Hiram Thompson - for wife murder.

Hiram Thompson - for wife murder.

The Thompson family lived at No. 11 Brandiforth Street, Bamber Bridge near Preston in Lancashire.  They comprised 52 year old Hiram, his wife, 49 year old Ellen, two daughters, 17 year old Ellen, Priscilla and her husband and son John.  Hiram was a heavy drinker and there were frequent quarrels between him and his wife over the amount of money he spent on drink.  Sadly, these often led to Ellen being physically assaulted.

On the morning of Tuesday the 25th of April 1922, the family rose as usual and daughters Ellen and Priscilla got ready for work.  When they returned home for lunch their mother was fine and their father had gone to the pub, where he consumed four pints.

The girls returned to work by 1 p.m.  When Ellen got home at 5.45 p.m., she found her mother dead in the kitchen.  Ellen senior had her throat cut and had been battered around the head.  The police were immediately called.  Thompson was missing and became the prime suspect for Sergeant O’Toole. He established the last sighting of Ellen alive was by her neighbour at around 3.30 p.m.  The search was now on for Thompson who was located in his friend, Harry Wilson’s, garden.  During their conversation, Thompson had told Mr. Wilson that he had killed Ellen.

O’Toole arrested Thompson and at the police station blood was found on his clothes which was later shown to match Ellen’s blood group.  There were also her hairs which matched hairs on Thompson’s clothes.  In his statement to the police, he said “the quarrel was owing to his wife telling him to get his own tea. I knocked her down and kicked her. I let her get up once and then I downed her again.  After she was dead, I got a razor and ran it across her throat to finish her.”

Thompson was tried at Manchester before Mr. Justice Branson on the 13th of May 1922.

The forensic evidence and the confessions to Mr. Wilson and the police sealed Thompson’s fate.  He did not appeal and was hanged at Strangeways prison at 8.00 a.m. on Tuesday the 30th of May 1922 by John Ellis and William Willis.  Thompson weighed 145 lbs. and was given a drop of 7’ 6” resulting in fracture/dislocation of the 2nd and 3rd cervical vertebrae.

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