Chippenham <1>
15 March 1861
Dear Sir,
I paid £200 to your Account with the Bank of Scotland as you requested.
The Road Murder seems still a Mystery but I have reason to believe that we shall hear more about it very shortly.<2>
Yours obliged
West Awdry.
Notes:
1. Chippenham, Wiltshire: largest town near Lacock, 3 miles N.
2. Road (now Rode) was a small parish between Trowbridge and Frome, about 10 mi SW of Lacock. Constance Emily Kent, later Ruth Emilie Kaye (1844-1944), was the daughter of Samual Savill Kent, a factory inspector. On the night of 29 June 1860, the body of 4 year old Francis Savill Kent was discovered in the outhouse, with his throat slit. At first the nursemaid was suspect, but soon Francis's 16 year old half-sister Constance was identified as the perpetrator of this hideous crime. A magistrate found her innocent and she was soon made into a heroine; Scotland Yard's Detective Jonathon Whicher, who had charged her, was dismissed from the force. Five years later, Constance confessed to a clergyman, saying the crime was taken in revenge against her step-mother. She was tried and sentenced to death, but this was commuted to 20 years in prison. She afterwards moved to Australia. Suspicions remain that she was actually protecting her brother, William Savill Kent, who either acted alone or in concert with her.