George William Barton

George William Barton was convicted of the murder of 38-year-old Mary May Palfrey and sentenced to death. He battered her and cut her throat at her ground-floor flat at 12 Bartle Avenue in East Ham, on 22 January 1925. She had been his girlfriend and sister-in-law. Mary Palfrey had been the widow of a corporal in the Grenadier Guards who was killed in 1917 and had two children, a girl aged 13 and a boy aged 10. xxx2xxx George Barton had been a blacksmith and a widower, his wife having died about 12 months earlier and had been living at East Ham with his son and his son's wife. Ever since his wife's death George Barton had been courting Mary Palfrey and regularly spent weekends at her home, sleeping in the kitchen. A neighbour said that on 13 January 1925 Mary Palfrey told her that she was going to marry George Barton, noting that she had appeared quite happy about it and didn't seem to be afraid of him. On 16 January 1925 Mary Palfrey and George Barton visited Mary Palfrey's brother at Woxham, Norfolk and stayed the weekend, and the brother later stated that they had seemed to have been on good terms and that he thought they were married. However, after their return on Monday 19 January 1925, they appeared to be quarrelling about something and according to the children, George Barton was heard to say: xxxqxxx You will do it. xxxqxxx And when she refused: xxxqxxx I’ll make you. xxxqxxx Mary Palfrey was also heard crying. On the morning of 22 January 2025, after the children left for school at about 8.45am, George Barton attacked Mary Palfrey in the kitchen and when her son returned home about noon he found her on the floor. She had a severe head wound, her skull being fractured by a piece of iron tubing that was found under a mattress. Her throat had also been cut to the bone with a razor that was found on a chair. There were also signs of a slight struggle having taken place in the kitchen. George Barton was seen leaving about 10am by a neighbour. On 23 January 1925, George Barton's son received a letter-card from him that read: xxxqxxx I have only revenged Florrie's name. Mary deserves all she got. I am off abroad on Saturday with a friend, so cheer up. Ever your Dad, WB. xxxqxxx Two days later he walked into Vine Street Police Station, saying he had seen in the papers that police were looking for him. He said: xxxqxxx I know nothing of the actual crime. I was getting married to her on 5th February this year. That is what one gets with mixing with whores. This looks black for me. She deserves what she got. xxxqxxx However, he soon after admitted hitting her with a metal bar and then cutting her throat, before walking out. In his statement he said: xxxqxxx I have been visiting Mrs. Palfrey, who is my deceased wife's sister, since the end of January, 1924. I have stopped there during the holidays, and at the week-ends. We have been away for holidays with the children. I stayed the Christmas week from Christmas Eve till the following Tuesday morning. I also stayed from Friday, January 16, until the morning of January 22. We went out every night to a music-hall or public-house, both as a matter of fact. We had agreed to be married on February 5 at the register office at West Ham. xxxqxxx He subsequently said: xxxqxxx I admit I did it. It was partly through jealousy and the way she served her dead sister. I intended to play the game and go straight with her. I would have married her and treated her all right, but she admitted to me that she had not been straight with me, and that a sailor friend was going to visit her that morning. I lost my temper and hit her on the head and cut her throat, and walked out of the house. xxxqxxx He was tried at the Old Bailey and found guilty of murder with no recommendation to mercy. When he first appeared he was asked whether he was defended and when he said no, he was asked whether he wanted to present his own case or be represented by learned counsel and he elected to be represented. However, as his defence was unfamiliar with the case, he was given half an hour to read the depositions and to interview George Barton. George Barton was reported to have been a heavy drinker, but the Brixton Prison Medical Officer found no signs of insanity. His appeal was dismissed, and the Home Office saw no grounds for interference with the sentence. He was executed on 1 April 1925.