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Aug. 31, 2023

S10E09 | The Murder of Barbara Waterhouse (Horsforth, 1891)

In this episode, I tell the story of Barbara Waterhouse, a 5-year-old girl murdered in Horsforth, Leeds, on June 6, 1891.

 

Whilst out playing with her friends, Barbara suddenly disappeared after last being seen perusing some advertisements through a shop window.

 

Her body was discovered wrapped in a shawl four days later on Alexander Street in Leeds city centre, a stone's throw away from the Town Hall.

 

The person responsible for her murder was soon revealed to be 32-year-old weaver Walter Lewis Turner.

 

He was sentenced to death and hanged at Armley Gaol by James Billington on August 18, 1891.

 

Intro music:⁣

David John Brady - 'Throw Down the Gauntlet'⁣

linktr.ee/davidjohnbradymusic⁣

 

References:⁣

Barbara Whitham Waterhouse. (n.d.). Find a Grave. Retrieved August 23, 2023, from https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/172673446/barbara-whitham-waterhouse

DOUBLE EXECUTION TO-DAY: LAST ACT IN THE HORSFORTH TRAGEDY. (1891, August 18). Hull Daily Mail, 3.

Funeral of Poor Little Barbara. (1891, June 14). Empire News & the Umpire, 5.

HORRIBLE DISCOVERY. (1891, June 11). The Star, 2.

HORRIBLE TRAGEDY AT LEEDS: MURDER OF A GIRL. (1891, June 11). Shields Daily News, 3.

HORSFORTH. (1891, August 7). Armley and Wortley News, 3.

McIntyre, A. (2021, October 27). Murders and deaths in Victorian Horsforth. Wharfedale Observer. Retrieved August 23, 2023, from https://www.wharfedaleobserver.co.uk/news/19675474.murders-deaths-victorian-horsforth/

MURDER AND MUTILATION OF A CHILD AT LEEDS. (1891, June 11). Manchester Evening News, 2.

Sack Murder 1891. (n.d.). Old Mersey Times. Retrieved August 23, 2023, from http://www.old-merseytimes.co.uk/sackmurder1891.html

SHOCKING TRAGEDY AT LEEDS. (1891a, June 11). Belfast News-Letter, 5.

SHOCKING TRAGEDY AT LEEDS. (1891b, June 11). Manchester Courier, 3.

THE HORSFORTH MURDERER: PRISONERS BEFORE THE JUDGE. (1891, July 31). Armley and Wortley News, 3.

THE HORSFORTH TRAGEDY. (1891, June 15). Yorkshire Post, 5.

THE LEEDS MURDER. (1891, June 11). Dundee Evening Telegraph, 3.

THE LEEDS MURDER AND MUTILATION CASE. (1891, June 15). St James’s Gazette, 9.

THE LEEDS MURDER: THE ACCUSED IN THE POLICE COURT. (1891, June 15). Cork Constitution, 8.

THE LEEDS TRAGEDY. (1891, June 12). Cork Daily Herald, 5.

THE LEEDS TRAGEDY: ARREST OF ALLEGED MURDERER. (1891, June 13). Dundee Advertiser, 5.

THE MURDER AND MUTILATION OF A LITTLE GIRL. (1891, June 12). London Evening Standard, 7.

THE MURDER OF BARBARA WATERHOUSE, TURNER AND HIS MOTHER BEFORE THE MAGISTRATES, A SUCCINCT STORY OF THE CRIME, WHO IS “JACK?” (1891, June 20). Leeds Times, 3.

Walter Lewis Turner. (n.d.). British Executions. Retrieved August 23, 2023, from http://www.britishexecutions.co.uk/execution-content.php?key=1398#:~:text=On%206%20June%2C%20Barbara%20Waterhouse%2C%20a%20young%20girl,in%20a%20shawl%20and%20had%20its%20throat%20cut.

Walter Lewis Turner (1860-1891). (2021, November 8). WikiTree. Retrieved August 23, 2023, from https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Turner-30444