Albert Burrows

People

• Albert Burrows (also named Albert Edward Burrows): married farm labourer who took Hannah Calladine as his mistress; later sexually assaulted and murdered multiple children.
• Hannah Calladine (also Hannah Calladine): 28-year-old woman from Nantwich, Cheshire; mother of a 4-year-old daughter; had a son with Burrows later in 1918; was murdered.
• Albert Edward Burrows (Burrows’ son): son of Hannah Calladine; born later in 1918; was murdered.
• Hannah Calladine’s daughter (also Elsie Large is named in relation to Hannah’s children): disposed of the day after Hannah Calladine and their son were murdered; her remains were later found.
• Elsie Large: named as an older illegitimate daughter called Elsie Large with Hannah; Burrows was seen walking with Elsie Large.
• Tommy Wood (also Thomas Wood): 4-year-old boy reported missing; his sexually assaulted body was found in an air shaft; funeral held.
• Inspector Chadwick: police inspector who investigated.
• Tom Pierrepoint: executioner.
• Detective Sergeant Wilson: received Burrows into custody after he was captured by civilians.
• Mr. Wilkie: presented a report and requested remand.
• Mayor: agreed to remand terms.
• Mr Frank Gee: boy working at Hobroyd Rope works at the time; described excitement of the day.
• Mr. Justice Shearman: presiding judge at trial; pronounced death sentence.
• Elizabeth Calladine: sister of the missing woman; supplied information to police.
• Neville Sharpe: provided the story in the material.
• Charlie Peace: referenced in Burrows’ shouted remark about not trembling on the scaffold.
• Tommy Wood’s parents: parents of Tommy Wood; searched/acted when he failed to return.
• Volunteers and Borough Police: participated in the search after Tommy Wood disappeared.
• Seymour Meads: a location/enquiry reference used to determine whether Hannah was working there.
• Elizabeth Calladine’s parents / Hannah’s elderly parents: visited Glossop and received information from Burrows.
• A Nantwich clogger: identified that Tommy Wood’s daughter’s clogs had been made by him.
• A woman: saw a man and a small boy clambering over shale heaps near Coal Pit House.
• A farm worker with a horse: saw and spoke to Burrows at Bridgefields on the same day with a little boy.
• Local force members: handcuffed Burrows to escorts during movement through the Town Hall.
• Civilians: set off after Burrows on the moor and attempted to hang him.
• Police at the Police Station / mortuary staff: received and handled the bodies found.
• Sanitary Department: open lorry provided transport with Burrows still wearing a scarf.
• Schoolchildren at Whitfield School: went to look at Tommy Wood’s grave.
• The pathologist: gave evidence at the Town Hall about sexual abuse before throwing into the air shaft.
• Witnesses: testified about events of pursuit and capture; also denied allegations of threats and a punching/kicking.

Timeline

• 1918 — Burrows took 28-year-old Hannah Calladine as his mistress.
• October 1918 — A child was born to Burrows and Hannah Calladine.
• 27 May 1918 — Burrows bigamously married Hannah after telling her he was a widower with a child looked after by a housekeeper in Glossop.
• 1918 (later in the year) — Hannah Calladine had a son by Burrows later that year.
• 1914 (year given in the material) — Burrows was living in a back-to-back house in Back Kershaw Street, Glossop, with his wife and daughter.
• World War One (period given in the material) — Burrows obtained well paid employment in an ammunition factory at Northwich and became involved with Hannah Calladine.
• 11 January 1920 — Burrows took Hannah Calladine and their son for a day out on Symmondley Moor; he murdered them and threw their bodies down a mineshaft/disused air-shaft.
• 19 December 1919 — Hannah arrived on Burrows’ doorstep at Glossop with the children.
• 20 December 1919 (the next day) — Burrows’ wife left and Hannah stayed for three weeks.
• 12 January (year 1920 implied by surrounding events in the material) — Burrows appeared in court; told the justices Hannah and the children had gone.
• 4 March 1923 — Police received a report of a missing 4-year-old boy.
• 9 March 1923 — Local newspaper headlines described the disappearance of the 4-year-old boy.
• 10 March 1923 — Burrows assisted the police and gave a statement in writing to Inspector Chadwick.
• 12 March 1923 — Burrows was again interviewed by police and took police to the disused air shaft; later the search was continued.
• 7 May 1923 — Police rigged a tripod over the shaft; began baling out the water by metal pail raised and lowered by rope and winch.
• 21 May 1923 — Corrugated iron sheets were brought out on the shaft; human remains were then discovered among the debris brought to the surface.
• 4 June 1923 — Remains recovered to assemble almost a complete adult female skeleton, plus that of a girl of four years and the bones of an infant.
• 8 July 1923 — Trial of Albert Edward Burrows for the murder of Hannah Calladine aged thirty-two and her fifteen-month-old son Albert Edward Burrows was held at Derbyshire Assizes, commencing.
• 8 August 1923 — Burrows was hanged at Nottingham (Bagthorpe Gaol / Nottingham prison) at 8 am; the material also states execution by hanging at Nottingham prison on August 8, 1923.
• Saturday 17 March 1923 — Funeral of Tommy Wood took place.

Background

Albert Burrows was born in Cheadle Hulme in 1871. He worked in labouring jobs and had a criminal record for horse stealing, larceny, assault, and cruelty to animals.

In 1914, Burrows lived in a back-to-back house in Back Kershaw Street, Glossop, with his wife and daughter. During World War One, he obtained well paid employment in an ammunition factory at Northwich. While employed there, he became involved with a younger woman named Hannah Calladine.

This relationship led to a child being born in October 1918, also named Albert Edward Burrows. On 27 May 1918, Burrows bigamously married Hannah after telling her that he was a widower with a child being looked after by a housekeeper in Glossop.

When Burrows was employed at the ammunition factory, he sent money to both “wives.” After the end of hostilities, jobs were hard to come by, so he was unable to keep up payments. Hannah began to suspect that she was not legally married and wrote to Burrows’ daughter in Glossop. His bigamous marriage was soon exposed and he received a six month gaol sentence in Walton Prison.

After leaving prison, Burrows returned to live with his wife and daughter. Hannah took out an affiliation order against him which he could not pay. As arrears built up, Hannah obtained a committal order and Burrows received a twenty-one day sentence in Shrewsbury Prison, coming out at the end of November.

Burrows kept in contact with Hannah, writing to her several times, and visited her after leaving prison. In December, Hannah told her parents in Wrenbury, near Nantwich that she was going to live with Burrows in Glossop, taking young Albert and an older illegitimate daughter called Elsie Large with her. Hannah’s parents tried to dissuade her, but she arrived on Burrows’ doorstep together with the children on the night of 19 December 1919. Burrows took her in despite his wife’s protests, saying she could hardly be sent back on such a night. His wife left the next day and Hannah stayed for three weeks.

Burrows’ wife sued him for maintenance and he was behind with the rent. Burrows had solved his problems by the time he appeared in court on 12 January; he told the justices that Hannah and the children had gone. At first Mrs. Burrows refused to return, but four days later she relented after Burrows told her that Hannah had obtained a good job in Seymour Meads in Stretford Road and that the children were staying in a creche during the day.

The material also described that Burrows took 28-year-old Hannah Calladine as his mistress in 1918 and that Hannah came from Nantwich, Cheshire and was the mother of a 4-year-old daughter.

Hannah moved into Burrows’ home at Glossop, Derbyshire, and his wife took exception and moved out.

Afterwards, Burrows was described as having become desperate due to arrears and maintenance claims.

The offence

Murder of Hannah Calladine and her son

On 11 January 1920, Burrows took Hannah Calladine and their son for a day out on Symmondley Moor. He murdered them and threw their bodies down a mineshaft/disused air-shaft.

The material described that he then disposed of Hannah’s daughter in the same way on the following day.

For the next three years, Burrows wrote to Hannah’s mother pretending that she was still alive.

Disposal of Hannah’s daughter / Elsie Large

The material stated that the day after 11 January 1920, Burrows took Hannah Calladine’s daughter onto the moors and threw her body down the same shaft. It also described that Burrows took Elsie Large with him at one point and later was alone.

Murder of Tommy Wood

The material described the disappearance of a child Tommy Wood of 96 Back Kershaw Street who lived across the way from Burrows. Tommy left home around eleven o’clock on the previous Sunday morning and was not seen since. When he failed to return, his parents were not concerned because he usually went to his grandmother’s for Sunday dinner.

When he had not returned by teatime, his mother went round to the grandmother only to discover he had not visited that day. News of the disappearance roused the neighbourhood to action and a search began with the aid of volunteers and the Borough Police.

A story that he had been seen at about five p.m. in the company of two other boys down Slatelands Road led police to suspect he had fallen into the Turnlee Brook and been swept away. The brook was in spate due to heavy rains and the melting of a big snowfall a fortnight beforehand.

A bloodhound was employed in the search and followed a scent along the bank of the brook for some distance only to stop and sniff the air. The Turnlee and Glossop Brooks were dragged but all to no avail. Each day search parties with dogs scoured the area without success.

On 10 March, Burrows had been assisting the police and gave a written statement to Inspector Chadwick whom he met in the street. The statement purported to show that the lad had been seen by Burrows near the bottom of Slatelands Road with two older boys. Burrows asked Tommy to come home with him but Tommy refused. The statement also mentioned a purse belonging to Tommy which the boys had thrown into some hen pens and a whip described in detail.

The police were sceptical and Inspector Chadwick continued investigations. The purse was recovered from the hen pen and, during the search of the Turnlee Brook, a whip exactly like the one described by Burrows was found. When this whip was spotted, Inspector Chadwick arranged for the public to be diverted while it was recovered; it had been fastened to a stone to stop it being carried away and Inspector Chadwick believed it had been planted.

A print of a rubber boot was found nearby, and enquiries revealed Burrows had borrowed a pair of waders from a neighbour.

As a result of these enquiries and witness information, Burrows was again interviewed by police on Monday 12. A woman had seen a man and a small boy clambering over shale heaps near Coal Pit House on Sunday 4 March, and a farm worker with a horse had seen and spoken to Burrows at Bridgefields at 11.30 a.m. on the same day and he had a little boy with him.

Burrows volunteered a statement that at about eleven o’clock on Sunday, 4 March, he took the boy for a walk through fields to Simmondley and while on the Moss near Hargate Hill he left the boy in a hollow while he went to catch a rabbit. When he returned, the boy was missing. He returned to Glossop by Hargate Hill fields and Simmondley Lane.

Police then searched a disused air shaft on the top side of the road from Simmondley to Charlesworth. The shaft was fenced with wooden palings so anyone could have crawled through and fallen into the depths. Grappling irons were used but the rope gave way, irons dropped to the bottom, and work had to be suspended for the day. The shaft was over a hundred feet deep and estimated to contain from five to nine feet of water. An outlet for water into old workings existed, but the material stated the flow was insufficient to carry a body far from the shaft.

The material then described a dramatic ending on Tuesday: the police worked at an air shaft on the other side of the road. Burrows was walking up Simmondley New Lane and became agitated after men told him that the pit on the lower side of the road was being searched. He went through the fields to a position to watch the search from a hiding place. From a platform of planks across the top of the pit, grappling irons were used until the body of a small boy was brought to the surface and it was identified as Tommy Wood. The body was taken to the mortuary at the Police Station.

The material stated that Tommy Wood had been sexually abused before being thrown into the air shaft.

Investigation

Inspector Chadwick investigated the disappearance of Tommy Wood. Burrows provided a written statement on 10 March and was later interviewed again by police on Monday 12.

The investigation involved scepticism about Burrows’ story and verification through recovered items. The purse was recovered from the hen pen, and the whip matching the description was found during the search, though Inspector Chadwick believed it had been planted.

Investigations also included boot print and wader enquiries, in which Burrows had borrowed waders from a neighbour.

Inspector Chadwick also searched another air shaft based on a coincidence while interviewing a man at Hargate Hill. That shaft was surrounded with a stone wall; the material stated the wall had been disturbed on the side nearest to Hargate Hill Farm.

After the discovery of Tommy Wood’s body, Inspector Chadwick managed for Burrows’ movements to be watched and ordered his arrest.

Excavation of additional remains

After the investigation, police continued to excavate the shaft where Tommy’s body had been found.

The material stated that on 7 May 1923, police rigged a tripod over the shaft and baled out water using a metal pail, raised and lowered by rope and winch. Progress was made until heavy rain increased inflow. A steam pump was installed and connected to the town’s old steam fire engine at the top by pipes.

After the weather improved, corrugated iron sheets were brought out on 21 May 1923, after which human remains were discovered among debris brought to the surface.

By 4 June 1923, sufficient remains were recovered to assemble almost a complete adult female skeleton, plus that of a girl of four years and the bones of an infant.

The material stated that a woman’s boots and a child’s clogs with stockings and foot bones protruding were among grisly finds. The female skull was identified as belonging to Hannah Calladine because of an abnormality in her eye tooth. Clothing was recognised by Elizabeth Calladine, and a Nantwich clogger identified that the child’s clogs had been made by him.

Arrest and crowd events

Burrows was instructed to be arrested after the body of Tommy Wood was recovered. The material described that an angry crowd of civilians set off after him up the moor and a chase ensued with Burrows spotted as he headed towards Chunal.

The chase ended with Burrows being found exhausted, hiding under a holly bush, and being secured by civilians who handed him into the custody of Detective Sergeant Wilson.

Witnesses said Burrows pleaded for mercy from his captors and they replied that he had not shown little Tommy Woods any mercy.

The material included allegations by Burrows later that he had been threatened with sticks and “a puncing, (a kicking),” but this was denied.

The material stated that civilians stuck to him as he was taken down to the road. It also described that, when police arrived, his captors were attempting to hang him from an oak tree with a scarf tied round his neck.

Police had a struggle to get Burrows out of the mob’s hands and escort him to the road. Burrows was conveyed back to the Police Station on the back of an open lorry belonging to the Sanitary Department, still with the scarf round his neck and the would-be hangmen swinging on the other end.

The material stated that news of his capture spread quickly, with small boys running through the streets shouting “They’ve ketched 'im.” It described booing, hissing, and threats during the route to the Police Station, and that Burrows reacted by shaking his manacled hands and shouting, “I shan't tremble on the scaffold like Charlie Peace.”

Court proceedings

Early appearance and inquest

Burrows was brought to the Town Hall in a taxi from the Police Station and remanded in custody. The Mayor agreed to remand in connection with the following Wednesday at 10.30, and the inquest on Tommy Wood’s body started at around 10.45 in the same room.

During the inquest, Burrows got up and said:

"About that shaft higher up, where I took the police, where I saw the boy safe. The top shaft had no fence round it. There is a wagon road between the top and bottom shaft and water flows from one to the other. Anything falling down the first goes to the second. I have a clear conscience."

The material described that police brought a taxi to the front of the Town Hall and had two officers stand guard to avoid another scene. Burrows was escorted to the back of the building and moved away before the crowd at the front fully knew what was happening. Later that day he was taken by train to Strangeways, where he was booed and the crowd continued to shout threats and abuse.

Trial for murder of Hannah Calladine and her son

Burrows was sent to Derby for trial on a charge of murder. The material stated that, when this was announced, the public broke into wild cheering.

The trial of Albert Edward Burrows for the murder of Hannah Calladine aged thirty-two, and her fifteen-month-old son Albert Edward Burrows, was held at Derbyshire Assizes commencing on 8 July 1923 before Mr. Justice Shearman.

The material stated that the evidence against Burrows was overwhelming due to Inspector Chadwick’s investigations. It stated that Burrows called no witnesses and did not give testimony.

The jury took less than a quarter of an hour to bring in a verdict of guilty.

Mr Justice Shearman put on the black cap and pronounced the death sentence, ending with the words:

"And may the Lord have mercy on your soul."

In view of the verdict, the material stated that Burrows was not charged with the murder of Elsie Large or Thomas Wood.

Sentencing and execution

The court imposed a death sentence.

Burrows was hanged at Bagthorpe Gaol in Nottingham on 8 August 1923 at 8 am. The material also stated that he was hanged on 8th August 1923 at Nottingham prison by Tom Pierrepoint.

Outcome

• Burrows was found guilty by the jury at Manchester Assizes in connection with the murder of Hannah Calladine and the children, and was sentenced to death.
• The material described the execution on August 8, 1923.

Aftermath

The material stated that the remains of Hannah Calladine and her children were buried in the “free ground” at Glossop Cemetery, and the grave was marked with a wooden cross.

It also stated that no sign of the wall round the air shaft remains, with only a few stakes and wire, while cows graze peacefully in the surrounding fields.

A funeral for Tommy Wood took place on Saturday 17 March 1923. He was laid to rest at the far end of the new burial ground at Saint James’, Whitfield. Schoolchildren at Whitfield School visited Tommy Wood’s grave from time to time. The material stated that today few would know where to find it.

The material also described that, at the Town Hall the following week, the pathologist gave evidence that Tommy Wood had been sexually abused before being thrown into the air shaft.

The material also stated that Inspector Chadwick asked Burrows how Hannah Calladine was getting on while he was being questioned during escort to the Town Hall, and that Burrows began to reiterate the lies he had told in the past and said he had kept in contact with Hannah. Burrows claimed that she would come by train to Broadbottom and make her way to Simmondley where young Albert would play with Tommy Woods.

Other details

• The material described that Burrows insisted that his true age was sixty-two from the moment of his arrest.
• It described that the yard/route crowd reaction and press accounts included “great headlines in the local newspaper” with the headline:
  • GLOSSOP MYSTERY TRAGIC DISAPPEARANCE OF FOUR YEAR OLD BOY
• The material included that Burrows destroyed or sold Hannah’s few belongings, including selling her wedding ring.
• The material described that when Hannah’s parents came to Glossop to see their daughter, Burrows told them that he had given her £3 to take the children to New Brighton and escorted the couple back to the station.
• The material described that on the day after Hannah and her son were last seen, Burrows was seen walking down Hollincross Lane at six o’clock in the morning with Elsie Large; a couple of hours later he was alone.
• A neighbour questioned the whereabouts of the child and received this reply from Burrows:
  • “Yes, I was taking Elsie to her mother.”
  • “Why, where has she gone?” persisted the neighbour.
  • “I am not telling anyone, we have made it up not to let anyone know. We are keeping it a secret.”
• The material described that Inspector Chadwick noted Burrows consistently tried to point the police in the wrong direction, including the deliberately planted whip, the story about the boy being seen later in the day, and insistence about the lad not crossing High Lane.
• The material contained the following repeated identification and event summary elements:
  • “Albert Edward Burrows”
  • “Derbyshire Pit Murders”
  • “Peaklandheritage.org.uk”
• A “SEX: M RACE: W TYPE: T MOTIVE: PC/Sex. MO: ‘Bluebeard’ slayer of wife and two children (1920); molested and killed a four-year-old boy (1923); bodies dumped in mine shaft” line appeared in the material.