Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.


Messages - Peter Golding

Pages: [1]
1
Suffolk / Re: Gamekeepers Murder between 1871 and 1881
« on: Wednesday 29 July 15 16:45 BST (UK)  »
Louisa Brundle ( my grandmother)  was an excellent cook and made her own bread, cakes, jams, preserves & pickles mostly from the produce of her garden at Scole. She also bought game from a local poacher Joe Whistlecraft (who was prosecuted (unsuccessfully I might add) for the shooting of a local gamekeeper but the police could not find the murder weapon (allegedly Joe's gun ) My aunt Mary ( a child at the time ) was called as a witness to the  Old Bailey as she had seen Joe entering Burgate Wood with his gun and returning without it. Joe was found not guilty but apparently he did not hold a grudge against the Brundles and took over the role as gamekeeper (thereby literally turning from poacher to gamekeeper) or so my mother said. For years we thought this was a family story but my mother insisted it was all true. One of my brothers was shocked to find the BBC made a docu about famous unsolved murder mysteries and the Burgate Wood was included in it. I did not see that programme but believe this to be true. Moreover another brother tried to find evidence online but couldn’t. He insisted that she must have got the name of the local poacher wrong but one day I did find someone reminiscing about Joe Whistlecraft & he repeated many of the same stories including the allegation that he had got away with murdering the gamekeeper (so it was common knowledge apparently) Of course I can’t find this account no matter how I try but there should be enough places to look given the amount of detail I have supplied. Joe was a recidivist and went to gaol for poaching countless times. The person reminiscing told a story of how on one occasion he escaped from arrest so that he could get a quick drink before going off to prison.  My mother said that when he used to say: time for a haircut, he was off to prison for the umpteenth time. She added he always carried a gun & had two very obedient dogs. 

Pages: [1]