John Crossland

John Crossland was convicted of the murder of his 35-year-old wife Ellen Crossland and sentenced to death.

He killed her at 22 Prince Albert Street, Blackburn on 8 May 1919.

John Crossland had been a labourer but had served for a short time in the Militia in South Africa during the Boer War and at the end of August 1914 he was drafted to France from the Reserve. However, he was only in France for about a month and later told the police that he didn’t take part in any fighting and was invalided home on account of head and ear trouble and discharged as medically unfit.

He married Ellen Crossland in 1904 and had five children by her.

It was noted that he had a lengthy criminal record, which showed that he had twice been charged with assaulting Ellen Crossland in 1905, and again in 1908 and again in May 1918.

In addition he got three months' imprisonment in May 1909 for cruelty to his children, as well as several charges against him for deserting his wife and neglecting his family when Orders had from time to time been made for maintenance.

In May 1918, an order was made for payment of 25/- a week, but he got into arrears and after several adjournments, he was sentenced to two months' imprisonment on 4 January 1919.

He was released on 28 February 1919 and at once resumed co-habitation with Ellen Crossland at 22 Prince Albert Street.

His full criminal record is as follows:

1. Blackburn: 2 February 1905 - Assault on wife: Fined 10/- and costs.
2. Blackburn: 6 October 1905 - Assault on wife: Fined 10/- and costs.
3. Blackburn: 22 November 1905 - Wife desertion etc: Order of 5/- a week.
4. Blackburn: 28 April 1908 - Drunk and disorderly: Fined 5/- and costs.
5. Blackburn: 28 April 1908 - Assault on wife: Boundover.
6. Blackburn: 5 August 1908 - Assault: Fined 20/- and costs.
7. Blackburn: 7 May 1909 - Cruelty to children: 3 months.
8. Blackburn: 1 April 1910 - Wife desertion etc: Order of 5/- a week.
9. Blackburn: 23 March 1911 - Wife desertion etc: Order of 5/- a week.
10. Blackburn: 6 June 1911 - Neglect of family: 1 month.
11. Blackburn: 20 December 1911 - Wife desertion etc: Order of 7/- a week.
12. Blackburn: 13 June 1913 - Neglect of family: 1 month.
13. Blackburn: 30 November 1916 - Absent from regiment: Handed over to escort.
14. Blackburn: 6 May 1918 - Assault on wife: Boundover (6 months).
15. Blackburn: 6 May 1918 - Application for order to be increased: Order of 25/- a week.
16. Blackburn: 4 January 1919 - Maintenance arrears: 1 month consecutive.
17. Blackburn: 4 January 1919 - Maintenance arrears: 1 month.

It was heard that on 1 May 1919 that John Crossland learnt from his 13-year-old son that whilst he had been in prison that a man had been visiting Ellen Crossland, his son telling him that the man had stayed one night and had slept on the sofa downstairs.

The police report noted that whether it was true or not that the man had stayed, John Crossland had believed it, and he believed that Ellen Crossland's pregnancy at that time was due to him.

However, it was later noted that the post mortem on Ellen Crossland revealed that the foetus was only 4 or 5 weeks old and therefore may well have bene the result of John Crossland's co-habitation after he was released from prison.

It was heard that on 1 May 1919 that John Crossland taxed Ellen Crossland, saying, 'You know bloody well that man stopped seven weeks', to which Ellen Crossland called him a liar and John Crossland struck her with his fists on the face and said , 'I'll swing for thee yet'.

They were separated during that quarrel by a neighbour, who confirmed the son's evidence regarding the quarrel, as well as another similar quarrel the following day, 2 May 1919.

Following the second quarrel John Crossland left Ellen Crossland and went to live in a lodging house, and on 6 May 1919 he took out a summons for the revocation of the maintenance order on the grounds of Ellen Crossland's adultery.

At 5am on 8 May 1919, John Crossland got up and went to 22 Prince Albert Street, where he met his eldest daughter coming out, and told her that he was just going in to get his Army identity papers which would enable him to draw about £9 and which were kept in a cupboard in the kitchen downstairs.

It was noted that he had been wearing army boots at the time when he had entered the house, but that it had appeared that he had then taken them off before going upstairs and attacking Ellen Crossland in her bed.

A son that had been sleeping in the same room as Ellen Crossland said that he had been awakened by a scuffle and saw John Crossland on top of Ellen Crossland, fighting her and striking her. He said that he then heard Ellen Crossland make a snoring and then a hissing noise, and that when that finished that he heard John Crossland say, 'You've stopped your whoring now, Nellie'.

He said that John Crossland then went out of the room and returned in his stockinged feet carrying his boots, which he then put on, along with his cap, and went away.

The son said that some hours later, as Ellen Crossland didn't move, that he shook her, and discovered that she was dead.

It was later determined that Ellen Crossland had been strangled by great pressure on the throat after a considerable struggle. However, she was also found to have had three punctured wounds, one on her forehead and two on the back of her head, each of which reached and scratched the bone.

The surgeon that later made the post mortem said that the three wounds had been caused by some weapon, and that they could not have been caused by knocking her head against the bedstead.

No weapon was in fact found.

However, it was noted that the three wounds themselves could not have caused death, which was due to suffocation.

After the murder, John Crossland went to stay with his half-sister, who he asked to get him 2oz of oxalic acid, however, she refused, and advised him to give himself up, which he did the following day.

At his trial, his defence was that of manslaughter by reason of the provocation that he had received.

He gave evidence himself, stating that when he had gone to the house, meaning to get his papers, that Ellen Crossland had called out, 'What the bloody hell are you doing here? I've burnt your bloody papers', and that he had run up the stairs and found her standing on her bed and that they got to fighting and that she struck him and tried to kick him and that he got hold of her by the legs and that in falling she must have bumped her head on the bed stocks.

He denied striking her and said that he must have got hold of her throat and stuck too long.

He denied having said, 'You've stopped your whoring now, Nellie'.

When he was pressed on his story by the judge, he said that he had gone upstairs meaning to lick his wife, noting that he meant to lick her and not kill her. He also tried to explain that the fact that he had been in his stockinged feet was because he had had no laces in his boots and that one of his boots had come off whilst he had run up the stairs and that he had then pulled the other off.

It was noted that the papers in question were later found in a box in a cupboard where they were always kept, and that as such, the police report stated that it was thought that his story could be dismissed as untrue.

The police report stated that the police were of the opinion that John Crossland had undoubtedly gone to the house meaning to attack Ellen Crossland, and that he had taken off his boots and his coat, it being noted that he was in his shirt sleeves when seen attacking her, with that purpose in mind.

However, the jury recommended him to mercy, it being noted that whilst his counsel had disclaimed any appeal to the 'unwritten law', that it was thought that the jury had had that in mind when they recommended him to mercy.

However, the police report noted that it was not the case of a man whose wife had been unfaithful whilst he was away fighting and that in the circumstances, stated that they could not see that he had any claim whatever to her fidelity.

The police report noted that they were likely also to see many more similar cases, citing that of Thomas Foster, who was at the time before the Court of Appeal after having cut his wife's throat after accusing her of being unfaithful to him. It was similarly noted that he too had often assaulted his wife who was in turn described as a hard-working respectable woman. However, Thomas Foster was also executed.

It was noted that in February 1918 that a letter was written to a judge, stating, 'It may be found that the only way of checking the growth of this crime is to allow the extreme penalty to be carried out in one or more cases, but if so, I shall be able to take that course with more general acceptance if the crime is committed after a solemn warning from the Bench that it will be severely dealt with'.

John Crossland didn't appeal his sentence, however, a petition was set up that received over 5,000 signatures.

The police report however recommended allowing the case to go to execution.

John Crossland was executed at Liverpool on 22 July 1919.

Prince Albert Street has since been demolished, but ran along the route of the Nova Scotia Retail Park closest to the retail units, roughly southwest to northeast.