Old Belfast 16

16Belfast’s Local History Magazine

Attack on Belfast’s North Gate by Cromwell’s troops

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TRAGEDY AT ‘ARCHIES DAM’ ANDA STRANGE FIND OF SKELETONS!

At the beginning of June, 1955over a thousand peoplegathered to watch a policemanrecover the body of 10 year oldKenneth Mann of ForemanStreet, Belfast, from "Archie’sDam". The debris filled 15ftdeep dam was in fact aconcrete tank of water forfactory use which was a fewmetres off the main AntrimRoad between Carlisle Circusand Churchill Street. Kennethhad gone there with two of hisbrothers and other boys whowere fishing for sticklebacks.

His 16 year old sister Patriciahad told him not to go there asit was dangerous, and theirmother had forbidden them togo to the dam, but he wentanyway. Tragically he slippedoff the bank and into the water,pulling with him a friend BillyWilliamson who had tried toprevent his fall by grabbing hishair.There was a struggle in thewater and Billy had to let goof Kenneth and Billy waspulled from the water by alocal worker, Mr William

McGarry of CliftonparkAvenue, as he scrambled to thebank. By the time he was outof the water, Kenneth haddisappeared.Mr James Robinson ofChurchill Street was sitting inhis house when he heard whathad happened and rushed tothe tank and dived into themuddy water but could findnothing amongst the wire,timber and tyres and waspulled from the dam. He wasjoined in the water by PeterLynch of Lepper Street but he

Fire appliances begin the task of pumping out Archie’s Dam to search for the body often year old Kenneth Mann. Today the Edmund Rice Primary School (Pim Street) isbuilt inside the dam and in this old photograph Victoria Barracks can be seen in the

background.

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got caught in barbed wire.Two firemen attempted to findKenneth with safety linesstrapped around them butwhen they too failed the fireservice started the terrible taskof pumping the water tank withsuction pumps and draining thewater into manholes on theAntrim Road. At the sametime policemen fromGlenravel Street put togethera raft using an inflated innertube and some timber and useda trolleybus pole as a grapplingiron.It took over four hours beforethe body of Kenny Mann wasrecovered.

Cable Shoes in North Street, Belfastadvertised itself prominently above its mainentrance "15 minutes service" indicating tothe customers that they always delivered.One night in June the company relied onanother quick service to help its workers. Anemployee had left the premises locking infour other employees to do some overtimeand then forgot to return to let them out. Theworkers waited until after midnight and whenthey realised he was not returning they calledthe fire brigade who sent an appliance to theshop and five fire-fighters set up a 30ftextension ladder to an upstairs window andrescued the overtime working employees.The police were then called to drive two ofthe men home and the other two set off ontheir own to Strandtown. This emergencyservice took less than 15 minutes.

Lock-in with a difference Second appearance in court18 year old James Wallace of North Ann Streetin Belfast was fined heavily after he appearedin the same court twice within three weeks. Hisfirst appearance had been on a charge of beingdrunk and disorderly and he was found guiltyand fined 20s. In front of magistrate Dr J V SMills weeks later the young man was chargedwith disorderly behaviour after he was sackedfrom his job on the S.S. Royal Ulsterman.Wallace had worked as an assistant steward onthe vessel and was sacked and told to leave theship immediately. He began to argue with thechief steward when he found out he would notbe able to get his employment cards beforeleaving. He became so aggressive that the shipcontacted the police using the 999 service andwhen the police arrived they saw Wallace in aheated argument. The magistrate decided thathe had been too lenient with Wallace the firsttime in court and fined him a hefty £5.

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Horse loving Priest dies aged 94The Very Rev. Canon Patrick Boyle, priest ofSt Teresa’s Glen Road, Belfast died at the ageof 94. He was well known for making his parishrounds on horseback until well in his eightiesand up until he died he used a pony and trap tomake his parish duties. Originally fromBallymoney, he was educated at St MalachysCollege, Belfast, and the Irish College in Paris,where he was ordained. He was appointed tothe parish of Derriaghy in 1905 and wasinstrumental in building St Teresa’s Church in1911. He was a renowned judge of horses andexhibited at Dublin Horse Shows.

Skeletons found at Queens UniversityA brick family vault was found by workmenwho were digging up sewers close to theStudents Union building, opposite the QueensUniversity Lanyon Building. Archaeologistsat the University were of the opinion that thevault was built near a chapel which had oncestood on the Students Union site.The vault was made from handmade bricks,contained four skeletons and was in goodcondition. The University had no record of anyvault in the 1835 revised survey map.

Belfast youth electrocutedSeventeen year old James Galway of Ellen’sCourt, Nile Street in Belfast died in hospitalafter he sustained severe burns and shock from33,000 volts of electricity. Mr Galway workedas an electrician’s helper at the West TwinIsland Power Station and he had been missedby the gang of men he worked with and a searchwas carried out. He was found by hisworkmates at the bottom of a 25ft gantry. Hehad been employed for just four months by theHarbour Commissioners and prior to this jobhe had been a decorator’s helper.

"We in Belfast oughtto be in the vanguardas far as the standardof entertainment in ourcity is concerned"stated Councillor JDixon at a meeting ofthe BelfastCorporation in June1955.

He was talking abouta visit he had made tohis local cinema to see"The Wild One" whenhe gone only to see thetype of person whowas going to see such

It was a Teddy Boy’s Picnic!a film. He wasshocked to see howmany Teddy Boysattended and hedeclared "We arefighting to have thescourge of theseyoung men removed.They are going aboutthe city bringingdiscredit not only tothemselves but toBelfast."The meeting of theBelfast Corporationincluded a discussionabout the banning ofthe film "The Wicked

Some people were not happy with the filmWicked Woman in June 1955

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Woman" by the PoliceCommittee which waswelcomed by thecouncil. They werecritical of the BritishBoard of Film Censorswho had given thefilm certification forviewing but the filmwas not allowed to beshown in Belfast, as itwas believed that themoral affairs of thecity would bedamaged by the film.The film, directed byRussell Rouse camewith the tag line, the‘story no one dared totell, until now’. Thefilm is the story of ablonde floozy whodrifts into town and

Even fewer people were happy with the Teddy Boys!

gets a job as a waitressat a local bar. She setsher sights on the bar'shandsome owner, whois married to an

alcoholic. Her plansare for the two of themto take the bar's moneyand skip to Mexico -but a boarder at the

rooming house whereshe is stayingdiscovers her plans,and comes up with aplan of his own.

Teddy Boys in clashesBangor Borough Council discussed the problemsof Teddy Boys arriving in the seaside town everyFriday night on buses from Belfast. They createddisturbances and held rowdy parties "with the soleobject of causing as much trouble as they could".The local police found themselves unable to copewith the influx of visitors late at night and the councilannounced that the Minster of Home Affairs hadpromised to increase the police strength in the townby two constables.Belfast was also experiencing similar problemswhen rival gangs of Teddy Boys caused trouble inlocal parks and dance halls. In particular OrmeauPark was a favourite venue with Teddy Boy’sarriving in Edwardian style suits and having standup fights in the park late in the evenings. The gangshad names such as the ‘Ivy Gang’, the ‘MarketsGang’, and the ‘Square Head Gang’.

Men with stolen lead surprised by caretakerTwo men in their twenties were jailed for threemonths when they pleaded guilty at the BelfastCustody Court of stealing one cwt of lead,valued at £16. The men had taken the lead fromthe roof of a building owned by the BelfastEducation Authority at Carolan Road in SouthBelfast. They were surprised by the caretakerof the site as they were about to wheel it awayin a handcart. The caretaker phoned 999 andthey were caught by the police as they tried toleave. The men were further charged withcommitting damage to the roof of the buildingto the extent of £13. The building they haddamaged was the old caretaker’s residencewhich was in bad repair and was not occupiedand it had been decided that it should beknocked down.

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The Odeon Tivoli Cinemaopened in Finaghy with a galaperformance, the proceeds ofwhich were presented to theNational Playing FieldsAssociation. The opening wasattended by Lord and LadyWakehurst, along withViscount Bury, the president ofthe Playing Fields Association,Mr D Sloan, the builder of thecinema, the architect Mr DMcNeill and Mr J Wright, thecinema manager.Telegrams of congratulationwere received from numerouscinema personalities includingMichael Redgrave and SheilaSim, stars of the film "TheNight my Number came up"which had its Northern Ireland

NEW CINEMA OPENS

premier at the cinema. Thecinemas design allowed formore space between theseating and the lighting was ofthe very latest type. Thickcarpeting everywhere ensuredsilence underfoot and fresh air

was filtered and warmedbefore being pumped into theauditorium. Ceiling grillesprovided a convenient outletfor stale air. Over 1000 patronscould be comfortablyaccommodated.

Death fall from stagingA verdict of accidental death was recorded by the city coroner at the inquest on WilliamKerr aged 54 of Esmond Street in Belfast. Mr Kerr died when he fell from staging usedby workmen repairing the rotary house roof of the Corporation Electricity Departmentat East Bridge Street.At the inquest evidence was heard from other workmen. James Donnelly, a glazier, toldthe coroner that he was working on the staging three planks wide and 30ft high. Hehanded a pane of glass to a glazier outside and had gone back to a pulley for another onewhen he heard a crash. He then saw a man just about hitting the floor. The outsideplank near the opening was broken. Andrew Sloan who was a store man at East BridgeStreet told the inquest that he issued brand new spruce for planking to the glazing firmand Vincent O’Rourke, who had helped to erect the staging had no doubt about thesafety of the wood. Although the planking belonged to the Corporation they told thecoroner that they had not authorised its use for this particular job and the men had justfound the planking outside the building and decided to use it.

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The huge vans which house the “Atoms forPeace” exhibition being manoeuvred into placeon Blitz Square in High Street in June 1955.The exhibition is given by the United StatesInformation Service in association with the UKAtomic Energy Commission. Blitz Square wasso called because the area was destroyed duringthe German Luftwaffe bombing of the city in1941 and is where the present River Housestands.RIGHT - One of the items on display at theAtoms for Peace exhibition. It’s designed toprotect the wearer from radioactive material -yeah right!

June 1955 - Sheila, the Bellevue Zoo elephantkeeping cool during the summer heatwave

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June 1955 - Workmen lifting a woodenwaterpipe which was found in a trench dug atthe junction of the Grosvenor Road andDurham Street. The pipe (a hollowed treetrunk) is part of the remains of the old Belfasttown water supply taken from the BlackstaffRiver down to the region of Barrack Street andlaid in the late 1700’s

Police stand guard at the time office of theBelfast Harbour Commissioners on Queen’sRoad where the body of Samuel Stranix wasfound. He had been murdered and no one wasever convicted for the offence. June 1955

June 1955 - The cortege leaving St Patrick’sparish Church, Newtownards Road, after thefuneral service for the young Noble childredwho were accidentally gassed

June 1955 - Erection ofnew TV transmitter onDivis Mountain

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On January 11th 1930 Constable DavidFerguson and his brother James Fergusonappeared in the Belfast Custody court chargedwith stealing a suit of clothes from John Lewis,a tailor of Fleetwood Street, Belfast. Themagistrate sitting during the hearing, Mr P JO’Donaghue described the case as "a great rowover very little". It was alleged that JamesFerguson visited the Lewis house in Decemberof 1929 and giving his name as Mr Johnstonhe asked to be shown some patterns and clothsamples in order to have a suit made. He gavehis address to Mr Lewis as care of Mr Swan ofHillman Street in the north of the city and thesuit was ordered. On December 20th 1929Ferguson (Johnston) was contacted and hecalled to try on the suit. He told Mr Lewis thathe was waiting for his friend Mr Swan ofAntrim Road Barracks and within minutesConstable David Ferguson arrived. JamesFerguson at this time left his old suit behindand ran from the premises. Constable Fergusonwas going to follow him when Gertrude Lewis,the daughter of John Lewis, tried to stop himfrom leaving and claimed that she was struckon the head by the constable. A week laterConstable Ferguson called again at the houseof Mr Lewis and offered Lewis £3 to settle forhis brother but this was refused. In court MrLewis was cross-examined by Mr Graham whorepresented the Ferguson brothers and he readout to Mr Lewis a letter that he had sent toLewis asking for repayment of a loan of £5made by David Ferguson. This letter had beensent to Mr Lewis in June 1929 and Lewisadmitted in court that he had ignored the letter.He also stated that he had also receivedcorrespondence from Mr Ferguson about a debtof £5 but had also ignored all requests forrepayment. Mr Lewis had telephoned

OLD BELFAST POLICE REPORTSConstable Ferguson and asked for the suit tobe paid for as well as expenses but in court hecould not make up his mind whether the suithad been stolen or not. Constable Fergusonconfirmed that there was a debt of £5 owing tohim from Mr Lewis and that no one had triedto stop him or his brother from leaving withthe new suit. He vehemently denied strikingGertrude Lewis. The magistrate having heardenough of the counter claims dismissed all thecharges against the Ferguson brothers.

Fuss about a PennyIt was reported that there was a complaint ofwasting public resources on trivial matters andan excellent example was the story of theBelfast penny. This penny had got embeddedin a gas meter in the city and the corporationwere called to try to get it out. It took threecorporation employees two and half hours toget the penny out – seven and a half hours’wages in all.

False Fire AlarmAlexander Orr of Victor Street was prosecutedin the Belfast Summons Court in January 1930for having given a false alarm of fire fromRoyal Avenue. Orr was observed by JamesMackie, a tailor of Donegall Street, breakingthe glass disc in the fire alarm at the corner ofRoyal Avenue and Library Street. Orr wasdrunk and he was arrested by Sergeant WilliamMcCappin. Mackie had observed Orr leaningon the lamppost and the alarm being soundedas he left the post. Four fire engines turned outin answer to the alarm. Orr rememberednothing about the incident and admitted that

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he had been under the influence of drink. Orrwas fined 40s for giving the false alarm, withthe alternative of one month’s imprisonment.For having been drunk he was fined 2s 6d.

Postal PilferingThree Belfast post office servants pleadedguilty to charges of stealing postal orders onseveral dates in 1929 and 1930 from Belfastpostal offices. In court it was stated that allthree men were on wages above £2 per weekbut that they all had got involved in betting andthat some weeks they were each staking £4 perweek at the bookies. They had stolen themoney to finance their gambling habits. Oneof the accused had been acting as abookmakers’ agent, which was a seriousoffence in his role as a postman. The sentenceswere two years hard labour on WilliamMcGarvey of Victoria Avenue, three yearspenal servitude on Thomas Parkinson, thebookies agent, of Madrid Street and ninemonths hard labour on John Toman ofRockview Street. McGarvey had committedtwo charges of taking money and postal ordersfrom postal packets. Parkinson was found

guilty of four charges of theft from postalpackets and asked for a further 15 to be takeninto consideration. Toman was found guilty ofopening a postal packet, not belonging to him.

Vaccination Case Outburst"O Mother of God, O Sweet Infant Jesus, mybeautiful wife lies in prison; my beautiful baby,torn from its mothers breast, lies crying athome!" These extraordinary words came fromMr John Lessels of Bangor in as strange sceneat Kirkpatrick Memorial Church during Sundayworship. Mr Lessels was the husband of MrsFaith Lessels who was incarcerated at ArmaghJail in January 1930 for failing to comply withthe vaccination law in Northern Ireland. Themother of eight unvaccinated children, MrsLessels objected to vaccination onconscientious grounds. Unlike Great Britain,the Northern Ireland vaccination regulationsdid not include a ‘conscience clause’. Therewere many protests in support of Mrs Lesselsimprisonment, which included a telegram readout at a gathering at Belfast Custom House fromGeorge Bernard Shaw who supported the standof Mrs Lessels.

Mrs Faith Lessels was incarcerated at Armagh Jail

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On Friday 4thFebruary 1910 anunusual case camebefore the BelfastSummons Court.Hugh Lavery, a spiritmerchant of MayStreet summonedSergeantHugh Vaughan ofMusgrave Street RICBarracks on a chargeof having assaultedhim on Sunday 31stOctober 1909.Lavery’s story wasthat at around10.45am he hadreturned from churchand was standingoutside his brother’spremises whenSergeant Vaughancame round the cornerof the street in a veryexcited state. Hewalked about 3 metres

past Lavery but thenreturned and askedLavery what he wasdoing with the doorsopen of the pub andasked him to closethem. Lavery pointedout to him that theywere not his doors andthe sergeant said hewould call forconstable Dignan.Vaughan asked himagain to close thedoors and whenDignan arrived thepolicemen asked tosearch the premises.When the police gotinside they rushed tothe back of thepremises and thesergeant got behindthe bar. Lavery triedto get behind the barcounter first andcaught the sergeant

with his finger andthumb by the cape.The sergeant thenturned round andtwisted Lavery’s rightarm with both hands.The wrench gaveLavery a lot of painand he had to be seenby a doctor. Laverythen went toMusgrave Streetbarracks and made acomplaint stating thathe had gone behind

the counter as he hadleft some money thereand he wanted thesergeant to account forhis conduct. In thesummons court it wasput to Lavery that hewas insinuating thatVaughan was a thiefand that he had alsoobstructed Vaughanfrom carrying outpolice business; thecourt dismissed thecase.

Musgrave Street R.I.C. Barracks

In the Belfast custody courtson Friday 18th February1910 James Allison was putforward and charged withhaving attempted to commitsuicide at Vicarage Street,Belfast. A local policeman,Constable Fitzpatrick hadfound Allison lying on acouch in the kitchen. Hebrought Allison to hospitaland when the doctors revivedhim he promptly arrested

him. Allison gave astatement when cautionedtelling the police that he wasunemployed, had two smallchildren and had no way ofsupporting them. The daybefore he tried to commitsuicide he had received asummons for non-paymentof his rent. Allison’s fatherin law had called the policeto the house when he foundAllison with a gas tube round

his neck and his face over agas ring. Robert Mackey hisfather in law took the tubefrom around his neck andmade him sit down on thecouch but Allison wasshouting that he would killhimself no matter whatanyone did to try and stophim. Allison was sent to theworkhouse to recover andMackey was commended forsaving Allison’s life.

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John Mawhinney, a strongly built man, fromClonallen Street, appeared in the Belfast PoliceCourt on 11th February 1910 charged withassaulting his wife. Constable Dowd told the courtthat he was passing the accuseds' house when heheard screams of "murder" and when he broke openthe door Mawhinney’s wife rushed out. Her facewas covered with blood and she claimed that herhusband had "done time" on previous occasionsfor beating her, and this time had made anotherunprovoked attack on her. "We have got a stronghand as well as you," said Mr Brady the magistrate

as he sentenced Mawhinney to six months in jail.Alexander McCartney and Annie Lavery pleadedguilty in the custody court on Thursday 10thFebruary 1910 to stealing a coat, the property ofWilliam McCleery, in Divis Street. It appearedfrom the evidence that McCleery, who was fromCornleck, Portadown, came to Belfast for theBelfast Fair. Going along Divis Street he tookoff his coat to pawn it, when McCartney andLavery attacked him and took possession of thecoat. Each prisoner was sentenced to threemonths’ imprisonment.

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The Belfast Lying in Hospital which stood on Clifton Street where the garage is now situated.This building was destroyed in the civil war which gripped Belfast in 1922 (See page 18)

White washed cottages in Barrack Street.Mid 1950’s

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White’s Tavern Mid 1950’s

The old General Hospital which stood in Frederick Street where the government offices are nowsituated. This later became the Royal Hospital and when it moved to the west of the city becamethe Royal Victoria Hospital

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Advertisement of 1872 for Walker’s Oyster Rooms in Winecellar Entry.FACING PAGE - Winecellar Entry in the mid 1840’s. The building to the right is White’s Tavern.There are many arguments over which is the oldest pub in Belfast and to settle them all this is it -White’s. Old maps and title deeds prove this.BELOW - Belfast map of 1791 showing all the High Street entries including Wineseller.

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At Belfast CrimesCourt James Steenson,no address given, andAlbert Kennedy ofHunter Street in theSandy Row area, werecharged withassaulting ConstableAlbert Johnston, withdamaging his uniformand with damaging adoor in the licensedpremises of MichaelCaulfield in AlbionStreet on Tuesdayevening, August 6th1935.In court evidence wasgiven by ConstableJohnston and also bythe publican MichaelCaulfield on behalf ofthe prosecution.Michael Caulfieldrecalled that on the dayof the assault the twoaccused walked into

WHEN ONE TO MANYLED TO HARD LABOUR

his pub, the worse fordrink and with anotherman ordered threeglasses of water. Hegave them the waterand one of the men left.The two accusedremained in the pub,standing at the barcounter and askedCaulfield if he wouldstand them a drink.Caulfield told them togo home and to comeback when they could"stand". The men werenot well pleased butthey ordered a glass ofbeer and as Caulfieldwas afraid of anytrouble erupting heserved the beer andasked his assistant toget the police. WhenConstable Johnstonarrived the troublestarted.

Constable Johnstonarrived at the bar andsaw the two accused atthe counter. Caulfieldagain asked them toleave but they refusedand then the policemanasked to leave, and putthem out of the bar.They came back in andboth the accusedassaulted thepoliceman. Steensontried to get thepoliceman’s revolverfrom its holster andKennedy took hisbaton. ConstableJohnston managed toget his baton back andhit Steenson with it toprevent him fromtaking his gun.Kennedy attacked thepoliceman again,tearing at his belt, andduring the fracas the

Constable had one ofhis fingers injured.Constable Johnstonshouted to Caulfield toget more police as hemanaged to hold theprisoners until morepolice arrived.

Caulfield told the courtthat he knew Kennedyand Steenson well,they often came to hispub for a drink and hehad never had anytrouble with thembefore. He submittedto court a receipt for £4for the damage causedto his premises. Theaccused gave noevidence in theirdefence and both menwere sent to prison fortwo months with hardlabour and ordered topay all costs incurred.

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ABOVE - Robb’s Department Store, Castle Place, in the mid 1950’s. BELOW - Castle Junction at the turn of the last century

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Robinson & Cleaver Department Storefrom the grounds of the City Hall in themid 1930’s

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There was a tragic ending to aboating trip to Carrickfergus in1923 when three persons, MrsIsabella Duff, aged 35, of KyleStreet, her daughter Molly Duff,aged 4, and Stewart McCaw,aged 32 of Connsbrook Avenue,all in Belfast, were drowned inthe Musgrave Channel, in BelfastLough.A party of twenty had left theQueens Bridge (pictured above)Belfast at a quarter to four andwere enjoying their afternoonouting, and did not leaveCarrickfergus on the returnjourney until almost nine o’clockin the evening, and it would takethem at least until half pasteleven before they would arrivein Belfast.The motor boat, the Moonshine,that they used, was a converted

Excursion ends inHeartbreak on Belfast Lough

sailing boat and had beenpurchased in 1919 by MrWilliam Proudfoot of ParkAvenue in East Belfast and heaccompanied the party on thetrip.Mr Stewart McCaw ofConnsbrook Avenue wasattending to the engines and thesmall party, many of whom werechildren, were mostly drawnfrom Kyle Street and itssurrounding area.

All went well until the MusgraveChannel was reached and it washere where the moorings of theboat were that it was decided toland the passengers.The tide was almost full in andwhen the Moonshine came to heranchorage, a cot which was asmall flat bottomed boat was

used to ferry the party to theshore.

Mr McCaw acted as an oarsmanand the day-trippers were takenoff in groups. Two lots weremade of this journey without anyincident, but it was on the thirdjourney that the accidentoccurred, which threw a terriblesadness over the East End ofBelfast and in particularStrandtown.

The third boat load was made upof Mrs Duff and her littledaughter, Mrs Agnes Crooks andher daughter Jean, Mrs Morrison,Miss Mina Barnes and MrMcCaw. As Mr McCaw stoodup and pushed off from the motorboat, an oar broke and MrMcCaw was thrown forward.

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This had the result of setting therow boat rocking and thepassengers, fearing thatsomething serious had happened,rushed to the oarsman.

That was the fatal move, for inless than a minute everyone fellinto the water, the boat sank andall the passengers tried to clingto Mr McCaw. The women andchildren screamed and abovetheir cries could be heard thevoice of Mr McCaw, "For God’ssake, let me go. Give me achance, and I will save you", buthis efforts were in vain and hecould not shake off the drowningpassengers who were pushinghim under the water. He wastaken down by sheer weight ofnumbers, still shouting to theothers to have patience but henever rose above the surface ofthe water again alive.

From the shore the members ofthe first two parties viewed theawful scene and many of the menstripped off their clothes andwithout waiting dived in andmade through the water to rescuethe struggling passengers.Foremost among the rescuerswere the two young sons of MrsCrooks aged just 10 and 14 whomanaged to get their mother outof the water. They then wentback in and rescued their sister.Another heroic rescuer was MrWilliam Montgomery of HillsAvenue who kept returning to thewater and got out Mrs Morrisonand Miss Barnes but there was

no sign of Mrs Duff, her daughteror Mr McCaw, who seemed tohave vanished into the darkwater.

The police arrived on the sceneand a police patrol boat assistedby using its searchlight. Theydiscovered Mrs Duff who wasbarely alive but after she got ontoto the motor boat she died, fromshock and immersion. The bodyof Mr McCaw was found thenext morning, the body of MollyDuff was recovered some dayslater.Mrs Duff’s husband was a shipspainter who was on his way toCalcutta when the tragedyhappened. Mrs Duff was thedaughter of Mr and Mrs JamesMonaghan of Cheviot Avenueand she was also survived bythree other children, Isabellaaged 17, Janet aged 14 andWilliam aged 9.

Mr Stewart McCaw, theboatman, left a widow and fourchildren. The eldest child wasonly seven years old when hisfather drowned and the youngestonly three months. Mr McCawwas thirty years of age and wasemployed as an engine fitter atthe Queens Island and was alsoa ‘B’ Special constable.

Eyewitness to the terrible eventrecalled that during the time thepeople were struggling in thewater an ex soldier namedMason, who was employed as awatchman at the oil tanks which

were nearby, jumped into thewater to join in the rescue work,but he was seized by cramp, andhad himself to be assisted into themotor boat.

One of the motor boat passengershad a lucky escape as when thethird load of trippers was beingtaken off, she asked McCaw totake her aboard but he advisedher to wait for the next boat,humorously remarking that if shegot into the small craft it wouldbe sure to sink.

At the inquest the coroner DrGraham described the event as amost tragic occurrence. He saidthat there used to be manydrowning at Sydenham, but inrecent years there had beensignificant improvement. Thishe stated was due to the fact thatmore people were learning toswim. The SwimmingAssociation in the city had takenthe matter up in recent years andthat people who got into troublewere often saved by learning toswim. If Mr Montgomery hadnot been a swimmer the lives ofother people might have beenlost. He spoke highly of MrMontgomery and the manyothers who had helped on thatdark night and recommendedthat he his name should be putforward to the government forsome kind of recognition.

The jury and the inquest returneda verdict of death caused bydrowning.

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In January 1935 aninquest was held atthe City Hall inBelfast in relation tothe death of MrsSarah Yeats of 25Avoniel Drive. OnSunday 23rdDecember 1934 apoliceman in duty,Constable WilliamMcAndrew was onduty at CastleJunction in the citycentre. He saw aman running acrossthe street and as helooked in thatdirection he saw a carsuddenly stop andthen a crowdgathering. Theincident was over 50yards away and hedecided toinvestigate furtherand walked towardsthe crowd. As he gotcloser he saw the carstationary, facing thecity hall on thetramline. A womanwas lying underneaththe car with her headfacing in thedirection of CastlePlace and her facewas on the ground.

The policemancalled for some helpfrom the men in thecrowd and withseveral of them hemanaged to push thecar over on its leftside and lifted up thewoman and placedher in the car that hadknocked her down.She was rushed tothe Royal VictoriaHospital, semiconscious, only ableto give her name andspeak a few otherwords, before shelost consciousness.Mrs Yeats died a fewdays later from theinjuries shesustained.

William Clark, aclerk who lived atAlbert Street in thecity had witnessedthe whole accident.He was working andheard the horn of amotor car soundingand at the same timehe saw a man andwoman attempting tocross the road. Theman ran forward tocross but the woman

hesitated and theright wing of the car,which was goingtowards the city hall,struck the womanand knocked herdown. The wholething happened soquickly that thedriver could not haveavoided the accident.

The coronerexpressed sympathyto the family of MrsYeats and the juryreturned a verdict ofaccidental death.

On the same day aninquest was held inCrumlin concerningthe death of DavidMcClelland ofFortuna Street whowas fatally injuredwhen he wasknocked down by abus as he cycledfrom Belfast toCrumlin. AlbertGillespie of MainStreet in Crumlinwas the conductor ofthe 5.40pm bus fromCrumlin to Belfast,Thomas McWhirterwas the driver. The

bus was only a milefrom Crumlin whenthe bus stoppedsuddenly and theconductor felt a jerk.He got out and wentto the front of the buswhere he saw thedriver who told himhe had run over aman. The man wasunder the bus behindthe front wheels, hishead turned towardsthe left side of thebus. They managedto get the man outfrom under the busbut he died from theinjuries sustained inthe accident. Otherdrivers on the roadgave evidence at theinquest that MrMcClelland had beencycling almost in themiddle of the roadand visibility on thatday was very poorand the bicycle hadno lights. At theinquest the coronerthanked the BelfastTelegraph who hadcirculated adescription of MrMcClelland as hehad no identification

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on his body when hewas involved in theaccident and this ledto his earlyidentification as hiswife Elizabeth hadtold the coroner thatshe saw thedescription of theunknown man whohad been killed nearCrumlin. She knew

immediately fromthe description thathe was her husbandand she took her carand went to Crumlinwhere sheindentified his body.Her husband alwayswent for a run toCrumlin atChristmas time. MrMcClelland was a

smith’s helper andworked in theshipyard.The inquest foundthat the bus was onthe correct side of theroad when theincident happenedand when the vehiclewas examined it wasfound to be in goodorder. The jury

returned a verdictthat the deceased wasstruck by a bus on theGlenavy Road andhis death was due toshock following afracture of the baseof the skull andlaceration of thebrain and multipleinjuries over thebody.

Jail for RiotersA riot in Carlisle Street inwest Belfast on the 16th

July 1935 led to the arrestof nine men from the lo-cality. The accused ap-peared in court in August1935 and they werenamed and dealt with bythe court as follows: HughMcConkey from WallStreet, Fred Douglas fromWall Street, Ernest Fowlerof Carlisle Street andRobert Willis of CarlisleStreet were all convictedand sent to prison forthree months with hardlabour each.Joseph Millar of CarlisleStreet and George Dou-glas of North BoundaryStreet were convicted and

bound over. JamesWarnock of Herron’sRow, Fred Warnock ofBeresford Street andCharles Graham ofBeresford Street werefound not guilty and dis-charged.At their court appearanceevidence was heard fromthe Crown that a largecrowd had gathered atCarlisle Street and threatswere made to many of theresidents of that street.Mrs Lily Heron ofCarlisle Street was calledto evidence for the de-fence. Shetold the court that she wasa Catholic and that on theday of the riot she had

been very frightened inher own home. The sisterof Joseph Millar hadcome to stay with her tomake her feel safe andthat she had seen Millar athis own home, protectingit and that he had helpedto protect her from themob until after 10 o’clockthat night. She did not seehim get involved in anycommotion on the street.Three other residents ofCarlisle Street confirmedthe evidence of MrsHeron and supportedMillar’s alibi.Ernest Fowler,another of the accusedwas English and had livedin Belfast for nine years.

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He had served in the armyand admitted to helping tobuild the arch for the 12th

of July celebrations buttold the court that he didnot get involved in localpolitics. He said he waswith Willis, another of theaccused, during the riotand had stayed indoorsthe whole time.Another of the accusedGeorge Douglas told thecourt that he had sufferedfrom tuberculosis foreight years and had beencalled into the hospital on

the 16th of July. Duringthe riot he was waiting tobe admitted to the sanato-rium and he was in factnot even in Carlisle Streeton that day.Charles Graham by thetime he appeared in courtwas already in jail as hehad got three months at anearlier Commission andsix months at the Court.He knew nothing a abouta riot in Carlisle Street,claiming to be in jail at thetime, a fact that was con-firmed by local police.

The magistrate MrO’Donaghue summed upby stating that there wasvery confusing evidence,much of the witness state-ments were conflicting, andit was not clear to him whathad gone on in CarlisleStreet on that evening inJuly. All he knew was thatthere was a great deal ofterror in the area, on bothsides, and that it had beenexacerbated by the erectingof an arch in the street, asto who had started it, hecould not tell.

Suspicion of Poisoning at CarrickfergusIn July 1874 a curious case came before thecoroners court in Carrickfergus. It related to thesudden death of Maria Simm, who died on thenight of Tuesday, 6th of January at her home inthe Albert Road, Carrickfergus.

Although her death was sudden it caused nosuspicion and she was buried the day after herdeath on the 7th January. There were rumoursabout the town of Carrickfergus as the weekwent on but it was only on the Friday of thatweek that the coroner was approached by a MrT French, a magistrate from Sligo, who sent himcorrespondence relating to the matter which hadbeen given to him by Maria Simms sister,Catherine. Catherine had been staying with hersisiter in Carrickfergus for some time before herdeath, Catherine was normally resident in Sligoand had returned there as soon as her sister wasburied.

The letter contined information to the effect thatMaria Simm had been poisoned by her husband,James Simm, who was the captain of a coalvessel which traded between Carrickfergus,England and Scotland. The letter also stated thatMaria had told her sister Catherine that she hadbeen poisoned, and that the doctor who attendedher before she died told her that she had beenpoisoned.Mr T French requested that immediate enquiriesand proceedings be brought, Catherine herselfoffered to fund the case against her brother inlaw to the sum of £50, a considerable amount ofmoney at this time.

Mr Trench wrote that he knew Catherine welland had no reason to disbelieve what she hadtold him and considered that prompt actionshoult be taken to resolve the matter once andfor all, to quell the rumours in the district.

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The coroner on receipt of the letter had passedon its contents to the local police who carriedout a full investigation and having reported tothe coroner he ordered that the body of MariaSimms be disinterred. The new inquest into thedeath of Maria Simm opened on April 29th 1874.

After the jury was sworn in the coroner detailedall of the unfortunate circumstances which hadled to this unusual inquest. Captain James Simmwas present as he had been summoned by thecoroner. Several witnesses were questioned whostated that Maria had been addicted to drinkingfor many years and that her husband had treatedher with the utmost kindness and consideration.

Dr Josias Patrick was also questioned as he wasthe doctor who had attended Maria in the weeksup to her death and was the doctor who wasmentioned in the letter from Sligo. He told thecourt that he had first visited her in early Janaurywhen he treated her for inflammation of thestomach, which he diagnosed as being causedby her excessive drinking of hard liquor. Hedid confirm however that any or a great numberof poisons would also produce the samesymptoms as that of alcohol, but he had noreason to think that any other poison save thatof spirits were given to Maria Simm. Dr Patrickbelieved that Maria had died as a result of heralcohol abuse. He related to the court his lastconversation with Marias sister when she askedhim how it was that her sister was dying and hetold her that it was due to the amount of hardspirits she drank. Catherine then suggested tohim that there must be poison in the spirits andhe todl her that it was poison itself when takenin sufficent quantity.

At this point the jury decided that they had hadenough of the evidence and handed in thefollowing verdict:

"That Maria Simm died, on 6th day of Janaury1874, at her residence, from inflammation of thestomach, induced by the excessive drinking ofalcoholic liquors, and we hereby exonerate thehusband, James Simm, from all balme."

The coroner then announced that Captain Simmshould leave the court without a stain upon hischaracter. He also explained why he had notissued a warrant for the arrest of Captain Simmand stated that he was anxious to spare hisfeeling until the coroner had more evidence inthe case. He concluded that the rumours aboutthe conduct of Captain Simm should stop andthe inquest was closed. The body of Maria Simmwas reburied the same day.

ON SALE IN ALLLEADING CITYNEWSAGENTSFROM JUNE

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F r a n k e n s t e i n ,D r a c u l a ,Werewolves, all

these Hammer horrorcharacters spring to mindwhenever the word`graverobber' is todaymentioned. The reason forthis is because, like theprevious characters, webelieve that graverobbingis a piece of pure fictioncreated by one of themany horror writers, butnothing could be furtherfrom the truth.Graverobbing really didoccur and, as any medicalhistorian would confirm,it was a very importantpart of medical historyand led to manyanatomical discoveries.Those of us who knowthat graverobbingoccurred automaticallyassume that it occurred ineither Britain or Europe,but just like many otherplaces Belfast also had thesame problem in the earlypart of the 1800s.In the late 1700s and early1800s the medicalprofession was very muchin its infancy and the

BELFAST’s BODYSNATCHERS

doctors of the periodbadly needed dead bodieson which to carry outexperiments so that theycould fully understand theworkings of the humanbody. The legal supply ofthese dead bodies wasthose who had beenhanged for very seriouscriminal offences andbecause these hangingswere far and few betweenthe supply was totallyuseless for anatomical

dissection. Not only werethe bodies of hangedcriminals scarce, but theanatomists were not freefrom the vengeance of thefamilies and friends ofthose hanged. A newdemand for dead bodieswas now created amongthose within the medicalprofession and it was thisneed which gave birth toa new crime -"Bodysnatching."This new crime consisted

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in the removal, from thegrave, of bodies whichhad recently in-terred andwere therefore 'fresh.'Although it was theperiod between 1790 -1830 which saw thedramatic rise ofbodysnatching it was notthe first case. The firstofficial notice of itoccurring is containedwithin the minutes of theEdinburgh College ofSurgeons of May 20th1711. It reads as follows;Of late there has been avisitation of sepulchres inthe Greyfriars churchyardby some who, mostunchristianly, have beenstealing, or at leastattempting to carry away,the bodies of the dead outof their graves.The reason for thisparticular case ofgraverobbing is unknown,but up until the demand ofthe early 1800s incidentssuch as this were veryrare. When the newdemand arose it wasmainly carried out bygravediggers andanatomy students. At thisperiod the lawsurrounding this crime

was a total mess. Becausethe body was not regardedas property those caughtcould not be prosecuted,however, if they took theshroud they were chargedwith the lesser charge oftheft. Soon after highprices began to be paid forthese corpses andwhenever this happenedmore and more criminalsbecame involved in the

activity. These peoplesoon became known as' R e s u r r e c t i o n i s t s , '‘Crunchers,' and‘Burkers.’The latter was a directallusion to the infamousBurke and Hare who, in1827, extended theirconception of the activityto murder. William Hareran a tramps lodginghouse in Tanner's Close,

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Edinburgh. At Christmas1827 an old man died inthis house owing Hare thesum of £4 for rent. Familyand friends made readyfor the funeral and it wasat this stage that Harestruck up an idea to makeup for his loss. He wentout and informed hisfriend William Burke thatas there was no prospectof him getting his moneyback legally they shouldtake the body and sell itto one of the schools andthat both of them wouldgain from it. The pair thenreturned to Tanner'sClose, unscrewed the lidof the coffin, removed thebody and replaced it withbark and stones. Theythen refastened the lid andafter concealing thecorpse in a bed,accompanied the bark andstones to the cemetery tosee it decently buried.Burke and Hare later tookthe body to a Dr. Knoxand sold it for £7.10s,Hare receiving his £4 withBurke taking the balance.This was a new twist tobodysnatching and it wasa twist which went on tolead to nine murders.

The plan they hadmasterminded wassimple. Once a tramplodged in Hare's housewho had no family orfriends, Burke and Hare

would treat them to drinkand then murder them bysuffocation so as not tomark the corpse. Theywould then approach Dr.Knox and sell it. These

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murders continued forsome time and their lastwas to be a big mistake forthe pair due to the fact thattheir victim was a verywell known characteraround Edinburgh. "DaftJamie" (as he was known)was a harmlessinoffensive man whogenerally strolled thestreets. He was constantlytaunted by local childrenwhom he would chase andbecause of this actioneveryone knew him. AfterBurke and Hare killedhim and sold him to Dr.Knox he was recognisedby the doctors doorkeeper and by several ofhis students. The policesoon received a 'tip off'and when they did theyraided the doctors schoolat 10 Surgeons Squarewhere they found themurdered body of awoman named MaryDoherty. Burke and Harewere soon arrested. Attheir trial in 1828 Hareturned King's Evidenceand Burke was sentencedto death by hanging withthe order that his body behanded over for publicanatomy. Dr. Knox

escaped prosecution dueto the fact that he statedthat he was unaware of thebodies origin. Hare wasreleased because of his'services' in theprosecution of Burke andit is unknown whatbecame of him, however,it is believed that he wasblinded by an angry moband later died a pitilesstramp in London.In Belfast thebodysnatchers stole fromall the graveyards;Shankill, Friar's Bush, andmainly the New BuryingGround, (Clifton Street.)It is unknown just howmany bodies were stolenbecause of the way thecrime was carried out.The bodysnatchers wouldcome into the graveyardin the middle of the night,look for a fresh grave anddig it up. They would thenremove the body from thecoffin, refill the grave andthen place the body in abarrel and sell it. Becausethere was no localdemand for dead bodiesthe Belfast bodysnatchershad the added problem ofshipping the bodies to theareas where the demand

The remains of William Burke.The skeleton of the notoriousmurderer was preserved afterhis execution and dissection

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Graves such as these in Dublin’s GlasnevinCemetery were not for decoration but to

prevent bodysnatching. Similar designs canbe seen in Belfast’s Clifton Street Graveyard

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was, either in Dublin,London, or Edinburghand because of thisnumerous corpses werediscovered in transit. Thebodysnatchers shippedthe bodies in brine asbacon and most of thosediscovered coming fromBelfast were from theburying ground at CliftonStreet. An example of thisis when the body of a mannamed John Faircloughwas found in Warringtonin 1828 and this wasproved to have beenstolen from what is nowClifton Street Cemetery.

Four years before this thebodysnatchers had dug upthe wrong grave in thiscemetery as the followingappeared in the BelfastNewsletter on the 20th ofJanuary 1824.

There are many recordedincidents ofbodysnatching occurringin Belfast and many ofthese are publiclyreported in the NorthernWhig newspaper. One

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such case which appearedin this paper is ofparticular interest due tothe manner in which thebodysnatchers werecaught. The reportinforms us of theappearance in court ofJames Stewart, JamesPemblico, and RobertWright who were allcharged with attemptingto steal away bodies fromthe New Burying Groundon the night of the 24th ofNovember 1827. Thereport states;

Between five o'clock. andsix on Monday morning,the watchman at thecemetery was accosted byone of the prisoners whoasked him did he ever 'risea body' as it was aproceeding which gave himmuch delight. The watch-man surprised at thequestion, immediatelyentered the graveyard butfound all right and on hisreturn he was told that if hewould consent to join in thework money and drinkswould be given to him inabundance. Determined todetect the persons whoattempted to bribe him from

his duty, he manifested aninclination to come toterms and subsequentlymade an appointment tomeet his unknown friendsat a public house in ParkLane at 10 o'clock. He metthe three prisoners there,who treated him with ale,entered fully on the subject,discussed the pleasures ofbodysnatching, andpromised to give him twosovereigns for allowingthem to enter thechurchyard in the night.This he agreed to andreceived a sovereign onaccount. He informed Mr.Kilshaw, his employer, ofthe matter and in the courseof the day five constableswere placed to watch.

Needless to say thebodysnatchers werearrested and thewatchman commendedfor his action.Unfortunately thisprosecution did notdiscourage otherbodysnatchers frominvading the buryinggrounds as the manyreports in the NorthernWhig between the years1824 - 1832 show.

As could be expected thefamilies of those recentlyburied were on thedefensive to protect thebodies of their recentlydeceased loved ones.Most of them kept watchon the graves at night untilthe bodies were in such asstate of decompositionthat they were totallyuseless to the surgeons.Other families hiredwatchmen to do this forthem and it was notuncommon for thesewatchmen to enter theburying grounds armed.This system seemed to bea success and preventedthe actions of thebodysnatchers. Oneproblem which was notaddressed was the factthat these men werepatrolling an emptygraveyard in the middle ofthe night and before longthey were going to getextremly bored. Thewatchmen at the NewBurying Ground werenow using their guns topass the time. Thewatchmen would placetargets on top oftombstones and fire atthem and because the

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A Coffin Guard which was secured around the coffin to preventthe body being removed. This one was recovered at the Clifton

Street Cemetery and is now on display in the main hall ofClifton House

Clifton Street ground wassurrounded by opencountryside at this periodno one heard the shooting.Soon after they werediscovered and thefollowing appeared in theNorthern Whig onMonday 16th February1832;

POOR - HOUSEBURYING GROUND. -We have been requested tostate, that, in consequenceof those persons latelyinterred in the Poor-House Burying Ground,having been in the habitof firing guns, chargedwith slugs and bullets,which sometimes alarmedthe neighbourhood andpassengers, and alsoinjured the tombs andheadstones in thegrounds; the Poor -House Committee latelycame to a resolution, thatthey would employ tworesponsible persons, forwhose faithfulness theyrequired considerablesecurity, and for whosecorrect conduct they feelthemselves accountable,to watch the graves of allpersons buried in these

grounds; and who willrequire but a triflingremuneration. They willbe well armed; and willhave watch dogsconstantly with them. Thisarrangement, if faithfullyadhered to, will give ageneral satisfaction, andrelieve the minds of manyfamilies.

Everything went to planand the watchmenemployed by the societyappeared to be doing agood job in preventingbodysnatching, however, a year later there wascause for an investigationwhen these two'responsible persons' were

caught firing their guns inthe same manner as thosethey had replaced. Thefollowing is the report onthe matter as it appears inthe minutes of thecharitable society;Poor - House 27thFebruary, 1833.At a special meeting of thecommittee held for thepurpose of inquiring intothe circumstancesconnected with firingshots in the graveyard onthe night of Monday last,one of which struck thebarrack and enteredthrough one of thewindows of the room inwhich the soldiers weresleeping. Two soldiers of

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the 80th regiment deposedthat about half past twelveon Monday night, the 25thinst., a shot was fired fromthe rear of the barracks,which entered through thecentre pane of of thewindows, and that atabout two o'clock, fouro'clock and six o’clock theshots were repeated butthey do not think anystruck the barracks. Onthe whole they are surethat about six shots werefired. After having heardthe statement of the men

who were on watch onMonday night, the 25thinst. - viz., JohnMc`Ilwain and JamesMcFarlan fired severalshots on Monday eveningunnecessarily, therebycausing both alarm anddanger, thereby actingcontrary to their orders,and in consequencethereof the committee besummoned for Saturday totake into considerationthe propriety of notallowing firearms to thewatchmen in future.

Eventually the Societybecame completelyfrustrated with the systemof watchmen guarding theClifton Street ground.

This led to the with-drawal of the watchmenfor good as they could notbe trusted to keep orprotect the groundsatisfactorily. After thewatchmen were with-drawn the families onceagain began to takevarious measures toprotect their graves.

The old Belfast Poorhouse (with spire)

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One family made a steelframe which later becameknown as a 'coffin guard.'This was an apparatus(used quite successfully)to prevent the removal ofa dead body from itscoffin and was a cage likeframework into which thecoffin was placed. Barswere then bolted acrossthe top and the coffin wasplaced in its vault orburied. Other attempts tostop bodysnatching byother families rangedfrom the construction ofsecure tombs to theplacing of large slabs

across the grave and manyof these can still be seentoday in the Clifton Streetground.The crime ofbodysnatching ended assuddenly as it had begun.In the early part of the1830s a bill was passedlegalising and regulatingthe conduct of schools ofanatomy and surgery andat a stroke the operationsof the resurrectionists wasover.Today it is easy to see thatbodysnatching was anunnecessary evil and onethat thrived on the

anomalous nature of thelaw. One authority on thesubject and of earlymedical history haswritten of the wholeepisode;

There was little choice inthe matter. It was either aviolation of graveyards sothat the profession ofmedicine might rest on thesure ground of aknowledge of humananatomy, or thatignorance should prevailand medicine fall to thelevel of quacks andcharlatans.

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200 YEARS OF BELFAST HISTORY

Visit the most historic site in Belfast

CLIFTON STREET GRAVEYARDSEE THE OLD BELFAST POORHOUSE

Not a pleasant place to be in Victorian times!

VISIT THE GRAVES OF THE FOUNDERS OF IRISH REPUBLICANISMDid you know that they were all Presbyterians and Freemasons!

THE CHOLERA PITSWhere the remains of thousands of victims of this horrific disease lie buried

THE GRAVE ROBBERSDiscover why corpses were stolen from this very cemetery and sold

THE FAMINE GRAVESee Belfast’s largest remaining grave from the period of the Great Hunger

And lots, lots more ranging from the founders of the worlds oldest newspaper to the inventor of Christmas cards

200 YEARS OF BELFAST HISTORY

MEET OUTSIDE St ANNE’S CATHEDRALEVERY SUNDAY AT 11am

Cost £7£10 tour includes local history booklets and DVD of the Belfast Prison tour

£2.50 ISSN 1757-7284

Old Belfast is publishedby the Glenravel LocalHistory Project as partof our Belfast History

Project scheme

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