George Frederick Edisbury

George Frederick Edisbury was convicted of the murder of his landlady, 50-year-old Winifred Drinkwater and sentenced to death. He cut her throat at 64 Higher Cambridge Street, Chorlton-on-Medlock on 29 July 1922. George Edisbury had been a painter. He enlisted in August 1914 and in August 1916 he was discharged with a gun-shoot wound and 20% disability pension. Prior to his enlistment George Edisbury had for about 16 years cohabitated with a woman, who during his service received separation allowance. After his discharge from the army George Edisbury cohabited with a married woman, however, it was alleged that he had continued to draw certain monies from the Ministry of Pensions on his representation that the other woman was still dependent upon him. He appeared to have been in steady work since leaving the army, and was said to have been very satisfactory as a workman, but both he and the married woman had been addicted to drink. About three months before the murder, George Edisbury and the married woman went to lodge at 64 Higher Cambridge Street, the house of an old man. In the same house there also lodged Winifred Drinkwater and her husband. however, it was heard that relations between the married woman that Winifred Drinkwater moved in with and Winifred Drinkwater had been strained, as Winifred Drinkwater used to taunt the married woman, alleging that George Edisbury obtained pension money by false pretences and also lived upon the earnings of prostitution. About 3pm on the afternoon of Saturday, 29 July 1922, George Edisbury and the married woman came home more or less drunk. They had a meal in the kitchen, and whilst there, Winifred Drinkwater was said to have taunted the married woman again. George Edisbury and the married woman then went out again about 6pm and appeared to have had more drink. Winifred Drinkwater and her husband also went out to do their shopping. George Edisbury and the married woman later returned about 9pm, and were described as certainly being the worse for drink . About 10pm the married woman said that she heard Winifred Drinkwater calling up the stairs: xxxqxxx Has the army pensioner come, and his tally whore? I'll write up to the War Office and I'll let them know you're getting pension by false pretences, also living on immoral earnings and prostitution. xxxqxxx George Edisbury had been unlacing his boots at the time, and said: xxxqxxx Can you hear that? I can stick this no longer. xxxqxxx He then rushed from the room and found Winifred Drinkwater talking to the landlord on the street by the door. He then cut her throat with a razor that he had brought from his room. All the structures in her neck were severed and she died at once. George Edisbury then ran away and called at about 10.30pm at his brother's house where he asked then to give him a cap and also a cup of tea, which they gave him. He then said: xxxqxxx I have cut a woman's throat. She has been nagging me for days. She said I had been getting a pension by false pretences. She came into my room and I ordered her out. xxxqxxx George Edisbury had been drunk at the time. He then went to his sister's house where he arrived between 12 midnight and 1am. He said: xxxqxxx I've come to say goodbye. I might as well tell you. I have cut a woman's throat. I don't know whether she is dead or not. I have stuck it for weeks and I can't stick it any longer, that I'm living on prostitution and getting my pension by false pretences. xxxqxxx His sister said that he was very drunk and that he lay on the floor and went to sleep until the police called and arrested him at 9am the next morning. When he was arrested, he said: xxxqxxx It's all right, I won't cause any trouble. I made a mistake last night. xxxqxxx He was sober by that time. In his evidence, George Edisbury denied a good deal of the other witnesses' evidence as to Winifred Drinkwater having been on bad terms with him. He said: xxxqxxx I was very friendly with her. I never had any unkindness from her. xxxqxxx He said that he had had a good deal to drink and that he could not remember much. He also said: xxxqxxx What falling out there was between the married woman and Winifred Drinkwater. xxxqxxx At the trial, the defence made for him was that the charge should be reduced to manslaughter, either on the ground of provocation, or , secondly, on the ground of drunkenness. When the judge summed up, it was said that he put the case very fairly for George Edisbury, but it was clear that no provocation which he had received, it being noted that he had himself denied having received any provocation, could amount to provocation in law, as it was merely verbal. Further, it was noted that his remarks at the two houses at which he called later in the evening showed that he was not too drunk to know what he had been doing. Also, he seemed to have remarked just after he cut Winifred Drinkwater's throat: xxxqxxx You have been asking for it and now you've got it. xxxqxxx Although it was heard that that was based on the evidence of the landlord, which it was stated was contradictory in places and not at all reliable. George Edisbury was convicted of murder at the Manchester Assizes, with no recommendation to mercy and his appeal was dismissed. The police report to the Home Secretary stated that the case was a sordid one and that it didn't seem that George Edisbury's drunken condition was such to entitle him to a reprieve on the ground that he didn't know what he was doing, and that such drunken crimes could be best kept in check by letting the law take its course. George Edisbury was executed at Manchester on 3 January 1923. On the night of 28th July 1922, forty four year old George Frederick Edisbury returned to his lodgings in Manchester. He had been drinking heavily, and started to argue with his landlady. Mrs Winifred Drinkwater who was fifty disapproved of Edisbury's girlfriend and their general behaviour, both were heavy drinkers, but the main thrust of her argument was that his girlfriend was receiving a pension under false pretences. Losing his temper, Edisbury withdrew a razor and cut Mrs Drinkwater's throat. He was found guilty and sentenced to death at Manchester Assizes by Mr Justice Acton on 27 November. He was hanged on the 3rd January 1923 by John Ellis. The image below is of Chorlton-on-Medwick. There are loads of great pictures from that time here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/manchesterarchiveplus/sets/72157627175165871/detail/?page=1 http://www.flickr.com/photos/manchesterarchiveplus/sets/72157627175165871/detail/?page=2 http://www.flickr.com/photos/manchesterarchiveplus/sets/72157627175165871/detail/?page=3 Age:- 44 Date of Execution:- Wednesday, 3rd January, 1923 Location of Execution:- Manchester Hangman:- John Ellis Assistants:- Not Known Tried At:- Manchester Trial Dates:- 27th November, 1922 Trial Judge:- Mister Justice Acton Crime:- Murder Victims:- Name:- Winifred Drinkwater Age:- 50 Location of Murder:- 64 Higher Cambridge Street, Chorlton-on-Medlock Date of Murder:- Saturday, 29th July, 1922 Method of Murder:- Cut Throat Relationship to Killer:- None