Convicts, crimes, and murder

Though rare, crime and even murder (or at least the accusation of them), has led to some from the Cumnock area being forced to move elsewhere. Some after serving their time of imprisonment or forced labour would settle and raise families in the area they were sent to such as Australia. A few would return to Ayrshire, but others would pass away still imprisoned. In the case of murder of course it would also influence the population of the area adversely. 

These are just a few of the accounts of those mentioned on the Cumnock Connections site as being affected by crime or murder.

First, by way of example of someone who was sent to Australia and was later able to make a life there, we have David Vallance whose family has a long history of living in the Cumnock/Auchinleck area. David married Euphemia Walker and they had at least one child, Alexander. 

For a time David worked as a butcher in Cumnock. In 1843 he was accused of stealing, either 8 sheep (see this Cumnock Conections link) or a pig (see this link from a familysearch article) and was sentenced to be transported to Tasmania, Australia on board the Henrietta to serve for 7 years. Upon being granted his freedom in 1850 he seems to have settled in area, as he is recorded as passing away in Tasmania in 1886 at the age of 66. I was unable to find any information about what became of his wife and son.

Maybe it is a stretch to write about murders in a blog about immigration, but two high profile murders took place in the area in the early 1900's. The death of Grace Dickie McKerrow in Cumnock and the death of Agnes Bone of Glenbuck were both treated as murders, and both lead to convictions of individuals from the area. 

Grace Dicke McKerrow was born in Sorn, and moved to Cumnock to serve as the housekeeper for a Mr Lennox who lived at home called "Woodside" on Glaisnock street. On Monday the 19^th of November 1906 a package was delivered to the home with a card that read “With happy greetings from an old friend”. When the package was opened it was found to contain iced shortbread. Four day later, on the 23^rd the shortbread was brought out to try when a neighbour, a Mrs Bain, stopped by. Grace was seen to eat two pieces, though complaining about how bitter it tasted. Suddenly all who were eating began to experience great pain, the servant girl, a Miss Thorburn, having only ate a small amount felt best and was sent to bring a doctor. Whie the others would recover, Grace passed away. Suspecting poison, a postmortem was conducted, and it was found that Grace had ingested strychnine. When the shortbread was tested it was found that the icing contained poison, one report saying the icing contained sugar and 41% strychnine). 

Some articles about the murder

The man who was eventually arrested and tried for the murder was Thomas Mathieson Brown from New Cumnock. Until his retirement he had served as manager of the Lanemark Colliery in New Cumnock. His wife was the niece of William Lennox, and it was believed that Brown was seeking to murder Lennox so that his wife might inherit money or land. Rather unusually the prosecution wanted Brown declared insane, as he was known to suffer from epilepsy, while the defence wanted him tried as normal with a plea of not guilty. The evidence brought against Brown was that the handwriting on the card delivered with the package seemed to match his and he was found to have purchased strychnine, which he claimed was for killing rats. A mortar and pestle thought to be used to grind up the poison was also found, along with ingredients to make the icing. The Crown set about proving that Brown was insane, bringing in various medical experts. The jury reached the verdict that Brown was indeed insane, and so he was sent first to the Criminal Lunatic Department in Perth, then later transferred to Crichton Royal Institute, Dumfries, and finally moved to Ayr County Asylum where in 1915 he passed away. 

Article about murder of Agnes Bone

Briefly, another murder that shocked the local community, took place in the village of Glenbuck.  Thomas Bone was found guilty of murdering his wife, Agnes Campbell Bone. It is possible that the two were related, the Cumnock Conections site listing her as his cousin, though the family tree conected with the link does not back this up. Other sources state she was his second cousin and actually born Agnes Campbell, such as the this Cumnock Chronicle article. Thomas grew increasingly violent and possessive of his wife, so much so that many feared for her safety, and Thomas was according to the Chronicle, sentenced to 40 days hard labour as he “behaved in an outrageous fashion” toward her. In 1908 he was “sent down”  for two months, when he got out he again went to find his wife. His mother-in-law saw him and tried to warn her daughter, who was away from the village working at nearby farm, to not come back to Glenbuck, but her letter arrived too late. On Thursday April 2, 1908 around 2pm, the couple were seen walking on a path near the railway station. It began to rain and they went into a shed, where they were observed arguing by a local shepherd. They left, and that was the last anyone saw of Agnes alive. Around 3:05pm Thomas was seen back in the village washing his hands in the burn. He then went to his aunt’s house in the village and confessed to the murder, going from there to other houses and doing the same, though few believed him as it was such a shocking thought. As Thomas kept insisting, even telling them where to find the body, eventually a local miner went to check, and discovered Agnes lying dead on the footpath. (See  article 1 and article 2 for details)

At the trial, to the surprise of many including the judge, Thomas pled guilty, and admitted his murder. He stated that Agnes’s mother had told her not to have anything more to do with him and he was so upset he killed her. Thomas was sentenced to be hung, apparently, according to Chronicle, “the last prisoner at Ayr jail to sit under sentence of death.” But the night before he was to be hung the Secretary of State declaed that he was to have his sentenced changed to one of “penal servitude”. On the 15th November 1912, while serving time in Perth Prison, Thomas hung himself using a bed sheet. 

Finally, one other possible crime, though this one I don’t have a much information about. Again, citing the Cumnock Connections site, a George Murdoch from Auchinleck was convicted of forgery, and after being released on bail he “absconded to America”. If he is the same George Murdoch listed, then he would seem to have had children who ended up in the state of Ohio in the US. It does seem certain that a George Murdoch did immigrate to the United States around that time, but there appears to be several men with that name.