The Bristol Mercury and Daily Post

Edmund Edmonds Trial 1872.pdf
Edmund Edmonds Bankruptcy 1880.pdf

Downloads - Newspaper Clippings
http://www.forest-of-dean.net/joomla/resources/documents-and-articles

1851
George Edmonds abt 1821 Dursley, Gloucestershire, England Head Dursley, Gloucestershire
Mary Edmonds abt 1824 Woodford, Gloucestershire, England Wife Dursley, Gloucestershire
Mary Colboure Edmonds abt 1849 Dursley, Gloucestershire, England Daughter Dursley, Gloucestershire
Clara Maria Edmonds abt 1844 Dursley, Gloucestershire, England Daughter Dursley, Gloucestershire
Walter H Edmonds abt 1846 Dursley, Gloucestershire, England Son Dursley, Gloucestershire
Laura A Edmonds George abt 1848 Dursley, Gloucestershire, England Daughter Dursley, Gloucestershire
Jenetta H Edmonds abt 1850 Dursley, Gloucestershire, England Daughter Dursley, Gloucestershire

1861
Edmund Edmonds abt 1819 Dursley, Gloucestershire, England Head Newent, Gloucestershire
Annie Edmonds abt 1821 Newent, Gloucestershire, England Wife Newent, Gloucestershire
Charles Ralf Augusta Edmonds E abt 1855 Newent, Gloucestershire, England Son Newent, Gloucestershire
Harry Claude Edmonds abt 1857 Newent, Gloucestershire, England Son Newent, Gloucestershire
William Frederick Ann Edmonds abt 1858 Newent, Gloucestershire, England Son Newent, Gloucestershire
Mary Mathews abt 1831 Newent, Gloucestershire, England Wifes Sister (Sister-in-law) Newent, Gloucestershire
Jannette Helena Edmonds abt 1850 Dursley, Gloucestershire, England Niece Newent, Gloucestershire

1871 Newent
Edmund Edmonds 52 Dursley Solicitor Widow
Charles R W Edmonds 16
Mary Matthews 43
Jannette H Edmonds 21

Name: Jeannette Helena Edmonds
Name: George Gilbert Thomson
Year of Registration: 1885
Quarter of Registration: Jul-Aug-Sep
District: Lambeth
County: Greater London, London, Surrey
Volume: 1d
Page: 543

1891
George G Thomson abt 1842 Scotland Head Coulsdon, Surrey
Jeannett A Thomson abt 1855 England Wife Coulsdon, Surrey
George W Thomson abt 1878 Walmer, Kent, England Son Coulsdon, Surrey
Gilbert M Thomson abt 1886 Coulsdon, Surrey, England Son Coulsdon, Surrey

1901
George J Thomson abt 1842 Edinburgh, Scotland Head Croydon, Surrey
Jeannette H Thomson abt 1851 Dursley, Gloucestershire, England Wife Croydon, Surrey
Gilbert M Thomson abt 1886 Coulsdon, Surrey, England Son Croydon, Surrey

1911
THOMPSON GEORGE G M 1842 69 Croydon Surrey
THOMPSON JEANNETTE M F 1857 54 Croydon Surrey

Name: Jeannette H Thomson
Death Registration Month/Year: 1925
Age at death (estimated): 76
Registration district: Croydon
Inferred County: Surrey
Volume: 2a
Page: 433

Gloucestershire Murders
Paperback: 160 pages
Publisher: The History Press Ltd (21 July 2005)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0750939508
ISBN-13: 978-0750939508

Edmund Edmonds must have been the most hated man in Newent. A solicitor who enjoyed the conflict of litigation he had made many enemies, so there was some delight when in 1872 his niece revealed that his wife’s apparently natural death in 1867 had been murder. Edmonds was denounced by the newspapers and from the pulpit, but the trial told a different tale.

The solicitor Edmund Edmonds gained a
prominent position in the town’s public life in the mid 19th century, with the result
that his trial (and acquittal) in 1872 for the manslaughter of his wife attracted
much sensational interest and revealed some of the jealousies and tensions of
life in the small town.

THE NEWENT CASE.

I [From the European Mail 1

Mr. Edmund Edmonds, a solicitor, of Newent, in Gloucestershire, on May 8th surrendered at the Central Criminal Court to take his trial for the manslaughter of his wife in February, 1867. This case was removed, under the provisions of Palmer's Act, from the local assizes, on account of the prejudice which was alleged to exist against the defendant in his native county. The witnesses were-Anne Bradd,who lived as a servant with Mr. and Mrs. Edmonds at the time of the occurrence ; Miss Jeannette Edmonds, niece of the defendant ; Dr. Bass Smith, who had attended the deceased, and whose intimate relations with the previous witness were the subject of considerable inquiry on the part of the defending counsel ; Dr. Willmott, 'of Pylmoston ; Dr. Charlton, surgeon to tho Gloucester Infirmary ; and Miss Matthews the deceased's sister. Tho latter was tho first wit- ness for the defence. Baron Bramwell, in summing np tho case, said that the prisoner was charged with the manslaughter of his wife, and the way in which ho was accused of causing the death was by a blow, which had other caused or accelerated the death, and if he had inflicted that blow he ought to be convicted, tho case was certainly a most remarkable one, and undoubtedly, a very long time had elapsed since the alleged crime was committed, and it was always a suspicious fact when persons come forward, and said they were aware all alomg; that a certain act had been committed, but for some reason or other they had chosen to keep it secret. There was also another fact deserving consideration, which was, that it appeared perfectly clear that this charge would never have been made against the prisoner but for the discovery that was made of the connection that existed between the young woman Jeannette Edmonds and Dr. Bass Smith. After these general observations the learned judge called the attention of the jury to the ovious in the case on both sides, and said that, with regard to the evidence given by Anne Bradd, the servant, either her statement was the truth or it must be a downright and deliberate falsehood. His Lordship then referred to the evidence given by Joannette Edmonds, and he reminded the jury that both of these witnesses were contradicted by several ' witnesses in some very material particulars, and that in her own letters she gavo a totally different account of the transaction, and distinctly stated that her aunt's death was a natural death, and sho did not hint at a suspicion of violence on the part of the prisoner or any one else. After some further remarks, his learned judge concluded by leaving the case in the hands of the jury, who retired at a quarter to 6 o'clock to deliberate. They returned into court at 6 o'olock, and gave a verdict of .' Not guilty."_ Tho prisoner was ordered to bo immediately discharged.

Pigeon House, It was probably built for
the Newent solicitor Thomas Cadle, who owned it in 1828. Cadle sold the
house in 1849 to his partner Edmund Edmonds, who renamed it the Holts, the
ancient name of a group of closes on the opposite side of Watery Lane, and fitted
and furnished it on a lavish scale. Edmonds or his mortgagee offered the land
opposite for sale for building c.1880, and in the 1890s a few brick houses were
built there, including a short terrace on what became Holts Road.
In 1881 Edmonds home - the Holts was sold and he filed for Bankruptcy

Year: 1845
Month: Oct
Day: 30
Grooms_Surname: EDMONDS
Grooms_Forenames: Edmund
Grooms_Age: Of f
Groom_Condition: Bachelor
Grooms_Occupation: Solicitor
Grooms_Residence: Pamtly[?]
Grooms_Fathers_Surname: EDMONDS
Grooms_Fathers_Forenames: Joseph[?]
Grooms_Fathers_Occupation: Post Master
Brides_Surname: LEGG
Brides_Forenames: Ann
Brides_Age: Of f
Brides_Condition: Widow
Brides_Occupation: [not stated]
Brides_Residence: Br[?]on
Brides_Fathers_Surname: MATHEWS
Brides_Fathers_Forenames: John
Brides_Fathers_Occupation: Gentleman
Licence_or_Banns: Licence
Date_of_Banns:
Signature_or_Mark: Both sign
Witness_1: John Mathews
Witness_2: John Hill
Other_Witnesses: Ann Hill Mary Mathews Sarah Edmunds Ellen Edmunds
Officiating_Minister: John James Skally[?] Curate
Event: Marriage
Memoranda:
Notes:
Register_Reference: P225 IN 1/11
Page_Number: 72
Parish_Chapel: Newent

1861
Edmund Edmonds abt 1819 Dursley, Gloucestershire, England Head Newent, Gloucestershire
Annie Edmonds abt 1821 Newent, Gloucestershire, England Wife Newent, Gloucestershire
Charles Ralf Augusta Edmonds E abt 1855 Newent, Gloucestershire, England Son Newent, Gloucestershire
Harry Claude Edmonds abt 1857 Newent, Gloucestershire, England Son Newent, Gloucestershire
William Frederick Ann Edmonds abt 1858 Newent, Gloucestershire, England Son Newent, Gloucestershire
Mary Mathews abt 1831 Newent, Gloucestershire, England Wifes Sister (Sister-in-law) Newent, Gloucestershire
Jannette Helena Edmonds abt 1850 Dursley, Gloucestershire, England Niece Newent, Gloucestershire

1871 Newent
Edmund Edmonds 52 Dursley Solicitor Widow
Charles R W Edmonds 16
Mary Matthews 43
Jannette H Edmonds 21

1881
Edmund Edmonds abt 1813 Dursley, Gloucestershire, England Boarder Clifton, Gloucestershire rtd stockbroker !

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1534539

http://getamap.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/getamap/frames.htm?mapAction=gaz&gazName=g&...

Carswall Manor Farm Tewkesbury Road Upleadon Newent Glos GL18 1ED

STEWART-HARGREAVES, EUSTACE HAMILTON IAN,
Man on the Run
Wingate, 1957. F 1st Edition.

Author Name: White Frank James
Title: The Hargreaves Story
Binding: Red Cloth
Book Condition: Fair
Jacket Condition: No Jacket
Edition: First Edition
Publisher: London Bodley Head 1953
Seller ID: 000520
The autobiography of the author who was better known under his alias of Eustace Hamilton Ian Stewart-Hargreaves. Including a full history of the Cotswold Cider Company; 191pp .

This is the confession of the author, though written strictly, for the most part, in the third person. The author came out of prison in 1945 (for deception, not his first conviction, he having come before the courts on nearly a dozen previous occasions). Finding his wife and children in straitened circumstances in the Cotswolds, he decided to set up a business (with money he had but also largely on credit) to make something of himself, he says, honestly. He must have had a silver, if not golden, tongue: he persuaded his solicitor to allow the firm's Gloucester office to be used as a postal address; the Chief Constable allowed him to bend his parole rules, as well. So was born the "Cotswold Cider Company".
Cotswold Cider was born at a time in the immediate post-WW2 era when almost everything was rationed and even beer was often in short supply. Cider was not rationed. The author sold it by the kitschy oak barrel, taking a deposit on the barrel. There was never actually "Cotswold" cider as such; the cider came from Malvern. The idea took off hugely. Soon sales were as much as £15,000 per week, at a time when £100 was a lot of money. You have to multiply by maybe 30x to get an idea of the money this man was making.

The author took on the lease of first one, then two country houses, one for his wife and family, another for himself and as an office. Later, his interest in his wife sexually having waned from a never-ardent start point, he took on a luxury apartment in Mayfair and a couple of unsatisfactory mistresses.

Eventually, after several successful years,custom dropped as alternative drinks came onto the market again and the Press hounds got hold of his record, trashed him in the newspapers and the police moved in on the "fraud" (alleging that he was in fact embezzling the barrel deposit monies). On bail, he skipped overseas and, after (for some reason undescribed) adventures in places like Tangier, was brought back and imprisoned again. He says that he was trying to run an honest business and goes into his own background, saying that what started his spiral of deceptions was a small crime as a youth when he was tricked by police into pleading guilty and then (instead of promised non-custodial sentence) getting a year in prison. An interesting last thought. Reading it all, the reader has another thought: what happened later in his life? A pretty interesting read.

EDMONDS Edmond (perpetual commissioner for taking acknowledgements of deeds by married women and oaths in chancery), Newent

Kelly's 1879
http://www.forest-of-dean.net/kellys/Newent_1879.htm
The Holts, the property and residence of Edmund Edmonds, esq.

Onslow Capt. Andrew, Stardens
Onslow Capt. George, Stardens
Onslow William A. Stardens

1871 Newent
Richard Teley Ambers 68 Magistrate
Andrew George Ambers 42
Mary Onslow 38
Andrew Richard Onslow 7 Months
Mary Clearlotte Onslow 37
William Arthur Onslow 33

Name: Richard Foley Onslow
Estimated birth year: abt 1805
Year of Registration: 1879
Quarter of Registration: Jan-Feb-Mar
Age at Death: 74
District: Newent
County: Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire
Volume: 6a
Page: 194

1881 Stardens
Andrew G. Onslow abt 1831 Oxenhall, Gloucestershire, England Head Newent, Gloucestershire
Mary Onslow abt 1833 Monckton, Pembrokeshire, Wales Wife Newent, Gloucestershire
Andrew R. Onslow abt 1871 Newent, Gloucestershire, England Son Newent, Gloucestershire
John G. Onslow abt 1873 Mitcheldean, Gloucestershire, England Son Newent, Gloucestershire
William Onslow abt 1875 Hertland, Hereford, England Son Newent, Gloucestershire
George A. Onslow abt 1876 Upton Bishop, Hereford, England Son Newent, Gloucestershire

I am trying to track down information concerning a business scandal that occurred in Newent in the 1870's.

Specifically, I have a letter by Frederick Thomson, who had resided at Caswell Manor (my great, great grandfather) to his son Sidney Thomson in Australia in the 1880's about this scandal.

In this letter he states that Onslow (possibly a solicitor) took him for 15,000 to 20,000 pounds and took many other farmers for large amounts.

The key wording on this matter in the letter is as follows:

"Old Edmonds gone to rack and at last paid one shilling in the pound. He took a great many in, one of them for 10,000 pounds. They have all left Newent and I would or should like very much to go to England to see him hanged which would be about too good for him".

Frederick Thomson is writing this letter from the US.

Any information on this event would be greatly appreciated.

Regards

Brian Henry