The sufferer was identified by a lot of names over time together with Madame le Grys, Mary Kathleen Douglas Hamilton, Holly Ingram, and Madame X
After an evening out on the native cinema Kate Jackson was discovered gravely injured and bleeding exterior her Mumbles bungalow. The 43-year-old was taken to hospital however couldn’t be saved, and police launched a homicide investigation.
However there are even questions as to who precisely Kate Jackson was, for she appeared to have lived a vibrant life and been identified by a lot of names over time together with Madame le Grys, Mary Kathleen Douglas Hamilton, Madame Humber, Ethel M Dell, Holly Ingram, and Madame X.
Kate Jackson, identified to buddies as Molly, spent the night of February 4, 1929, on the cinema in Mumbles along with her neighbour Olive Dimmick. After the movie they walked residence, reaching their bungalows on Plunch Lane at round 10pm.
Shortly after getting residence Mrs Dimmick heard screams and when she went exterior to search out her buddy mendacity on the ground in a pool of blood near the again door of her bungalow which was generally known as Kenilworth. Her husband, Thomas, was beside her attempting to select her up.
Collectively they had been capable of get the injured lady contained in the bungalow and Mr Jackson went to discover a cellphone to name for a physician whereas Mrs Dimmick dressed her buddy’s head wounds.
When Dr Taylor arrived on the scene he started to deal with Mrs Jackson and requested her what had occurred and who had carried out it to her. Her solely reply was “Gorse”, which she repeated a lot of instances. Mr Jackson informed the physician his spouse had been receiving threatening letters. Learn concerning the thriller loss of life of a ‘respectable’ younger maid which has by no means been solved
Mrs Jackson was subsequently taken by taxi to Swansea Hospital the place she survived for anther six days slipping out and in of consciousness earlier than passing away. She was by no means capable of give an account of what occurred to her. Police started a homicide investigation, and detectives from Scotland Yard had been drafted in to help.
Press reviews on the time observe that Mr Jackson appeared eager to speak to the police and reporters – and he offered fairly a story.
He stated the couple had met within the Lyons Nook Home cafe in Piccadilly, London in 1919, and had married a short while later at Camberwell registry workplace. He stated his new spouse was fluent in French and was additionally acquainted with Russian, Italian and Dutch.
He stated: “I’m satisfied my spouse should have been introduced up in luxurious environment, and huge sums on cash expended on her training. She usually informed me of her days as a woman at a university in Brussels”.
He stated his spouse had a “a peculiar vainness” and insisted he have a title, so he assumed the identify Captain Gordon Ingram for the wedding and he or she turned Mrs Ingram. The husband stated he believed his spouse had been born in India and was the youngest daughter of the Duke of Abercorn. By no means miss a Swansea story by signing as much as our e-newsletter right here
It appeared the couple moved to a farm within the nation the place “Mrs Ingram” led folks to imagine she was the reclusive romantic novelist Ethel M Dell. She was famous to obtain common envelopes containing money, although the supply of the funds was unknown.
The couple married for a second time in 1922 in Cardiff – this time beneath their actual names – and adopted a baby, Betty, who Mr Jackson stated was the “nice ardour” of his spouse’s life. He stated he had no thought who the mother and father of the kid had been however stated when she was small a parcel of “woollies” had arrived for her via the submit from “a distinguished peer of the realm”.
In 1924 the couple moved to Swansea and lived initially in Rhondda Avenue earlier than shifting to a big and well-appointed bungalow in Mumbles – The Laurels – the place Mrs Jackson preferred to entertain.
When police discovered Mrs Jackson’s delivery certificates exhibiting she was really referred to as Kate Atkinson and was the daughter of a labourer from Lancashire, Mr Jackson stated his spouse had informed him she had purchased that certificates and determine from a girl who was emigrating to Australia. He informed police “My spouse is a thriller to me.”
He additionally stated his spouse “lived a lifetime of terror” and there was “somebody of whom she went in perpetual worry”. He produced nameless letters she had obtained over the earlier 18 months which stated “we’re watching you and we are going to get you” and referred to as her “a robber of employee’s cash” and which threated to “tar and feather” her. The letters referred to Mrs Jackson as “Piccadilly Lilly” and had been famous to have been posted in Swansea. Learn concerning the brutal homicide of a Swansea man which has been unsolved fore 70 years
It appeared neither particular person within the marriage labored and the couple’s solely supply of revenue had been these envelopes of money which continued to reach till 1927 when a person Mrs Jackson knew by the identify of Mr Harrison went on trial on the Previous Bailey for embezzling funds from the union he ran, the Nationwide Affiliation of Coopers. Mrs Jackson gave proof on the trial although her identify was by no means revealed in courtroom and he or she was solely referred to in proceedings as “Madame X”.
Following the conviction and jailing of Harrison, the Jacksons offered The Laurels to grasp belongings for the Coopers union and the couple bought the extra modest Kenilworth bungalow. On the time Limeslade was a fairly distant a part of Swansea and Plunch Lane was a tough and unmade highway with the fields on both aspect dotted with bungalows.
It was round this time that Mr Jackson – who as much as that time didn’t seem to have a job – discovered employment in Swansea as a “fish hawker”.
Police gathered proof from buddies and neighbours of the Jacksons, a few of whom testified to Mrs Jackson’s worry of some unknown particular person and to her concern at an unknown automobile seen on Plunch Lane. Mrs Dimmick stated she knew her buddy had a revolver which she stored for defense. In the meantime an examination of the crime scene had turned up damaged glass from a big flask or jar close to the again door – which it was presumed was the homicide weapon – however few different leads.
Nevertheless it was Thomas Jackson who was the police’s prime suspect, and he was subsequently arrested and charged with the homicide of his spouse. In July 1929 he went on trial on the Glamorgan Assizes sitting in Swansea’s Guildhall.
Press reviews on the time famous the big public curiosity within the case, with folks queuing for hours to safe a seat within the public gallery.
After a week-long trial the jury took simply half-an-hour to search out Jackson not responsible, a verdict which was met applause, a “rousing cheer” and “cries of ‘Good Previous Tom!'” from the gallery. On the shut of the trial the acquitted man apparently hoped on a practice to Cardiff to attend a greyhound racing occasion.
The homicide of Kate Jackson stays unsolved.
