Ninety Years On

major update - click here

The Murder Scene - The Grove - in 2001 The Grove - July 21st 2002 - ninety years to the day after the events of the Hanslope Park Tragedy. The Grove had been specially tidied up for the event detailed below.
Serving Policeman Mick Shaw points to the murder spot Serving Thames Valley policeman Mick Shaw - dressed in an authentic Bucks Constabulary uniform of the Edwardian period - stands in the Grove, pointing to the approximate spot where the Squire fell. William Farrow's position was under the tree in the background behind Mick
When the Society first launched this feature on its site, all it intended to present were the basic details as recorded in its files and gleaned from the book "The Hanslope Park Tragedy", written by the Squire's nephew, Edward French. Together, these constituted what might be termed the "received wisdom" about the events of the tragedy. Local gossip had speculated about other possible motives and circumstances, but very little in the way of formal research had been done.
Memorial event at The Grove, 2001 To mark the 90th anniversary of the Tragedy, which in 2002 once again fell on a Sunday, the Society organised a small memorial event at the Grove. It was timed to start at about the same time the evnts took place, and was attended by Society members, relatives and friends of people alive in 1912 and witness to the Tragedy and its aftermath, and other interested parties who had contributed to the collected knowledge about the Tragedy.

A small brass band (just visible in the background) played music of the period.

New Evidence

In the preparation of these pages, new sources of information were uncovered. Original 1912 copies of the Wolverton Express and the Bucks Standard are stored at Milton Keynes Museum, and Northampton Central Library keeps copies of the Northampton Herald on microfilm. These newspaper reports on the deaths and the funerals of the two men, the inquest and the general reaction have filled out much of the picture and corrected the inevitable degree of family "spin" in Edward French's book.

Most valuable of all, the existence of this web site on the Hanslope Park Tragedy prompted others to contact the Society, and fill in other little-known but vital points derived from personal and family memories. The Society is indebted to the descendants of George Green, the Coachman at Hanslope Park, for information and photos, along with the permission to use them on this site.

Perhaps the most valuable contribution of all came from Beatrice Anderton who, via her friend Lynda Lancaster, has given the Society an eyewitness account of the events.

The two stories can be accessed via the "Memories" link at the top of this page.

With the aid of all this new material the Society has been able to clarify much of the detail surrounding the Tragedy, but several vital things are still missing and may always remain so. Details are given below.

Still Missing

The Coroner's Report

Though the original report is missing, there is a chance that if the Coroner were a local solicitor, his firm would have a copy in their vaults. The Society is still pursuing this line of investigation.

The Farrow family

(written in 2001) Apparently, two descendants of William Farrow turned up in Hanslope in the 1980's, looking for the grave. This was before the formation of the Society, so no details were taken down. The Society earnestly requests that if any of those descendants see these pages, they contact the Society. Anonymity and confidentiality will be respected, but the Society (and many readers of these pages!) would love to know what happened to Annie Farrow and her children, and what if anything has been passed down the family about the Tragedy and its aftermath.

2005 - the Society has been contacted by a grandson of William Farrow, who has furnished new material and details. Read all about it here

The Gamebook

There is a chance that the gamebook found in William Farrow's pocket was returned to his family after the Inquest. Its precise contents have never been revealed, though the Inquest reports in the Bucks Standard and the Northampton Herald seem to indicate it referred to lies being told about him, and the Coroner makes oblique reference to it in his cross-examination of Henry Martin.

2005 - According to William Farrow's grandson, the gamebook is not in the family's possession.

The Murder Weapon

Until comparatively recently, the shotgun that William Farrow borrowed from Joseph Ruff at Woad Farm, and the one he used to shoot the Squire, was still in the possession of the Ruff family. It is now no longer available, and the Society would like to know its whereabouts so it can be examined as to type and action, and photographed for posterity. It still remains a mystery why William Farrow borrowed this gun when he had one of his own and why he used this one to kill the Squire and then committed suicide with his own gun.

Ninety Years On - latest thoughts

Note - this version was written in 2001.

Barring any definitive new evidence, William Farrow's motives will probably always be unclear. The loss of his job is still seen as the probable reason for his act, though it still seems something of a gross over-reaction, and interestingly the Wolverton Express report of the time states of his dismissal that "It is not believed, however, that this fact had anything to do with his act."

One cannot escape the conclusion that there had to be a degree of pre-meditation - he had two shotguns hidden in the spinney; he took eight cartridges with him when he left home; and reports in the Bucks Standard seem to indicate he hinted to his wife and eldest daughter what he was about, but they thought he was just acting strangely or kidding.

Gossip at the time held that Mrs Watts was the likely target rather than the Squire. Certainly nobody seems to have liked her, and it was the death of her favourite dog while in William Farrow's care which seems to have triggered the dismissal. However, had William Farrow wanted to murder Mrs Watts as well as the Squire he had means and opportunity as well as time - after putting two shots into the Squire, he still had two shotguns and six cartridges. He could have shot Mrs Watts before Lily and William Green reached her; or he could have waited till they had gone for help. There was still a period when Mrs Watts was alone with her dead husband before anyone else arrived.

Another possible scenario is that while William Farrow reportedly always had a good word for the Squire, he might have blamed him for not standing up to his wife and for dismissing him over the incident of the dog. That would be why the Squire was shot and not his wife - she would be left to suffer a loss of husband the way Farrow's family would suffer his loss of his job (and also his life).

There is still some debate about his state of mind at the time of the Tragedy. Early newspaper reports, especially the Northampton Herald's, laid stress on the fact that he had been drinking. It remains debatable whether the primrose wine and the beer he consumed on the morning of the murder were a continued symptom of depression or something to steel his nerves for what he had decided to do. Certainly his aim was not impaired when he shot the Squire.

The incident of the request for the razor when he called at Manor Farm is worth considering. It takes an awful lot of nerve to shoot yourself through the mouth with a shotgun - was he considering that he might slash his wrists or cut his throat instead? His words to his eldest daughter on the morning of the murder (see Bucks Standard report above) seem to indicate that he was aware that he would not get away without being detected and in the least would be arrested. Had he survived and been arrested it is absolutely certain he would have been hanged for the murder of the Squire. Perhaps he decided that suicide would mean less suffering for his family.

2006 - With the new details provided by William Farrow's grandson, some of which are posted here, a new version of the Latest Thoughts is in preparation, and will be posted here. We are now closer than ever to bringing closure to the words Annie Farrow placed on her husband's gravestone: "Waiting till all shall be revealed"