Although we've had two posts about Bernard Nixon Wale, there is a little more to his story, and that of people and places, in connection with him, but we'll continue that in a future post.
Today, having heard of the fire in Fennel Street, yesterday, it seemed appropriate to report on a fire that happened in September 1884.
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| The site of a fire in 1884 |
Report of a fire at Loughborough
The ‘Nottingham Evening Post’, 9 September 1884, carries the following report on page 4:
“Serious Fire at Loughborough – About half-past five o’clock yesterday morning a serious fire broke out on the premises of the Co-operative Society, Wood Gate, and resulted in much damage to the property and a heavy loss of stock. The outbreak seems to have been noticed first by Mr Yates [a wine merchant], living opposite, who, perceiving smoke issuing from the shop, at once, aroused the manager, Mr Reeve. The manager, on hearing the alarm, hastened downstairs, and as soon as he entered the shop was confronted with a volume of flame and smoke. The fire brigade were immediately communicated with, and under Supt. Blunt arrived in a few minutes. A good supply of water was obtained, and in about a couple of hours all danger was at an end. It was not until then that the extent of the damage could be ascertained. The fire was confined to the shop, the large windows of which were broken, the roof damaged, and some of the fixtures destroyed. Very little of the stock escaped , and from this cause the greater loss will endure. The fire appears to have originated under one of the counters, amongst some matches, but how it arose is impossible to say. The stock and property are insured with Mr J. Walkup in the Alliance Office.”
The former Co-Operative Society shop on Wood Gate
Alfred Reeve gives himself up
The report from the ‘Nottingham Evening Post’ 12 September 1884, page 2 says:
“The Recent Fire at Loughborough. Yesterday morning Alfred Reeve, the manager of the Co-operative Stores, which were partly destroyed by fire on Monday last, damage being done to the extent of several hundred pounds, gave himself up to the police on the confession of having been the cause of the outbreak. The origin of the fire could not be discovered, but was supposed to have originated amongst a quantity of matches. Reeve states that he went into the shop at five o’clock in the morning, that he struck a match and threw it down, that the place caught fire, but that he did not give an alarm.”
On 20 September 1884, the ‘Leicester Chronicle’ reported as follows on, page 6:
“The Fire at the Loughborough Co-operative Stores. The Manager Before the Magistrates. At the Loughborough Police Court on Friday morning, before F.W. Paget Esq., Alfred Reeve, late the manager of the Co-operative Stores, Wood Gate, was charged on his own confession with having set fire to the premises on the previous Monday.”
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| Loughborough Magistrate's Court and police cells to the side |
Mr Reeve was represented by Mr Hands, and pleaded not guilty, although he had volunteered a statement to Inspector Pike. On this occasion, Mr Reeve was not granted bail, but was remanded until Wednesday, and having been brought before W.B. Paget, Esq., Rev. R. Burton and F.W. Paget he was charged with having set fire to the store on 8th of September. Mr Reeve was defended by Mr Henry Deane. Although a medical examination of Mr Reeve by two medical men was refused, he was examined by Dr A. Eddowes, and Mr Deane reported that Dr Eddowes was not convinced that Mr Reeve understood what was going on. Mr Deane further suggested that Mr Reeve’s condition “may have been made worse by being locked up in the cell.” Nonetheless, the case proceeded. There appear to have been a few question marks over the confession made by Mr Reeve, most notably that he merely answered the [leading] questions put to him by the Inspector, rather than volunteering the information.
Mr Reeve had been manager at the store for three years, and lived there with his wife. The fire caused damage to the value of £433. 6s. 10d.. The account books were in good order. The magistrates decided that there was a case to be answered and Mr Reeve should be committed for trial at the Leicester Assizes. Mr Deane said:
“If this man is committed for trial, I venture to think it may be that that will be the very turning point between his mental health and his mental incapacity for the rest of his life … Unfortunately, this man comes of a family where there have existed mental disturbances. His father died in a lunatic asylum and his brother has been in a similar institution. Undoubtedly this man’s mind was very much distressed, and whatever disturbance existed before would be increased by the occurrence of the fire.”
The report concludes:
“The Bench, after a short consultation, decided to send the prisoner for trial to the next Assizes, and Mr Deane applied for bail. This was granted, prisoner in his own recognizances of £50, and two sureties in £25 each.”
The case had lasted nearly three hours.
The Leicester Assizes met on Saturday 1 st November, and this was reported on page 6 of the ‘Leicester Journal’ 7 November 1884. The judge was the Right Honourable Lord Coleridge, Lord Chief Justice of England, and the event took place at Leicester Castle.
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| The judge stayed in Judges House on the Friday evening before the assizes |
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| Leicester Castle looking towards the front |
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| Leicester Castle from the rear in Castle Park |
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| The judge's seat to the left of the picture as it is today |
The Grand Jury consisted of: Sir A.G. Hazlerigg, Bart. (foreman); Sir H. Halford, Bart.; Sir F.T. Fowke, Bart.; I. Harrison; T.C.D. Whitmore; Hussey Packe; G.T. Mowbray; W. Winterton; H.C. Woodcock; G. Shaw; A.W. Arkwright; H.E. Smith; G.W.L. Johnson; R.G. Pochin; T. Arthur; J.W. Bailey; P.P.P. Goodchild; G. Wright; A.M. Cochrane; T. Cope; J.D. Moore; J.Y. Stephens; F.A. Wollaston, and W.H. Ellis, Esqs..
Alfred Reeve, who, as we know, was on bail, was indicted for maliciously and feloniously setting fire to his dwelling house at Loughborough, which was above the Co-operative Store on Wood Gate of which he was the manager, and where he lived with his wife and her sister, Miss Clara Fanny Brooks. At the trial, Mr J. Parkinson, the secretary to the Co-operative Society spoke, saying: “[the] prisoner had been manager of the company for three years, and had always borne a good character. Shortly before this occurrence he seemed very reserved and unwell.”
Mr Weightman, putting forward the case for the defence, said: “a doctor … would have no hesitation in saying that prisoner was at the time suffering from an extreme attack of melancholia, and that being so his case would be that prisoner did not set fire to the place at all, but that after the event, being in a state of melancholia, he went to the police station and made a statement which was entirely untrue, and the result of a delusion.
The case seems to have been quite contradictory, and the judge’s summing up was extensive, unlike the “few minutes” after retiring that it took the jury to return a verdict of guilty.
When Alfred was brought up for sentence, there was some questioning between the judge and a variety of people, before the judge eventually passed sentence, saying:
“Well, I have considered carefully what I will do in this case. You have borne an excellent character, but to my mind I never saw a clearer case on circumstantial evidence only; it seems to me the clearest case I ever tried. What motive you had I don’t know, and without saying it irreverently, I don’t care. It is not my duty to inquire into the motive. It is said that you were in a melancholy state. That is very likely, but such a state of mind would easily be cured by the administration of proper medicines, and you are said to be now in a perfectly healthy state of mind. I do not know that it is seriously denied that you are the person who set fire to the place. What am I to do? A person sets fire to a place, and not only destroys a great deal of property, which is very bad, but might have destroyed life, which in my judgement is a great deal worse. If the Secretary of State investigates the matter, and finds that you are no responsible for your actions, you may be shut up for the rest of your life or during her Majesty’s pleasure. But if you were responsible, and knew what you were doing, it was a very bad case. I cannot do less than sent you to penal servitude for five years.”
Alfred Reeve was one of quite a number of people tried at the Assizes on that day:
o William Jones for assaulting with intent to rob Thomas Ironmonger at Hemingtono Joseph Hammond for committing a burglary at Aylestone Park
o Arthur Martin and William Toone for stealing at Great Bowden
o James Gavin for stealing in Derby
o George Savin for wounding someone in Belgrave
o Edward McGore for using someone else’s trumpet in Derby
o Thomas Moss a clerk in Hinckley for embezzlement
o Arthur Shipston stealing at Thrussington
o William Turner for house-breaking and stealing in Derby
o Francis Rhodes for burglary at Glossop
o Curt Von Altroch for taking money under false pretences
o Jabez Moore for wounding his wife in New Humberstone
Alfred Reeve was sent to Pentonville Prison, and then on to Chatham to serve his sentence.
However, there was quite some disquiet about his committal. News of Reeve’s sentence reached Southampton, and in the ‘Southampton Herald’ of January 13th 1885, it was reported that “Great interest is being excited in Leicestershire by the conviction of Alfred Reeves … It is believed that the man has been wrongly convicted, and his so-called confession is accounted for by the fact of his father having died insane.”
And sure enough, 9 months later, the ‘Leicester Chronicle’ of 12th September 1885 ran the following article:
“The fire at the Loughborough Co-operative Stores: Release of the Prisoner. On Sunday information was received at Loughborough that Alfred Reeve, formerly manager of the Co-operative Society’s Wood Gate Stores, who was undergoing five years’ penal servitude for arson, was to be released by order of the Home Secretary.”
The report goes on to say that there appeared to be no motive – the accounts were in order, the books were well kept, there a positive financial balance, and Reeve had no insurance for his furniture. Mr Parkinson, and Mr Huram Coltman, having connections with the Co-Operative Society, had not taken part in the prosecution. Reeve’s friends made efforts to secure his release, and petitions were signed, which analysed the evidence and Reeve’s state of mind. The committee of the Co-operative Society aided Reeve’s cause, and did his neighbours. Mrs Reeve and her sister also described the events of the night, which were in direct contradiction to the confession, and so “This conflicting testimony was laid before the late Home Secretary (Sir. W. Harcourt) … When the change of Government occurred the facts of the case were laid before the present Home Secretary (Sir Richard Cross) …On Wednesday morning he [Reeve] was met by his wife [at Chatham prison] and at once started for Loughborough, arriving home about noon. The release was unconditional, and … solely upon the merits of the case … during the incarceration the Co-operative Society have employed Mrs Reeve at the stores, and that it is highly probable they will reinstate Reeve.”
A miscarriage of justice, that was eventually put right. One can only hope that Alfred Reeve was able to live a long and happy life.
You are welcome to quote passages from any of my posts, with appropriate credit. The correct citation for this looks as follow:
Lynne
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