The One I Remember
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X6704001004 |
| Date | 01 October 1967 |
| Author | P. Eads |
| Published date | 01 October 1967 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
THE
ONE
I
REMEMBER
SUPERINTENDENT
P.
EADS
Northampton and County Constabulary
We congratulate Mr. Eads on having been awarded the first place
in
our"
The One I
Remember"
Competition.
~~GREAT
OAKS
..•
"
Whittlebury, a small Northamptonshire village, was not in-
cluded in the Domesday survey; it was mentioned in the account
of hides taken in the reign of Henry the Second, but apart from
findings of
Roman
and Greek antiquities, especially a silver drachm
of Alexander the Great, little has ever been recorded there by
history.
It
boasts one handsome mansion, built of stone in the grand
Elizabethan style by the Lord Southampton in 1868, overlooking
the remaining oaks of the once extensive Whittlebury forest.
During the wintry days of January, 1966, it became the setting
for a case I and many others will long remember.
I have mentioned oaks, and like those great trees, major
criminal cases will often grow from small beginnings in the
forest of police inquiries.
The
Scent
The first subject was indeed small. She was a tiny, bent old
body of 75 years, four feet eight inches in height and weighing
only five stones, and her alleged maltreatment by the people
she was living with led to police inquiries. In the course of
these, the person being questioned complained bitterly that while
the police were concerning themselves in her private affairs they
were doing nothing about
"the
doctor"
up at the big house.
The
beat constable, p.e. Gray, therefore interested himself in the
latter.
Mention should be made of the modern history of the mansion.
In common with many other large country properties, its use as
a private residence had for some years been discontinued and
it had been used by a private company, Whittlebury School, Ltd.,
to provide private education for boys.
That
company
had
closed the school when the summer term ended in July, 1965,
and the property was advertised for sale by a firm of London
estate agents and one Eric Mervyn Harold Cross, became a pros-
pective purchaser.
October 1967 453
To continue reading
Request your trial