Valentine's DAY murder 1863 by David Day 21 March 2010Does anyone have any information on the murder of Mary Ann Day at 14 Rock Street Kemptown or trials of her murder?3 replies Re: Valentine's DAY murder 1863 by Andy Grant 22 March 2010Hi David, The British Library Newspaper museum at Colindale may be able to help with newspaper enquiries. ESRO is the East Sussex Records Office (do a google search) at Lewes. None of these records are available on the internet and you may need to pay for searches and copies if you cannot go there yourself. Regards Andy Re: Valentine's DAY murder 1863 by Andy Grant 22 March 2010Hi David, The murder of Mary Ann Day occurred on Sunday 22nd February 1863 (not Valentine’s Day). She had been conducting a relationship with William Sturt, a painter and decorator, with a view to marriage and securing her family’s financial future. Her own situation had previously been somewhat parlous, described in court as living in one room at 14, Rock Street in a “most uncomfortable and miserable state….her whole family being in a state of wretchedness and poverty”. Sturt, who was both respectable and had financial security, had become infatuated with her and openly stated his desire to marry her and provide for the family. At around 10 am, on the morning of the 22nd, he had called at her house and given her a meat pie purchased from a shop in George Street. Prior to this she had only had bread and some gin. She died later that day and a post mortem examination established considerable quantities of white powdered arsenic in her stomach, considered to have been administered not more than 24 hours previously but more likely shortly before death. However, whilst it was inferred that the poison was in the pie, it could not be proved beyond doubt. After a trial of over 9 hours at Lewes, Sturt was found not guilty by the jury.The Brighton newspapers of the time carried extensive coverage of the case and I would imagine ESRO have copies of the proceedings, should you wish to pursue the matter further.Regards Andy Re: Valentine's DAY murder 1863 by david 22 March 2010Andy thanks for your reply and correction on the date. Not being local to Brighton am not sure what ESRO is or how to contact them as copies of newspaper articles would be interesting Add your replyHiddenAdd your title Add your wordsWould you like to add some images (optional)? If so, how many images would you like to add? 1 2 3 4 5 6Your image files will be uploaded when you submit this form. They should be .jpg or .png files. The maximum filesize is 5Mb.First imageAccepted file types: jpg, jpeg, png, gif.FileTitleSecond imageAccepted file types: jpg, jpeg, png, gif.FileTitleThird imageAccepted file types: jpg, jpeg, png, gif.FileTitleFourth imageAccepted file types: jpg, jpeg, png, gif.FileTitleFifth imageAccepted file types: jpg, jpeg, png, gif.FileTitleSixth imageAccepted file types: jpg, jpeg, png, gif.FileTitleAbout youFinally, please tell us a few details about you, so we can contact you about your contribution if we need to. We won't use your contact details for any other purpose.Your name First Last Your e-mail address* SubmitThat's all. Thanks very much. You now just need to agree to our Terms of Use and press the Submit button. After that, please wait until your contribution is uploaded. You'll then see a 'Thankyou' page.Terms of Use* I accept this website's Terms of Use (opens in new window) and confirm that the material I am uploading does not infringe the copyright of any third party.Privacy* I consent to my name and e-mail address being stored along with this contribution, and to the website editors communicating with me by e-mail about the contribution if necessary. My name may be published alongside the contribution on the website, but my e-mail address will not be published. My information will not be shared with any third party (see our Privacy Statement - opens in a new window). *Δ Share thisFacebookPinterestTwitterLinkedin
