Gordon Wood

Gordon Wood was found drowned in a pool on 6 May 1924.

His mother was tried for his murder but acquitted.

His mother had always lived in the area and up until the age of 13 had lived with her foster-mother in Poolebank after which she went into service at Mill Bank Farm in Wettenhall.

In September 1923 she entered Nantwich Workhouse Hospital where she gave birth to Gordon Wood on 23 September 1923.

She left the workhouse on 4 January 1924 and returned into service at Mill Bank Farm.

It appeared that she had at first had some difficulty in getting the child looked after, but that on 21 April 1924, she placed Gordon Wood with a woman who lived at Poole Green Cottages, who agreed to look after him for a short time, but who told her that she was unable to provide him with a permanent home.

However, on Monday 5 May 1924 the woman took Gordon Wood to Mill Bank Farm, arriving shortly after 7pm, and explained that it was impossible for her to continue to nurse him. However, there was some conversation and eventually the woman returned home with the Gordon Wood.

However, the following day the woman returned to the farm with Gordon Wood in a perambulator and handed him over to his mother. The woman later said that she would have liked to have kept the child for longer, but that she had already been given notice to quit by her landlady. She noted that she had received 8s a week for Gordon Wood's keep. She also said that she had tried to find four other homes for Gordon Wood but with no luck.

At about 6.15pm or 6.30pm, Gordon Wood's mother left the farm with the intention of taking Gordon Wood to Nantwich Union, the route to which was a straight line along the road, a distance of about 6¼ miles.

About four miles from the farm, and two miles from the workhouse was the cottage of her foster-mother, which she reached at about 8pm. She left Gordon Wood outside in the perambulator and went in and had a conversation with her there and another man, staying for about ten minutes after which she left again with Gordon Wood in the perambulator in the direction of Nantwich Workhouse.

Then about 9pm she was seen coming back from the workhouse by her foster-mother, past her cottage. The woman said that she called out to her about three times, but didn't get a reply.

It was noted that the road from the cottage to the workhouse went over a bridge over Poole Brook, which was about half a mile from the cottage.

The court heard that Gordon Wood's mother was seen on the bridge across the brook by a man, however, he could not identify her as the person that he had seen.

It was also heard that another man had seen her with the perambulator, but also couldn't identify her as the person he had seen. However, the man said that he had chance to go down a side road to the pinfold and saw an abandoned perambulator there and a bundle of clothes. He said then that he saw the girl and walked along with her until they came to a junction in the road, at which point the girl went off with another man. The man said that he then informed the police that he had seen an abandoned perambulator and he went with a police constable to where it had been lying, along with the bundle of clothes.

At about 3am the police constable was joined by a police sergeant and at 6am they found the body of Gordon Wood in a spot where there was three feet of water. It was noted that they also traced the wheel marks of the perambulator from the plantation in Cinder Lane to Poole Bridge.

In conclusion, the prosecution stated that the evidence would prove, beyond all doubt that Gordon Wood's mother had been seen journeying along the road in question and that the perambulator had been found about 400 yards down a branch road and that from the facts before them that the only inference was that Gordon Wood's mother had murdered him.

The farmers wife at Mill bank Farm said that she had paid the mother £26 a year, which was normally given to her at Christmas, however, she said that at the girl's request that she had started to pay her 8s a week, keeping 2s a week for her, to be received when she needed it.

She said that she remembered the girl going out in a light mackintosh and a red coloured hat on 7 May 1924, and said that she was surprised when she saw her the following day.

She said that when she asked her where Gordon Wood was, she didn't reply, noting that she asked her a few times.

She noted that when Gordon Wood was born that she had made all the arrangements, and that the foster-mother had wanted nothing to do with the girl after the birth of the child.

She said that she had asked her several times about the father of the child, but said that she told her that she didn't know him and after some time told her that she had been taken advantage of during the Christmas holidays when she was overtaken on a lonely country road.

The farmer's wife noted however, that she had no reason to complain about her modesty otherwise.

She said that when Gordon Wood was brought to the farm on the evening of 6 May 1924 that he had looked starved and pinched and that she brought him in and gave him some hot milk and sugar. She noted that when his mother took him away that she had been crying bitterly as she went away, noting that it was also raining. She said that she wasn't expecting her to come back, and thought that she would be staying at the workhouse with Gordon Wood.

The woman’s foster-mother said that she called at her house and told her that she was going to the workhouse and that she later saw her returning and called out to her but got no reply. The following exchanges then took place in the court:

Judge: Do you think she could hear you? - Yes, sir.

Counsel: How far away was she? - About 100 yards away.

The woman then went on to say that when the girl left that she went to get some milk for the baby in case she returned, noting that it was raining and that she had never expected her to reach Nantwich.

Prosecution: Did you offer the poor girl any refreshment? - No.

Prosecution: She had no home except what she had with you? - No.

Prosecution: Did you take any interest in the baby at all? - I saw it a time or two.

Prosecution: Did you take any interest in it? - I could not look after the baby at my time of life.

Prosecution: Did you help her at all when she was about to be confined? - No.

Prosecution: Did the farmer's wife visit you and tell you about it? - Yes.

Prosecution: Why do you think she came and visited you that night? - I could not tell you.

Prosecution: Don't you think it was because it was the only home she had ever known? - I don't know sir.

Prosecution: And you didn't take the little baby into the house? - I didn't go near the baby.

Prosecution: And you saw the girl go off towards Nantwich in the rain? - Yes, sir.

Prosecution: Going to walk another three miles? - Yes.

Judge: At that time of night? - Yes.

Counsel: Don't you think you might have asked her to have a cup of tea? - I would have done with the greatest of pleasure if she was going to stop with me. She didn't seem as if she wanted to stop.

Counsel: You knew she had another three miles tramp in the rain, and you didn't ask her to have a cup of tea, or something? - No, sir, I didn't.

Judge: It seems a pity, doesn't it? - Yes, sir.

Prosecution: Was she crying when she left you? - She looked down.

Prosecution: You told the magistrates that she didn't say a word to you? - Well, sir, I was in a bother than night.

Prosecution: Did you say before the magistrates, 'Well, where are you going at this time of night? She made no reply. She didn't speak at all while she was at my house?' - No answer.

Prosecution: So you didn't have any conversation with her about the baby's future, or her future? - No.

The judge then concluded by saying:

The man that had seen the woman near the bridge had lived at Oak Tree Farm in Poole. He said that as he was passing Poole Bridge that he saw a girl with a pram, but said that he didn't know her, although he later identified her clothes.

The farmer from Poole Bank Farm said that he also saw a girl in a light macintosh and a red hat with a perambulator. He said that about half a mile from Poole Bridge, down cinder lane, that he saw the perambulator and a bundle of clothes and that as he went on along the road on his bicycle that he overtook the woman that looked like the woman he had seen earlier with the perambulator, and said that he suggested to her that she should walk along the road with him, but that she told him to mind his own business, or something to that effect. However, he said that he did walk along with her for about 50 or 60 yards and that a the corner  of the road she went up to another man that had been wheeling a bicycle and she went off.

The person that she went off with had also been adopted by the same foster-mother and he said that he asked her where her perambulator was, but that she didn't answer him.

The doctor that carried out the post mortem examination said that he found that the cause of Gordon Wood's death was drowning.

The defence offered no evidence, but noted that it had to be shown in evidence that the mother had murdered Gordon Wood. The defence noted that it was the duty of the jury to administer substantial justice between society and the individual, and pointed out that the laws were something created by public opinion and that the law should not outrage the moral sense.

The defence then proceeded to trace the outline of the mother's life, stating:

The defence then noted how the girl had been taken advantage of in Nantwich, and said that they felt sure that the jury would wish that the man could have been made to saddle some of the responsibility for the tragedy. The defence noted that the girl had found the greatest difficulty in finding a home for Gordon Wood, but that she had ultimately found her position to be hopeless. The defence then said:

The defence then described how the girl, hard at work and worrying all day, being faced with the prospect of returning to the workhouse and having to leave Mill Bank Farm, the only place where she had ever known happiness, then turned to face a six mile walk in the rain, noting that the child had already been out for some hours, stating that she must have been most distressed. The defence added:

The defence then suggested that she had then left Gordon Wood on the bank of the river and said that it had then got into the river in some inexplicable manner. The defence then noted that it was for the Crown to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the girl had murdered her child. The defence then submitted that if the jury did find her guilty, that it was their duty to say that at the time the girl had been irresponsible.

When the judge summed up he noted that there was not the slightest trace of the Samaritan amongst the witnesses that had allowed the girl to walk six miles through the rain to the workhouse but that despite the pity that they might have felt for her upbringing and circumstances that they had to do their duty and ask themselves whether, on the evidence, she had murdered her child.

However, after fifteen minutes the jury returned a verdict of not guilty on the grounds that there was no evidence  to prove how Gordon Wood got into the water.

The verdict was received with applause that was instantly suppressed.