Reminiscences of Rotherham
by G. Gummer, J.P.
« « previn Rotherlham, employing several hundred men, had one son and two daughters. He lived at Clifton House, now used as a museum, and the whole of Clifton Park was in those days his private grounds. His son George, took part in all the local sports, being a very fine athlete, particularly in running and jumping.
There are many others I could name. but these will suffice to show how the old, familiar, and highly respected names of sixty years ago have died out. In my boyhood every name I have mentioned was a household word. Some of the heads held office in the town and were responsible for its government. So far as ny memory serves me, there is not one of their direct male descendants with us in the Rotherhani of to-day.
JACK GILLOTT
When it became known that 'Jack' Gillott had been murdered at the Tontine Hotel. Sheffield, expressions of consternation and grief were heard everywhere. John Gillott, a son of our highly respected superintendent of the West Riding Police, was born in Rotherham and few men were more popular. A good sportsman, with a bright, breezy, generous and forgiving nature, he made friends wherever he went. He was one of the best boxers in the district and a good all- round athlete. As a boy he was considered the best singer in South Yorkshire. A journalist by profession, at the time of his death he represented one of the leading London papers. Only a young man, he had not had time to make provision for his widow. His numerous admirers and friends started a fund for her assistance, whic found generous support, the sum of five hundred pounds being quickly raised.CHARLES PEACE
It is difficult to describe the sensation created in the district when the Banner Cross murder took place in 1876. Mr. Dyson, the victim, was in some way connected with this neighbourhood, having, I believe, relatives in Tinsley. When Peace, the murderer, was caught and tried before the Stipendary at Sheffield, and afterwards taken to Wakefield to await the Assizes, crowds, infected with morbid curiosity, flocked to Masbro’ to catch a glimpse of him as he passed through the station.MURDER OF JOHN WHITAKER
Although the murder of John Whitaker, a well-known farmer residing at Thrybergh, took place when I was but a year old, we were so frequently reminded of this tragic event and shown the exact spot where it occurred, that it seems necessary to mention it in these roles. Whilst on his way home from the market, Whitaker was attacked by three men as he was nearing the foot of Whinney Hill. A strong and powerful and well-built man,Whitaker could have dealt with all his assailants had he been in possession of a stick. He was surrounded and overpowered. Leaving him for dead, the men got away with the large sum of money he had in his possession.. Recovering consciousness, the poor man dragged himself several hundred yards to the Mill House (now used a club), owned by Mr. Stringer, where he collapsed and died. The murderers got clear away arid were not discovered until twenty-six years later, when one of the men confessed.The magisterial enquiry caused a big sensation, firstly because of the interest in the case, and also because of a scene between Mr. Parker Rhodes and Mr. H. H. Hickmott, a young solicitor just starting to practice, who represented the prisoner. Mr. Hickmott insisted on interviewing his client, when a scene unprecedented in the local courts followed. Mr. Parker Rhodes objected to the prisoner being seen, and the magistrates supported this view. The disorder in court was such as to necessitate the intervention of the police, but Mr. Hickmott eventually had to give way.