William Grover Bignell

William Bignell was convicted of the murder of his girlfriend, 37-year-old Margaret Legg and sentenced to death. He cut her throat in a field near Tetbury, Long Newnton on 25 October 1924. William Bignell had entered the army aged 16 as a drummer boy and saw service abroad. In 1917 when at home he made the acquaintance of Margaret Legg who he believed to be a single woman although she was married. He lived with her for a fortnight and said that afterwards he believed that he had caught a certain disease from her which necessitated him going into hospital. However, it was also noted that his medical sheet shewed a continues history of attacks of gonorrhoea and syphilis, about 17 entries. William Bignell was later discharged from the army for misconduct in January 1923. xxx3xxx Following his discharge he appeared to have been unemployed and to have made some kind of attempt to drown himself in March 1923 after which he was admitted to the workhouse at Dursley where he remained until August 1924. Following his release in August 1924 he was again admitted in September 1924, and then discharged on 23 October 1924. Margaret Legg lived in Florence Street in Swindon where her husband was employed as a steam waggon steersman, and had one child but didn’t seem happy with her home and wrote to William Bignell whilst he was in the workhouse in affectionate terms and asked him to come and lodge with her and her husband under some pretence and that later she would go away with him. The letters showed that Margaret Legg was much infatuated with him and had been urging him to come to Swindon and status as a lodger at her house, she having 'pitched a tale' to her husband to account for him. The letters were later found on William Bignell, and it was found that she had stated that if her husband made difficulties about his lodging with them that she would run away with him. However, Margaret Legg's husband stated that he had never seen William Bignell and knew nothing whatever about him, and adding that he and his wife lived happily together and had done so for the previous 17 years. However, later on the day of his leaving the workhouse, 23 October 1924, William Bignell went to Margaret Legg's house where she introduced him to her neighbour saying that he was the man that she was going to go away with. The neighbour however told her not to be a fool, but Margaret Legg then said, in William Bignell's hearing, that if she didn't go with him she would commit suicide. On 25 October 1924, she told the neighbour that she really loved William Bignell and was leaving her home with him. xxx4xxx They left Swindon and went to Tetbury, about 20 miles away, arriving that evening. They went to the Fox Inn for about an hour, where they were seen by a man, leaving around 9.55pm. By 10.30pm he had killed her in a field about half a mile from the pub, at which time the man that saw them in the Fox Inn saw William Bignell in Tetbury alone. After he went back to the market place in Tetbury where he met a policeman and asked him to direct him to lodgings for the night. He was given the names of two places but later returned to say that he could take neither. The policeman then asked him where he came from and he said Wootton-under-Edge which was about 10 miles away and the policeman told him to pull himself together and walk there. William Bignell told the policeman that he was not going to do that for any man and told him that he would have to take him in but the policeman said that he had done nothing for him to be taken in for and so William Bignell told him that he had killed a woman and offered to take him and show him the body. He was heard to say: xxxqxxx Where is the police station? They shall lock me up. They will have to lock me up. I have killed a bloody woman. xxxqxxx Then the policeman asked him whether he knew what he was saying, he replied: xxxqxxx Yes, it is true. If you will come with me I will shew you. I cut her throat with a razor in a field past the railway station. xxxqxxx The policeman then called over two civilians and they all went off along Malmesbury Road towards Long Newnton to the field near the top of Fox Hill where they found Margaret Legg dead under a hedge lying on her back with her throat cut. The policeman then had the two civilians watching the body and took William Bignell to the police station. xxx2xxx They found that she had had her throat cut with force from behind and had a knotted handkerchief tied around her neck with the knot in the front. a bloodstained razor, that had belonged to Margaret Legg's husband, was found close to the body. After finding the body, William Bignell said: xxxqxxx Mag, Mag. Oh, she is dead, now do you believe me. xxxqxxx Whilst being taken to Malmsbury Police Station the superintendent warned William Bignell to be careful when getting out of the car or he might fall and William Bignell said 'I shall have a longer drop than that, and the sooner the better'. At his trial, his only defence was a suggestion of insanity, but there was no evidence of any importance to support it. There was no recommendation to mercy and his appeal was dismissed. It appeared that his defence had included a long statement regarding the venereal diseases from which he had suffered having made him impotent, and that for that reason he was anxious not to let Margaret Legg elope with him, but that she had insisted in doing so and that when they had arrived at the field she had laid down and asked him to have connection with her, but that he knew he couldn't and in a moment of exasperation he had cut her throat. However, both his appeal was dismissed and the police report stated that his story was not sufficient grounds for any interference in his sentence. He was executed at Shepton Mallet by Thomas Pierrepoint on 24 February 2025. xxx1xxx