Harry Patrick - the convicted murderer

Today we visited Fort Knox!

Otherwise named the ~ Public Records Office~ at Kew, London.

We arrived at a new shiny building set amongst very expensive buildings and Kew Gardens. After the obligatory bag search which we have everywhere we go, we had to register with the Office and have our photographs taken and put onto ID cards.#
next ~ leave everything in lockers

next~ take a pencil (no sharpener) a PRO writing pad through the security and up to the research room.

next ~ we eventually found a record and ordered the documents.


Today's Mission was to find court proceedings about my great grand uncle Harry Patrick, who murdered his girlfriend Rachel Bailey on 22 November 1885.

Was i expecting to find anything ~ no ~ did i find something ~ yes!!!~

We were told that it would take about 30mins and were given a readers seat and coded document locker. When the documents appeared they were put into a glass locker with my code on it. we could then take the documents to the assigned reading chair.

I was expecting to have either:

1. Have to look through a large book for a small entry on Harry
2. Or, to have a few sheets of paper in a small folder.

What i got was a great stack of documents about 10cm high. ALL Harry Patrick's prison files!!!! the witness statements, police and medical records, his hand written pleas to the courts to release him. And Monthly reports from the prison about what he had been doing in prison.

He was also due to be hanged on Monday the 4th of December 1885.

I found a family connection to a family called Cooper.

I had no way of copying this 300 page file which was so brittle that if i had breathed to hard it would have blown away.

I have reserved it again for tomorrow and am going back to photograph the entire contents of the file.

despite the fact that it was old and crumbled and had been handled for many years til 1901, i doubt that it has been opened more than once or twice since! It had practically melted together.

The following are two excerpts from the files:

Police report at trial

"23 November i went to 34 Beckstone Tce, Canningtown, about 1/2 6p.m.... He
said he was just getting himself ready to hand himself in... and that he was
just informing his family in person."

Recommendation for release in 1901

"On the whole i suggest that a merciful view may be taken of his case in
consideration of his contrition and unvarying good conduct.

In 1898 he said he could have a home with his uncle Mr cooper in Canningtown
and a year before his sisters and friends said they would do all to help him
lead a good life and to earn an honest subsistence..."

with the amount there and the hand writing, it was impossible for me to copy any more than that. Hopefully tomorrow i will be able to fully photograph this document so i can study it in more depth.

off now, talk to you all later