The Horrifying Murder of Elizabeth Slater - Sheffield August 1852
In the course of its history, Sheffield has experienced some revolting murders, but the following crime is nothing short of horrific . The first time I came across the events surrounding the murder was in an article that appeared in The Times dated 20th August 1852.
MURDER - SHEFFIELD, Aug. 19 Sheffield is again the scene of one of those horrifying murders which startle a whole country. An illegitimate child, nearly two years old, has had its head cut off by its father, who also attempted to murder its mother and another young woman. The murderer's name is Alfred Waddington, a grinder, residing in Lord-street, Park. He is about 20 years of age, the associate of notoriously bad characters, and he has himself been tried for highway robbery. The murdered child was called Elizabeth Slater, the daughter of Sarah Slater, of Brown-street, Park, and was about a year and nine months old. On Monday the mother took out a summons, which was to have been heard today, against Waddington, for neglecting to maintain the child. He saw her in the street on Wednesday, and swore he would never pay another farthing towards the support of the child. On Wednesday evening the mother left her child in the care of a little girl called Barlow, and then went to attend the females' evening class at the Mechanics' Institution. About half-past 8 o'clock Waddington appeared at the door of the classroom and called out "Sarah Slater, you're wanted." She went to him, and asked "What have you done with the child?" She told him, and he then said, "You must go with me; it has fallen off a wall and has broken its neck." She immediately ran out of the room with him. On arriving in Silvester-lane he said she need not trouble herself for he had murdered the child. He pulled out a large clasp knife and said "Here's some of its blood." The monster then fiercely attacked her and attempted to cut her throat. She guarded her neck with her hands, which were shockingly lacerated, and a little boy who saw the struggle called out "Murder!" Waddington then ran up Earle-street, and the poor woman was taken home. Waddington was shortly afterwards met by a young women called Sarah Dobson, who resides in Duke-lane, Sheffield-moor, a companion of the young women Slater. Having heard rumours of the murder and the attack upon Slater, the young woman asked him what he had done with her and his child. He at once attacked her with his knife, and wounded here severely about the face. Her violent screams caused him to run away. About 2 o'clock this morning, however, he gave himself up to a night watchman, and at the Town-hall he described the exact place where the murdered child might be found. He said he took it from the little girl Barlow, carried it into Cutler's-wood, Heely, near Sheffield, and there cut its head off. At daylight this morning two policemen went to the place mentioned, and there they found the body of the child. Its head was lying several feet from its body.
The following day a further report appeared in The Times
MURDER AT SHEFFIELD. - In The Times of yesterday an account was given of the horrible murder of a child at Sheffield, by its father, Alfred Waddington, and of an attempt by the murderer to assassinate the mother of the child and another young woman. Yesterday the case underwent investigation before Mr. T. Badger, the coroner, and a highly respectable jury. Alfred Waddington, who had given himself up to the police, being present in custody. The body of the murdered child was brought into the room in a basket, and viewed by the coroner and jury. It presented an appalling spectacle. Sarah Slater, the mother of the child, was first examined, and detailed in evidence the circumstances narrated in yesterday's paper, how the prisoner had called her out of the evening school at the Lyceum and told her that he had murdered her infant, and then attempted to cut her throat with a knife, the same with which he said he had taken the life of her child. About four months ago she had the prisoner before the magistrates for an assault, when he was bound over to keep the peace for six months. The child was affiliated to him in 1851, and he was ordered to pay 2s. a week, but he had not paid it regularly, and she had taken out a warrant against him on Monday to appear before the magistrates on Thursday last. Subsequently to the warrant being taken out the prisoner reproached her with having done so, swore at her, and declared he would not pay a halfpenny. Several witnesses were examined in corroboration. William Jackson, a night constable, stated the circumstances under which he had found the child, with the head severed from the body. Mr Rayner, superintendent of police, detailed to the jury a confession which the prisoner had made to him when in custody. He admitted having murdered the child, but was sorry that he had done so. He said he was much attached to Sarah Slater, but she had taken up with another man, and he wished it had been Sarah rather than the child whose life he had taken. The jury returned a verdict of "Wilful Murder," and the prisoner was committed to York Castle for trial.
Full details of the trial in York can be found in the book "The Sheffield Hanged 1750 - 1864" by David Bentley.
He was executed on January 8 1853. Prior to his execution Arthur did display a genuine remorse for his actions and spent his final hours, praying in his cell. A crowd of 8,000 gathered to watch him ascend to the scaffold and after muttering "Lord Jesus, receive my soul", he was dispatched by the hangman. His body was buried within the confines of the prison behind the window of the condemned cell.
There was a fascinating postscript to the case. In The Times dated February 25th 1853 there was the following report
AMATEUR HANGING. - Within the last few weeks
AMATEUR HANGING. - Within the last few weeks several suicides have occurred in Sheffield, chiefly of boys, which might be clearly traced to the morbid feeling which often comes over the minds of those who have been witnesses or have heard descriptions of public executions. Another suicide occurred in this town on Monday night which may be traced to the same cause, and in this case, also, it is a lad who has become the victim. The lad who has put an end to his existence in this instance is named Henry Warrass; he is 14 years of age, and was committed to the Wakefield House of Correction on the 25th of January last as a rogue and vagabond. Shortly before half-past 7 o'clock this lad hung himself to the handle of the bell in his cell with a small piece of cocoa fibre about the thickness of a drawing pencil. He was discovered at half-past 7, the usual messing time, by a turnkey, suspended, but not quite dead. He was immediately taken down, and he moved afterwards, but soon expired. It appears that Warrass went to York to witness the execution of the murderer Waddington; he had also seen the woman for whose murder Waddington paid the forfeit of his life. Warrass was also an acquaintance of a lad who hung himself a short time since the execution in the workhouse at Sheffield. It cannot be known whether the lad really intended to destroy himself; it is supposed that he was merely trying an experiment, as he had not given any evidence of a vicious temper since his reception within the prison walls. Deceased was confined in a separate cell, and with the exception of three hours, employed each afternoon in instruction, his confinement was solitary.
Note
1. The 1851 census shows Alfred Waddington as a 19 year old Prisoner held in Sheffield (Piece 2338 - Folio13).
Sources
The Times, Aug 20, 1852; pg. 6; Issue 21199; col F
The Times, Aug 21, 1852; pg.56; Issue 21200; col F
The Times, Feb 25, 1853; pg. 7; Issue 21361;; col C - (Footnote to the Waddington Case)
This page was last updated on 24/12/07 16:45