A TRAGIC TALE
On 2nd May 1908 the Marlborough Times reported a gruesome discovery in a well at Southgrove Farm on the Burbage boundary and within one hundred yards of the main road from Marlborough to Salisbury.
Two farm labourers working nearby had, out of curiosity, lifted the lid of the well to discover the body of a child floating on the water dressed in a blue knickerbocker suit and wearing black lace up boots. The depth of the well was around sixty feet with its surface at seven feet from ground level.
Burbage police were summoned and the body removed. A local doctor considered the body had been in the water for at least nine months and was too decomposed to show any signs of violence, making a post mortem examination almost impossible. At a local inquest, the opinion was put forward that the child may have overbalanced when lifting the lid of the well. The verdict was open and the body declared to be that of an unknown boy who was then buried in Burbage churchyard.
It was not until three years later, in March 1911, that the Marlborough Times reported that a single woman, aged around thirty, had been arrested at her aunt’s home near Collingbourne Ducis in connection with the body in the well. Certain information had reached the police who began enquiries leading to the arrest of Mary Anne Nash who was brought before Marlborough Magistrates.
Ten years earlier, in September 1901, Mary Anne Nash had been living at her father’s home in Milkhouse Water when she gave birth to an illegitimate male child called Stanley. Mary Anne had left home to take up a situation in domestic service, leaving her father to look after the child, but failed to keep a promise to contribute towards her son’s maintenance.
Four years later, her father asked Mary Anne to take Stanley away and she arranged for him to be lodged with Elijah and Mary Jane Stagg at 64 Easton Royal. Stanley attended the village school for seven months until his mother had once again fallen into arrears.
At the Marlborough hearing, Mrs Emma Stagg told the court that her niece Mary Anne Nash had come to stay in 1907 in her house near Collingbourne after leaving a job in domestic service in London. While she was there, a lady had come over from Easton Royal with a small boy called Stanley Nash, apparently her niece’s son, saying she was no longer able to care for him as the mother was in arrears with the agreed maintenance.
After several weeks, Mrs Stagg’s husband had told Mary Anne to take the child to the workhouse or find another place for him. Her niece then said she had arranged for Stanley to be looked after by a Mrs Hillier at Crabtree Cottage in Savernake Forest and off they went, walking along the road near where the well was situated. Mary Anne had returned to Collingbourne that night alone and stayed for a few days before starting another job.
Mrs Hillier was next to give evidence. She said she had never seen the defendant and that the boy had never been brought to lodge with her.
Mary Anne failed to give evidence at the hearing. Stanley Nash had not been produced and no account was given of his whereabouts.
The Magistrates decided Mary Anne Nash had a case to answer, committed her to trial at Wiltshire Assizes and she was remanded in the County Gaol at Devizes.
In June 1911 at Salisbury Guildhall, the jury took only twenty minutes to record a verdict of Guilty but with a recommendation for Mercy.
Mary Anne was sentenced to death by hanging for the murder in June 1907 of her son, Stanley George Nash aged five years and nine months – an appeal was lodged but dismissed.
On 5th July, a petition presented to the Home Secretary concluded that the conviction was highly unsatisfactory and based only on circumstantial evidence. Over 14,000 people had signed, including members of parliament, members of the jury and villagers of Easton Royal. As a result, Mary Anne had her sentence commuted to life imprisonment, but she was released nine years later.
Mary Anne Nash lived into her seventies and is buried in Pewsey cemetery.
No 64 - on the right hand side