Geoffrey Howse - Murder and Mayhem in North London

TRUE CRIME FROM WHARNCLIFFE

Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths Series

Barking, Dagenham & Chadwell Heath

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Barnsley

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Brighton

Bristol

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Cotswolds, The

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Derby

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Fens, In and Around

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Grimsby

Guernsey

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Hull

Jersey

Leeds

Leicester

Lewisham and Deptford

Liverpool

Londons East End

Londons West End

Manchester

Mansfield

More Foul Deeds Birmingham

More Foul Deeds Chesterfield

More Foul Deeds Wakefield

Newcastle

Newport

Norfolk

Northampton

Nottingham

Oxfordshire

Pontefract and Castleford

Portsmouth

Rotherham

Scunthorpe

Shrewsbury and Around Shropshire

Southampton

Southend-on-Sea

Staffordshire and The Potteries

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Tees

Uxbridge

Warwickshire

Wigan

York

OTHER TRUE CRIME BOOKS FROM WHARNCLIFFE

A-Z of London Murders, The

A-Z of Yorkshire Murders, The

Black Barnsley

Brighton Crime and Vice 1800-2000

Crafty Crooks and Conmen

Durham Executions

Essex Murders

Executions & Hangings in Newcastle and Morpeth

Great Hoaxers, Artful Fakers and Cheating Charlatans

Norfolk Mayhem and Murder

Norwich Murders

Plot to Kill Lloyd George

Romford Outrage

Strangeways Hanged

Unsolved Murders in Victorian & Edwardian London

Unsolved London Murders

Unsolved Norfolk Murders

Unsolved Yorkshire Murders

Warwickshires Murderous Women

Yorkshire Hangmen

Yorkshires Murderous Women

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This book is dedicated to my good friend BRENDAN E McNALLY

First Published in Great Britain in 2010 by
Wharncliffe Local History
an imprint of
Pen and Sword Books Ltd
47 Church Street
Barnsley
South Yorkshire
S70 2AS

Copyright Geoffrey Howse 2010

ISBN: 978-184563-099-7
eISBN: 9781844687404

The right of Geoffrey Howse to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission in writing of the publishers.

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ris Ackroyd, Michael Barber, Susan Barber, Susan Barnes, Joan Bostwick, Christine Boyce, Norma Braddick, Tracey Brown, Fred Calcott, Margaret Calcott, Sister S Choi, Robert A Dale, Kathleen Dale, Tobie Daniels, Chantelle Daniels, Thomas Roscoe Deane (19272009), Iris J Deller, Joanna C Murray Deller, Ricky S Deller, Tracy P Deller, Carol Gardner, Jean Gardner, Chris Gill, John Goldfinch, Leo Gonzales, Barbara Griffiths, Frederick Griffiths, Leroy Griffiths, Geraldine Healy, Ann Howse, Doreen Howse, Joy Howse, Kathleen Howse, Dr Hidayat Hussein, Michael Kemp, Celia Langton, Raymond Mellor Jones, Charles Keane, Eamon Keane, Sister Julia Keane, Hannah McNally, Jenny McNally, Grace L McHenry, Victoria McNally, Mick McCready, Patrick Newley (19552009), Nial OConnor, Gerry OHalloran, Sharon Owen, Dr Sadanandan Manidas (Mani) (19532009), Eleanor Nelder, Stanley Nelder, Anthony Richards, Aydan Sener, Ian Senior (of North Islington Nursery School), Annie Souter, Jackie Thomas, Josie Thomas, Karen Thomas, Breda Toh, Adam R Walker, Anna Walker, Christine Walker, Darren J Walker, David Walker, Emma C Walker, Ivan P Walker, Jenny Walker, Paula L Walker, Polly Walker, Thomas A Walker, Dave Webster, Terry Webster, Clifford Willoughby, Margaret Willoughby, the staff of the British Library, the staff of the British Library Newspaper Archive at Colindale, the staff of The National Archive at Kew, the staff of the Guildhall Library, Hornsey Historical Society, Bruce Castle Museum, AWDF and also thanks to John D Murray who has assisted me over many years.

n this book I have attempted to give the reader an insight into a broad cross-section of crimes committed in the area we know generally as North London but which also includes north-east and north-west London. I have included a variety of murders, some of them internationally famous cases, others, not so well known, some even obscure, but all serve to illustrate the wide variety of methods that man will use to do away with his fellow man. The earliest case I have included was one of the most sensational of the seventeenth century. The most up-to-date case I have included shocked the sensibilities of the North London public as recent as 2005. In my efforts to bring these cases to the printed page I have delved through countless books, documents, newspapers and manuscripts, in an attempt to provide a clear and concise account. I apologise unreservedly for any errors or omissions.

Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey was the victim of a murder shrouded in mystery and often described as the greatest unsolved crime of the seventeenth century. His death was veiled by intrigue and deceit and it is marked by a false confession that resulted in the execution of three innocent men for a crime they neither committed nor played any part in. Born into an ancient Kentish family, on 23 December 1621, he was educated at Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford. In 1640, he entered Grays Inn, at the Inns of Court. He abandoned his legal career and became a wood-monger and coal merchant, and became considerably wealthy. By the late 1660s he was spending some of his time in politics and was becoming well known as a justice of the peace. As a result of the assistance he gave through his business enterprises during the plague, he was held in high regard. Similarly, his reaction following the Great Fire of London in 1666, during which he suffered personal injury while helping others, made him a notable figure at court, and he was rewarded for his services with a knighthood.