Worthing terrace’s link with Tolpuddle Martyrs and a murderer on the run revealed

West Buildings has been a fascination for Sally McMahon ever since she moved to Worthing but little did she know, when she first arrived, how closely the Georgian terrace was associated with her own family.
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Her detailed research uncovered links to a murderer and to the Tolpuddle Martyrs, a group of Dorset farm labourers about which she had already written a book.

Sally said: “When we first moved to Worthing a few years ago, we would walk past this road, with the West part of the address catching my eye, as it is a family surname.

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“At that time, I did not link this road to two associations within my family history, both of which drew public interest historically.”

West Buildings, a Georgian terrace off the seafront in Worthing with links to the Tolpuddle Martyrs and a murderer on the run. Picture: Kevin McMahonWest Buildings, a Georgian terrace off the seafront in Worthing with links to the Tolpuddle Martyrs and a murderer on the run. Picture: Kevin McMahon
West Buildings, a Georgian terrace off the seafront in Worthing with links to the Tolpuddle Martyrs and a murderer on the run. Picture: Kevin McMahon

Early on, Sally wanted to contribute to the Worthing Windows on the Pier project and had the Tolpuddle Martyrs in mind, so the connection she discovered was a happy coincidence.

She explained: “They have been a large part of my family history and in the past, I even published a book on the family history and them. But other than my connection to them, I did not know of one with them to this area, until it was discovered a while later, via census information and other records.

“So I then commissioned a window to be made by Siobhan Jones, and a very good job she made of it, too. I look forward to seeing it when it is installed on the pier.”

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Sally is related to one the Tolpuddle Martyrs by blood and the other five by the marriage of a blood relative. The group formed a friendly society, like an early trade union, at a time when wages were being cut, and all were convicted in 1834 of swearing a secret oath.

St Mary’s Church, Broadwater, where Susanna Northover was buried in 1854. Picture: Kevin McMahonSt Mary’s Church, Broadwater, where Susanna Northover was buried in 1854. Picture: Kevin McMahon
St Mary’s Church, Broadwater, where Susanna Northover was buried in 1854. Picture: Kevin McMahon

Sally said: “Six of them were made examples of and they had a ‘loaded trial’ and were transported for their so-called crimes. A huge public outcry followed with public support for the men. After a time, they were all pardoned and returned to England.”

Four of the men worked for Susanna Northover, a widowed tenant farmer, at the Manor House, Tolpuddle. She was so shocked by their arrest that she wrote a note giving good character references, stating these men had worked for her for some years and were all industrious and honest.

Around 20 years later, Susanna moved to Worthing with at least one of her daughters. She died at Dolphin Cottage, 5 West Buildings, on June 18, 1854, at the age of 82 from various ailments of the heart and liver.

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Sally said: “Susanna’s ongoing ill health probably prompted her move to Worthing, which had a reputation for a healthier life with the sea close by.

Dolphin Cottage, where Susanna Northover died and her daughter Mary Watts Gould ran a lodging house. Picture: Kevin McMahonDolphin Cottage, where Susanna Northover died and her daughter Mary Watts Gould ran a lodging house. Picture: Kevin McMahon
Dolphin Cottage, where Susanna Northover died and her daughter Mary Watts Gould ran a lodging house. Picture: Kevin McMahon

“Susanna was buried at St Mary’s Broadwater, the same church Jane Austen attended when she stayed in Worthing. It was not possible to find Susanna’s grave due to the area it was located in being very overgrown.

“Most of Susanna’s grown-up children seem to have also settled in Worthing and lived at one time in West Buildings, apart from one daughter. They would have all known the Tolpuddle Martyrs back in Tolpuddle, where they were born and raised.”

Mary Watts Gould, Susanna’s eldest daughter, was widowed in 1829 after six years of marriage. In 1861, she was listed as living at 6 West Buildings.

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Sally said: “In modern times, I could not find this house number. She was noted as a lodging house keeper. With her were her sister Ann and her husband George Dowden, who probably were down for a visit.”

Manor House, Shoreham, where Susanna Northover's great grandson, Captain Edward Dowden, lived. Picture: Kevin McMahonManor House, Shoreham, where Susanna Northover's great grandson, Captain Edward Dowden, lived. Picture: Kevin McMahon
Manor House, Shoreham, where Susanna Northover's great grandson, Captain Edward Dowden, lived. Picture: Kevin McMahon

Worthing Court Directory of 1870 lists Mary at No 5, the cottage where her mother died, but in 1881, she had moved to No 9 West Buildings and this is where she died, aged 80.

Sally said: “Mary left a will, her married sister Ann Dowden was named as the person to administer and oversee this, but surprisingly Mary left most of her belongings to her servant Elizabeth Maria Pepper.”

Ann died in 1894 in Paddington. She had a son Edward and four grandchildren, one of which, Captain Arthur Edward Dowden, would end his days at The Manor House, 25 Church Street, Shoreham in 1939. His widow remained at the house until she died in 1944.

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William Northover was living with his sister Mary in West Buildings in 1881, as a clerk out of work. He had previously lived around the corner at 86 Marine Parade.

His death on March 16, 1891, made the Worthing Gazette, with the headline ‘Sudden death in the street’. Faithful family servant Miss Pepper had to identify him and she said he had been lodging with his sister for 20 years.

He was seen leaning against the rails close to Ivy Arch Tunnel and was caught by a passer-by as he fell. It was suggested he had come from St George’s Coffee Tavern, attached to the Mission Room in nearby Newland Road, and a message was sent for permission to take him there.

St George’s Coffee Tavern, attached to the Mission Room, in Newlands Road. Picture: Kevin McMahonSt George’s Coffee Tavern, attached to the Mission Room, in Newlands Road. Picture: Kevin McMahon
St George’s Coffee Tavern, attached to the Mission Room, in Newlands Road. Picture: Kevin McMahon

Sally said: “By the time he was taken there, he was unconscious, with the thought that he was already dead when they moved him.”

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The coroner found the lungs congested with chronic bronchitis, the heart weak, the body under-nourished and said syncope had contributed to the death.

Sally said: “The coroner thought the deceased lived low and did not take enough food. Verdict given was death by natural cause. Miss Pepper then said that the deceased went without food on Saturdays and Mondays on principle.

“William did not live low as they had suspected, he had been a Yeoman farmer in his younger years, a wine merchant’s assistant and a gentleman.

“He left a will made in 1887 of just over £149 entirely to his sister Ann after everything was paid for, and his address was noted as being 86 Marine Parade, but of late 9 West Buildings.”

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Sister Elizabeth Northover followed the family to West Sussex and in 1861 was in Yapton, working as a housekeeper for farmer William Laker. She died aged 62 at 6 West Buildings in 1869, from softening of the brain, which she had suffered for several years.

Rebecca Northover, Susanna’s youngest child, also died from softening of the brain, aged 44, at 6 West Buildings in 1854.

Next door to 9 West Buildings was an annexe to the Ocean Hotel, round the corner in Marine Parade, and it was here, many years later, that the murderer Neville George Clevely Heath took a room on the first floor, while on the run.

His reason for coming to Worthing is linked to 21-year-old Yvonne Marie Symonds, who he met at a dance in Chelsea on Saturday, June 15, 1946. Born in London, she was the only child of Major John Symonds and his wife Gertrude, who then lived at Strathmore, Warren Road, Worthing.

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Sally said: “Neville Heath was dashing with his good looks and talk, and had immediately proposed to Yvonne when he met her. She then went on to spend that night with him in his hotel room at The Pembridge Court Hotel, no doubt believing she would marry this man. The next day, she left for her parent’s home in Worthing.”

In the same London hotel room, less than a week later, Heath murdered Margery Gardner, a 32-years-old artist and occasional film extra.

Sally said: “Heath went firstly to Brighton then later that Friday, telephoned Yvonne at her parent’s home before going to Worthing and checking into the Ocean Hotel.

“In the meantime Heath was a wanted man with all police divisions on the outlook for him and newspaper coverage on the case being countrywide.

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“Heath himself had read of it in a newspaper, followed by his hasty departure on the Monday morning, when he left his hotel room without paying.

“He headed westward down the coast alone to Bournemouth, where his next victim would meet her fate. Yvonne had had a lucky escape.”

Sally discovered her cousin, George Fellowes, also known as Gordon, was a criminal investigator who took it upon himself to try to find Heath. He had previously published books on the subject and given talks on the stage and a BBC radio show about his time in the USA fighting crime.

Sally discovered through documents released under the Freedom of Information Act fromt the National Archives in Kew that Fellowes ‘had been causing public mischief and come to the attention of not only Scotland Yard but previously the FBI in the USA’.

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Fellowes telephoned the Ocean Hotel at 11pm on June 25, asking to speak to Heath, and when he was told he was not available, he left his London phone number for Heath to call.

Sally said: “Later, after midnight, an anonymous message was sent to the Daily Sketch Newspaper’s night editor Mr Drummond that a man called Jackson (it was really cousin Fellowes) had had Heath in his south London home that night.

“Two reporters were sent to investigate and met Fellowes at his south London home. He told them that he knew Heath well, was acting for the family (untrue) and was going to try to get him to give himself up.

“CID personnel in London followed this up immediately. They were already informed of the telephone call made to the Worthing hotel, which they traced to Fellowes, and so paid a visit to him, too.

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“Fellowes told them he was a crime investigator, had written books on the subject, and confirmed he had indeed telephoned the Worthing hotel. Fellowes said some time back he had seen Heath in a pub near Battersea Bridge and, given his interest in crime, got involved, and he had been foolish with these telephone calls and so on.

“Police concluded Fellowes had no current helpful information and had wasted police time, something they could have well done without.

“Documents indicated Fellowes was more than likely to be severely cautioned, and I discovered he had been mentioned in Parliamentary Debates. He had caused other problems in the USA, one being he was the first person to be tried under the Federal Radio Act, deported to England, where he then got himself into trouble with authorities in Nottingham and London on other matters.

“Cousin Fellowes fell off the family radar as he left the country a few weeks later, flying out to Canada on July 24, 1946, his adopted country as his parents had moved there when he was young.

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“He was not around to see Neville Heath hang for the murders on October 26, 1946. The irony was, the grandfather of Fellowes, who was my great grandfather, was also a George Fellowes, and had been a real DCI with Scotland Yard and retired in 1895 after 25 years’ service.”

*This article is an edited version of a piece written and researched by Sally McMahon

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