Skip to playerSkip to main content
Brief Case
  • 2 months ago
The George Townley case that divided opinion in Victorian England

Join this channel to get access to perks:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXNVw0S9_LZHhWTr-skizhg/join

Please remember to subscribe and hit the bell icon as well as leave a like and a comment for more videos every week!

Brief Case is a True Crime Channel focusing on old or lost cases that have been forgotten to history. If you have any recommendations for future cases that you would like to bring to light, feel free to reach out to me to: briefcaseuk@gmail.com

Music Credits
Music by Myuu
https://www.youtube.com/user/myuuji

Music by CO.AG Music
https://www.youtube.com/@co.agmusic

“Cicada” by Kevin MacLeod
https://incompetech.com/ Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Category

🗞
News
Transcript
00:08Today we are looking at a case from the 1860s, so sit back as we go to England.
00:16George Victor Townley and Elizabeth Caroline Goodwin both belonged to families that were
00:21described at the time as highly respectable and were considered to occupy an equal position in
00:26society. They had first met in Manchester while Elizabeth was staying with her uncle, a local
00:31physician and their acquaintance soon developed into a close relationship. Before long George
00:37became Elizabeth's accepted suitor and the families had every reason to regard the match as a suitable
00:42one. By 1861 George was 23 years old. He was a very good musician and an accomplished linguist. His
00:50father worked as an accountant in Manchester and Elizabeth was the granddaughter of Captain Goodwin
00:55who was a magistrate and lived in the fine residence of Wigwell Grange which was in Worksworth in
01:01Derbyshire. Although the couple had become engaged marriage did not immediately follow. George had
01:07no visible employment of his own and as time passed the engagement remained unresolved. Despite their
01:13attachment the pair continued to wait for the circumstances that would allow them to marry.
01:19During this period they had a brief separation and during that time George's behaviour became
01:24sufficiently unusual as to attract attention. While in London he was said to have jumped into a bath
01:30fully clothed and on another occasion he purchased seven white hats at once. The couple soon reconciled
01:36their differences and resumed their courtship. By the summer of 1863 however Elizabeth again began to
01:43reconsider the future of their relationship and she eventually decided that the engagement should come to
01:48an end. On the 15th of August she wrote to George informing him that she wished to be released from
01:54her
01:54commitment to him. For George the letter was devastating. He started to suffer from what was
01:59described as severe mental anguish. He could not sleep, he lost his appetite and he began taking morphine
02:06and drinking heavily. George replied to the letter informing Elizabeth that he was deeply affected by what she had
02:12written and requested to see her once more. Elizabeth replied and wrote that they should not meet as she was
02:18now engaged to another man and it would not be appropriate for her to see him again. George was
02:23now left with the knowledge that the woman to whom he had been engaged for several years was promised to
02:28someone else. On Friday the 21st of August he travelled to the village of Worksworth. He stopped in the
02:36ball's head in where he drank two glasses of brandy. He spoke to the Reverend Harris and asked if he
02:41thought it would be possible to obtain a meeting with Elizabeth. The Reverend advised him that he could
02:46likely secure one by sending her a note requesting it. George did this and then proceeded to Wigwell
02:52Grange. He arrived at half past five in the afternoon and requested to see Elizabeth. The housekeeper
02:58had already been told that if George arrived he was to be let in and Elizabeth would speak with him.
03:04A few minutes later Elizabeth came to the drawing room and greeted George with a smile. Together they
03:10walked into the garden and Elizabeth asked the housekeeper to inform her when tea was ready.
03:15George appeared to be calm but as he spoke to Elizabeth he told her that unless she agreed to
03:20accept his addresses once more he would prevent her from encouraging the attention of others.
03:25His words suggested that he was trying to appear reasonable and confident but beneath this calm
03:30exterior he was driven by jealousy and frustration. When the housekeeper came out and told Elizabeth
03:36that tea was ready she went back inside while George remained in the garden. The housekeeper
03:41noticed that Elizabeth now seemed cautious and when she asked if she was feeling well Elizabeth told her
03:47of George's threats and that he wanted to continue their conversation once she had finished her tea.
03:52The housekeeper had always thought Mr George Townley to be a strange gentleman and advised Elizabeth not to
03:57see him again. However after drinking her tea and reading the newspaper to her grandfather Elizabeth
04:03returned to the garden. She carried on walking with George and eventually they went into the lane
04:09which was adjacent to the property. As they had walked about another 20 yards George pulled out a
04:14spring-back clasp knife with a four-inch blade and attacked Elizabeth. He stabbed her three times.
04:21The wounds were very severe and the young lady immediately began to bleed heavily and fell to the ground.
04:26As she lay there holding her neck a farm laborer who was returning from work named Reuben Conway ran over
04:33to see if he could assist. He asked her what had happened and Elizabeth pointed towards George and said
04:39do you see a gentleman standing in the lane? He has done it. Mr Conway stayed with Elizabeth for several
04:46minutes before George approached him and told him that he had indeed stabbed Elizabeth and that he would
04:51remain with her while Mr Conway went to fetch help. George then kissed her and said poor Bessie
04:57before attempting to stop the bleeding. Mr Conway ran to Wigwell Grange but instead of remaining with
05:03Elizabeth George decided to try and carry her back towards the house. Tragically she died before they
05:09reached it. When George arrived Captain Goodwin and the housekeeper were in the garden and were confronted
05:16with a terrible sight. Elizabeth was dead and covered in blood. Despite this most terrible event
05:22George remained remarkably calm and told Captain Goodwin that he had taken the life of his granddaughter
05:27because she had deceived him. He made no attempt to conceal what had happened or to flee. Instead he
05:33produced two packets of letters Elizabeth had written to him, handed them to Captain Goodwin and told him
05:39he could read them or burn them but made it clear that he did not want them brought before a
05:43court.
05:44Realizing George was in a strange state of mind, Captain Goodwin offered him tea while word was sent to a
05:50doctor and the police. Shortly after Dr. Mant arrived. He looked at the body and saw a major wound on
05:57the
05:57right side of Elizabeth's neck, approximately three inches long, which extended towards her spine and had
06:03divided the principal blood vessels of the throat. He also noted there were two other deep wounds. At
06:10around 11 p.m. police constable Charles Parham arrived and when he did George stood up and admitted the
06:16murder once more. Constable Parham then escorted him to the police station. It did not take long for
06:24news of the terrible tragedy to spread through the surrounding area and rumors about the broken
06:29engagement and the devastation felt by Mr. Townley soon began to circulate. Before long the
06:36circumstances surrounding Elizabeth's death had become the subject of widespread discussion with
06:41people trying to understand what could have driven a young man from a respectable family
06:45to commit such a desperate act. On the afternoon of Saturday the 22nd of August 1863, the formal
06:52inquest into the murder of Elizabeth Caroline Goodwin was convened at Wigwell Grange and was presided over
06:58by Mr. Bennet, the coroner for the district. The inquest sought to formally examine witnesses,
07:05establish the cause of death and determine criminal responsibility. Captain Goodwin, the victim's 84-year-old
07:11grandfather and senior magistrate on the Worksworth bench, was the first witness. He recounted the tragic
07:18moments following the assault. He told of how his granddaughter was brought back to the house and of
07:23how George Townley had immediately confessed to him that he had stabbed her, stating that he had taken
07:28Elizabeth's life because she had deceived him. Key details about the sequence of events earlier that
07:34evening came from Elizabeth Hodgson, who worked as the housekeeper at Wigwell Grange. She testified that
07:40Elizabeth had told her of her conversation with Mr. Townley and said that after Elizabeth had come in
07:45for tea, she warned her against seeing him again due to the threat that he had made when they were
07:50walking around the grounds. When the coroner asked what the threat was, Mrs. Hodgson replied that Mr.
07:56Townley had declared that Annette Elizabeth accepted his addresses. He would prevent her from encouraging
08:01others. Reuben Conway, the farm laborer, was the next witness and told of how he saw Elizabeth in
08:07the lane following the attack. He said that he heard someone moaning quietly and when he looked around,
08:13he saw Elizabeth and realized that she was bleeding. He said that he asked her who had attacked her and
08:19she pointed towards Mr. Townley, who was standing nearby. Mr. Conway said that when he spoke to Mr.
08:24Townley, he offered no resistance and admitted that he had carried out the deed. Medical evidence
08:30was presented by Dr. Newton Mance, who testified that Elizabeth had already died before his arrival.
08:36He said that he did examine her body and discovered a terrible wound on the right side of her neck
08:41that had severed vital blood vessels alongside two other wounds on her shoulder. The next witness was
08:47Police Constable Charles Farnham, who told the inquest that when he arrived at Wigwell Grange,
08:52Mr. Townley immediately surrendered himself and admitted to the murder. He added that during his
08:57arrest and subsequent journey to the police station, Mr. Townley displayed extraordinary
09:02composure and handed over the murder weapon, which was a spring-back clasp knife with a four-inch
09:08blade that was heavily stained with blood. Throughout the inquest, which took place in the
09:13kitchen at Wigwell Grange, Mr. Townley remained calm but chose not to make a statement. Once all the
09:19testimony was heard, the coroner's jury returned a formal verdict of willful murder against Mr.
09:25George Victor Townley. On the authority of the coroner's warrant, Mr. Townley was then officially
09:30committed to stand trial at the next Azizes in Derby.
09:36George Victor Townley was brought before Mr. Baron Martin in December 1863 and charged with the murder
09:43of Elizabeth Caroline Goodwin. The same witnesses who had been present at the inquest gave evidence,
09:49but the defense did not deny that Mr. Townley had inflicted the fatal wounds. Instead, their central
09:55argument was that when he attacked Elizabeth, he was suffering from insanity and therefore should not
10:00be held criminally responsible for his actions. Evidence of insanity in the family of his mother was
10:05presented and the defense stated that in total, 11 family members had suffered from the condition.
10:11The defense also called witnesses who described the state in which Mr. Townley had found himself
10:17after Elizabeth ended their relationship. The witnesses spoke of his mental anguish, his loss of
10:23sleep, his lack of appetite and his use of morphine and alcohol. They all said that he experienced this
10:29disturbed behavior before he decided to go to Wigwell Grange. The most important medical evidence came
10:36from Dr. Forbes Winslow, who had examined Mr. Townley while he was in custody. The doctor told the
10:41court that he had seen him on the 18th of November and again the night before the trial. He stated
10:46that
10:46on both occasions, he considered that Mr. Townley was suffering from what was then described as moral
10:52insanity. This evidence was supported by Mr. Gibbsbourne, the doctor at the prison where Mr. Townley had been
10:58confined. Although the defense tried to argue that the murder was due to George Townley suffering extreme
11:04emotional distress rather than a deliberate act of a rational individual, the prosecution rejected this
11:10claim. They argued that Mr. Townley had not been shown to suffer from insanity in the particular form
11:16that was recognized by the law. The judge told the jury that they should pay particular attention to
11:21whether Mr. Townley had been suffering from delusion and stated this meant whether he generally believed
11:26something to be true when in reality it was not. This was important because doctors and other medical
11:33experts recognized mental illness could take different forms. A person might be suffering from
11:38a serious mental disorder and act because of an overwhelming or uncontrollable impulse even if they
11:44did not have any false or imaginary beliefs. The law however took a narrower view of insanity. At the time
11:51of
11:51the trial, simply showing that someone was mentally ill or driven by an uncontrollable impulse was not
11:57necessary enough to make them legally insane. This created a difficult situation for the jury.
12:03They had to decide whether Mr. Townley was legally responsible for Elizabeth's death according to the
12:08law, even though the medical experts who believed he was insane may have understood his mental illness in
12:14a different way. In other words, the doctors and the law did not necessarily use the same definition of
12:19insanity. The jury nevertheless rejected the defense of insanity and found Mr. Townley guilty of murder.
12:26He was then sentenced to death.
12:30The verdict however did not end the matter. There was still considerable concern about Mr. Townley's
12:35mental condition and efforts were immediately made by the defense to prevent his execution. While this
12:41question was investigated further, even Baron Martin, the judge who had presided over the trial,
12:47expressed his view to Sir George Gray, the Home Secretary, that Mr. Townley's state of mind required
12:53further examination. Following this, the Home Secretary ordered a special investigation. He instructed
12:59three commissioners of lunacy to visit Mr. Townley in Derby Jail. The three men examined him on two
13:05occasions and also questioned his father and mother. Together with officials in the prison, their conclusion was
13:12very different from that reached by the trial jury. They considered George Townley to be insane. The defense
13:18also ordered a private examination on the state of Mr. Townley's mind. This was conducted by Dr. Good, Dr.
13:24Harwood, the prison doctor and three Derby magistrates and they all came to the conclusion that Mr. Townley was indeed
13:31insane.
13:32Following this, the death sentence was suspended and George Townley was taken to Bethlehem Hospital in
13:38Southwark in London, where he would undergo further observation. The press criticized the government's
13:44handling of the case, while the magistrates in Derbyshire strongly opposed the action taken by the Home
13:49Secretary. A prolonged dispute followed and arguments continued about Mr. Townley's sanity. Eventually, a second
13:56government commission was appointed to investigate the case and this time it was conducted by Drs.
14:02Bucknell, Hood, Helps and Myers. After some time, they concluded that George Victor Townley was of
14:08sound mind. This left the case in an extraordinary position. The first commission had declared him
14:13insane. The second declared him sane. While the doctors who had conducted the first examination
14:19continued to maintain their view that Mr. Townley was suffering from moral insanity, the doctors who
14:24conducted the second would not accept that his mental state amounted to the form of insanity which was
14:30required to remove his criminal responsibility. Eventually, Mr. Townley had his death sentence
14:36commuted to penal servitude for life and was transferred to Pentaval Prison. Despite this judgment,
14:42the disputes over his mental condition did not disappear. Those who believed him to be insane
14:47continued to point to his behavior before the murder and to be evidence of mental disturbance. Evidence
14:53concerning his earlier behavior in London also came to light when Mr. P. Dolan, an artist with
14:58whom Mr. Townley had lived when his relationship with Elizabeth had previously broken down, gave
15:03evidence describing his highly unusual behavior at that time. These details were not presented to
15:08court at the trial but were subsequently placed before the Home Secretary. The newspapers continued to
15:14report on the controversy with many accounts drawing attention to the medical evidence and this unusual
15:20behavior. Yet despite these continued questions, Mr. Townley remained a convicted murderer serving a life
15:26sentence rather than being regarded as a man legally incapable of responsibility for his crime.
15:32On the 12th of February 1864, while in Pentaval Prison, George Townley climbed over the staircase rails and
15:39fell into the prison lobby a distance of about 23 feet. The fall fractured his skull and severely injured his
15:46brain.
15:46He survived for approximately three hours before dying from his injuries. Following this there was an inquest.
15:53The coroner was Dr. Lancaster. The final official finding concerning the circumstances of his death
15:59stated that George Victor Townley had been in an unsound state of mind when he died by his own hand.
16:05The question that had divided the doctors, the courts and the authorities during his lifetime
16:11therefore remained unresolved in another sense. George Townley had been convicted of murder and
16:17legally judged responsible for the death of Elizabeth Goodwin. Yet the first government commission
16:21considered him to be insane while the second concluded that he was of sound mind. His death
16:27brought the dispute to an end but it did not produce agreement over the condition of the man who had
16:31killed
16:32Elizabeth Goodwin. Hello everyone and thank you so much for listening. As usual, please leave any
16:40comments or feedback you may have and I hope to see you all again in the next brief case.
16:47Please

Recommended