Victorian Crime. Poison Pen Letters

1894 started out a good time for pretty 17 year old Mary Marshall. Mary was known to everyone as Polly, she worked as a maid and lived with her parents in Cross Street but her favourite place to be was Holy Saviours Church, the Broadway.

The Broadway was a popular walking route between Whitley Bay and Tynemouth and Holy Saviours Church at the Tynemouth end was a popular meeting place for courting couples. This was were Polly was to meet her 20 year old soldier Samuel Emery, good looking with a slight moustache from West Bromwich, he was a private in the South Staffordshire Regiment. Polly and Samuel had met and fallen in love when Samuel was based at Tynemouth Barracks but things started to go wrong when he was posted to Strensall, near York.

Young and in love Polly vowed to be faithful, and all through the Summer they wrote to each other calling each other 'my loving sweetheart'. All was going well for the couple until Samuel started receiving anonymous letters saying Polly was seeing other men while he was 100 miles away. In response Samuel started writing even more letters to Polly at one point telling her I thought I loved you before but I could not do without you now. God knows I could not do without you.

Not knowing about Samuel's suspicions Polly was surprised when she received a letter from him saying You had better keep yourself to yourself because I shall come when you least expect me. It was after another anonymous letter Samuel absconded from camp changed out of his uniform to avoid the Military police and got on a train to Tynemouth. It was late afternoon 23rd July when Polly opened the door to an upset Samuel, Polly was shocked to se him so upset as she did not know the reason why. Polly agreed to go with Samuel to their favourite place near Holy Saviours Church where Samuel told Polly about the letters he had been getting.

Polly pleaded that she had bean faithful and the letters were lies but Samuel would not listen, wild with jealousy he pulled a knife from his pocket. As Polly screamed in terror she tried to ward off Samuel's attack suffering wounds to her arms and hands before he stabbed her in the throat. The Vicar, Reverend T. B. Nichols and other couples who witnessed the attack chased Samuel as he started to run, in a nearby field Samuel turned on the group chasing him to threaten them with his knife.

One of the group a Chemist James Gibson later told the Shields Daily News A blade protruded four inches from his clenched fist and was very bright an appeared to have a keen edge. As he Slashed at me, his face was ugly to behold. His teeth were set and he had the appearance of a madly desperate man. My wife saw it and it still haunts her, I dodged the blow aimed at me and fortunately he did not renew the attack but rushed of in the direction of the village.

Samuel soon got away an hid on the railway line until dark, then he went to the Crescent Tavern, in Hudson Street, North Shields. During the hours he sat drinking Samuel heard the other customers talking about the murder but the more he had to drink the more he started to talk until he confessed to the murder and wrote out a confession. Inspector McKenzie and Sergeant McQueen arrested Samuel as he left the pub and he was taken to North Shields central police station. On the 20th of November 1894 charged with murder Samuel appeared at Newcastle Assizes. The jury were told about the letters which had started the jealousy and how when he was told Polly was dead Samuel had said Thank God, and also how he had asked to see her body telling the inspector I would like to see her dead.

The Jury did not take long to find him guilty of murder and Samuel was sentenced to death. It was during the next few weeks that Samuel began to realize that no one had said they had seen Polly with another man and his jealousy had been unfounded. In a letter to Polly's father the day before he was due to hang Samuel asked for forgiveness for his crime committed in a temper which had overpowered his judgement. Just before 8 o'clock on the 11th December 1894 Samuel was led to the gallows, with the hood on his head and the noose on his neck the Chaplin prayed, I am the resurrection and the life. Just then after finally realizing that Polly had really loved him Samuel crying said Pray for the poor girl whose life I have taken. The trap door opened and Samuel was dead.

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