Murder And Mutilation At Althorp!
The Althorp Horror.
Northampton Chronicle and Echo - Monday 08 August 1892.
"Local Chit-Chat.
An alarming mystery has turned up near Althorp Station, and suggests nothing short of a horrible murder and diabolic mutilation of the female victim.
The body of a woman, very much decomposed and minus the head and arms, was discovered yesterday in a ditch by the wayside, wrapped up in a parcel.
The police are making all possible enquiries, but at present nothing is known either as to the victim or her assailant.
The inquest was opened at West Haddon this afternoon".
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| The A428 along which the body was dumped |
Northampton Mercury - Friday 19 August 1892.
"All the week the police have been making every effort to obtain a clue to the mystery surrounding the horrible discovery of the mutilated body of a woman, near East Haddon, but without avail. Rumours have been plentiful, but so far no definite clue has been disclosed.
Late on Saturday it was stated that the clothes the body was encased in had been identified as those of Mrs Jackson, a daughter of Mrs Tite, of 14, Priory Street, who has been missing something like two months - a circumstance reported to the borough police at the time.
Mrs Tite firmly believes the mutilated remains to be those of her daughter, Kate Jackson, who eleven years ago was barmaid at the Saracen's Head, Barrack Road, the landlord at the time being Mr Jackson".
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| The Saracen's Head |
Mrs Tites' daughter Kate would marry the 60 year old Jackson and leave Northampton to live in London with her husband, the marriage was not a happy one but the couple would try their luck in both New Zealand and America, without much success.
Eventually Kate would return to her mother in Northampton and would find a position in Yardley Hastings, three weeks later she would again leave for London and another position, a position she would not arrive at, she has been missing ever since.
The police had no confirmation of Mrs Tite's fears, there was much public sympathy and a subscription list was opened at East Haddon to pay for a stone to mark the grave of this mysterious woman.
Northampton Mercury - Friday 02 September 1892.
"The Coroner's Jury at East Haddon has returned a long formal verdict in regard to the finding of the mutilated body of a woman near Althorp Railway Station.
The verdict is one of 'Found Dead', the jury, under the direction of the Coroner, suggesting no theory as to means whereby the unhappy woman met her death.
Although it is popularly regarded that a brutal and horrible murder was committed somewhere, and the body of the victim secreted in the East Haddon dyke, it is right to remember that there is no evidence whatever of murder or anything approaching it.
The whole affair is shrouded in a mystery that up to the present has been totally impenetrable to the police. It has been suggested that the body was thrown in the ditch by the occupants of some passing caravan, who adopted an expeditious and inexpensive method of getting rid of the dead body of a relative.
This theory, however, hardly holds water for a moment. The head and arms of the body have never been found, nor would people, striving to avoid expense, have thrown away the woman's dress".
Coventry Evening Telegraph - Tuesday 06 September 1892.
"As we stated in a telegram last night, Andrew Macrae, aged 30, a grocer's assistant, was yesterday charged at Northampton on suspicion of having been concerned in the murder of an woman unknown, whose headless and mutilated body was discovered concealed in a ditch near Althorp Railway Station on August 7th.
The prisoner resides at Birmingham, and is employed by his brother, who has establishments at Northampton, Leamington, Daventry and other places.
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| The Red Lion, East Haddon, where the body was taken |
The body was found in a sack bearing the brother's name, and this led to inquiries. The prisoner went to the Isle Of Man a few days after the body was discovered, and, pleading illness, only returned to resume work for his brother last week.
Late on Saturday night, when at his brother's stall in Northampton Market, he was arrested by the county and borough police. His Northampton lodgings were searched, but, as far as it is known, nothing was discovered. Only formal evidence of arrest was adduced, and the prisoner was remanded till Saturday".
The remains identified.
East Anglian Daily Times - Wednesday 07 September 1892.
"Considerable sensation has been created in Birmingham by the discovery that in all probability the mutilated body recently found in a ditch at Northampton is that of a Birmingham girl, and that the person accused of causing her death is from the same town.
A Mrs Bland, second hand clothes dealer, having called the attention of the police to a purchase of female dresses she made from a man whom she identifies as the prisoner now in custody, the relatives of a young woman named Pritchard of Balsall Heath, Birmingham, have been taken to Northampton to see them, and found that they belonged to Annie Pritchard, 23 years of age, who left home last March, professedly to be married to a man named Anderson.
The Pritchards were for some time next door neighbours to Andrew Macrae, in Highgate Road, Balsall Heath, but no relationship between him and the girl was suspected.
After her departure Macrae also left Birmingham, to work for his brother at Northampton, and thenceforth only came occasionally to see his wife and family. The police consider the evidence conclusive that they have got the right man".
But, what about the baby?
Exeter and Plymouth Gazette - Friday 09 September 1892.
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| Highgate Road, Balsall Heath |
"Several witnesses from Birmingham have identified the mutilated remains found at Althorp as those of Annie Pritchard, who lived in Highgate Road, Balsall Heath, near to the residence of Andrew Macrae. It is now suspected that a double murder has been committed, the girl Pritchard's baby, born in June last, having disappeared.
The story unravelled by the police is to the effect that about five years ago Annie Pritchard, who was then 23 years of age, lived in the house adjoining that occupied by Macrae and his wife, and the relations of the two families were of the most cordial and intimate character.
The intimacy continued until about two years ago, when Macrae moved to Warwick, to manage a grocer's shop for his brother. A few months later he returned, to manage his uncle's business in Wenman Street, and the friendly relations resumed.
During a serious illness of Miss Pritchard's brother, Macrae frequently visited the sufferer, and was consequently thrown into the company of the girl Annie, and after her brother's decease, which was shortly followed by the death of her father, Macrae continued his visits to the house, though he was seldom seen alone with Annie.
At the end of February Miss Pritchard announced her approaching marriage with a lithographic artist, named Anderson, who resided in Liverpool; and on the 21st March she left home, presumably to be married, and had not been seen in Birmingham since.
A week after her departure a letter was received, bearing the Liverpool postmark, but without any address, stating that she had been married, and that in a few days she would sail to America. She expected to return, however, in six months.
The period mentioned recently expired, and the anxiety of the girl's relatives became extreme. The letter is believed to have been a mere ruse, and the deceased is supposed to have gone direct to Northampton, and taken lodgings in St. John Street in the name of Mrs Rea Anderson.
In July she left her lodgings, together with her infant. It is believed that, in addition to a box containing clothing, Miss Pritchard took with her a sum of money amounting to nearly £40. Macrae during this time was in irregular employment, and his personal resources were consequently limited. After the end of March, Macrae rarely went home to Birmingham, and his visits to the Pritchards were discontinued".
New particulars and a family visit.
London Evening Standard - Friday 09 September 1892.
"In connection with the Althorp murder, it is now known that the accused, Andrew Macrae, bought a bushel of lime from a Northampton tradesman on July 27th, seven days after Annie Pritchard and her child were last seen. A boy was sent by Macrae to take lime to the warehouse. About the same time the prisoner bought a secondhand coat, remarking that his business was so dirty and greasy, he spoilt many coats.
The wife and brother (Edward) of the accused had an interview with the prisoner in gaol yesterday. The interview took place while the brother and Mrs Macrae were in one room, and Andrew in a room three yards on the opposite side. Iron bars prevented them getting closer to their relative, and a warder was in attendance the whole time.
The interview was a painful one, and lasted a quarter of an hour. The prisoner looked remarkably well, but his eyes seemed somewhat dazed and wandering. He at first said he did not wish for any of his relatives to visit him, but afterwards said he was glad they called.
He was particularly talkative about his children, and Edward said 'If you die I'd work my finger nails off in order to take charge of them and your wife', the prisoner said, 'I know you will, Edward. It all seems a dream.' Edward and Mrs Macrae were overcome with grief and burst into tears. The accused maintains his innocence, and is certain that he will be able to prove it.
His wife assured him that she freely forgave him any sin he had committed with Annie Pritchard, and earnestly bade him to keep a good heart. He smiled and said he was innocent".
Prisoner at the police court.
Huddersfield Chronicle - Monday 12 September 1892.
"At the Northampton Divisional Court, on Saturday, Andrew Macrae was brought up in custody, charged with causing the death of Annie Pritchard, at Althorp near Northampton.
Great interest was evinced in the proceedings, and the court was crowded. The prisoner, who stood between two constables, was defended by Mr Charles Becke, of Northampton. Superintendent J. Alexander, chief of the Northampton County Constabulary, conducted the case for the prosecution.
Alexander, who was himself the first witness examined, stated that he was called to East Haddon on Sunday 7th August, and ascertained that a body had been found there, minus the head and arms. The body was wrapped a part of a chemise, a night dress, and two skirts. There was also a quantity of lime in the package. The sack bore the name Rae, L. and N.W, Northampton.
Lizzie Pritchard deposed that the prisoner lived next door to her, and was on intimate terms with her family. Witness last saw her sister towards the end of March. Witness identified a skirt, chemise, dress and photo (produced) as belonging to her sister.
Harriet Burrall, St. John Street, Northampton, identified the prisoner as the man who went with a lady to a house in St. John Street in June. The lady was confined on 23rd June and left on 20th July. Witness identified the photo and skirt as having belonged to the woman.
Louisa Bland, a secondhand clothes dealer of Northampton, said that she bought a jacket, chemise, and other articles (produced) from the prisoner on the 19th July.
The prisoner was remanded".
A murder most foul.
Leeds Mercury - Friday 16 September 1892.
"The Northampton police have virtually completed gathering evidence in the Althorp mystery case.
The numerous small bones discovered by the Northampton Borough Police on Tuesday week among the ashes in the copper firehole of the Dychurch Lane warehouses, where prisoner was manager, are now declared by the medical gentleman who has carefully examined them to be finger bones of a human being.
The bones are very small, are blackened and calcined by the action of the fire, and it was long doubtful if anyone would be able to give an opinion as to them. The police attach the greatest importance to this declaration, for their theory has been that the murder was committed in this warehouse, and the body mutilated there.
The warehouse is exactly opposite the entrance to the borough police station. The fire engine station adjoins in the same street, where men are on duty day and night. The evidence regarding the bones and that to be tendered by a woman in London, the police believe, completes the chain of circumstantial evidence upon which their case is founded. This London witness has been discovered by the Salvation Army, and her appearance, it is rumoured, will impart another sensation into the case.
A Northampton correspondent telegraphs that Mr Henry Goulstone, landlord of the Lord Palmerston, Market Square, Northampton, within a few yards of Edward Macrea's bacon stall, will give evidence at the resumed hearing on Monday.
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| The Lord Palmerston was where Burger King is now |
It is to the effect that one morning the prisoner turned up at his public house looking tired and worn. He explained that he had been at work all night salting bacon, and that he had no breakfast. Subsequently his haggard look was commented on, and someone said 'Macrae, you look as if you had been murdering somebody', Macrae immediately got up and left".
The final hearing.
Northern Echo - Wednesday 21 September 1892.
"The hearing of the charge against Andrew Macrae, who is accused of the murder of Annie Pritchard, was resumed on Tuesday at Northampton.
Inspector Rodgers of Northampton said he found clothes in a secondhand clothes shop in College Street which corresponded with clothing found on the body at Althorp.
Prisoner was arrested owing to the discovery, and on searching the warehouse in Dychurch Lane they found the bones already described. Edgar Wright, a workman formally employed there, said he conveyed three boxes of luggage for prisoner from the Dychurch warehouse to Derby Street. He also purchased lime for prisoner.
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| Dychurch Lane warehouse |
Mr Macrae, prisoner's brother, who was called to identify three knives, burst into tears. Lizzie Pritchard, sister, also broke down in tears, and the incident caused a painful sensation in court. Mr Burnell deposed that the prisoner and deceased had lived as man and wife at St. John Street, Northampton.
This concluded the case, and Macrae's defence was reserved. Prisoner was committed for trial on the capital charge".
Shields Daily Gazette - Tuesday 27 September 1892.
"The preparation of the defence of Andrew Macrae, is resulting in some startling reports.
It is even rumoured that Annie Pritchard will be produced at the trial, and attention is directed to the declaration of Mrs Tite, of the Saracen's Head, Northampton, expressing her belief that the mutilated remains were those of her missing daughter.
On the day of the discovery of the headless trunk a man is said to have been seen near the spot carrying a heavy load in a sack".
A mystery cleared up.
Preston Herald - Wednesday 19 October 1892.
"It will be remembered that Annie Pritchard said she had been to Liverpool, and wrote a letter purporting to be from Liverpool, stating that she had been married there.
This letter was received by her sister in Birmingham, but it was afterwards discovered that she had not been to Liverpool at all, and so a mystery arose as to how she had posted the letter which bore the Liverpool postmark.
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| Northampton Castle Station |
The mystery has only just been cleared up. A well known Liverpool commercial, on reading the account of the tragedy, remembered that on Saturday 26th March, when he was returning from his journey, he went to the booking office at Northampton Railway Station and asked for a ticket to Liverpool.
A lady who was standing by the booking office at once asked him if he was going to Liverpool, and on receiving a reply in the affirmative, she handed him a letter addressed to her relatives in Birmingham, and asked if he would post it in Liverpool, but not before Sunday evening or Monday morning, and he promised to comply with her request. The letter was posted as requested on the Monday afternoon and received by her relatives on Tuesday morning.
The gentleman at once communicated with the police, and police sergeant Alexander has discovered that the letter sent and received are identical. He has been thanked by the police, and will be called as a witness at the trial".
On trial for his life.
Northern Guardian (Hartlepool) - Thursday 17 November 1892.
"Andrew Macrae was placed upon his trial at Northampton today for the murder of Annie Pritchard at Althorp. Counsel for the prosecution dwelt strongly upon prisoner's possessions of the murdered woman's effects.
The trial was abruptly adjourned until tomorrow, owing to the conduct of a juryman, who, separated from his fellows, left the court during the luncheon interval. This incident may render necessary a new trial".
The errant juryman was fined £50 for contempt of court, the trial was postponed until the next assizes. However, before the next trial it was reported on the 15th December that Macrae was lying seriously ill in Northampton Gaol.
Finally on the 20th December Andrew Macrae faced his numerous accusers.
Exeter and Plymouth Gazette - Friday 23 December 1892.
"The trial of Andrew Macrae was resumed at Northampton yesterday. Edgar Wright, formerly in the employ of Edward Macrae, and in that capacity a helper to the prisoner, gave evidence as to the removal from the warehouse where the murder is alleged to have occurred, of boxes now produced, and said to have been Annie Prichard's; also a sale of books, including a bible, in which are the names of the Pritchard family.
The discoveries made at the warehouse of some fatty matter and hair, believed to be human, which were found in a copper, also some bones under the copper, were next described by the police. Lizzie Pritchard, sister, testified as to the intimacy which had existed between prisoner and Annie.
The trial was again adjourned".
Manchester Courier - Saturday 24 December 1892.
"The trial of Macrae was continued at Northampton yesterday when an additional letter, full of affectionate advice, from the deceased to her sisters and brothers was read.
Dr Milligan, of Northampton, said the bones submitted to him by the police contained two end bones of human fingers and portions of other bones. Dr Bond, of Westminster Hospital, said five of the bones were those of a human hand. He found six human hairs, light brown in colour, in the faty matter submitted to him. If the bones did not belong to the hand of a man or woman they belonged to a large ape.
For the prisoner, Mr Hammond Chambers submitted that, even if this was the body of Annie Pritchard, there was no evidence that the accused had murdered the woman.
All the evidence was consistent with the theory that the person whose body was found had committed suicide.
The court adjourned until today".
Cork Constitution - Tuesday 27 December 1892.
"The trial of Andrew Macrae was concluded at Northampton on Saturday. The prisoner, although apparently composed betrayed unmistakable signs of nervous apprehension.
Mr Attenborough, the prisoner's counsel resumed his address to the jury. His defence was not that Annie Pritchard committed suicide or met with a natural or accidental death. He suggested that Annie Pritchard's lover Guy Anderson was the father of the child, that she only accepted shelter from the prisoner until her baby could be born and Anderson should return from New York, and that on 20th July, Pritchard and Macrae parted, she going away with her baby and only the clothes she wore to rejoin Anderson and leave for America, consequently, the body found was not her's.
Counsel contended that the evidence regarding the finger bones found in the warehouse grate could not be implicitly relied upon, nor could evidence regarding human hair be relied upon seeing that it differed in colour from that of Annie Pritchard.
Mr Justice Kennedy's summing up was of a very detailed character. He pointed out that it was a matter of circumstantial evidence and each circumstance must be clearly proved. It was difficult to believe that such a body could have remained in the warehouse for four days without discovery.
The jury would have to be satisfied that the body found was that of Annie Pritchard, that she had been murdered, and that the circumstances pointed to the prisoner, before returning an adverse verdict.
The summing up occupied five hours. The jury returned a verdict of guilty after an hour and a half's absence. The prisoner, who was sentenced to death, said the verdict had no terror for him because he was innocent".
Waiting for the inevitable.
Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail - Friday 30 December 1892.
"A letter from Macrae.
Andrew Macrae, the condemned murderer, wrote yesterday from Northampton the following letter to his brother Edward in Birmingham:
'Let me beg you to make the best of the great trouble which has not only befallen me, but those I love so dearly. It is for the dear ones I grieve. I am innocent of the charge brought against me. Do not trouble for myself. Again I say I have not had justice, not from the beginning; all false witnesses; every word seemed to have been put into their mouths by the police.
Knowing, as I did, how untrue it was I cannot but think that they must have been authors' - nine lines here have been obliterated by the authorities - 'see darling mother and soon. What will my darling boys do?
Dear Ted, I want them to grow up very good. See my darling boys, and I want you to remember I want the dear children to never know of this. God bless and keep you all.
I am in God's hands. You are right about the judge; he is a most merciful judge. The jury took no notice of him. All thought by the summing up that I was as good as free".
Derby Daily Telegraph - Wednesday 04 January 1893.
"An Accomplice.
The Northampton police, telegraphs our correspondent, are now in possession of information which convinces those who had the conduct of the Althorp murder case that Andrew Macrae had an accomplice in the disposal of the victim's body.
They are confident that this second person, and not the prisoner, secreted the body in the ditch near Althorp railway station, and they state that they are able to put their finger on him at any moment.
They are weighing the evidence in their possession as to the wisdom of making the arrest".
Gloucester Citizen - Saturday 07 January 1893.
"The convict Macrae.
On enquiry at the Home Office, today, it was stated that no appointment for an interview with Mr Macrae, brother of Andrew Macrae, now under sentence of death, has been made by Mr Asquith.
It is authoritatively stated that no such interview will take place. In the absence of any petition for reprieve such an appointment would be contrary to the precedent followed in cases of conviction for the capital offence".
Launched into eternity.
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| Northampton Gaol |
Leicester Daily Mercury - Tuesday 10 January 1893.
"Billington, the executioner, arrived at Northampton yesterday, and remained at the prison last night. The condemned man slept soundly until six o'clock this morning, and shortly after partook of breakfast.
He (the prisoner) was described as having borne up with great fortitude, and inquiries elicited that no confession of the crime for which he was condemned has been made. The representatives of the press were admitted to the prison at twenty minutes to after eight, by which time thousands of the townspeople had congregated in the open square. The scaffold on which the unhappy man paid the supreme penalty of the law was a newly erected structure in the south corner of the prison yard, and was screened from public observation by awnings.
At a quarter to nine the bell of St. Sepulchre's began to toll. Captain Bell, the governor, had by that time received the Under Sheriff (Mr W.H.K. Markham) and the medical officer (Mr Lea F. Cogan). The Chaplain (Rev. W.H. Phillips) had continued his ministrations from an early hour.
Procession to the scaffold.
Billington entered the condemned cell, situated on the north side, a few minutes before nine o'clock. The prisoner submitted quietly to the pinioning, and two minutes before the hour the procession started, the Chaplain reading in a clear, impressive voice the sentence of the service for the burial of the dead. The condemned man walked firmly, with his head erect.
Saluting the reporters.
When the inner gate opposite the main entrance had been reached, at which point the representatives of the press were to join the procession, Macrae turned his head slightly and bowed. He appeared to need little if any assistance from the warders on his right and left, and their hands merely rested lightly upon his strapped arms.
The closing scene.
The scaffold was quickly reached, and the strapping of the legs was but the work of an instant, the culprit's face being turned to the wall and his back to the officials, the Chaplain alone standing a little to the front on his left side.
To the solemn recital of the words, 'In the midst of life we are in death', Billington expeditiously slipped the noose over the head of the culprit, and pulled over his face the white cap. With remarkable agility the executioner stepped aside, pulled the lever, and the doors falling, the condemned man disappeared from view.
A long drop was given, death being instantaneous, and apparently painless, dislocation of the neck having taken place. As the drop fell the black flag was hoisted, and a cheer burst from the assembled thousands outside the prison walls.
Egress from the gaol was difficult, owing to the pressure of the throng. The body, after hanging for an hour, was cut down, and a formal inquest held, when Dr Cogan certified that the sentence of the law had been duly carried out".
I was a stranger and ye took me in.
Annie Pritchard was laid to rest in St. Mary The Virgin churchyard in East Haddon, her grave is all alone in a peaceful corner of the graveyard. She was denied internment in the main graveyard because she was a victim of murder and her body was not whole.
Over one hundred people followed her coffin to the church, the public subscription paid for the gravestone, which reads;
Erected by friends and sympathizers to the memory of Annie Pritchard aged 31 years whose remains were found in this parish August 6 1892. 'I was a stranger and ye took me in'.
