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A young girl is murdered – The true story of Jane Clouson
On April 25th 1871 Jane was discovered by a policeman, on Kidbrooke Lane, near-death; having been severely beaten. She managed to say the words “Edmund Pook” and “Oh let me die” before passing out. She was rushed to Guy’s Hospital but never regained consciousness.
Jane died on April 30th, two days after her 17th birthday.
A hammer was found, covered in blood about 1 mile from where Jane was found, and the shop that sold the hammer was quickly discovered with the shop owner identifying Pook as the man who had purchased it.
A man matching Pook’s description was seen fleeing Kidbrooke Lane. Police interviewed Edmund, who simply stated he was somewhere else and offered the Police the name of a person but the Police declined his offer. He then stated he wasn’t with anyone else, but he was running home, alone, because he felt a fit coming on. When asked about the clothing he wore on the night, it matched the description. The blood on the clothes was ruled out as being from biting his tongue during the fit. It did seem like a lot of blood for a tongue bite.
The case went to coroner’s trial first, and Edmund was found guilty of the wilful murder of Jane. This was then rushed through to the Central Criminal Court at The Old Bailey.
What followed was a farce. First, the judge ordered that Jane’s last words, in which she identified Pook, were inadmissible as they were hearsay. Secondly, the judge chastised the police, saying that they were after a quick arrest and hounded Pook with no real evidence.
Pook was found not guilty.
Public unrest followed. It was obvious to most people at the time that class was what helped Pook get off.
A pamphlet was written which identified Pook as the killer. Edmund hired one Henry Pook, apparently no relation to him, to prosecute for slander.
This was a bad move on Edmund’s part because during the civil trial he had no choice but to answer questions that in the criminal trial were not allowed. Everything pointed to him being the murderer. Nevertheless Pook was awarded £50 in damages.
A committee was formed; part of their role was to raise the money to pay Edmund Pook the £50.
The funeral was a huge event. The road between Elizabeth Trott’s house in Deptford and the cemetery was lined with thousands of people. So many, that the police came out in force to control the crowds. Jane’s body was transferred by horse-drawn carriage. Many people threw flowers onto the carriage and in the path of the horses.
Unusually, the pall bearers were all woman dressed in maids uniforms. Jane was laid to rest on a plot of land not far from the place where her mother and older sister lie. This land was given by the local council.
The committee formed to raise the money for damages also raised money to have a statue erected on her grave in Jane’s memory.
Written by John Hancock
(Jane Clouson’s 1st Cousin, 4x removed)
Newspaper illustrations of Jane Clouson murder from The Times of London archive