Days of Horror

Born in 1867, Samuel was the ninth child of parents, James and Eliza Hutton. His parent had married on 11th February 1849 and Eliza had given birth to her first child, Jane, in January 1850. In 1851, they welcomed John into the family but two years later and in 1853, Jane would sadly pass away. Six more additions into the family would come between the years 1853 to 1866 - Andrew, Alice, Charles, William, Thomas and David before the arrival of Samuel in 1867. As you can see, it was a...

"Ta-ta. You won't see me again. Im going to shoot my wife and baby," - those were the last words spoken by 26-year old, Henry King on Friday 12th December 1958 to an acquaintance named Sheila Whipp at the Dun Horse Hotel in Blackburn. Her reply to such a statement was simple enough, "don't be stupid." King then handed her a small looking object that she initially believed to have been nothing more than a cigarette lighter. The object was in fact a bundle of around twenty-five bullet...

As the light of day slowly began to fade away, the darkness that quickly descended brought with it a freezing chill that had already frozen a large area of deep water which had been left dormant at the foot of a quarry named the Tim Bobbin delph. Inside nearby houses, families where in full enjoyment of Christmas cheer, singing and dancing with some preparing themselves for their evening meals. And at number 2 Park Lane, just on the outskirts of Burnley, this is exactly what was happening...

When Blackburn Rovers went on to lift the Premier League title in dramatic circumstances on the 14th May 1995, it would be the culmination of 5 years' worth of investments by a local man named Jack Walker, a lifelong supporter who would eventually change the fortunes of one of the former founders of the football league. Former Liverpool player and manager, Kenny Dalglish was appointed in October 1991, and as Rovers secured promotion to the FA Premier League at the end of the 1991-92 season...

Just after 10am on the morning of Tuesday, 9th June 1896, a young boy burst into the workshop of John Coates and his son Thomas, which was situated along the cobbled road of Bridge-street, Accrington and just behind the now forgotten, Brown Cow public inn. In a frenzied state of mind, the boy shouted, 'Oh, Mrs. Coates is murdered!' Not sure what was happening, Mr. Coates replied back, 'Nothing of the sort.' However, the young boy raised one of his arms and to the horror of Mr. Coates,...

On the morning of Monday, November 10th 1890, 21-year old Elizabeth Holt had left her home in Dunscar to make her usual trek over to the school she was employed at in Belmont, which was roughly three miles away. But this would be the last time she would ever make the journey, and a tragedy so brutal in nature would soon unravel which would shock the residents of Bolton and nearby towns and villages. As head mistress at Belmont National School near to Bolton, 21-year old, Elizabeth made the...

When Moses Clayton's body was laid to rest on Saturday, 1st March 1919, it would close the book on one of Rossendale's most notorious villains. A character that had once terrorised an entire district with his brutality and drunken carefree attitude would no longer pose a threat to the townsfolk of Accrington, Bacup, Haslingden and Rawtenstall, as well as other places such as Whitworth and Todmorden. Born in 1857 to parents James and Susannah, Moses was just one of nine siblings, and he had...

On Saturday, 22nd December 1866, the body of a young woman aged 18 years was recovered from a lodge adjacement to Holden Wood cotton mill, that was owned by Mr. James Maxwell and situated in a place known as Holden Wood, near Haslingden. At around half-past one in the afternoon, John Holgate, a spinner employed at Maxwell's mill, whilst passing by his place of work, had noticed something bobbing about just above the water level in a lodge that was within yards of the mill. Upon making his...

Not since 1849 when Frederick and Maria Manning had been found guilty of murder, had a married couple been sentenced to death by the justice system. But 85 years later, on the 17th October 1935, James Henry Mills and his wife, Edith Mills would succumb to the very same fate after being sentenced at the Lancaster Assizes for a murder so brutal and ghoulish in nature, that what you are about to read and hear will ask more questions than it will give answers. On Sunday, June 30th 1935, little...

Ever since the death of her husband, Maurice, who had sadly passed away only two years prior in 1923; 82 year old Mary Ann O'Shea had lived alone at a place known as Tower Hill that was situated within the top end of a town called Haslingden, that lies within the boundaries of the Rossendale Valley. Residing at number 11, Mary had lived in a pitifull and frightening condition. Her house was extremely basic, having just two rooms of which one included the basement. Dampness, filth and grime...

For six consecutive days, heavy rain had battered the hills surrounding Holmfirth, sending hundreds of tons of water streaming through the narrow gorges and several valleys down into the lowlands where it would be collected. Normally, plenty of rainfall wouldn't be a problem and in fact would benefit the many large mills and cottages that were dotted alongside the hillside whose businesses were reliant on fast flowing water, and in the summertime, the true benefit of having such large...

During the autumn of 1950, residents within the sleepy village of Ewood Bridge were shocked to have learnt of the brutal murder of a young Yugoslavian man, whose body had been discovered within a platelayers cabin that was situated just a few yards away from the East Lancashire Railway line. On the 9th of October, a man by the name of Alvar Howarth was making his usual trek to the cabin, which was someway off the beaten track, ready to begin his shift as a platelayer, or in simple terms, an...

More than a century after his death, the ghost of James Maybrick would rise from his grave in an explosion of furor and excitement that would rock the foundations of many crime historians, lecturers and most certainly wannabe detectives, all of whom had spent decades trying to uncover the real identity of the world's most notorious murderer, the grandfather of the modern day serial killer, if you will; that of Jack the Ripper. Back in 1991, a 'diary' was uncovered, lying dormant underneath...

Shortly after three o'clock on the morning of Tuesday, 3rd January 1882, a murder so savage in nature occurred at number 4, Brook Row over in a place known as Lowerhouse near to Burnley. A man by the name of Robert Templeton, who was 36 years of age had arrived in Lowerhouse around nine months prior, sometime around April, 1881. He quickly managed to find employment as a machine printer, working for A. Drew and Sons. Although quite in nature, he still managed to keep on friendly terms with...

When the Titanic finally lost its battle with the North Atlantic sea and disappeared into the abyss below the waves, it was and still is one of the worst maritime disasters to ever take place. Taking with it over 1,500 lives, it is without a doubt one of the most famous tragedies in modern day history. The story itself is well known. Nicknamed the "unsinkable ship", after having departed Southampton, England on the 10th April 1912, the Titanic set sail on its maiden voyage to travel to New...

On the morning of Friday, 2nd December 1904, the people of Burnley, would be shocked to their very core when police finally forced their way into number 20 Stock-street and the bodies of a man and a women would be discovered lying in pools of blood, both with their throats cut. But whilst news of this shocking discovery was quickly circulating throughout the town, some residents of Stock-street had already witnessed a brief and horrific scene as a man by the name of Michael Walsh had...

On the morning of Monday, 3rd September, 1894 - 34 passengers made their way onto a sail-powered boat that would, on a normal day, have taken them on a leisurely trip over to Grange-over-Sands, located on the north side of Morecambe Bay, Cumbria. But what should have been a day of fun and enjoyment, it would quickly escalate into a day of tragedy. Departing from Morecambe promenade and the Princess Sailing Company Landing Stage at around 10 o'clock in the morning, the passenger list...

When 16 year old, Thomas Oxford, began loading his cart with milk churns, he could never have envisioned the events that would take place later that same day. Thomas was a farm servant living with John Clark, farmer, at a place known as Shuttleworth Hall that still is situated to this day in a place called Hapton. It was around 6.30am in the morning on Saturday, 19th January 1889, when he left the Hall in the usual way, with his milk-cart fully stocked and ready to be delivered by going on...

The walk from Smiths Place Farm, that was situated just on the outskirts of the small village of Huncoat, to the home of Susannah Holt at Houghton Barn Farm in Altham, is roughly just one mile in distance and something which would usually take on average, around fifteen to twenty minutes to complete. And this walk was nothing unusual for James William Walker, who was just sixteen years old back on the 16th September 1889, when our next story takes place. It had been a relatively mild day...

Today's story takes us back to Wednesday, 24th December 1856 and to the inquest of how a young girls body was pulled from an old pit situated only yards from her own back yard, the week before on Friday, 19th December. At the Whittakers Arms Inn, Mr. H. W. Hargreaves opened the proceedings on the body of Alice Nuttall, a 13 year old girl whose was found drowned in a pit near Highbrake Mill on Friday, 19th December. The pit from where her body was removed from was roughly eighteen yards...