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Kate Summerfield

Age: 40

Sex: female

Date: 6 Jan 1911

Place: 12 Millers Square, Wellington Street, Leeds

Kate Summerfield was tied down in her bed and stabbed to death sometime after midnight on Friday 6 January 1911.

Her husband had gone off to Canada seven years earlier and she had not heard from him for the last three years. He had left her after she started drinking.

She had been living with a fitter at various places around Leeds and the last time the man had seen her was at 5.30pm on the Thursday night outside the Angel where he had had one gill of beer with her. He said that he had left her there because she had had someone who was going to stay with her. He said that she had given him 1s to get his tea and he had arranged to meet her later that night at 8pm but she didn't show up and so he went to another pub called the Lord Nelson Inn where he stayed until 11pm after which he went to the Adelphi Lodging House for the night, leaving the next day at 8.45am.

He then went back to Millers Square and by using a knitting needle had opened the door and found Kate Summerfield dead on the floor. He said he thought that she was asleep and shook her and when it was clear she was dead he went for the police.

Her hands had been loosely tied to the bedposts and were probably done after she had been killed.

Kate Summerfield had been seen around midnight in the neighbourhood with a man.

She had been tied down in her bed and stabbed with a haftless knife which was found in the same house. The inquest stated that her murder had been of a most determined character and that great violence must have been used in spite of the fact that no signs of a struggle were found in the room.

When the surgeon arrived at the house at about 2pm he said that she had been dead between 7-12 hours. She had two stab wounds under her left breast and eight stab wounds over her left ribs and another in her abdomen about 1.5 inches below the ribs. There were also wounds over her back and on her left temple and a bruise on her left cheek. The 2 wounds on her temple had been done with a knife and had both penetrated to the inside of her mouth, one from a point above her ear and another from nearer the neck. Other head wounds had been caused by a blunt instrument and she had a fractured skull. One of the wounds to her chest had penetrated her stomach and the two wounds to her back had penetrated her lungs and one of the stab wounds to her side had penetrated her kidney.

It was thought that the skull fracture had been caused after she had died and possibly caused with a brick that was found in the hearth.

Her inquest returned a verdict of wilful murder against some person or persons unknown.


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

see www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk

see The Scotsman - Tuesday 10 January 1911

see Dundee Evening Telegraph - Tuesday 10 January 1911

see Sheffield Daily Telegraph - Tuesday 10 January 1911

see Newcastle Journal - Tuesday 10 January 1911

see Evening News (London) - Saturday 07 January 1911