THE AMINGTON MURDER MYSTERY
WAS IT PLUMS OR ORANGES?
My Mother, who died aged 93, and was brought up in Amington, Staffordshire, claimed to have been wakened as a baby by Reg Hinds shooting Ada Perry; and her father discovering the body after treading on some plums.
LOVE, DEATH AND PLUMS IN AMINGTON -
Sometime before the First World War my grandfather, the churchwarden James Starkey, left his house 'The Home of the Martyrs' on the Green to unlock St Editha's Church. It was early October, the day after the Tamworth Statutes Fair, and still dark. Halfway across the Green he found himself treading on something squashy, and then stumbled into something soft. Lighting a 'lucifer' he discovered the body of a young girl face down in a pool of blood surrounded by a scatter of plums, which is what he had first trodden on.
She was Ada, a dairy maid at the Sillito's, and had been shot through the heart by a shotgun. After a search the Sillito cowman had difficulty opening the cowshed privy door, and when forced the body of Reg Hinds, also employed by the Sillitos, slumped out, dead by his own shotgun.
The inquest at the 'Pretty Pigs', where Reg and Ada were laid out side by side in the upper room (as my great great grandfather Jack Archer was after being cut to bits by the Manchester express on Amington crossing) established that they had been 'courting' for some time, but Ada had gone to the ‘Statchets’ Fair in Tamworth without him, and returning with the plums she had bought was waylaid by him from behind a tree on the Green and shot in a fit of jealousy.
Unfortunately, not knowing the exact date, I have been unable to find the reports of this tragedy or the inquest in the back issues of 'The Herald' -
In 2005 the ‘Tamworth Herald’ published a letter of mine:
This generated quite a voluminous correspondence (the ‘Tamworth Herald’ was a real newspaper I those days), and became known as the ‘Amington Murder Mystery’. I eventually solved it, and the details, interesting in themselves, also show the fallibility of oral tradition in that practically all the details handed down to my mother were wrong; but the incident did happen.
AMINGTON MURDER MYSTERY SOLVED
Some weeks ago I appealed in the ‘Herald’ for information on a double death on the Green, Amington that had been discovered by my grandfather sometime around the First World War. I had some interesting feedback and a diary entry giving the date as 1918. Unfortunately many hours spent searching the ‘Herald’ produced nothing. I then adopted a different tactic and looked for the death certificate of Reg Hinds. Eventually I found a Reginald P Hind aged 19 who’s death was registered in the autumn of 1913 at Tamworth.
With a definite date I was able to locate the ‘Herald’ report of December 13th 1913 – Tragedy at Amington – Miner and Girl Found Shot – Inquests: Verdicts of “Murder” and “Suicide”. This was very surprising, as it transpired almost all the details passed down by word of mouth through my family were wrong! My mother as a new-
The truth is just a small forgotten rural tragedy of love, betrayal, jealously, revenge and suicide.
At 11pm on Saturday 6th December 1913 William Allsopp, a market gardener, was going home across the Green when he stumbled across something. Striking a match he discovered the body of Ada Elizabeth Perry (20) lying on her back across the footpath round the St Editha’s church, in a pool of blood, with her face covered with a white scarf. Allsopp raised a hue and cry involving neighbours, the police, and the local doctor that went on all night. Shortly after 8am Mr Sillito of the farm on the Green found his missing shotgun in his barn, and a trail of blood led the police to the body of Reginald Percy Hinds (19) lying in the centre of Sillito’s rick yard.
Both bodies were laid out side by side in the upper room of the Pretty Pigs, where the inquests took place on Wednesday the 10th December. It was established that Ada, a maid at the Sillito’s, and Reg, who had also worked for them, had been courting for about four months, but had fallen out the previous Wednesday ‘because people had been telling tales about her’.
On the Saturday Ada had spent the evening in Tamworth with her mother Mary Anne Perry of Glascote, and remained when her mother went home. She was seen approaching the Green at 10 to 10 pm swinging a bag of oranges she had bought in Tamworth. Almost immediately a bang was heard, followed by another less than a second later and then a scream. Incredibly this did not arouse any interest, several people saying that they thought it was fog signals on the railway, or local horseplay with fireworks left over from Bonfire Night!
Reg told his father Charles Hinds of Alvecote that he had peered though a window at Sillito’s on Wednesday and seen Ada on the knee of another young man kissing him -
Reg was surmised to have found Mr Sillito’s double barrelled shotgun where he had left it in his trap, and bought the 20 cartridges found on him. He then hid behind the tree on the Green and shot Ada from behind and to her right – the first shot grazed her shoulder and turning, the second entered her jaw and brain killing her instantly. He must have put the scarf over her face. He then went into Sillito’s barn, reloaded the gun, took off his belt, unbuttoned his shirt and waistcoat, shot himself in the stomach, and crawled eight yards into the yard.
In his pocket was found -
Dear Redge –
Just a line hoping to find you well.
Dear Redge will you come down tonight Tuesday. I want to speak to you. I can’t understand you. If you don’t want me come down and tell me, not make a fool of me. I heard you were with a girl last Thursday, I don’t know whether it was true or not, but don’t be afraid to tell me. I saw you in Tamworth on Saturday night and spoke to you, but you were going very sharp.
If you have finished with me I won’t speak to another, this has finished me. I have heard that you said ??? and ??? are always down here, but ??? has never been down here for over a week until this morning, Sunday. I have been told you are offended over the postcard I sent to him. I do think you are unkind, it was only sent for a joke. Dear Redge, I hope you are not offended with me, come cheer up and don’t let a thing like that upset you, but if you have another girl I do hope you will tell me.
I am going to Stafford in another fortnight. I expect something else to upset me. I wish I was out of it altogether I should be better off.
Well, dear Redge, I hope to see you on Tuesday night if it is fine. Well I think this is all this time. Will write again sometime. With kind regards from,
Ada.
The whole village paid their respects to the two of them laid out in the Pretty Pigs, each person touching their foreheads and saying ‘Poor Ada, poor Reg’.
The scene is substantially untouched to this day, 110 years later -