Tales of temperance; a bull and highway robbery
1822 – Transportation for Theft
John Crane of Collington was sentenced in January 1822 to transportation for 7 years for the crime of robbing his master.
1847 – Man attacked by Bull
John Parry, bailiff to Mr. Hall of Collington had a very narrow escape after being attacked by a bull that Mr. Hall had bought from Mr. Burrow of Wolverlow.
The bull was a very large and heavy animal, and John was driving it into a building when the bull realised he was not his normal keeper….it whipped round so quickly that John was taken unawares and he was tossed some distance to land against a wall. The very cross animal charged him two or three times, but fortunately for John, the horns mostly went each side of his body – if they hadn’t, he would most certainly have been killed.
Mrs. Hall and some servant girls heard his yells, and as they ran screaming towards the barn the bull became distracted and men were able to drag John away to safety.
John had a broken hip and a badly gashed thigh, and remained incapacitated for some time.
The enraged bull “foamed and tossed the hat of the unfortunate man”, but once the cowman arrived he meekly allowed himself to be driven into the shed.
1858 – Bromyard and Collington Temperance Society
The annual meeting of the above took place on 14th January, with the chair being taken by Mr. Jenks.
The Secretary, Mr. Millard declared satisfaction with the report of the Society. Over 5000 pages of printed matter advocating the benefits of total abstinence were distributed, along with numerous temperance periodicals. Nineteen talks were delivered during the year, which were well attended, and the members who had taken the pledge totalled around 100.
They stated that they had every reason to hope that Bromyard and Collington, so long notorious for over indulgence, would became famous for sobriety and morality.
Hmmmm.!
1858 – Highway Robbery and Attempted Murder
Mr. John Baylis, a farmer from Collington, went to Worcester fair in December 1858 and sold a cow for £29, he also had four sovereigns in his pocket.
After dinner with a friend, Mr. Baylis set off for home in the dark on his horse; presently he came across two men in the road, and drew his horse to the side to get out of their way, but one of the men took hold of his bridle whilst the other grabbed him and pulled him off his horse. He was then beaten around the head with a heavy implement, whilst money was demanded.
Mr. Baylis begged for his life and told them where the money was; they took it and left him for dead in the road. Some time later, Mr. Baylis managed to crawl to the nearest house which was the Sandpits Inn, and called for help. A doctor was summoned, and his injuries were very serious – seven deep cuts to his face and head, and his upper lip was badly cut too. Mr. Hill the surgeon spent many hours dressing the wounds, and his life was very much in the balance.
Some weeks later, Superintendent Phillips apprehended two men, Joseph Tyler, a labourer, and William Bethel a carpenter.
They were remanded in custody to await trial.
1877 – Gruesome Suicide at Collington
Lieutenant Edward Woye Homery of the 3rd Buff Regiment killed himself in “a most determined manner” shortly before his wedding.
He was visiting Mr. Wright of Ripplewood, Collington at the time and rather inconsiderately loaded a double barrelled gun and shot himself in the head, “blowing away the whole of his scalp and scattering his brains about the study floor”.
Leiutenant Homery had suffered severe sunstroke whilst in India a few years previously.