Miss Elizabeth Pulley

Today I learnt an important lesson about checking what you're allowed to include on blogposts. My original posts about Miss Pulley and Henry Corby contained lots of gruesome details, but they, of course, are not suitable for children. This meant my blog had to sit behind a wall where readers proved their age - a not unreasonable request - and meant, therefore, that it was unviewable by most people. So I'm trying again. A sanitised, polite post or two about the two people at the centre of the murder, without the gruesome bits. Hopefully, the gate will be removed.

When I came across the case of the murder of an elderly Stamford resident a few years back I was immediately enthralled. I had heard of a woman who had apparently died from spontaneous combustion in the town as a teenager, but had not realised that these two women were one and the same. What also surprised me was that nobody had written about the full story before, so that is the intention of this blogpost and the following ones.

You might have come across this blog after reading my book Exploring the Lives of Victorian Prostitutes (if you haven’t, it’s available at Walker’s book shop in Stamford, Waterstones in Peterborough, Peterborough Museum, Amazon and Pen & Sword) and wanted to know more about the horrific murder. Thank you for reading my book, and welcome.

High Street St Martins close to Miss Pulley's house, looking north past the George Hotel and towards St Mary's church

Let me set the scene. It was 1860 and Elizabeth Pulley was 64 years old and living entirely alone in a rather nice house on High Street St Martins, Stamford, probably 55 or 56 High Street due to the gardens. Not too far away lived the Corby family. Henry Corby was a master carpenter, aged around 50 and was married to Elizabeth (nee Goodliffe), aged 60. They had four children - two boys and two girls, although the eldest, Henry, was already married by this point.

On 15^th March Henry Corby killed Miss Pulley in her home, where she lay until she was discovered after a friend raised the alarm, on 19^th March. This is the story of what lead to Miss Pulley’s murder.

St Guthlac's in Market Deeping

Elizabeth was born on 27^th June 1796 in Market Deeping to Thomas and Elizabeth (nee Sanderson) who had married by licence on 1^st October 1795 at St Guthlac’s Church in Market Deeping.[1] Elizabeth had been baptised on 28^th June, suggesting that her prospects at birth were not great. She pulled through, however, and was joined by her sister Mary (born 15^th April, baptised 18^th April) who died aged 15 months (18^th July 1799). Her brother James was buried before he was baptised in 1802 and John Thomas suffered the same fate in 1805. Another John Thomas was born and baptised in July 1808, only to be buried on 11^th November of the same year. Elizabeth was the only child who survived.

Thanks to information from the Deepings Heritage Group, here we know that Thomas was a draper with a shop in Middle Row, Market Deeping. Middle Row was a short row of houses in what is now the Market Place. When the row was knocked down in 1847 Elizabeth was the beneficiary of £145 compensation.[2] Amazingly, we will uncover what she spent her compensation money on in another post.

St Martin's on a cold, miserable day in January

The family moved to Stamford Baron/St Martin’s and Thomas died in 1821 aged 66, being buried in St Martin’s churchyard [3]. The 1841 census show us that both Elizabeths were living on High Street St Martins and had a female servant. The Hibbins family (Edward, Catherine, and Catherine) were also living on their property, possibly as lodgers. Interestingly, there is a joiner living next door, but most of the houses are lived in by independent women with their servants. A ladies’ seminary was a few doors down, which pre-dates Stamford High School for Girls.

Elizabeth Pulley senior was buried on 11^th September 1844 in St Martin’s churchyard aged 80 (possibly baptised in Maxey in 1764 to Thomas and Elizabeth Saunderson). Her will tells us that she was Thomas’ second wife and he had two other daughters: Catherine Lapworth and Ann Scott (later Dean) who were each left £150 to be received two years after her death.[4] Elizabeth was left everything else, which included property and lands which she could live off, as well as all of her money – Elizabeth Pulley was rather wealthy!

Elizabeth’s death was first recorded in the Lincolnshire Chronicle and Stamford Mercury on 23^rd March 1860.[5] The Chronicle stated that she was found on Monday (the 19^th) and was aged 62 (incorrect). The Mercury also incorrectly claimed she was 63 (she was 64), but it had a full description of the inquest on Miss Pulley’s body, which happened on the evening of the day she was discovered. The inquest was held at the nearby Town Hall by John Torkington to attempt to determine the reason for her death.

Stamford Town Hall (and gaol for a while)

During the inquest they determined that she had last been seen alive on Wednesday (14^th) and had probably died on the Thursday morning. Her friend Miss Robertson had raised the alarm on the Sunday after she had failed to appear at church, and Sergeant Harrison and a clerk from Miss Pulley’s attorney’s office entered the house to find her. What met them was the remains of Miss Pulley, who appeared to have been in a fire. As there was no sign of a burglary (there were a lot of valuable items left in the house) or violence (from the body that remained) the coroner decided that the likely cause of death was that Miss Pulley had prepared her fire for lighting first thing in the morning and ‘fell down in a fit’ (had a heart attack or seizure).

As is usually the case, different newspaper accounts recorded different information. The Lincolnshire Chronicle account referred to her as ‘a lady of eccentric habits’ and dwelt on the fact she had lived alone without a servant for the last 18 months and barely left the house, nor let anyone enter it.[7]  It also mentioned a large hole in the floor that had been burnt by the fire, but stated that owing to the floorboards being oak, it had not burnt too far. Their supposed theory was that her dress had caught light from the candle.

However, Miss Pulley’s friends and neighbours did not agree with the inquest conclusion: ‘doubts were expressed in the town as to her having met with her death by accidental circumstances, it being rumoured that neither plate nor coin were found in the house.’ But their concerns were assuaged by the revelation that her house still contained a great deal of valuable items. 

She was buried on Wednesday 21^st March in St Martin's churchyard and her goods were passed to relatives in Putney, which is where her half-sister Catherine (and probably Ann) were living.

By Saturday 24^th March her suspected killer, Henry Corby, was in custody. But who was Henry Corby and why did he kill her? Come back for the next blogpost to find out.

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[1] According to Freereg records. No sign of the burial of his previous wife Elizabeth

[2] https://deepingsheritage.wordpress.com/tag/elizabeth-pulley/

[3] 31^st March. He was born in 1755.

[4] Catherine was baptised 18^th Jan 1782 – married Abraham Lapworth 1814 in Putney (some say 1815). Abraham was a shopkeeper and they lived in Bermondsey Square, London, not far from Tower Bridge.  Anna was baptised 10^th Oct 1783 – she married John James Dean in Putney, who was a grocer. Elizabeth Pulley’s Will is viewable on Ancestry

[5] ‘Deaths’, Lincolnshire Chronicle, 23 March 1860, p.5 and ‘Shocking Death by Burning’, Stamford Mercury, 23 March 1860, p.4.

[6] ‘Shocking Death by Burning’.

[7] ‘Dreadful Death’, Lincolnshire Chronicle, 23 March 1860, p.5.

The Oldest Features in The Deepings: Part Two

In the first part of this blogpost we looked at the very earliest features in The Deepings that can be seen. This part looks at the more recent features, in particular the domestic buildings.

The majority of the features included are listed buildings and structures because these have been identified as being of historic interest and their history, or features, have been identified. For those who don't want to wade through the descriptions, there is a list below of the oldest buildings. It includes largely domestic buildings (and conversions) but also bridges, agricultural, industrial and commercial buildings. The list only goes up to 1800 for brevity, and because they are usually much easier to spot. Dating buildings is incredibly hard, which is why listed buildings make the core of this list, but let us not forget that buildings are being altered and improved all the time for fashion or changing purposes. As you will see, older buildings are often incorporated into newer structures and those pesky datestones often relate to improvements and extensions, so do not be fooled by them!

Let’s start with the oldest domestic building in The Deepings. If you know the area you might be thinking it’s the beautiful stone building on Church Street known in the listing as The Old Curiosity Shop (No. 29). With its low profile, its mullion stone windows and two-storey stone box window, it is a bit of a gem. It is dated to the late 16^th century (Tudor) but it’s not the oldest home in The Deepings. That award goes to The Old Rectory and East Wing, which is further north on Church Street but set back behind St Guthlac’s Church. Originally one house, it was built in the early 14^th century as a ‘refectory or infirmary to the Prior of Market Deeping, a cell of Thorney Abbey’ according to the listing. Thankfully it survived the reformation and was converted into a rather fine rectory, and later divided into two houses. It is Grade I listed.

The Old Curiosity Shop doesn’t even make it into second position as the oldest domestic building; that position is taken by Grade II* listed West Deeping Manor House which is dated to the 15^th century (medieval or early Tudor). I have to add an addendum here: the official historic listing says it’s 15^th century, but it has a datestone of 1634, which is tripping people up. Even the recent sales listing for the property states it was built in 1634, meaning they haven’t checked the listing either (and potentially missed out on more money from selling an older house). If you want to look at the house (and its incredible panelled entrance hall), follow this link here for the sale listing and plan, or this listing here (although they’ve also missed the earlier date).

The manor is definitely older than 1634, so let’s look at how we can tell. Firstly, the plan of the front of the building makes an E-shape, which was a popular style in the late 16th century to honour Queen Elizabeth I (see the front of Burghley, for example). That’s obviously not the 15^th century part and for that we need to look at another section of the house and identify the original hall. Medieval manors were originally open halls with a large central fireplace, with extra floors and rooms being added or adapted over time (Northborough is a nice example of this here). At West Deeping the original hall was south-facing and has, over time, been divided up into the drawing room, study and other rooms, which you can see on the floorplans in the sales listing. If you look at images of the south face of the building (and the floorplan again) there is evidence of a large chimney and fireplace, which is likely to be the evolution of the original open fire in the hall. When Humphrey Orme (later owner of the building under Peterborough Museum) rented the house in 1536 he would have been living in the hall, with later owners adapting and moulding it into the house we see now.

The Old Curiosity Shop or 29 Church Street

Finally, we get to The Old Curiosity Shop, sliding in to the Bronze medal position. It is the only building in the area surviving from the 16^th century, although it’s very possible that some of the early 17^th century buildings in the area are hiding earlier timbers, including buildings such as The Bull, dated to the early 17^th century and taking a prominent position in the marketplace in Market Deeping.

The reason is that there are so few surviving buildings is because The Deepings were sitting on the edge of a very soggy fen at this point. Some early drains were in place, and it was habitable on the ridges and islands and west of Car Dyke, but it was still very wet (Deeping Fen was a lake until 1845). There are many houses to the south of the Deepings in the Soke of Peterborough that are older (see Peterborough’s Oldest Buildings Part II) but anything in the Deepings made of wood would have rotted – only stone buildings have survived, and that expensive stone had to been brought in from the higher ground.

The arrival of mass draining during the 17^th century completely changed the landscape and economy in the area as the fields dried out over many decades. In addition, I would argue that the building of the Stamford to Deeping canal in the 1660s was equally important when it came to buildings in the area. The canal brought a huge boost to the economy, which resulted in many stone buildings being built throughout the three districts. The building of the stone Deeping Gate bridge (Grade II*) in 1651 after the Civil Wars undoubtedly helped with this building, allowing the transportation of heavy stone easily across the Welland without the need of a ferry, waiting for low tides, or stressing old wooden bridges.

The Bull in Market Deeping with its carriage entrance in the centre

There are a total of 25 listed buildings dating to the 17^th century in the Deepings. This might not sound like much, but there are only three domestic buildings that survive before then, so you really can see the difference that draining and adding a canal and bridge did to the area. There are only two early 17^th century buildings: The Bull and St Benedict’s Priory, previously known as Priory Farmhouse. St Benedict's was built using some features from the earlier priory (so we could claim the building is older and deserves a higher position in the listing, but I’m not certain what those features are).

What is worth noting is that West Deeping Manor and St Benedict’s Priory have the same E-shape plan to them and look cut from the same cloth (Langford Manor in Somerset is a very interesting comparison here.) St Benedict’s is a taller building and appears to be a later, more confident imagining of the E-shape  – a one-up to the glamorous West Deeping! But the E-shape would suggest it is very early 17^th century because the shape fell out of fashion after the death of Elizabeth.

The other buildings of that century are dated to a generic 17^th century or are late 17^th century. That is with the exception of The Grey House on Stamford Road dated specifically to 1681 and 40, 42 and 44 Church Street, Deeping St James (fitting together in a horseshoe-shape) dated to 1688. The datestones appear to match the architectural styles, but there is a chance they are older still. 

The ghosts of windows past and a large wooden lintel

It would also be terribly remiss of me if I fail to mention an unusual feature in Market Deeping with a date of 1648 and inscription. It is a lovely wooden lintel that is said to have belonged to a previous house that sat between Toninio’s (formerly TSB) and what is currently The Furniture Factory and where the entrance to The Blades is. The full inscription on the lintel reads ‘Anno Dom * 1648 * IULY* 4 * RS *’ as you can see on the image below.

It appears to commemorate something (IULY being July) but it is not clear what. The problem with the theory that it belonged to a lost house is that early photographs of the area show a small thatched building clinging to Toninio’s here (Sandersons is the building with the lintel) and there appears to be a passage or gap between the buildings. The lintel sits above the infilled remains of what is claimed to be a former window, and is one of several infilled features, the windows and two doors being framed by stone frames.

You might be fooled into thinking that the features are all from the same time period and potentially from this illusive lost building, but there is a very important feature in the wall – a boot scraper. 

The boot scraper

This means that this is the outer wall of the door and that dates it to the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries when boot scrapers were installed in buildings. The slim shape of the windows, which would have been sash windows, also agree with this date. We should consider, therefore, if the lintel had been moved and came from another location. Looking at the lintel there is evidence of small wooden blocks around the timber but also around the ghost of the lost opening which was once open to the ground. It’s very likely these blocks were once much longer batons, beams or bars. The grain of the wood tells us they ran perpendicular to the opening and might have been wall studs. Was this, yet again, the date of another extension, or the creation of a link between two separate buildings? That is very possible. The current building that these features sit in appears to be nineteenth century, but I strongly suspect that this is a façade over the bones of an older building.

Hidden brickwork

One of the reasons for that is that some of the stone at the front of the building is very badly eroded, and sitting behind it are some rather nice red bricks, a feature that is very common in some of the 17^th century buildings below, including 3 Stamford Road, a few metres away from it. Toninio’s is listed, but The Furniture Factory is not.

The list of historic buildings and features in The Deepings

 

Building	Location	Date/Century
The Old Rectory and East Wing	Market Deeping	Early 14th
West Deeping Manor House	West Deeping	15th
Old Curiosity Shop (No. 29 Church Street)	Market Deeping	16th
St Benedict’s Priory	Deeping St James	Early 17th
The Bull (and shop)	Market Place, Market Deeping	Early 17th
Market Deeping Mill	Stamford Road, Market Deeping	17th
70 Church Street	Market Deeping	17th
1 Corner Farm	Market Deeping	17th
Stable and Granary at Corner Farm	Market Deeping	17th
18 Halfleet	Market Deeping	17th
Portland House	Market Deeping	17th
30 Bridge Street	Deeping St James	17th
Cromwell House	West Deeping	17th
Molecey’s Mill and Granary	West Deeping	17th
Sundial Cottage	West Deeping	17th
Market Deeping Mill	Market Deeping	17th
16 Church Street	Market Deeping	17th
36 Church Street	Market Deeping	17th
38 Church Street	Market Deeping	17th     (1697)
129 Eastgate	Deeping St James	Late 17th
Boathouse to the rear of No.2 Eastgate	Deeping St James	Late 17th
1 and 3 Stamford Road	Market Deeping	Late 17th
25 Market Place	Market Deeping	Late 17th
102-104 Church Street	Market Deeping	Late 17th
4 and 6 Bridge Street	Deeping St James	Late 17th
100 Bridge Street	Deeping St James	Late 17th
36 King Street	West Deeping	Late 17th
18 Stamford Road (Grey House)	Market Deeping	1681
40, 42 and 44 Church St	Deeping St James	1688
42 Halfleet	Market Deeping	c.1700
29A Church Street (former barn)	Market Deeping	c.1700
5 Stamford Road	Market Deeping	Early 18th
43 High Street (and entrance gate)	Market Deeping	Early 18th
37A King’s Cottage ( was Barn north of 39 King Street)	West Deeping	Early 18th
87 Eastgate	Deeping St James	Early 18th
33 Halfleet	Market Deeping	Mid 18th
9 Stamford Road	Market Deeping	Mid 18th
17-19 High Street	Market Deeping	Mid 18th
45 High Street, The Laurels	Market Deeping	18th
Pigeoncote in the grounds of Holly Lodge	West Deeping	1755
48 Church Street	Market Deeping	1760
43A King Street	West Deeping	1768
64 Church Street	Market Deeping	1770
43 King Street, The Chalet	West Deeping	1785
The Library	Deeping St James	Late 18th
91 Eastgate	Deeping St James	Late 18th
Towngate Maltings, Towngate West	Market Deeping	Late 18th
68 Church Street	Market Deeping	Late 18th
80 Church Street, Willoughby House	Market Deeping	Late 18th
82 Church Street, The Cedars	Market Deeping	Late 18th
116-122 Church Street	Market Deeping	Late 18th
27 Market Place	Market Deeping	Late 18th
2 Barns and Outbuildings at Towngate Farm	Market Deeping	Late 18th
27 Church Street, White Horse	Market Deeping	Late 18th
35 Church Street, Holland House	Market Deeping	Late 18th
19 Church Street, The Vine Pub	Market Deeping	Late 18th
25 Church Street	Market Deeping	Late 18th
31-33 Church Street	Market Deeping	Late 18th
18 High Street	Market Deeping	Late 18th
Mill Race Bridge, Stamford Road	Market Deeping	Late 18th
30 King Street	West Deeping	Late 18th
45 King Street	West Deeping	Late 18th
Barn at Rectory Farm, Stamford Road	West Deeping	Late 18th
Granary next to No. 23 King Street	West Deeping	Late 18th
Ivy House and Barn	West Deeping	Late 18th
Pigeoncote at Market Deeping Mill, Stamford Road	Market Deeping	Late 18th

 

There are loads of buildings that have not been listed that I would expect to be, and I have included three in italics. 36 and 38 Church Street (opposite the church yard) both shows signs of being raised from 1 to 2 storeys, with No. 38 having a datestone of 1697 (which is likely to represent the raising of the roof, not the building of the house). The quoin stones on the wall of 36 that butts up against 38 suggest that it was built before it.

36 and 38 Church Street

On the same road, no. 16 may also be from the same time period, with its stone window surrounds on the ground floor and low eaves. All three properties have casement windows, which helps to date them before the arrival of sash windows.

Further along the road, named Halfleet there, sits No. 48, which appears to have very interesting bones under its rendered walls, with its small casement windows and large central chimney stack. It isn't possible to tell its age from glancing at a distance, but I would not be surprised if it was from a similar period to the other houses mentioned.

Over in Deeping St James is the diminutive 45 Horsegate, recently sold with the promise that it was great for development. It again, shows the features of an old building with wooden beams internally and what is possibly a cruck beam on the outside of the building (which would make it very unusual indeed, and therefore possibly a later addition).

The gable end of 47 Church Street on a hot day

There are also unusual features, such as the lovely tripartite stone mullion window halfway up the gable end of 47 Church Street and two circular windows below it. Stone mullion windows looked the same on the inside as the outside, but I suspect this was an external wall that has been incorporated into the building for cost-saving measures (and because it looks really nice). And did I mention the beautiful pargetting above the first-floor windows of 42 Halfleet? The building is listed, but the features are so unusual and so delightful that they need to have their own little mention.

There are some very old, very beautiful buildings dotted around The Deepings, many more than I’ve had time or space to mention here. If you have another building you think should be included, or a feature that has been overlooked, do let me know and I’ll add it to the list. Once I’ve pootled past, of course.

For more information about The Deepings the blogs of both Deepings Heritage and West Deeping Heritage Group are packed with information and photographs of some of the buildings I've mentioned. Listed buildings can be found on the Historic England site, British Listed Buildings or for lovely maps,  Lincolnshire Heritage Explorer. All the links are below.

https://deepingsheritage.wordpress.com/

https://wdheritage.wordpress.com/

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/

https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/

https://heritage-explorer.lincolnshire.gov.uk/map

All of the images belong to the author.