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Florence Nightingale Shore

Age: 53

Sex: female

Date: 16 Jan 1920

Place: Hastings

Florence Nightingale Shore was found injured in a London to Hastings train.

Her head had been battered and she died four days later at the East Sussex Hospital at 7.55 16 January 1920.

She had been travelling on a 3.20pm London, Brighton and South Coast Railway express from London to St. Leonards. She had been staying in West London and had taken the train from Victoria which ran without a stop to Lewes and thence to Polegate. Nothing was noticed at either station but when it arrived at Bexhill she was found in a third class compartment and taken to Hastings Hospital.

Her ticket and money were missing. Her glasses were found on the floor and there was a large gash under her fur hat.

The description of her assailant was given as aged 25-27, height 5ft. 6in., brown hair, slightly bushy, pale complexion, brownish grey jacket and a light cap worn slightly on one side. It was thought that he had got off the train at it's first stop at Lewes.

Florence Shore had been wearing several rings including a gold ring with diamonds set in platinum, a ring set with turquoise and small diamonds and a plain ring.

She had recently been demobilised from the Queen Alexandra's Nursing Corps with whom she had served in France.

Later in January a man confessed to her murder but his confession was later determined to be untrue.

A suspect in her murder was later shot dead in Penrith. The suspect was also said to have been suspected of several other murders including the murders of Francis Buxton, James Kelly, Nellie Rault, Reuben Mort, Gerald Griggs, Edmund Wells, Sidney Spicer and some others.

In November 1920 a man in a workhouse infirmary in Southampton who had been wandering about the country and had been in various hospitals confessed to her murder but it doesn't look like the matter was taken any further.


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

see find.galegroup.com

see "Unsolved Murders." Times [London, England] 28 Dec. 1922: 3. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 4 Mar. 2013.

see Derbyshire Times and Chesterfield Herald - Saturday 24 January 1920

see Dundee Evening Telegraph - Wednesday 04 February 1920

see The Scotsman - Wednesday 29 September 1920

see Dundee Evening Telegraph - Tuesday 09 November 1920

see The Scotsman - Saturday 17 January 1920

see Western Gazette - Friday 16 January 1920

see Cheltenham Chronicle - Saturday 31 January 1920