Author Guest Post: David John Eason
Murder of Mrs Sarah (Harris) Dormer, at Dial House Farm, Ashow, Warwickshire on Sunday August 29th 1819.
It’s been over two centuries since the body of farmers wife, 59-year-old Mrs Sarah Dormer was discovered by her youngest daughter Mary lying on her bedroom floor almost decapitated, at Dial House Farm, Ashow, Warwickshire on Sunday evening, August 29th 1819, on the Stoneleigh Abbey Estate.
August 29th 1819 wasn’t just a normal Sunday, it was the Ashow village Wake, one of many rural celebrations that littered the English calendar, and as such would have attracted visitors from as far afield as Coventry, the County Town of Warwick, and neighbouring Kenilworth as it did that day. Many of whom would have passed Dial Farm House on their way to the Wake, as some had done and had heard Mary’s scream upon finding her mother’s lifeless body around 7.15pm, and were drawn to the house one of whom was Kenilworth Surgeon, Dr William Boddington.
That day the Dormer family had woken early with excitement in expectation of the Wake later in the day, whilst outside the three farm servants carried out their normal duties including milking, the milk being taken to the house and given to Sarah’s 21-year-old maid servant, Ms Ann Heytrey who had put it in the dairy, she then under Sarah’s direction prepared breakfast for the family Sarah’s husband, locally born, Mr Joeseph Dormer and their six children: Elizabeth, Joseph, James Harris, Harriet, Mary and the youngest John. Back then the eldest son would be named after his father, whereas the second eldest son was the only child given a middle name that being his mother’s maiden name.
After breakfast Ann would have continued with her normal everyday duties, such as collecting the family’s laundry, taking them out into the back garden and putting them in soak in a large tub of soapy water, general cleaning and collecting fire wood from the wood pile at the end of the back garden for the fires. Outside the farm servants had readied Mr Joseph Dormer’s horse on which he rode off towards Coventry where he had arranged to meet two family friends and Coventry maltsters the Bray brothers.
Shortly afterwards Sarah had received two guests at the house, her eldest daughter, Elizabeth’s future husband Mr Thomas Harris, and her second eldest daughter Harriet’s friend Mr William Hinde, who Sarah and her children had dined with which Ann had prepared.
Around 2pm, Mr Joseph Dormer had returned to the farm with the Bray brothers and ridden into the farmyard where they were met by the farm servants, they dismounted and the horses were unsaddled, fed and watered before being stabled, whilst Joseph and the two brothers joined the family and guests and had tea together which Ann had served.
With Joseph returning, the farm servants were dismissed and allowed to go into the village and join in with the festivities at the Wake, as long as one of them returned to the farm for milking, this would fall upon the youngest 9-year-old John Branstone at 5pm, John returned at the Wake at 5:30pm.
It was about 6pm when the family and guests left the house in two parties, the first consisting of Mr Joseph Dormer, Mr Thomas Harris and the two Bray brothers left for the village Wake, whilst Sarah’s children accompanied by Mr William Hinde left to walk towards Kenilworth to visit gentleman farmer, Mr Thomas Aldridge and his wife Mary at Thickthorn Lodge a short walk of no more than 20-mins, and where the author lived between 1970-1974, leaving Sarah and Ann very much alone on the farm.
At 6:30pm, there was a knock on the back door, and when Ann opened it there stood Sarah’s great niece and nephew, 11-year-old, Ann Maria Lee Dormer, and her younger brother, 9-year-old, Joseph Lee Dormer, the children of Mr James Lee Dormer and his wife Elizabeth of nearby Leek Wootton.
Other authors have claimed, not suggested, but claimed as a matter of fact that the two children were scavenging, little did they know or could be bothered to find out their relationship to Sarah and her husband Joseph, but didn’t realise that back then birthdays weren’t celebrated on the day of birth, but on the day of their baptism, and August 29th was young Joseph Lee Dormer’s baptism anniversary!
The children were invited in and given a glass of wine and cucumbers as refreshments, before they left shortly afterwards to visit other local family members, that was the young boys reason for visiting, but what of Ann Maria Lee Dormer, looking after her younger brother, but there was another reason and that was to pass on a message to Ann, but from whom and why?
The children had left the house around 6:45pm via the front door and were last seen heading down the front lane towards Ashow village more the merrier no doubt!
After they left, Sarah and Ann, still alone on the farm went out into the back garden to collect cucumbers for the family’s supper when they returned, with them having being collected Sarah and Ann returned to the house via the back door. Ann took them into the pantry adjacent to the back kitchen and started to cut them up with a few onions, while Sarah came in, walked up the hall way into the front kitchen, as we now call our living rooms. She sat down in her chair in front of the window, put her spectacles on, picked her bible up and began to read from it.
This was just before 7pm as a witness, Ms Elizabeth Jaggard of Leek Wootton had ridden by the front of the house on her way to visit a friend in Ashow village claimed she had seen Sarah sat by the middle window reading a book with spectacles on, this was the last time Sarah was ever seen alive!
Sarah’s children returned home around 7:15pm, and it was her youngest daughter, Mary who discovered her mother’s body lying on her bedroom floor beaten and butchered.
What was to follow could be, in my opinion classified as being one of the worst miscarriages of justice in English history, but I will let you decide!
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