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William Hodgson Bingham

Age: 73

Sex: male

Date: 14 Aug 1911

Place: Lancaster Castle, Lancaster

James Henry Bingham, William Hodgson Bingham and Margaret Bingham died of arsenic poisoning. James Bingham's daughter was tried for their murders but found not guilty.

Dates of deaths:

  • 23 January 1911: William Bingham.
  • 23 July 1911: Margaret Bingham.
  • 15 August 1911: James Bingham.

William Bingham's death was originally given as being due to old age and gastric catarrh.

Margaret Bingham's death had been initially been stated to have been due to cerebral growth.

William Bingham had been the Court Keeper of Lancaster Castle for 30 years.

James Bingham was taken ill on 12 August 1911 after eating some food and had started to vomit. A nurse and housekeeper was called to watch his food and on 14 August 1911 he was later taken to a friend's house where he died the following day on 15 August 1911.

His death was determined to be due to arsenical poisoning. The autopsy found traces of white arsenic in minute traces which in aggregate were more than a fatal dose.

After James Bingham's death it was recalled that William Bingham and Margaret Bingham had also died recently and their deaths were reconsidered and their bodies exhumed.

James Bingham's father William Bingham had died in similar circumstances on 23 January 1911 after being seized the previous day with severe vomiting and diarrhoea.

William Bingham had been the Court Keeper of Lancaster Castle and when he died James Bingham and his wife Margaret Bingham came back to take over the duties, arriving on 18 July 1911. However, the morning after they arrived Margaret Bingham became very sick whilst having breakfast and died several days later.

James Bingham's sister Annie Gertrude Bingham 30 also died although she was not considered to have been murdered. She died on 12 November 1910 with her cause of death being given as hysteria, cerebral congestion and pyrexia.

When police searched the grounds of Castle Courts they found two tins of Acme weedkiller covered over with rusty chains. The weedkiller had been used on the Castle Parade and was labelled poison.

On 31 August 1911 James Bingham's younger 30-year-old sister was charged with his murder.

The bodies of William Bingham and Margaret Bingham were then dug up and both were found to contain arsenic as well.

The sister was tried for all their murders but was acquitted on 30 October 1911.

It was said that she had no motive and the idea that she had done it for the money was said to be ridiculous. It was also said that after her brother’s death she would be worse off. However, one motive put forward for the murders was that the younger sister was not 'bright'.

The court heard that after William Bingham died that James Bingham had come to the castle but that he had brought Margaret Bingham with him who he had made housekeeper, over the head of the sister.

A surviving brother also told the court that there had been ill feeling between the younger sister and James Bingham because she had spent too much money, failed to carry out her duties and went out too much.

A doctor that was called to see James Bingham after he became ill on 12 August 1911 at the castle said that he found him in bed suffering from very severe vomiting. He said that he attended him until 14 August at which point he had him removed to 100 St Mary's Gate in Church Street, the home of a man where he continued to attend to him until he died on the afternoon of Tuesday 15 August 1911.

He said that he carried out the post mortem the following day and opened his chest and found his lungs to be fairly healthy, the right lung showing some signs of old pleurisy and the left lung slightly so, but added that that condition was of no importance. He said that his heart was quite healthy, his liver slightly fatty but otherwise healthy and his kidneys fairly healthy. He said that his stomach showed some signs of irritation of the mucous membrane at the heart end. He said that he then opened his head and found that his brain was quite healthy and in all found nothing to account for his death in a natural way.

He said that he then separated the organs and put them in jars, in one the stomach and in another the contents of the stomach and in a third a piece of liver, both kidneys and the spleen which he then handed to the police who then took them to the County laboratory in Liverpool.

When he was recalled he said that that he had seen James Bingham at about 8pm on 12 August 1911 at which time there were three people there including his sister and said that James Bingham told him that he had had a steak about 3pm that afternoon and some tea, but made no complaint about the food. He said that James Bingham told him that he had taken all the steak by himself but that he had shared the tea with his maid  and sister.

He said that at the time  James Bingham had been suffering from severe vomiting and that that night he told James Bingham's relations to keep his vomit as he had slight suspicion that all was not quite right. He said that when he saw him again on the Sunday night he found that James Bingham had been vomiting all night and that there were 6 or 8 pints of vomit kept for him. He said that he took certain steps with the vomit and that later that afternoon he said that he was satisfied that there was arsenic present in considerable quantities.

He said that he then got a nurse to attend him, who arrived on the Sunday evening, and told her that she was to keep a watch on everything and see that no one tampered with the food, and particularly that she was to take the milk in at the door. However, he noted that he didn't mention poison to her.

He said that on the Monday, 14 August 1911, that James Bingham was much better and seemed better, stating that he had only been sick once during the night and that he felt quite well. He said that he then told him that he could have a little bread and milk and that as he seemed so much better that he didn't go back to see him until 8pm. However, he said that when he returned at 8pm he found that James Bingham had been ill shortly after he had left, had had a bad day and had been sick all afternoon.

He said that he then had James Bingham removed to another man's house as a greater precaution, noting that he was weaker than he expected when he was being moved and said that he complained of cramp in his calf.

The doctor said that James Bingham died of arsenical poisoning and that he had given him no hint that he had known he had had poison.

The county analyst that received the jars in Liverpool said that he received them on Wednesday 16 August 1911, noting that the jars were unbroken, stating that there were two glass jars and an earthenware jar, the glass jars being labelled 'stomach' and 'contents of stomach' and the earthenware jar being labelled 'two kidneys, piece of liver and spleen'.

He said that he analysed the contents of the jars and found:

  1. The stomach weighed 6 ozs and was much reddened at the cardiac or top end. There was one very dark red patch. There was no arsenic or pigment visible. The stomach contained arsenic equivalent to 1/400 grain of white arsenic.
  2. The contents of the stomach consisted of 2½ fluid ozs of dark brown liquid. There was no solid matter and no arsenic or pigment visible but on analysis I found minute traces of arsenic.
  3. The kidneys. One weighed 4¾ oz and the other 4⅕ ozs, contained arsenic equivalent to 1/95 grain white arsenic.
  4. The piece of liver weighed 9⅖ ozs and contained arsenic equivalent to 1/12 grain arsenic. The average adult liver weighs about 3½ lbs so that the whole of the liver would contain about ½ grain of white arsenic.
  5. The spleen weighed 4oz and contained arsenic equivalent to 1/600 grain of white arsenic.
  6. Some blood had exuded from the organs in the earthenware jar, about 1⅗ fluid ozs. This contained arsenic equivalent to 1/2400 grain of white arsenic.

He said that in his opinion that there must have been more than a poisonous dose of arsenic in James Bingham's body and that from the symptoms described and the quantity of arsenic found that he was of the opinion that James Bingham died from acute poisoning of arsenic. He added that he had no doubt that death was due to arsenic poisoning and that it could not have come from a copper water tank.

The nurse that the doctor called in to attend to James Bingham had at the time been a nurse at the County Asylum in Lancaster and said that she was not a relation of the Bingham's but had been friendly with some of them and had known James Bingham for 25 years. She said that she had arranged to go and be housekeeper to James Bingham, noting that that arrangement had been made about a fortnight before he died.

She said that on the Sunday 13 August 1911 that she got a telephone call at 8.45pm from the medical superintendent saying that she was to go to the Bingham's, adding that she had heard that James Bingham was ill. She said that she got there at about 10pm and first saw the doctor who was there and said that he instructed her to nurse James Bingham and told her in particular to be very careful about the food and that no one other than her was to handle it. She said that she carried out those instructions and also took in the milk at the door and had the bread brought in from a friend’s house.

She added that she was also warned about her own food, being told that she had to be very careful with that as well.

She said that she found James Bingham in bed and very restless all night but said that there was not much vomiting during the night. She said that she told him that he thought that he would soon be better.

She said that all the time that she was with him that she prepared his food herself, washed all the cooking utensils and saw that no one interfered.

She said that she had been with him when he was removed to the other man's house and was with him until Monday at 6.15pm when she was relieved by another nurse.

She said that she saw him again at about 8pm and stayed with him all night and was with him on the Tuesday until 1.15pm when she was again relieved by the other nurse.

She said that she returned at 5.30pm but thought that by that time James Bingham was dead.

She said that James Bingham gave her no hint that he knew he was poisoned and noted that she didn't think that he was a likely man to take poison himself.

She said that when she had got to the castle that there was only his sister living with him, stating that his brother was living in Wingate Saul Road at the time and that his other sister was living in Manchester.

James Bingham's brother said that there was only him and his two sisters left in the family. He said that his elder of the two sisters had been in Lancaster for about a week, having arrived on 16 August 1911 and staying at a relations in Rydal Road. He said that she came to Lancaster to attend James Bingham's funeral but had been too ill to do so. He added that previous to that she had lived in Manchester.

He said that the younger of the sisters, the sister that was tried for murder, had lived in the castle all her life and had been a source of trouble for a few years, saying that she had been getting into debt, not telling the truth, not attending to household duties properly and going out too much. He said that William Bingham had occasion to find fault with her on the 1st or 2nd January 1910 for getting into debt, at which time he had been living at home, and that as a result William Bingham didn't speak to her again.

He said that William Bingham was taken seriously ill on the afternoon of 22 January 1911 and died on the afternoon of the following day after suffering from severe vomiting and diarrhoea.

He said that after William Bingham's death that James Bingham was appointed court keeper in his place sometime in February 1911 and his sister from Manchester kept house for him. He said that James Bingham used to object to the younger of the sisters spending too much time outside and complained of her untruthfulness. He noted that she didn't give him his meals regularly.

The surviving brother said that he left the castle on 14 June 1911 and got married and set up his own house and didn't often go to the castle.

He said that the younger sister later arranged for Margaret Bingham, who was in the prison service, to come and keep house for James Bingham and she came to the castle on 18 July 1911 for that purpose. He noted that Margaret Bingham was good friends with the younger sister but she was to take charge of her as well.

However, he said that Margaret Bingham was taken ill on the Wednesday, the day after she arrived. He said that he saw her later that evening at about 7pm when she complained of being sick and said that he suggested that a doctor be called in. However, he said that she died on Sunday 23 July 1911.

He said that after that that his two sisters remained with James Bingham, with his elder sister remaining until about two weeks before his death at which time she went back to Manchester whilst the younger sister stayed with him, with just the two of them living together.

He said that James Bingham complained that his food was not being cooked well and so he was going to get a housekeeper, the woman that later attended him, who was due to arrive on Monday 14 August 1911.

He said that James Bingham was taken ill on Saturday 12 August 1911 and that he had seen him the day before, Friday 11 August 1911 at about 6.30pm at which time the younger sister was out and said that he complained of her. He said that they were going through her clothes as there was further suspicion of her of her being in debt, noting that she didn't know of their suspicion. He said that he didn't see the younger sister that evening.

He said that he saw James Bingham again the following day, 12 August 1911 at about 7pm after he was sent for because he was ill, at which time he was in bed. He said that James Bingham complained of being very sick and was vomiting, stating that it was due to a beef steak that he had had for dinner. He said that he complained of cramp in his ankle and in the calf of his legs and that he stayed with him all night during which time he was constantly rubbing them.

He noted that the younger sister was in the house at the time and that the following day he stayed with James Bingham for most of the following day.

He said that the housekeeper arrived the following day, Sunday evening and that James Bingham died on the following Tuesday 15 August 1911.

He noted that all the cooking had up until then been done by the younger sister who had been doing it for the previous five or six years. He said that she was very capable but careless in not keeping the pans clean.

He added that he knew nothing of any poison having come into the house and that so far as he knew neither of his sisters knew anything about poison.

He said that he had been with a police sergeant on the afternoon that he made his statement when they searched the castle and found two empty tins of ‘Acme' weed killer which were under some old rusty chains in a dark place under the stairs to the judge's entrance, noting that that was a place that was never used except for rubbish. He said that he pointed out a watering can which was a large one that was used specially for spreading the weed killer on the parade. He added that he had not seen the weedkiller used that year and did not know about the previous year. He said that the nature of the weedkiller had never been discussed before him and that he didn't know whether it was solid or liquid and that he had never been told that it contained arsenic and had never seen the label until the day that it was found in the company of the police. He noted that the tins were marked 'poison'.

He said that he had never had any reason to quarrel with James Bingham and said that he was well off and had no trouble and that he did not think that he would take his own life.

He noted that his younger sister was not strong mentally and was illiterate although she had had as many opportunities to learn as the rest of the family had.

The elder sister said that she had been living in Wellfield House in Barton-on-Irwell in Manchester and was a single woman. She said that she had left Lancaster Castle about ten years earlier but had visited home at various times. She said that the younger sister was queer at times and difficult to manage and not truthful. She said that she like to go out and that all of those things caused unpleasantness at home and got her into trouble. However, she said that she was not spiteful.

She said that on Monday 24 July 1911 that she was sent for because Margaret Bingham had died and that after that she stayed for nine days before returning to Manchester.

However, she said that on 15 August 1911 that she got a letter from her sister as well as a postcard asking her to go to the castle and that the following day she heard that James Bingham was dead, and that she then at once left for Lancaster. She said that when she got to  the castle that she asked her sister why she did not tell her that James Bingham was ill, but said that she could not remember whether she gave her any explanation.

She later noted that she had received the letter on the morning of 15 August and that it must have been written on 14 August and that she understood that James Bingham had been much better on the Monday and so that when she had written to her that he might have been at that time much better.

It was noted that in her letter the younger sister had asked her to come and take her away from the castle as she could not stand it there any longer. Part of the letter read:

'Will you come over and take me away from here, as I cannot stand it any longer? They are making it harder for me. The new housekeeper came on Sunday night. Dear sister, get me away from here. Don't forget to come soon for me, if not, I will do something at myself as I cannot stand it. I have no one to speak kind to me now that you have gone away from me. Everybody seems to be my enemy. They are all in the front place, and I am in the back place. I want you to come soon. They are all saying such cutting things of me, so you see it is making me quite ill''.

She said that on the times that she had been at the castle recently that her sister had always done the cooking unsupervised and was a very good cook.

She said that as far as she knew James Bingham had no trouble and was of a very happy disposition and that at the time of his death was quite well off and was not a person to commit suicide.

She said that she knew that 'Acme' weedkiller had been used outside the castle and had seen it about, noting that it was kept in a dark cupboard by the judges entrance which was a place where the rubbish was kept. She added that she didn't know whether her sister would have known about that. She further added that she herself didn't know that it was poisonous and said that the cupboard had never been locked and that her sister would have had access to it.

A charwoman that had worked at the castle who had lived in Mackenzies Yard in Lancaster said that she used to clean at the castle and had been there on Saturday 12 August 1911. She said that the younger sister had been the only other female in the house at the time and that she was keeping. She said that they were cleaning and making ready for the arrival of a housekeeper who was to arrive on the Monday.

She said that just before dinner time at about 1pm or 1.30pm, she saw James Bingham pass by as she was working with his sister and said that the sister said, 'We want something for our dinner Jimmy'.  She said that a short time later she saw a beef steak on the kitchen table and that the sister asked her what she wanted for dinner and that she replied, 'I won't have any meat, I don't eat it'. She said that she didn't have any of the steak and that neither did the sister, and that they both had tea, bread and cheese.

She said that she didn't see anyone cook the steak but said that the sister must have cooked it as there was no one else to do it. She added that she also saw the steak in the frying pan in the kitchen where the sister was. She said that she was certain that that there was no one else there.

She added that she didn't see James Bingham having his dinner although she did see the sister taking the remains of it away, stating that she heard the sister say, 'There is not much here to be left. I think he has eaten it all', referring to James Bingham.

She later noted that she did see James Bingham come out of the living room at about 2pm at which point he said to her, 'Tell my sister I will finish my dinner when I come down'.

She said that sometime afterwards that she heard James Bingham vomiting and asked him, 'Are you not so well?', to which he replied, 'Not so grand'.

She said that she had never seen any weedkiller about and that she had never been in the dark cupboard and never touched the steak.

She later added that she had been in the house all that day and that the sister had helped her and that they had been working together the whole time and that she never went out of the house all that day. She said that she and the sister had had their dinner in the back scullery where the sink and the gas ring were.

She said that the sister had called her to her dinner and that before that James Bingham had come into the scullery with a small parcel with him that when he put it on the table she saw contained some steak and a cob of bread, after which he went out. She added that she didn't know where he got it.

She said that she left the castle at 6.30 to go to a woman's house and that as she was leaving that the sister asked her to tell the woman to come up as James Bingham had some pains in his stomach and wanted her.

The sister had been seeing a cinematograph operator at the time who lived in Preston. He said that when he let her in June 1911 she had been wearing mourning and had told him that it was for her father. He said that since meeting her that they had met several times in Lancaster and Kendal.

He said that she had told him that her father had left her and her brother well off and that once or twice that she had told him that her brother had made a will and left all the property to her. He said that she also told him that she was well off herself and lived at the castle and that she always seemed to have plenty of money.

He said that he had never met James Bingham but said that she had occasionally mentioned that she had fallen out with him because of his interference. He said that she had never mentioned going away from him but had told him that she could stand it no longer. He said that she was sometimes very bitter against him but that at other times she would praise him up.

He said that she didn't appear to him to be wanting in intelligence and that in fact she seemed to be as rational as anyone although he said that she had lied to him once or twice. He said that she gave him presents although they were not engaged although they had talked about it.

He said that he had had no quarrel with her and that the last time that he saw her was on Friday 11 August 1911 in Kendall but had not been with her then for more than two minutes.

A man that lived in Can House Lane in Lancaster and traded at 5 Damside Street in Lancaster as a drysalter said that he had supplied the Bingham's with Acme weedkiller for some time back. He said that in July and August 1909 that he supplied 2 gallons to William Bingham and on 16 June 1910 another 1 gallon. He said that on 19 May 1911 that he supplied 2 gallons to James Bingham, stating that he ordered and signed for it but that the book that he signed had been lost.

He added that James Bingham knew that it was poison. He said that he had got a consignment of weedkiller on 23 June 1910 and that it was from that lot that he supplied James Bingham, giving him two 1 gallon tins. He later gave the police a similar 1 gallon tin of Acme weedkiller on 5 September 1911.

He noted that the family never returned empty tins.

The tins from the cupboard were later taken to the county laboratory for examination.

The analyst said that when he examined the full tin of Acme weedkiller that had been supplied by the drysalter that he found that it contained a pale straw coloured liquid with a brownish black deposit and that when he analysed it he found that it contained a strong solution of white arsenic in alkali, that being 97 grains of white arsenic to the ounce, or a little over 3lbs to a gallon and that ten drops of the mixture would contain 2 grains of white arsenic which was on average a fatal dose.

He said that the black deposits consisted of impurities in the manufacture and that when shaken it turned the liquid brown but that it rapidly settled down again. He said that it contained no dye or colouring matter and that it had no pronounced taste and was similar to carbonate of soda and that ten drops in a half tumbler of water would taste like a dilute solution of carbonate of soda.

He said that more than a fatal dose could be put on a steak and cooked and that it would not be tasted, but added that it could also be added to many other articles of food. He added that it had no smell and that there was a poison label on the tin and that the word arsenic was used on it.

A police inspector stationed at Morcombe said that at about 6.30pm on Wednesday 30 August 1911 in the company of another police detective of the Lancaster Borough Police that he approached the younger sister at a house in Lancaster where she had been staying. He said that he said to her, 'I am going to arrest you on the serious charge of wilfully administering poison to your brother James and causing his death'. He said that he then cautioned her and that she said, 'I never did anything of the sort. I had someone in the house when I prepared dinner and the meat was brought in by Jimmy alone. The boy went out first for some meat to the Coop American for half a pound of steak which he did not get there and he came back and told me that he could not get it at the Co. Then he went to look for my brother. I don't know how you can accuse me of it. I done nothing. Jimmy bought the steak in and a loaf but I did not know where he got it from. The maid and I were having a cup of tea and she was there when I cooked the steak'.

The younger sister was then taken to the County Police Office in Skelton, Lancaster where she was formally charged.

When she was charged she said, 'It's not true Sir. I had a witness when I did the dinner. The maid was in the kitchen all the time when I cooked it and Jimmy had a cup of tea same as what we had and then went out. I did not see him again until 3 o'clock and he told me he felt sick and I gave him a drink of cold water. Then I left him as we were making ready for the housekeeper coming. Then my brother came and he sent me for a syphon of soda water which I got at Bensons. I think he went for a doctor after that. The maid was in the house with me while my brother came back from the doctor. I can truly say there was nothing given to him. Jimmy bought the steak and bread in himself, a threepenny loaf. That weedkiller was used by my father and Jimmy last year and we used to fill it in the witness room'.

However, at that point in her statement the police inspector told her, 'Bear in mind that I have not mentioned weedkiller to you'.

She then said, 'I mention the weedkiller as I thought of mentioning it at the Town Hall when they were talking about it at the inquest'. It was noted that she had been arrested at the inquest at which she had been present and would have heard the weedkiller mentioned.

At the inquest the question of how the poison was raised, the options considered being self-administered, accidentally administered or administered by another person and the court concluded that James Bingham would not have committed suicide and the possibility of it being administered accidentally was ruled out leaving only the possibility of it being administered by a third party.

Whilst it was submitted that the younger sister had had no motive to kill her brother or family as it would have made her poorer and she might have lost her home, the court heard that based on her letters and the fact that she was being replaced by the housekeeper that she would have derived a pecuniary benefit from James Bingham's death that might have sufficiently compensated her, with it further being noted that it was not necessary to prove a motive at all.

It was also submitted that two other motives encompassed the fact that she was not ‘bright' and secondly that she had told her lover that she was possessed of considerable property and that she had believed that she would benefit from the death of James Bingham.

She was initially charged with the murder of James Bingham but after the bodies of Margaret Bingham and William Bingham were exhumed she was charged with their murders as well.

At her trial her defence offered little evidence, but stated that it was not for them to prove that the younger sister had not put the poison in the steak, and that the onus was for the prosecution to prove that she had and pointed out that the evidence was circumstantial and that there was no direct evidence to show that she had poisoned the steak.

When the judge summed up he said that he agreed with the defence and directed the jury that unless they were sure that the younger sister had put the arsenic in the steak that they could not find her guilty.

She was tried at Lancaster but acquitted on Monday 30 October 1911. The jury were out for only 20 minutes.

It was heard that public opinion regarding her guilt or innocence was sharply divided and that widespread interest in the case led to unparalleled scenes, it being heard that when the not guilty verdict was returned the sound of hissing was heard in the court, something described as being an unheard of occurrence previously.

The judge said, 'If there is any demonstration in court, or if any one makes a disgraceful noise and can be detected, I will send him to prison immediately' after which there was a great hush.

It was reported that the younger sister had expected to be acquitted and had made arrangements beforehand to leave Lancaster as soon as the trial was over. Large crowds had waited outside the gaol for some time in the expectation of seeing her depart, but they were disappointed, as she had managed to leave Lancaster undetected within an hour of the trial ending.

After the trial she moved to Scarborough but after the outbreak of war she was evacuated back to Lancaster and after a short visit to her grandparents’ home her grandfather put her in an asylum where she stayed until she died in 1945. However, she never admitted to the murders.

The role of Court Keeper for Lancaster Castle was taken over by a man who had served 21 years in the King's Own Loyal Lancaster Regiment attaining the rank of colour sergeant but he later died on 28 December 1912 after being taken ill on Boxing Day. He died from pneumonia.


*map pointers are rough estimates based on known location details as per Place field above.

see www.scribd.com

see "The Lancaster Poisoning Case." Times [London, England] 31 Oct. 1911: 7. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 3 Mar. 2013.

see Taunton Courier, and Western Advertiser - Wednesday 08 November 1911

see Dundee Courier - Thursday 31 August 1911

see Cornishman - Thursday 21 September 1911

see Northern Constitution - Saturday 04 November 1911

see Aberdeen Press and Journal - Friday 06 October 1911

see Leicester Chronicle - Saturday 02 September 1911

see National Archives - ASSI 52/170, HO 140/289

see  True Crime Library

see Lancaster Gaurdian

see Castle Park Stories