Murderpedia has thousands of hours of work behind it. To keep creating
new content, we kindly appreciate any donation you can give to help
the Murderpedia project stay alive. We have many
plans and enthusiasm
to keep expanding and making Murderpedia a better site, but we really
need your help for this. Thank you very much in advance.
At
6.19pm, on Friday, October 27th, 1899, two ladies alighted from a
train at Dalston Junction station in north London. Mary Teahan, a
governess from Isleworth, and her good friend, Margaret Biggs, were
due to attend a lecture at a school in Tottenham Road, Kingsland, but
before they left the station, Miss Teahan needed to use the ladies
rest room.
The ladies
waiting room was situated on platform three, and Miss Biggs stayed in
there whilst her friend went into the lavatory at the far end of the
same room. Inside the lavatory were two water closets and Mary Teahan
tried to gain access to the first of these. Unfortunately, something
was blocking her way.
The cubicle was very badly lit but in the darkness, Miss Teahan saw
something that looked like a child's face. Such a thing, though, was
surely not possible, so the shocked woman assumed that what she had
seen was actually another lady, possibly in need of some assistance.
Miss Teahan returned to the waiting room, joined Miss Biggs, and
together the two ladies walked out on to the platform where they
spotted Joseph John Standing, a porter, pushing a barrow. The ladies
told him that they thought there was a lady in distress in one of the
cubicles.
Joseph
immediately passed this information on to Mr Cotterell, the foreman
porter, and together the two men went to investigate. Sure enough,
there was someone lying behind the door, but it was not a woman who
had fainted. The light was very poor but it appeared to be a small
child, covered by a dark-coloured shawl. Joseph Standing wasted no
time in going to fetch the station inspector, David Bundy.
By the time Bundy arrived at the cubicle, Standing had collected a
lamp to provide adequate light in the dark lavatory. To their horror,
the men found the body of a small boy, naked except for a black shawl
covering his midriff. The boy's head lay towards the passage, whilst
his feet pointed towards the water closet. There was a good deal of
blood on the child's face and near his head lay a broken clinker brick
(a hard brick used as a paving stone). Bundy immediately called for
the police and a doctor.
It was 6.55pm by the time Dr James Patrick Fennell made his
examination. He confirmed that life was extinct and originally stated
that the time of death was at least two hours before. After a
subsequent post-mortem examination, he revised his opinion somewhat
and said that the boy had died between 2.55pm and 5.55pm, though he
thought that death was most likely to have occurred between two and
three hours previously, that is between 3.55pm and 4.55pm.
The police investigation moved slowly at first. There had been nothing
left on the body to identify the child, so details of the crime and a
description of the dead boy were published in the newspapers on the
following Monday, October 30th, in the hope that someone would be able
to put a name to the poor unfortunate child. These newspaper
reports were seen by Helen Eliza Gentle, a children's nurse, who lived
with her mother, Mrs Norris, at 210 Clyde Road, Tottenham. She
contacted the police and said that she was very much afraid that the
description of the dead boy bore a remarkable resemblance to a child
she had had in her care until the very Friday that the body had been
found. Miss Gentle was escorted to the mortuary, and there she
positively identified the body as that of Manfred Louis Masset.
According to Miss Gentle, Manfred had been born on April 24th, 1896,
meaning that at the time he died, he was three and a half years old.
His mother, Louise Masset, had answered an advertisement that Miss
Gentle had placed in a local newspaper, soon after the child's birth,
and after some discussion, had agreed to leave the child in Miss
Gentle's care. The problem was that Miss Masset was not a married lady
and, as she had her own living to earn, was not really in a position
to look after the boy herself. As a result, in May, 1896, Manfred had
been handed over to Miss Gentle, who had been paid thirty seven
shillings per month to bring him up.
This arrangement had continued until very recently. To begin with,
Manfred's mother had visited him every fortnight, but once he was
older, these visits had increased to once a week. Every Wednesday,
Louise would call at the house and sometimes she would take her son
out for a walk. Occasionally, Helen would accompany her and they often
went to a nearby park at Tottenham Green.
On October 16th, 1899, a letter, dated two days earlier, and addressed
to Mrs Norris, was received at Clyde Road. The letter came from Louise
and explained that Manfred's father, who lived in France, had asked
that his son be sent over to him to be educated. Louise had agreed to
this request and, as a result, she wished to take custody of her son
on Friday, October 27th.
On Wednesday, October 25th, Louise had made her usual visit to Clyde
Road and final arrangements for the hand-over were completed. Helen
Gentle agreed to meet Louise outside the Birdcage public house on
Stamford Hill at 12.45pm on the Friday. She did indeed keep this
appointment and the last time Helen had seen Manfred alive was when he
boarded an omnibus, with his mother, and set off for London Bridge
railway station where they would catch the train for Newhaven and then
the ferry on to France.
The police naturally now wished to interview Louise, and with this in
mind they went to her home at 29 Bethune Road, Stoke Newington. The
house was actually owned by Richard Cadisch, who was married to
Louise's sister, Leonie. They confirmed that Louise had told them the
story of a trip to France in order to hand Manfred over to his father.
She had left the house at 12.30pm on October 27th, and had not
returned until 9.00pm on Sunday, October 29th. Since that time there
had been no change in Louise's demeanour, and she had now gone out to
attend to some pupils to whom she taught music and French. They had no
idea what time she might be expected back. The police decided to wait
outside and concealed themselves across the road, waiting for Louise
to return.
In fact, it
was during the early hours of Tuesday, October 31st that the police
saw a man arrive at 29 Bethune Road. He went inside the house, only to
come out shortly afterwards with Mr Cadisch. The officers decided to
follow the two men, a journey that took them to Streatham Road,
Croydon.
It transpired
that Mr Cadisch's visitor had been George Richard Symes, a gentleman
married to another of Louise's sisters, and the two men had returned
to Mr Symes' house together. Once the police officers knocked on his
front door they found Louise, in a very distressed state, talking to
her two brothers-in-law.
According to George Symes, Louise had arrived there at around 11.00pm.
She told him that she had seen a newspaper report stating that the
child's body found at Dalston had been identified as that of Manfred
and adding that his mother was noe being sought in connection with his
death. Louise denied any involvement whatsoever in Manfred's death,
claiming that someone else had killed him. Now, for the first time,
she told her version of what had happened to her son.
Louise confessed that the story of the trip to France was false. She
had spent that weekend in Brighton with her lover, Eudor Lucas, but on
the Friday had handed Manfred over to two ladies who said they were
starting a private school in Chelsea. She went on to make a full
statement outlining her version of events.
Louise's statement began by referring to an incident that had taken
place on Wednesday, October 4th, when she had visited Clyde Road as
usual. As was her habit, she had taken Manfred to Tottenham Green
where he fell into play with a little girl she knew only as Millie.
Nearby, two women sat on a bench and one of them introduced herself as
the mother of Millie. The conversation naturally turned to the
children and the women, the elder of whom said that their name was
Browning, mentioned that they were thinking of starting a small
private school. Louise confessed that she was not entirely satisfied
with the education Manfdred's nurse was providing. In reply, Mrs
Browning mentioned that a place might be found for Manfred at a fee of
£12 per year for his board and lodgings and a further ten shillings a
month for his education.
The following Wednesday, October 11th, Louise again took Manfred to
the park and again met up with the Brownings. Further discussions on
the new school took place, and finally Louise agreed to place Manfred
in their charge. Arrangements were made to meet at London Bridge
railway station at 2.00pm on October 27th, when she would hand over
Manfred and £12 in cash.
Louise now had a problem. She had no wish to hurt Helen Gentle's
feelings and so concocted the story of sending Manfred to his father
in France. However, since she would have to spend some time away from
home, in order to support this story, she would take the opportunity
to travel down to Brighton and enjoy a short break.
The police listened patiently to this story but still felt that they
had enough evidence to hold Louise on a charge of murder. She again
vehemently denied playing any part in Manfred's death.
The trial of Louise Masset opened at the Old Bailey, before Mister
Justice Bruce, on December 13th, 1899. The case for the prosecution
rested in the hands of Mr Charles Matthews and Mr Richard D Muir,
whilst Lord Coleridge and Mr Arthur Hutton defended. The proceedings
lasted until December 18th and, at first glance, the evidence against
Louise seems overwhelming.
To begin with, it could easily be shown that Louise and Manfred had
travelled to London Bridge station, as she had indicated. Helen Gentle
had seen her board the horse-drawn omnibus outside the Birdcage public
house. Thomas Bonner had been the conductor on that bus and he told
the court that according to his records, his vehicle had left Stamford
Hill at 12.48pm. He remembered a woman and child sitting together and
saw them get off at London Bridge at approximately 1.35pm. Bonner had
been unable to positively identify Louise but had been shown a picture
of the dead boy and swore that it was the same child.
The next sighting of
a mother and child had been made by Georgina Worley, an attendant in
the waiting-room on the South London line at London Bridge. She put
the time at 1.42pm, and said that the couple remained in the waiting
room until around 2.30pm. Georgina had spoken to the woman, who
explained that she was waiting for someone to arrive at the station.
She was unable to state with certainty that the woman was the
prisoner, but she believed that to be the case.
There were in fact two ladies waiting-rooms at London Bridge station
and the attendant on duty in the other one, the first-class waiting
room, was Ellen Rees. She had only come on duty at 2.30pm, on the
27th, and said that shortly afterwards, at about 2.40pm, a woman and
child had come into her room. Ellen Rees particularly remembered the
child because he was crying. She asked the woman what was the matter
with him and was told that he was missing his nurse. Ellen then asked
how old the boy was and the woman said that he would be four next
April. Finally, the woman said that she would go and buy him a cake
and the two walked off in the direction of the refreshment room. It
was then about 3.00pm.
So far, little damage had been done to Louise's story. She agreed that
she had travelled to London Bridge and had first gone into Miss
Worley's waiting room, where she said she had arranged to meet Mrs
Browning at 2.00pm. When the two ladies had still not appeared by
2.30pm, Louise recalled the other waiting room and thought that they
might have been waiting in the wrong one all this time. She had spoken
to the attendant in that second room and had left there around 3.00pm.
It was fifty-five minutes later that the ladies finally appeared,
apologised for being so late, and took charge of Manfred. Louise was
then just in time to catch the 4.07pm train to Brighton.
The first real problem came with the remainder of Ellen Rees'
evidence. She went on to say that she had seen Louise again, at
6.50pm, and this time she was alone. By then, Louise was in a lavatory
and asked Ellen for a towel so that she could have a wash. Later she
asked her what time the next train to Brighton was and Ellen told her
that it was due to leave at 7.20pm, advising her that she should hurry
if she wished to catch it. In fact, the train was actually due at
7.22pm, and actually left a couple of minutes late. Ellen Rees last
saw Louise at 7.18pm, as she left the waiting room to catch the
Brighton train. Since then she had attended an identification parade
and picked out the prisoner from a number of other women.
There were other indications that Louise had arrived in Brighton long
after she had claimed. Alice Rial was a chambermaid at Findlay's
Hotel, situated at 36 Queen's Road, Brighton. She testified that it
was 9.45pm, when Louise checked in, giving her name as Miss Brooks and
reserving a second room for her brother who was to arrive the
following day. Louise was also seen by the hotel's proprietor, John
Findlay, who confirmed that it was quarter to ten when she arrived.
The next day, Mr Brooks, who was of course Eudor Lucas, arrived and
occupied the room next door. The two guests paid their respective
bills on the Sunday but a couple of days later, whilst cleaning out
the rooms, Alice Rial found a pair of toy scales. These were
identified by Helen Gentle as a pair she had purchased for Manfred and
handed over to Louise on October 27th. Further damning evidence had
come from Brighton. Eudor Lucas had arrived at Brighton, by train, at
2.30pm on Saturday, October 28th. Louise had met him there at that
time. Just ten minutes later, Annie Skeats, an attendant in the ladies
waiting room at Brighton, had found a brown paper parcel. She took the
parcel to the cloakroom but when it was not claimed, it was forwarded
to London Bridge station where it was opened. The parcel contained a
child's jacket and frock and though some of the trimmings had been
removed, Helen Gentle was able to identify the items as those Manfred
had been wearing when she handed him over to his mother. Furthermore,
it could be proved that the wrapping paper used on the parcel had been
given to Louise by Miss Gentle on the 27th, as the brown paper was
torn and matched exactly a tear in another piece still at Miss
Gentle's home.
When
Manfred's body had been found he was naked except for a black shawl
thrown over him. Evidence was now called which seemed to link that
shawl directly to Louise.
Maud Clifford was a sales assistant at McIlroy's draper's shop at 161
High Street, Stoke Newington. She testified that on October 24th she
had sold a black shawl to a lady fitting the prisoner's description.
The shawls had only been in stock for about a week and Maud recalled
the customer insisting that the shawl had to be black. Maud had also
attended an identification parade and picked out Louise but said that
she could not swear absolutely that this was the woman.
Ernest Hopkins Mooney was the manager of that same draper's shop and
he said that on October 16th he had purchased fifteen woollen shawls
from his supplier. Only three of those had been black and only one of
those black shawls had been sold. He produced the two remaining shawls
in court and agreed that they matched exactly the one found on
Manfred's body.
The
prosecution suggested that the motive for Manfred's murder was that he
was an encumbrance to the continuing relationship between Louise and
her lover, Eudor Lucas. Eudor told the court that he now lived at 23
Mildmay Grove, Stoke Newington, but had, until recently, lived next
door to Louise at 31 Bethune Road. Eudor was French, and since Louise
was half-French it was perhaps natural that they should get on well,
despite the fact that she was thirty-six and he had only turned
nineteen in November.
Continuing his evidence, Eudor said that he had first met Louise in
September, 1898, but they had only been walking out together for the
past three or four months. At Whitsuntide in 1899, he and two friends
had gone, with Louise, to Brighton for a weekend break. On that
occasion they had also stayed at Findlay's, but nothing improper had
taken place between them.
The friendship had continued to develop, and about two or three months
after this, Louise had told him about Manfred. Eudor had thanked her
for her candour and told her that it made no difference to their
relationship, but he asked her not to mention the child again. He was
certainly not distressed by the knowledge that she had given birth to
an illegitimate son and they continued to grow ever closer. They had
not, though, at any stage, discussed marriage.
On either Tuesday, October 24th, or possibly the next day, Eudor and
Louise had met at Liverpool Street station and she had told him that
she intended to go down to Brighton on the following Friday. He said
that he would like to go with her but would be unable to get down to
the coast until the Saturday. He went on to tell her that he would
catch the train that arrived at 2.00pm,m and she informed him that she
would be catching one at around 4.30pm on the 27th. They agreed to
book in as brother and sister, under a false name, and he next saw her
at Brighton station on the Saturday afternoon.
Eudor confessed that he and Louise had first had sex that same
evening, in Brighton, and although they had booked separate rooms,
they had actually only used one. They travelled back to London
together on the Sunday, arriving home at Bethune Road at a few minutes
before 9.00pm. Throughout the entire time they were together Louise
was in her usual spirits and gave no indication that there was
anything wrong.
Another suggestion made by the prosecution was that Manfred may have
been a financial concern and that Louise may have killed him in order
to save Helen Gentle's fees. This motive was largely negated by the
evidence of Louise's sister, Leonie Cadisch.
Mrs Cadisch confirmed that Louise had lived with her since August
1898. She knew about Manfred of course, and the arrangements made with
Miss Gentle for his care and upbringing.
In fact, Leonie had
issued a guarantee to Miss Gentle that she would pay the thirty-seven
shillings if Louise should ever default. However, Leonie had never
been called upon to make the payments for her sister. Furthermore,
Louise lived at number 29 without any charge, and all the money she
earned from her private pupils was for her own use. Leonie also
believed that Manfred's father supported the boy financially, though
Louise had never actually revealed who he was. In short, Louise had no
financial concerns.
Turning to the story of Manfred being sent to France, Louise had first
mentioned this on October 18th, but had only filled in the details a
week later, on October 25th. Leonie agreed that Louise had arrived
home at around 9.00pm on the Sunday and that she had been as calm and
collected as usual. Leonie said that she had never seen the black
shawl before and though she was not an expert, did not even think it
was a new one. As for the clinker brick found near Manfred's body, it
was true that there were similar bricks in her garden, but there were
similar bricks in many gardens in the area. Added to that, no bricks
were missing from her garden, except for some taken away by the police
during their investigation.
Louise entered the witness box to give evidence on her own behalf. She
repeated her story about handing Manfred over to a woman she knew as
Mrs Browning, at London Bridge, and added that her original plan had
been to travel with the boy to see the school and see that he was
settled in. Once the ladies turned up, Louise pointed out that she now
only had minutes in which to catch her train, and so would not now be
able to go with them to Chelsea. She handed over her son, the parcel
of clothing, and £12 in gold and asked for a receipt. One of the women
said she would go and get some paper and ink from the refreshment
room, but they had not returned by the time her train was due to
leave. Louise was not unduly concerned, though. They seemed to be
eminently respectable ladies, and she did have their address at 45
Kings Road, Chelsea. Unfortunately, police investigations had since
shown that this address was occupied by a respectable dairyman, Henry
Willis, who had never heard of either Louise or the Brownings.
Louise maintained that she had caught the 4.07pm train to Brighton,
arriving there at about 6.55pm. Leaving her Gladstone bag at the left
luggage office she had gone for a walk down to the sea front. She had
thought about taking a walk along the pier but it was a rather damp
day, so instead she went to Mutton's, a restaurant on Kings Road,
where she had something to eat before walking down to the shops in
West Brighton. Later she returned to the station to collect her bag
before checking into the hotel. She was certainly not in London as
late as 7.18pm, when Ellen Rees claimed she had seen her.
Medical testimony was given by Dr Fennell and Dr Thomas Bond. They
agreed that the cause of death was suffocation. It appeared that the
clinker brick had been used to stun the child before a hand had been
placed over his mouth until he stopped breathing. Dr Bond added that
in his opinion, the most probable time of death was some two hours
before discovery, placing it at around 4.30pm.
In the event, the jury took just thirty minutes to decide that Louise
was guilty as charged. Louise again said that she was innocent, but Mr
Justice Bruce then donned the black cap and sentenced her to death.
Was Louise Masset guilty of the murder of her son? Before we go into
that in detail, let us first see if all the evidence is as strong as
it first seems.
The
most damning witness was undoubtedly Ellen Rees, who claimed that she
had seen Louise as late as 7.18pm on October 27th. Mrs Rees had picked
Louise out at an identification parade, and wore glasses to make her
identification. She admitted that she had not been wearing those
glasses at work on October 27th, but added that she only needed them
for reading. When then did she wear them at the identification parade?
She wwasn't reading anything there. Furthermore, Mrs Rees had seen a
photograph of Louise in her local newspaper, even before she came
forward to talk to the police. She also admitted that as many as 200
women passed through her waiting room on an average day, many of them
with children. There was also the suggestion that Inspector Forth may
have assisted Ellen Rees by standing close to Louise in the line up.
He denied any such impropriety, but all this does, at the very least,
reduce the efficacy of Mrs Rees' testimony.
Maud Clifford and Ernest Mooney, the witnesses who had identified the
shawl, gave conflicting evidence. At one stage Mr Mooney said that he
had never seen such a pattern before, but he then went on to say that
such a shawl could be purchased just about anywhere.
Then there is the possibility that Louise had been telling the truth
all along. There is agreement that Louise was certainly at London
Bridge, with Manfred, until around 3.00pm.
Louise herself said
that this was the case, and that testimony is confirmed by Thomas
Bonner the bus conductor, and Georgina Worley and Ellen Rees.
It had taken Louise forty-seven minutes to get to London Bridge from
the Birdcage public house. We know that she was certainly at the
station until around 3.00pm. Assuming that she had then travelled
straight back to Dalston, catching another omnibus, she could not have
arrived there until about 3.47pm at the very earliest. This, of
course, fits in with the medical evidence, but we then have to allow
for a return back to London Bridge. Louise could not have arrived back
there until around 4.45pm at the very earliest. Therefore, if she
caught the 4.07 train to Brighton, as she claimed, she must have been
innocent.
It was
whilst the trial was actually taking place that a new potential
witness came forward. Henry James Streeter was a waiter at Mutton's
restaurant situated at 81-84 Kings Road, Brighton, and he had been
working on Friday, October 27th. He particularly remembered the day as
the weather had been very poor. As a result, business was bad and he
had only served two customers all day. One was a man but the other was
a woman dressed in black. The woman came in at 6.00pm and stayed for
forty-five minutes. He and Mr Mutton, the proprietor, both believed
that they could positively identify the woman if they saw her again.
Of course, if this woman were Louise, than it would prove that she was
in Brighton long before 7.18pm.
Mr Streeter and Mr
Mutton took their evidence to a solicitor, who contacted Louise's
defence team. They did not see fit to call either man at the trial.
Only later, after Louise had been sentenced to death, were any real
efforts made to test this potential evidence. Louise was simply asked
what she had eaten in the restaurant. She couldn't remember and made
two statements, giving slightly different versions. In the first, she
said she had had two slices of hot meat with gravy and vegetables,
bread and butter, and either ale or beer, costing a total of two
shillings and sixpence. In the second she omitted the bread and butter
and said that she believed it only cost one shilling and ninepence.
Neither agreed with the books at the restaurant, which indicated that
the woman who had dined there had eaten bread and butter and enjoyed a
pot of tea. As a result, the testimony was dismissed as irrelevant and
neither potential witness was allowed to see Louise.
There were other potential witnesses who were never called by the
defence. David Taylor lived in Holywell Lane, London, but on October
27th, he was on a bus at the corner of Bishopsgate Street and Cornhill
at around 3.45pm. He saw two women with a child and noted that the
child seemed to be very fidgety and petulant.
More importantly, John Hughes-Ellis was on a bus which stopped at
London Bridge station between 3.15pm and 3.30pm on the 27th. He saw
two women with a child that seemed unwilling to be with them. The
younger woman picked up the child and sat opposite to Mr Hughes-Ellis.
The times of these two sightings do not, of course, agree with those
given by Louise herself, since she said she did not hand Manfred over
until just before 4.00pm. However, Mr Taylor admitted that he may have
misjudged the time.
There was other
evidence too, which was never passed on to the defence. At the end of
1899, a letter addressed to Louise was delivered to Newgate prison.
Dated December 26th it read; "The women of Chelsea must keep out of
sight but they are not anxious to hang you. If the porter (a porter)
at Dalston Junction would speak he could tell who he saw at 4.45
there. Anyhow, put this in your lawyer's hands - it may save you." The
letter was never passed on by the authorities.
Of course, all of this may be totally valueless. The letter was most
likely a hoax but there are only two alternatives. Either Louise was
guilty, or she was innocent. Which of the two is the more likely
scenario?
The only
possible motive for Louise to kill her son was that Manfred was a
burden either financially or to her ongoing relationship with Eudor
Lucas. There was no evidence whatsoever that Louise was in trouble
financially, and Eudor swore that they had never spoken of marriage.
Louise, then, had no real motive for the murder.
Putting this to one
side, if Louise were guilty, then she travelled all the way into
central London so that she could be seen by witnesses at London Bridge
station. She then travelled back to Dalston Junction, apparently
without being seen by any other bus conductor or passenger, killed her
son in the lavatory, stripped him naked and threw her new shawl over
the body, even though it might be linked directly to her. She then
went back to London Bridge, again without being seen by any bus
conductor, railway employee or passenger, and allowed herself to be
seen again by Ellen Rees. She then caught a later train to Brighton
and tried to manufacture an alibi by saying she had arrived earlier
and eaten at Mutton's. This same, cool killer then left some of
Manfred's clothing in the ladies waiting room at Brighton station,
thus linking herself directly to the crime.
The alternative is that Louise was innocent and was therefore telling
the truth. The child was collected, just before 4.00pm, taken to
Dalston, and murdered by the Brownings. The clothing was taken from
the body and parcelled up with the other clothing that Louise had
handed over to them; a parcel given to her by Helen Gentle. The
following day, one or both of the killers took a trip to Brighton and
dumped the parcel in the waiting room at the station. After all,
Louise had told the Brownings that she was travelling to Brighton and
children were being murdered for much less than £12 in gold. As for
Louise not recalling what she had eaten at Mutton's, it must be
remembered that she did not know she would need an alibi and she was
being asked to recall something she had eaten some two months before.
It has been said that Louise confessed her guilt before her execution.
Even here there is further doubt. Some reports state that just before
the trap was sprung at Newgate she said; "What I am about to suffer is
just, and now my conscience is clear." Other sources say that the
supposed confession took place the night before her execution and
consisted of just the words, "What I suffer is just."
If the words were uttered, in any form, they could just as easily have
been those of a mother expressing her guilt at handing her beloved
Manfred over to his real killers. What is not in doubt is that Louise
was hanged at Newgate prison on January 9th, 1900, by James Billington
and William Warbrick.