End of the Gainford poisoner

Lizzie was one of only two female murderers to be executed in Durham in the 19th Century – the other was the notorious mass murderess Mary Ann Cotton, beside whose unmarked grave she was buried.

But did Lizzie really poison the man who had been her father figure, the man she had nursed with great care during his final illness in his home in Church Row? A fascinating new booklet, A Shadow of Doubt, produced by Mike Stow and the Gainford Local History Group, suggests the case was not cut and dried.

The D&S Times of August 7, 1875, gave a blunt summary of the crime of the newly-executed murderer.

“Elizabeth Pearson was a married woman, aged 28, and the niece of James Watson, aged 74, whom she was convicted, on circumstantial evidence, of having poisoned on March 15,” it said.

“After the death of the old man’s wife, which occurred about 15 months ago, the prisoner had acted as housekeeper for him, and during a subsequent illness was the sole person who waited upon him. Shortly before the old man died, she made some mysterious expressions in the presence of deceased’s son, Robert Watson. She sent her mother-in-law, Jane Pearson, for two packets of Battle’s Vermin Powder, which she received, and which were never again found.

“She requested Dr Humphrey, of Gainford, to make up a powder for the deceased, which request the doctor complied with.

“On March 15, the old man was seized with a sudden fit of trembling, accompanied with a throwing back of the head, an arching of the back, and a clenching of the hands. At the time, he also complained of great pain in the stomach, and shortly afterwards died.

“Scarcely had that happened before prisoner commenced to pillage the house of everything, leaving barely material enough to cover the corpse. This action aroused suspicion, and by order of the coroner, a post mortem examination was made, and the contents of the stomach submitted to Dr Scattergood of Leeds, and subsequently a packet of the same kind of vermin powder that had been purchased for the prisoner by Jean Pearson.

“The result of the analysis was the establishment of the presence of poisonous ingredients as strychnine and Prussian blue; the same ingredients being present in the vermin powder.

“The motive for the crime was supposed to be to get possession of the household furniture which the old man possessed.

“The prisoner was ably defended by Mr Ridley, who urged the absence of motive on her part, and that a lodger named Smith, who had gone away, had administered a vermin powder in mistake.

“The jury, after being absent an hour, returned a verdict of guilty, without any recommendation for mercy.”

The new booklet is not so condemnatory of Lizzie, who left a one-year-old daughter whose descendants still live locally. The contested furniture, for example, was already known to belong to Lizzie, so she was really taking back what was already hers.

Mr Ridley cannot have “ably defended” Lizzie as he had only been appointed a few hours earlier by a judge whose pre-trial comments suggest he was minded to find Lizzie guilty before he had heard any evidence.

And there was no evidence that Lizzie had administered the poison. The deceased could even have taken it himself after mixing it up with the doctor’s pick-me-up powder.

And there was little evidence that James had been poisoned – Dr Scattergood admitted that the trace of poison he found in the stomach would not have been fatal, and that his samples had become contaminated.

And what of the lodger, razor-grinder George Smith, who had been in Gainford for 15 years but who mysteriously disappeared without a trace on the day that Lizzie was arrested for wilful murder?

Author Mike Stow, who has been researching the story for 30 years, finishes: “A good defence lawyer would have asked all these questions and more, and might well have saved Lizzie’s life.

“So was she guilty? You’ve read the evidence: the verdict is yours.”

l A Shadow of Doubt costs £3.50 (£4, if posted). It is available from Angel Hair Design on High Green, Gainford – which was the shop that sold the poison – or by calling 01325-730337 or emailing Michael.mstow8@btinternet.com.