A Victorian Murder: Scotland Yard’s Jonathan Whicher Comes to The Rescue in Rode, Wiltshire

It was thought that perhaps Francis had awoken to find Elizabeth in bed with her lover and had needed to be silenced but there was no apparent evidence to link Elizabeth to the murder and so, as time passed, the local magistrates became impatient for a result and eventually made an application to the Home Office to get some help in solving the heinous crime.  The magistrates’ wishes were granted in the form of ‘Whicher of the Yard’!

Although Scotland Yard had been around for some years, the Detective Branch was a relative newcomer, having been formed in 1842 and Jonathan Whicher was one of the original members so was highly respected.

It became apparent upon further digging and delving that there were signs of madness within the Kent family.  Although Samuel’s first wife had eventually died of a bowel complaint, it seemed that she had become more and more mentally disturbed following each of the ten births – not surprising really; she’d spent several years basically as a brood mare and had practically managed to provide a football team!

Because Mary the First had been unstable, Samuel had found it necessary to employ a governess, Mary Drew Pratt who, following Mary the First’s death, became wifey number two and, following in the Kent family tradition had borne several children including young Francis.  It had been thought that Samuel had in fact begun an affair with Mary the Second before Mary the First had departed this earth.

Again, in order to assist Mary the Second with keeping control of the family, Elizabeth Gough had been employed as a nursemaid.

As it was obvious that Samuel had a voracious sexual appetite it was considered at one stage that maybe Samuel had been having an affair with Elizabeth Gough and had been caught in flagrante by Francis and so Samuel and Elizabeth had done away with the poor child between them, but again there was no evidence to support this.

Whicher it seemed had his suspicions that the murderer was 16 year old Constance Kent.  He became concerned that a night dress belonging to her had gone missing and he was of a mind that this night dress may have been hidden or destroyed possibly due to it being blood stained.  Constance had had the opportunity to take a clean nightgown from the laundry basket and blame the shortage of alternative nightwear on the local washer woman who did the household’s laundry.  After all it would have been a ‘peasant’s’ word against that of the daughter of a well respected citizen.  Whicher reported his suspicions to the magistrates as he considered there was other circumstantial evidence and the magistrates, in turn, ordered Constance’s arrest and gave Whicher seven days to prepare the case against her.

Samuel, not unnaturally, provided the best Counsel he could afford to represent his daughter and this barrister performed his duties well. Constance was released on bail and the case was later dropped.

The reaction in the newspapers was sympathetic to Constance and Whicher was heavily criticised.   The nightdress was never found and Whicher returned to London.

Following the trial of Constance, the nursemaid, Elizabeth Gough was subsequently arrested and tried but, once again, it failed due to a lack of substantial evidence.

Although Whicher never regained his good reputation, five years after the murder, in April 1865, after some time abroad and a period of contemplation at a religious institution in Brighton, Constance visited Bow Street Magistrates Court and actually confessed to the murder.  She claimed that the motive had been to exact revenge against her step mother for her treatment of Constance’s mother.  She was sentenced to death but this sentence was eventually commuted to 20 years’ penal servitude.  So, it seems, Whicher of the Yard had been correct in his assumptions!