A Murderous Assault at Langsett 1874

On Wednesday 23 September 1874 the Barnsley magistrates heard a case of “murderous assault” brought by Joseph Crossley, a shoemaker and farmer, of Langsett. The perpetrators were all members of his wife’s family, the Mitchells, and they had attacked him on 27 August. There were three men (named as Daniel Mitchell senior, Daniel Mitchell junior and William Mitchell) and two women (Mary Alice Ball and Eliza Mitchell) who stood accused. One newspaper said that “all the parties are related, but for some time have been on unfriendly terms.”

The accused were:

Daniel Mitchell senior: Joseph’s brother-in-law, born in 1834 the son of John Mitchell of Cote, a farm a short walk down the lane from Paw Hill. He was the brother of Mary Crossley, (1825-1919), Joseph’s wife. Daniel was a widower, his wife Mary having died in 1873 at the age of 33. In 1875 he married Mary Alice Ball, one of his co-accused. He’d have been 40 years old when he attacked Joseph.

Daniel Mitchell junior: born in 1842 the son of Daniel Mitchell (1791-1880) and his first wife Eliza. He grew up at Paw Hill Farm, but he lived in Sheffield and Manchester for a while. He was 31 years old at the time of the assault.

William Mitchell: born in 1839 and the brother of Daniel Mitchell junior. He was living at Paw Hill with his wife Eliza when the 1871 census was taken.

Mary Alice Ball: married Daniel Mitchell senior at Penistone in 1875. They lived at Cote Farm.

Eliza Mitchell: born c1840, nee Lawton, of Swinden, Langsett. She was married to William Mitchell.

Joseph had attended a funeral at Thurlstone, and on his way home he called in at a public house at Millhouse Green for a glass of gin, in company with a man called James or Joseph Dyson . A man named George Mitchell was in the pub along with William Mitchell. Dyson went out of the room for a short time and during his absence Crossley said to George Mitchell, “I understand I have driven you away from the Millhouse Club.” William Mitchell then got up hit Joseph with a stick. A scuffle ensued, Joseph knocking William Mitchell to the floor three times. He was allowed to get up again each time, and he eventually left. Joseph set off home soon afterwards, in company with Dyson and George Mitchell. The men walked together as far as “the four lane ends,” Dyson and Mitchell going into a grocer’s shop, leaving Joseph to go on alone.

He had not gone far before he overtook Daniel Mitchell senior and two women, Mary Alice Ball and Eliza Mitchell. Eliza hit Joseph in the face and kicked him, and Mary Alice made threats that she would do him “serious harm.” She also hit him. William Mitchell ran out from behind a wall and hit Joseph again, striking him on the shoulder with his stick. As he was turning round, Daniel Mitchell junior hit him on the side of his head. The two men in the shop heard Joseph’s cries of “murder” and headed off to see what was happening. Joseph’s attackers started throwing stones at them. One of the Mitchells was seen to have his hands one on top of another, and he went behind Joseph and struck him with something sharp, drawing blood. Joseph asked George Mitchell and Dyson to take him home, which they did.

Mr. Leigh, a surgeon, gave evidence in court. It was confirmed that there was a serious wound on the back of Crossley’s head near his left ear, which he thought was inflicted by a sharp instrument, and which went as deep as his skull. The doctor also thought there was danger of infection setting in (erysipelas; a superficial form of cellulitis; a potentially serious bacterial infection affecting the skin). He added that his head was very swollen and that his patient was suffering from “great nervous excitement.” The clothes he had been wearing, which were covered in blood, were also produced. Joseph had been unable to work since the attack. He said that, at first, he thought the attack was “an ordinary assault,” but after the blow to his head he saw that his attackers’ intentions were much more serious, hence the cry of “murder.”

George Mitchell said the quarrel originated through a conversation on “club matters,” adding that he did not know Joseph Crossley to be “of a quarrelsome disposition.”

No witnesses were called for the defence but Mr. Freemen, the defence counsel, said that there was no doubt that Crossley had “rendered himself offensive to the defendants, and they had borne with him [put up with him] for a long time.” He also thought it strange that Joseph had gone to Dr. Ward, who would have nothing to do with the case, sending him instead to Mr. Leigh. The defence was that the group were going peaceably on their way when Crossley came up to them and began to cough and spit. Eliza Mitchell told him to go about his business because they wanted nothing to do with him. It was then alleged that Crossley hit her, and that her husband came to her aid, and that it was Crossley who had taken a stick and begun to strike out with it, and that any attack upon him was purely in self-defence.

The three men were all sentenced to two months in jail, and the two women were fined £2 each plus costs. The men were held overnight in a cell in Barnsley before being taken to the Wakefield House of Correction.

In a twist to this case, William Mitchell died of Smallpox whilst in prison. The Barnsley Independent reported that Daniel Mitchell had also died, but this was incorrect. At the Coroner's Inquest, the prison’s assistant surgeon stated that William was a farmer, aged 33 years of age (he had actually just had his 35th birthday, on 3 October), and that he had been committed to two months’ imprisonment for an assault he carried out with his brother and cousin. William was deemed to have been healthy, but on 2 October he complained of being ill, and was taken off his work as a mat maker in his cell. The following day he was sent to the hospital where he was found to be feverish, and showing symptoms of smallpox, a highly infectious disease. A build-up of fluid on the brain occurred, and he died on Sunday 11 October. Daniel Mitchell also gave evidence at the Inquest; he said that William was his brother, and that he had worked for him during the last harvest and that he took his meals at his house but slept at home. The verdict was that William died from natural causes. I could not find a burial record for him – I am not sure what happened to a body when someone died in prison.

William’s widow Eliza can be found on the 1881 census, still living at Paw Hill, with three children aged 11, 10 and 7, and farming 64 acres.

After leaving prison Daniel senior returned to Coates Farm and married Mary Alice Ball the following year. He died in 1910 aged 76.

Daniel junior was living in Crumpsall, Manchester, when the 1881 census was taken, and in Sheffield in 1891. He lived with his second wife Anna, and died at Thurgoland in 1924 at the age of 81.

Joseph Crossley died at Fulshaw Cross, close to Paw Hill, in 1898 aged 70. His widow split her time between her two surviving children, Ann and George. Ann lived at Daisy Hill, Smallshaw with her husband Ben Bradley, and George was a railway guard living in Openshaw, Manchester. Mary died at Fulshaw Cross on 25 November 1919 at the grand old age of 94. The local newspaper said she was the oldest resident in the district, and could well remember the stage coaches which used to run between Sheffield and Manchester, and when Boardhill was one of the stopping stations. During the Great War she did much knitting for the soldiers. She retained her faculties to the end.

© Claire Pearson December 2024


SOURCES
Newspapers at Findmypast, also available at the British Newspaper Archive
Parish registers at Findmypast and Ancestry
Census returns at Findmypast and Ancestry
Birth and death indexes at the GRO
Marriage indexes at FreeBMD

NOTES
* The newspapers often got their facts wrong, the most obvious being when reporting names. Mary Alice Ball was sometimes referred to as Mary Ann or Mary Eliza. Joseph Crossley’s companion was referred to as both Joseph Dyson and James Dyson. Eliza Mitchell was Elizabeth in one newspaper. I have verified the true names by referring to other sources such as parish registers and census returns.
* Daniel Mitchell senior and Daniel Mitchell junior were not father and son, which is when these titles are normally used, but cousins. These suffixes have been used to denote that one Daniel was older than the other one.
* Cote House was also spelt Coat, Coates and Coit.
* Joseph was a very distant relation of mine - my 2nd cousin 5x removed, to be precise!