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Post by Waverley on Nov 18, 2007 13:49:18 GMT 1
Doctor Edward Prichard the Human Crocodile...
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Post by pwm437 on Jan 7, 2008 9:46:58 GMT 1
Edward William Pritchard was born in 1815 at Southsea in Hampshire. Aged 15 he was apprenticed to a surgeon at Portsmouth. He claimed to have attended King's College in London, but this was later denied by the college. Pritchard appears to have been quite happy spinning stories to impress anyone that would listen.
At a ball in 1850 at Portsmouth, he met a woman from Edinburgh called Mary Jane Taylor, the neice of a retired naval surgeon. After a short romance, they married later that year.
In 1857 Pritchard became a Doctor of Medicine by buying the diploma 'in absentia' from the University of Erlangen.
In 1860 the Pritchard family (now 2 boys and 3 girls) moved to Glasgow and settled at 11 Berkeley Terrace, which was on Berkeley Street. Pritchard immersed himself in Glasgow life, joining the Freemasons and boasting that he was a personal friend of Garibaldi.
In 1863 there was a fire in the house and a young servant girl named Elizabeth McGirn died. At the time it was thought that she has fallen asleep in bed whilst reading, and the gas jet ignited the bedclothes.
Pritchard was paid out the insurance and he tried to claim for a number of items of jewellery, of which no trace could be found in the debris of the blaze. The Pritchards moved to 22 Royal Crescent and took on a new servant girl, Mary McLeod, aged 15. Pritchard soon embarked on an affair with Mary McLeod and he had to arrange an abortion when she fell pregnant, but he promised to marry her after his wife died !
In October 1864 Mrs. Pritchard fell ill and Pritchard diagnosed gastric fever. The following month Pritchard purchased poisons from local chemist shops. In February 1865 Pritchard's mother-in-law, who was staying in the house died. The following month Mary Pritchard was once again ill, and passed away. Pritchard reportedly cried openly whilst viewing Mary in her coffin, later being dubbed 'The Human Crocodile'.
An anonymous letter was sent to the Procurator Fiscal's office in Glasgow expressing concern at the death of Mary Pritchard and her mother. Arriving back at Queen Street Station from Edinburgh, Edward Pritchard was arrested on suspicion of causing his wife's death.
He was tried in July 1865 at Edinburgh and found guilty and sentenced to death.
He was hanged at Jail Square, Glasgow on the 28th July 1865 in front of a huge crowd, he was the last person to be hanged in public in Scotland.
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Post by pisces on May 19, 2009 1:55:05 GMT 1
Have enjoyed reading this thread and the stories told. Fascinating is the word to describe it. Remember reading of another murder tho it did,nt take place in glasgow I believe the woman was arrested in the east end of the city. Seemingly it was the murder of a paper boy in coatbridge, and she wheeled his corpse in a pram through to glasgow. Any info on this?
pisces
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Post by brownlee on May 20, 2009 17:48:14 GMT 1
I read this case in a Chapter of a book recently. If I can remember which one, I will look it up again.
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Post by pisces on May 21, 2009 19:51:00 GMT 1
Thanks brownlee I know I read it somewhere too. Its curiosity more or less . Just cant remember the facts of the case
pisces
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Post by brownlee on Jun 1, 2009 17:12:53 GMT 1
Pisces. There is a chapter on this (The Duke Street Murder) in a new book which I bought before going on holiday. Its called 'The Glasgow Book of Murders.' Author is Donald Fraser.
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Post by pisces on Jun 8, 2009 7:02:33 GMT 1
Thanks brownlee
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Post by brownlee on Jun 11, 2009 19:27:14 GMT 1
No bother Pisces, its an extraordinary tale in some ways really.
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