Catch up on the full story of last weeks NEWS
*William Rutherford Benn and the Reverend Julius Benn –
The son who murdered his own father at Matlock ............
The Reverend Benn and his son William arrived in Matlock
Bath on Tuesday 27th February and booked themselves 2 beds and 1
sitting room at the property of Mr George Marchant and his family in Matlock
Bridge. Mr Marchant hired out a coach and
horse and also offered guests a family run place to stay in Matlock. The house was named The Cottage and was
situated on Chesterfield Road, not far from the railway station.
The father and son told how they were visiting the area
for the purpose of William’s health, they were very pleasant but unusually they
asked Mr Marchant not to include them in the guest book and not to tell any of
their visit. It seems that they did not
want any visitor’s and did not want to be disturbed. Whilst in the area they visited all of the
local attractions; Matlock Bath, Riber Castle, Millers Dale, Cromford and the
Heights of Abraham.
On the evening of Saturday 3rd March they took
their evening meal and then retired to bed around 6pm. Super was taken in to the men later that
night around 9pm, The next morning on Sunday 4th March the Marchant
family were up bright and early and set too preparing the breakfast for their
guests. At one point Mrs Mary Ann Marchant
did hear a noise, but thought it was her mother making the clatter.
By 9am the guests had not arisen and the breakfast had
gone cold. This was unusual as the
Reverend Benn and his son had been regular early risers during their stay. The post man came and so Mrs Marchant went to
the door of the suite and knocked, to awake the guests. She thought she heard a murmur and then more
snoring. Mr Marchant went off to Church
and left Mrs Marchant and her mother in the home. He returned around 1pm to find his wife very
anxious as she had been unable to wake the guests, despite several attempts and
knocks at the door.
At this point Mr Marchant felt that there was something
amiss, returned to the suite and again knocked loudly at the door, this time speaking
in a loud voice. This time the door was
unbolted and the sight that awaited Mr Marchant was not at all pleasant. Mr William Benn was stood pointing at the
dead body of his father, the Reverend Julius Benn. William was covered in blood from head to
toes.
Mr Marchant feared for the safety of his wife and mother
in law and ushered them out of the house, the police were called for. He need not have worried as William did not cause
for further alarm and instead stood motionless in shock.
Dr Moxon and Police Constable Smith arrived and entered
the room; Dr Moxon tried to act in a normal way and wished William “good
morning”. William was still, he had cut
his own throat.
Mr Hunter who was Dr Moxon’s assistant arrived and
stitched up the gash on William’s throat.
Sergeant Gee also arrived at the crime scene and examined the dead body
of the Reverend Benn, his head had been beaten and his brain was said to have
been protruding from the skull. Sergeant
Else took William in to custody charged with “having wilfully murdered his
father”. William was removed to Derby
Infirmary for treatment and observations.
The police were able to glean some information from the
letters which had been sent to the Benn party at Matlock Bridge; the names and
addresses were recorded. The Reverend
Julius Benn was pastor at the Old Gravel Congregational Church in St Georges in
the East in London. He left a wife and 7
children (including William) and lived at 119 Stepney Green, London. William had been suffering with depression
and had been under medical supervision at the Bethnal House Lunatic Asylum, London
East, when the doctors felt that he had recovered enough the Reverend had
brought him to Matlock Bridge for rest and relaxation to assist in his sons
return to good health.
The family of the Benn’s were quite assured that William
had committed the act of murder due to mental problems. It was told how he had only married a few
months earlier in the December of 1882 and had been over studying in his
business which had caused his mental breakdown.
The Inquest –
This was held at the Queens Head Hotel in Matlock Bridge
and was headed by the Deputy coroner for the High Peak District Mr A O Brooks
Esq. The panel were told how William had struck the
Reverend Benn with a chamber utensil, which caused his death. The body was witnessed in the bed where it
had been found by Mr Marchant the day earlier, it had been washed but was still
an unpleasant sight to behold. Mr
Charles Taylor Mycock a draper from Hyde in Cheshire was called to identify the
body; he was the nephew of the deceased.
The inquest was then adjourned until the next day, Tuesday –
Today the panel were told how, on the night of the
killing William had stated “I did it with a chamber utensil”. William was found guilty of having “wilfully
murdered” his father Julius Benn at The Cottage, Matlock Bridge.
William was the third son of Julius Benn, aged 28 years
old at the time. His family and close
friends spoke with great devotion and love for the poor man who would not have
inflicted such savage actions to his father had he been in sound mind. He had been employed by a business in London
until a few months earlier, when he had become irritable and had been put in
the care of an asylum. He had only days
before been given a clean bill of health from the doctors at the asylum and had
been sanctioned fit enough to travel and rest in Matlock Bridge.
Sadly for William his nightmare was not to end their,
having tried to cut his own throat at the scene of the murder he later
attempted to throw himself from a window at the Derby Infirmary where he was
being cared for after the event. He
sprained his ankle and caused injury to his back after he jumped the 21 feet to
the ground. Some said that he was not
attempting his own life but trying to escape.
And so William was committed to Broadmoor Lunatic Asylum having been
found to not being able to recover his sanity.
The will of Julius Benn was proved on 5th July
1883 and his wife Ann was beneficiary to his estate of £118 7s 6d.
As for William, he was born in 1855 in Hendon, Middlesex. On the 1871 census he is 16 years of age and
works as a clerk at East India House.
Ten years on and just before this dreadful incident William is still
single and working in the same occupation as a merchant’s clerk.
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