke, the constable of the township. A crowd had collected about, and Linley became violent, endeavouring to escape, but he was thrown upon the ground, and, despite his struggles, was bound hand and foot. In this state he remained until the arrival of the constable, who found him upon the ground crying, and saying that the Devil had come for him and had killed him. This he repeated several times.
Before he was removed to the gaol an aquaintance inquired of him if he should write to his friends and let them know what had happened. Linley requested him to do so, and gave him the address.
For security, Clarke placed the prisoner in a cart for conveyance to the gaol, on the way he alternately laughed and cried, but made no remarks. On arriving at the gaol he said he blessed the Lord and hoped he would save him.
The body of the unfortunate woman was removed to Mr. Cocking's house to await the inquest.
ROTHERHAM, SATURDAY EVENING The inquest on view of Mrs. Susannah Jaggers, the unfortunate woman who yesterday came to her death by the hands of a murderer, was held this afternoon, at the Court-house, Rotherham, before Mr. T. Badger, coroner, and a highly respectable jury. The jury assembled at 11 o'clock, at the house of Mr. Thomas Cocking, the Travellers' Inn, about 2 miles from Rotherham, at which house the body of the murdered woman lay.
After viewing the body, the evidence of several of the witnesses was taken, and the jury then adjourned to the court-house. The case, as might have been expected, had caused great excitement in the neighbourhood, and the road near the gaol was occupied with groups of persons throughout the whole of the morning.
Benjamin Jaggers, of Masborough-common, the husband of the deceased, said, - My wife, who is in her 59th year, left home about a quarter past after 10 o'clock yesterday morning, to go to Park-gate, to see if any of her customers wanted any articles of grocery. She generally went there every Friday or Saturday morning, to receive orders and collect her money. She was very cheerful and in good health when she left home. I have viewed the body now lying dead; it is that of my wife. I do not know Linley, and I believe my wife did not know him.
Joseph Abson, tailor, deposed, - I know Samuel Linley, now in custody. He was a wheelwright by trade, and worked for Messrs. Scholefield, of Park-gate works. He came from Milford, near Belper, in Derbyshire, and has lodged at my house for a month last Wednesday. He had been addicted to drinking. He did not take it regularly, but he would begin and drink excessively for a day or two. He received his wages on Friday, the 21st, and began to drink at night. He was drunk at night on Saturday. He had a little drink on Sunday, and went out fishing on Monday and Tuesday, and came home both nights tipsy. On Wednesday morning, he got up to go to his work as usual at 5 o'clock. He returned to his lodgings at 11 very quiet, and brought some medicine which had been given to him by Mr. Wilkinson. He went to bed and had three fits during the day. He got up after he had had two fits, and walked round the garden. He then had another fit and went back to bed again. On Thursday, he got up and went to his work, but he returned at 9 o'clock and went to bed till noon. He then came to me in my garden, and afterwards went to bed again. He had a slight fit on Thursday while sitting at the table eating a mutton chop. He then went to bed. He got up yesterday about half-past 5 o'clock, I heard him go downstairs. I saw him at half-past 6, when he appeared poorly, and began crying. He said he had done wrong by getting drunk, and said he was sorry he had spent his money. I reasoned with him, and asked him to take a walk with me for a short distance towards Rotherham. While we were out, a train passed us on the Midland Railway, and he said that it went through his head like a bullet. He also said he had great pain in his head. He returned home between 7 and 8 o'clock. Linley kept crying, and had breakfast at 9 o'clock. He appeared very low, and I talked with him, and advised him to take a walk, he returned to me in my shop. It was then after 10 o'clock. He sat with me a few minutes, and still cried about his money, and asked me to forgive him for his drunkenness. I told him I would do so freely. He sprang up, and went out of the shop, and I saw no more of him till I ran out of the shop in consequence of hearing some women screaming on the turnpike-road. I went below the toll-bar immediately, and then found Linley, Thomas Cocking, John Ellis, and Mrs. Jaggers, who was not quite dead. On Thursday, Linley appeared low from drink. He was naturally a sensible man, but seemed nervous in consequence of drink. He had had several threepenny-worths of gin on Thursday, and a little peppermint on Friday morning. He was a generous kind hearted man, and never showed any violence or malice before. When Cocking was holding Linley down on the road, I said, "Oh, Sammy, what have you done?" He replied, "Give me thy hand, lad - it is a job done - I shall never come back to your house any more." He then struck at me in a rage. I stepped back and seized hold of him and threw him down. We then tied his hands and legs together, and kept him down till the constable came. Linley said to me, "This woman has been saying something about me spending my money, and I said she had nothing to do with it. I thought she was the devil and I killed her." I assisted the constable in taking Linley to the lock-up at Rotherham. On the way thither, he (Linley) asked me to write to his brothers, to tell them he was in custody. I informed him that Mr. Agard would write to them.
Elizabeth, wife of Joseph Turner, of Park-gate, deposed - I saw Samuel Linley, the prisoner, come out of Absons-yard yesterday morning, between 10 and 11 o'clock. I saw him go down the turn-pike road towards Rotherham. He appeared steady and sober, but looked rather wild about the eyes. I saw a woman coming up the turn-pike road from Rotherham towards Rawmarsh. Linley was walking on the causeway, and crossed off towards the woman, who was in the middle of the road. He went behind her, and struck her with his fist over the back of the head and shoulders. She fell on the road, and screamed
She got up, and ran a little towards Rawmarsh. I ran to my father's (Thomas Cocking's) public-house for assistance, and to tell him what had happened. He went out directly, and Joshua Heward and he ran towards Linley and the woman. I ran back immediately to the place where the woman had been knocked down. She was then laid on the road, and Linley was kneeling upon her. I saw a knife in his hand, and blood gushing from her neck. A crowd of people came round, and I ran back to my own house. Linley's right hand was bloody, and so was the knife which he held in it.
Thomas Cocking, the landlord of the Traveller's-inn, Four-lane-ends, deposed - In consequence of something which was said to me, between 10 and 11 o'clock, by my wife, I ran along the turnpike-road leading towards Rotherham, and saw Linley striking with his fists a woman who was lying on the road. He had his face towards me, Joshua Heward was running before me towards him. When I and Heward got within about 15 yards of Linley and the woman, I saw Linley pull his knife out of his pocket. I immediately lifted my arm up, and called out, "Sammy, Sammy, what are you going to do?" Before we could get to him, I saw him open the knife and draw it round the woman's neck, "jab" it at her, and draw it across her neck as quick as possible. I think he did it only once. It appeared to me to be a savage kind of cut, and the blood gushed out of the wound in a large stream. Heward and I immediately fell upon Linley, and when we had pulled him off the deceased we attempted to get the knife from him. Linley struck at me and Heward with the knife several times, and scratched my hand. I persuaded him to shut his knife when we had him on the ground, and he gave it to me. I now produce it, I said to Linley, "What have you done?" and he replied, "Oh! it's done - it's done - it's the devil - it's a job!" Mrs. Jaggers never spoke or moved, and died in a few minutes. Her body was removed to my house. Linley talked incoherently. I assisted in taking him to the lock-up. Before the murder, I had seen Linley in my garden, and he appeared sober, but deranged in his mind from fits he has had after drinking bouts. I asked him how he was, and he replied, "Bad, bad." He came into my house, and had about a teaspoon of peppermint. Linley did not know the woman.
Joshua Heward, of Rotherham, labourer, deposed - I was going across the turnpike-road, near Four-lane-ends bar, between 10 and 11 yesterday morning, and in consequence of a woman at the toll-bar screaming, I turned my head along the road in the direction of Rotherham. I saw a man beating a woman about the head, and knock her down on the road. She screamed for assistance, and I ran towards her. As she was attempting to get up, Linley got her by the shoulders, and held her between his knees, and beat her at the back of the head with both his fists very severely. She again screamed out for assistance. When I got about 10 yards of them, I saw Linley draw his knife out of his pocket. I called to him, "Be quiet; what are you going to do?" He said "On, - her;" and that he would do something, but I could not tell what it was. He opened his knife, and stabbed at her throat with it. I got hold of his arm just as he was striking her, but I could not prevent him cutting her. He cut at her very savagely. The blood flowed from the wound upon my hand and shirt-sleeve. She never spoke after. He held her down with his left hand, whilst he got his knife out. I said, "Linley, you have made a job of it." He replied, "Aye, but I hope God will forgive me. Thou Hast me safe now." I asked him, when I had got him down, what he had done it for? and he replied, "It's not me that's done it, it's drink. I've spent all my money." I saw him shut his knife, and give it to Cocking. I asked Linley if he was drunk? and he replied, no, he had had nothing to drink that morning but a little peppermint. He appeared to me to be sensible, and answered questions put to him in as right a way as I could. I gave him in custody to Clarke, the constable.
Ellen Hawley, a girl about 12 years of age, after being examined as to the nature of an oath, deposed, - I am daughter of George Hawley, of Rawmarsh, butcher. On Friday morning I saw a man on the turnpike-pike road, near the Four-lane-ends bar. He asked a woman whom he met to shake hands with him; and she said no, she would not. The man said he would shake her by the hand, and he ran after her, and knocked her down on the road. She got up again, but her bonnet fell off, and he threw her down again. Her bonnet and cap fell off again. He then "lugged" her by the hair, and held her fast while he got his knife out of his pocket, and cut her throat with it. I and my brother, who is only three years old and was with me, were very frightened and ran away. I did not hear him say anything, except what I have stated. The woman was on the road going towards Rawmarsh when he stopped her. There was a good deal of blood where the woman was stabbed.
Ann Flannigan, of Rotherham, deposed - My husband is a labourer. Yesterday morning, I was on the road to Rawmarsh, hawking small wares, and between Mr. Oxley's back gates and the Four-lane-ends bar met Samuel Linley. I was on the road, and he was on the causeway. He crossed off to me, and said, "Hello. Missis." I was walking fast, and said I had no time to talk with him, and walked away as fast as I could till I got beyond the toll-bar, and then heard a scream. On turning round I saw a woman down on the side of the footpath and Linley beating her. I cried out "murder," and some men ran to her assistance as fast as they could. Her throat was cut and she was dying when I got up. The prisoner, Samuel Linley, is the man I saw on the top of the woman beating her. I did not see his knife, but there was a pool of blood round the woman. He attempted to get hold of me as I passed, but I got away from him.
Henry Wilkinson, of Rotherham, surgeon, deposed, that he found the deceased lying on the footpath, a little on the Rotherham side of the toll-bar. She was quite dead, having an extensive wound at the right side of her neck, about six inches and a half in length, and upwards of an inch in depth. He examined the wound and found that the common carotid artery, which is the principal blood vessel of the neck, was nearly cut through. The external jugular vein was also divided. In his opinion, the wound was a mortal one, and the woman, could not survive more than a few minutes after its infliction. Subsequently, by order of the coroner, he made a further examination and is satisfied that the wound was the cause of death.
The coroner then read over the depositions of the witnesses, the prisoner paying the most marked attention during the time occupied in doing so. At the conclusion he declined to make any statement, and the coroner, having addressed the jury, they retired to consider their verdict. About 5 o'clock they returned into court with a verdict of "Wilful Murder" against Samuel Linley, and a warrant for his committal to York Castle was signed by the coroner.
