The Manslaughter of Joseph Josiah Walker (1863, Kirtlington, Oxfordshire)

In March 1863, 59 year old gardener William Powell was arrested for "feloniously killing and slaying" Joseph Josiah Walker in Kirtlington on 29th January that same year.

It transpired that Powell was actually Walker's nephew, and that there had been "some ill-feeling" between the pair for quite some time, on account of an ongoing property dispute.

Mrs Ann Tolley - landlady of The Six Bells Inn, Kirtlington - deposed that Joseph Walker had entered the pub at about 5pm, and had proceeded to sit in the tap-room, supping a half-pint of beer. He appeared to be sober.

A little while later, William Powell - whom other patrons noticed to be tipsy - arrived, and immediately began to verbally abuse Walker, who "stood up and raised his stick as if to strike him, but sat down again without doing so".

Powell continued in this provocation, until Walker - described as "a strong old man" - grabbed Powell by the collar, and dragged him out into the passageway.

Mrs Tolley and her servant, Mary Read, heard a scuffle ensue in the passageway, but were busy serving other customers, so didn't actually witness the fight. When Joseph Walker returned to his seat and continued drinking, the two women surmised that it couldn't have been serious.

Powell also sat down, a few feet away from Walker. Once Walker had finished his beer, he left the premises, at which point Powell was heard by Mrs Tolley to declare: "I will mark him [Walker] for having put me out."

Upon leaving the pub, Joseph Walker went to his son-in-law Benjamin Siggars' house, a short walk away; once inside, he complained that he was in great pain. Siggars examined Walker, and discovered a serious wound to his abdomen, from which his bowels were protruding.

Dr Sydenham of Islip was summoned, and ordered that his patient be "conveyed to the Radcliffe Infirmary (Oxford) without delay"; but two days after being admitted into hospital, Joseph Josiah Walker succumbed to his injuries.

Powell was brought into custody, accused of stabbing the deceased; although he initially protested his innocence - telling the officer that he could "take him, hang him, transport him, or whatever else he liked" - four knives were found upon his person. He was subsequently taken to Bicester police station, where at 2am the following morning, he confessed to P.C Nicholls: "Its no use my denying it, as it was only me and him there, and I was not going to be put out by him."

When Nicholls asked him to show him which knife had been used to inflict the deadly blow, Powell pointed out a large one, normally used to cut bread and cheese.

The judge sentenced William Powell to 10 years' penal servitude for the crime, showing the prisoner some mercy by reducing the charge from murder to manslaughter, although other Kirtlington residents felt certain that the attack had been planned.

Above: Map showing Kirtlington circa 1898, courtesy of the village website. The only information that I can find regarding The Six Bells is that it was first mentioned in 1815, and appears to have disappeared by the 1880's. Unfortunately, I'm not sure as to precisely where it was located.