The year 1853 was by all accounts pretty quiet.
There were the usual cases of global pandemics, catastrophic explosions of fireworks and random munitions amongst civilian populations, the Crimean War started, potato chips were first served and Vincent Van Gogh was born.
In the case of a Mrs Duffill, the wife of an innkeeper from Beverley, just up the road from Hull, Yorkshire, UK it was a momentous year.
It was a tuesday, in either early spring or mid autumn that Mrs Duffill went on the York and North Midland Railway over the short eight or so mile distance to the regional city and Port of Hull.
The reason for her trip was not entirely clear, whether business or pleasure.
For the return home it was a matter of her catching the 6.30pm locomotive to Beverley on the line that ran up to the east coast resort of Bridlington and many small rural hamlets in between. A Publicans' wife would not be wealthy in that era and so a second class carriage sufficed.
It was rumoured, after the event in question, that on her return she had been in possession of a large sum of money, perhaps a withdrawal from one of the Banks for whatever reason. Others thought that she had arranged to meet an acquaintance or even a lover within the guise of the trip.
Although only early in the week there were a number of persons with Mrs Duffill on the bench seats of the lower class carriage.
It appears that a fellow passenger was a relative, an uncle. Most travellers alighted at Cottingham, a genteel village roughly equidistant to Hull and Beverley along the line. Those leaving the platform included the uncle with only Mrs Duffill and a lone male left for the onward journey. She was seen to have pleaded with her uncle to chaperone her displaying some concern for the social decorum of the period but he seemed otherwise engaged.
The man, whom was apparently known to the lady, was a William Holliday, described in vocation as a dealer in cows and who also resided in Beverley.
A few onlookers, later interviewed about the events that transpired that day claimed that Mrs Duffill and Mr Holliday had met prior to the train and there seemed to be a bit of history between them.
They were indeed now the only two occupants of the carriage.
It was already dark and only a short distance out of Cottingham with the train moving slowly a Railway Porter saw and heard a distraught female exclaiming "Thief, thief" out of the window. The next moment a hand was seen to appear on the door handle and despite a verbal warning from the Porter to keep to their seats as the train accelerated the door flew fully open and a female form fell out onto the trackside.
The impact rendered Mrs Duffill unconscious and in a state of wounding to the head and general cuts and bruises she was taken to the nearest infirmary.
At Beverley Station a man was seen jumping off the slowing train and to run off making his escape into the night.
The unfortunate Mrs Duffill did not recover and died of her injuries a few days later.
No monies were found amongst her possessions which was at variance with claims that she was earlier carrying a considerable sum.
There were sufficient witnesses on that evening to place William Holliday in the carriage as the only other passenger and he was shortly apprehended and brought before the East Riding Magistrates at their next Session. He was remanded in custody pending an inquest to consider the findings of a post mortem examination.
The general consensus of the gossips and hearsayers in Beverley was that Mrs Duffill had jumped out of the carriage, rather than having been pushed, to escape a molestation at the hands of Holliday. It is a matter of speculation, thanks to the gift of hindsight, that the pair were actually on intimate terms and may have been for some time.
The violence acted out that evening may have been a lovers tiff, a possible blackmailing or just a playful scuffle that went horribly wrong.
The fate of William Holliday in Court and other records is not known. There may have been doubt in attaining a murder conviction although manslaughter, would be a more likely conviction.
As for Mrs Duffill, 1853 was a pretty bad year.
(Factual Source, The Tablet Newspaper 1853)
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