x
This
picture was taken
by D. Lewis in 1980
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When
he was first taken ill his wife was not sent for as she had not wanted
him to go to the races in the first place. A friend of Bladen's, however,
sent for his wife. When she arrived in Rugeley she found that he was in
great pain and he did not recognise her. Later he died in agony in Palmer's
house. his wife was surprised to find only £15 in his possessions
and that his betting books were missing. He was buried in St. Augustine's
churchyard. In St. Augustine's Churchyard many gravestones have been placed
against the churchyard wall bordering Station Road. Bladen's grave is the
one hundredth grave from the gateway into the parish church.
The
Death Certificate registered the death on 10th May 1850 in Market Street,
Rugeley of Leonard Bladen Male aged 49 years a common brewer,. Death caused
by 'injury of the hip joint 5 or 6 months; abscess in the pelvis 12
days certified'. The death was registered by Wm. Palmer, 'present
at the death'.
A
damning newspaper report in The Illustrated Times said on February
2nd 1856 three months before Palmer's trial:-
The
year following Mrs. Thornton's*1 death - some few years ago - a Mr. Bladen,
a collector for Charrington's brewery, who dabbled sufficiently in turf
transactions to make him a defaulter to his employers, came to Rugeley
on a visit to William Palmer. It would seem, if public rumour be worthy
of credit, that Palmer had borrowed £400 from the sporting bagman,
and it is possible that the hope of recovering this sum induced the unfortunate
man to become the guest of his debtor. However this may be, he had no
chance of taking it out of board and lodging. In less than a week he
fell desperately sick and after William Palmer and his assistant and
subsequent partner, Mr. Benjamin Thirlby, had exhausted their skill,
old Dr. Bamford was called in to "prescribe a mixture". Nevertheless,
the patient died . His wife arrived when he was already insensible, but
in a few minutes she was hurried out of the room, and never again allowed
to behold him - because decomposition had set in so rapidly! She was
also disuaded from carrying the corpse to London, the expense of which
William Palmer greatly exaggerated. Rumour goes on to say that the latter
handed the widow a cheque for £60, and some loose cash which he
had found in the pockets of the deceased. On Mrs. Bladen expressing her
surprise at the smallness of the amount, her husband having left London,
as she believed, with £200 in his pocket. Palmer replied that,
since Bladen had been in Rugeley, he had been betting heavily, and had
been unfortunate. Poor Mrs. Palmer was greatly agitated when she heard
of Bladen's death, and exclaimed, "My poor mother died when on a
visit here last year - and now this man. What will people say?"
What will people say, indeed! Beyond these
deaths , there were also other grounds for suspicion. Of five children,
the offspring of their marriage, four died in infancy - last in January,
1854. Er, too, a few short months had gone by, it was destined to be
the poor mother's turn.
*1Mrs.
Thornton was Palmer's Mother-in-law
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Introduction
