Walter Hattersley and the Case of the Missing Showgirl - Sheffield 1949
Molly Mozelle
The following is from the Dark Sunderland website and gives an overview of the case
"In 1949 a 33 year old dancer who worked at the Sunderland Empire vanished in circumstances that have never been explained, leaving behind a spooky and tormented legacy at the city’s famous theatre. Here in the latest installment of our “Dark Sunderland” series, we bring to you the mystery of Molly Moselle, an ordeal which remains enshrouded in mystery, yet had an equally grim conclusion to it.
Mary Burslem was born in 1916. Adopting the stage name of “Molly Mozelle”, she was talented, she was popular and had a seemingly happy outlook amongst her colleagues, taking roles as both a dancer and an assistant stage manager at the Empire, but beneath it all laid a troubled love live where she had never been able to find the man quite right for her. It was known that she had engaged in a
sixteen year relationship with a married comedian known as Bunny (Bernard) Doyle, a Yorkshireman, a veteran of the First World War and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, who’s previous marriage had broken down but divorce laws of course were different back then. Bunny later died in 1954, five years after Molly disappeared.
Hull Daily Mail dated 09th October 1945
Bunny however, fell in love with another actress performing at one of his pantomimes, leaving Molly feeling betrayed. She then met a hotel owner in Sheffield, known as Walter Hattersley, a wealthy man who was much older than her. He bought her a £200 ring that she felt was too expensive to wear, but believed he was getting engaged to her. He had other ideas. Then one night after
he found her drunk on his bathroom floor, he decided to end the relationship with her, breaking her heart. Begging for him to come back, she wrote letters to him pleading. Then on Friday 14th, 1949, she told her friends over lunch she had received a letter from him which reduced her to tears, and she was unable to say what it said.
That would be the last time they ever seen her. That evening, she told her landlady she had forgot to post a letter, leaving into the night. She never returned. Prompting a police investigation and national headlines, with people searching all over the country including in the other cities (Sheffield) she had been in. The
police interviewed many employees of the Empire and those who knew her, but there was no trace of her to be found… and no explanation as to where she could have gone.
Then, eleven years later 1960, a police boat on the River Wear discovered something gruesome. A human corpse which had been buried a shallow grave had been washed into the river by flooding. The corpse was significantly decayed had lost all of its limbs except half of a leg. An inquest found it was the body of a woman aged 25-50 years of age, and 5’3ft inches tall… the same height as Molly. Yet due to the lack of DNA testing technology in that era, it was impossible to verify who it truly was, or for that matter what happened to them. The body was laid to rest somewhere in the city."
Note: Bernard Doyle was not awarded a Victoria Cross but did receive the Croix de Guerre.
Liverpool Daily Post dated 18th January 1949
It is evident that Walter Hattersley plays a prominent role in the life of Molly.
Photo courtesy of Ian Michael Spooner
Born in Sheffield in 1897, Walter Hattersley was landlord of the Alexandra Hotel, Castlegate, and proprietor of Westfield Motors, West Street. A former miner who had been involved in boxing for over 30 years, Walter Hattersley was a director of the Central Area Boxing Board of Control, which controlled boxing in the north of England. He died in December 1952, aged 55, at the Royal Hospital after being taken ill at his hotel. His death was described in the local press as ‘sudden’ and as the result of ‘a seizure’.
The assertion that Walter Hattersley was a wealthy man can be seen in his probate record that was published in the Evening Telegraph dated 24th August 1952. At today's prices that would be £720,000GBP
The Kelly's directories I have for 1951 to 1971 give Walter Hattersley as licensee of the Alexandra in Exchange Street The 1973 directory gives Mrs E. Hattersley as licensee and the address is now given as Castlegate.
The marriages index confirms that a Walter Hattersley married an Emily Hird in Sheffield in 1943. It seems that Walter died aged only 56 in 1972 while Emily died aged 93 in 2002.
National
1939 - 85 Ringstead Crescent, Sheffield.
Walter Hattersley Snr. D.O.B. 29 Aug 1896, Motor Company Visitor.
Walter Hattersley Jnr. D.O.B. 6 Mar 1916, Motor mechanic.
George Hattersley, D.O.B. 3 Oct 1917, Inspector of Plating aircraft.
Annie Kent, domestic.
HATTERSLEY, Walter (Licensed Victualler, age 55). Died at Royal Hospital; Buried on December 15, 1952 in Consecrated ground; Grave Number 1039, Section U1 of City Road Cemetery, Sheffield.
HATTERSLEY, Walter (Licensee, age 56). Died at The Alexandra Hotel Exchange St; Buried on April 4, 1972 in Consecrated ground; Grave Number 1039, Section U1 of City Road Cemetery, Sheffield.
As a footnote the Sunderland Empire where Mollie performed and worked has always had a reputation for paranormal activity.
"The actor Sid James, best known for his roles in Carry On films and Bless This House suffered a heart attack during a performance of The Mating Season on 26 April 1976 and died on the way to hospital. Later it was
rumored that his ghost was in the dressing room he occupied on the night of his death; after one experience during a gig there, the comedian Les Dawson refused to play the venue
again. Whilst the ghost of James is said to haunt backstage, the spirits of Vesta Tilley and Molly Moselle are said to haunt the front-of-house areas. Molly Moselle was a stage manager for Ivor Novello's The Dancing Years in 1949. Leaving the theatre to post a letter, she disappeared down a nearby alley and was never seen again. The Empire was known as a 'comic graveyard' – rather unfortunately given the above points – because of the partisan reception of the audiences of the
time."
And it appears so has the Alexandra Hotel in Sheffield. On an on-line forum a
former licensee of the Alexandra Hotel Michael Radford stated
"I was the licensee of the Alexandra hotel in the early eighties . I was wondering
whether the spirit of the deceased actress was still walking the second floor. It’s difficult for me to accept that there are spirits on the loose as I was a non believer but I am 100% a changed believer after the experience that I and my wife and sister and her boyfriend found out at the time. How the temperature went from very hot and sweaty
with my wife and sister in their bra’s and us in our t-shirts to freezing temperature in seconds."
Another licensee of the Alexandra hotel in the 2000's Denise Gibson confirmed paranormal
activity in the hotel.
Notes
Name; Bernard Doyle
Birth Date: abt 1895
Date of Registration: Sep 1955
Age at Death: 60
Registration district: Blackpool
Inferred county: Lancashire
Volume: 10b Page: 388
1911 Census: Bernard Doyle (15) Municipal Clerk, born Hull, living at 6 Bramwell Tce, Park St, Hull, with grandfather Richard Roe (67) widower; mother Emma Ruth Doyle (36) married 17 years, born Hutton Cranswick; brother Cyril Doyle (9) born Hull; sister Gladys (6) born Hull.
Emma Ruth Roe and William Charles Doyle married in 1894.
2. The case of Mollie Mozelle and her disappearance figured in an episode of "In Suspicious Circumstances", a TV documentary series that was narrated by the excellent actor Edward Woodward
Sources
Ancestry
Dark Sunderland
Sheffield Net
Hull Daily Mail dated 09th October 1945
Liverpool Daily Post dated 18th January 1949
Evening Telegraph dated 24th August 1952
Sheffield Indexers
Mathew Bell
This page was last updated on 04/01/25 16:19