Babbacombe beach & the Glen + John Lee

BABBACOMBE BEACH & THE GLEN

The setting for the tragic story that became known because of

John Lee- "The Man They could not Hang"

Babbacombe Beach with, on the right , "The glen"

Back in 1884, Babbacombe was a hamlet of a few cottages,a few houses and an Inn all nestled into the cliffs at the bottom of a wooded slope. Right on the beach was a house known as "The Glen" then owned and occupied by Miss Emma Anne Whitehead Keyse. The house had been in Miss Keyse' family for something like 70 years, her father having bought it shortly before he died, her mother then married a Mr Whitehead and they lived there and brought up a family.

The 1841 Census entry

Address:- Babbicomb	-	-	-
NAME	AGE	OCC	born in county
Elizabeth WHITEHEAD	55	Ind	No
E Mary WHITEHEAD	18	-	yes
Charlotte WHITEHEAD	15	-	yes
Emma KEYSE	25	-	no
Catherine PEACOCK	55	Ind	no
Elizabeth GRAY	30	governess	no
Eliza NECK	25	FS	yes
Jane NECK	25	FS	yes
Maria MUDGE	20	FS	yes

The 1851 census reveals;-

Beach Cottage, Babbicombe Hamlet
Name	Relationship	Mar	Age	Sex	Occupation	Birthplace
Elizabeth WHITEHEAD	Head	W	67	F	Independent	----ESS
Emma K. WHITEHEAD	Daur	U	33	F	Independent	Edmonton-MID
Charlotte WHITEHEAD	Daur	U	25	F	Independent	Babbicombe-DEV
Eliza NECK	Serv	U	38	F		Torr-DEV
Jane NECK	Serv	U	36	F		Torr-DEV
Catherine DAVEY	Serv	U	21	F		St Mary Church-DEV
Caroline WINSOR	Serv	U	21	F		Buckfastleigh-DEV
William DISCOMBE	Serv	W	48	M	No Oc	Newton Abbot-DEV

By the time of the 1861 census;--

Address;- Beach Cottage, Babbacombe, St Marychurch
Name	Relationship	Mar	Age	Sex	Occupation	Birthplace
Elizabeth WHITEHEAD	Head	W	77	F	Fund & lease holder	ESSEX, ****ford
Emma A. W. KEYSE	Daur	U	42	F	no occ	MIDDLESEX
Mary DAVIES	Serv	U	56	F	Cook	Somerset, Blaydon
Eliza NECK	Serv	U	47	F	Lady's Maid	Tormoham-DEV
Jane NECK	Serv	U	45	F	Parlour Maid	Tormoham-DEV
Elizabeth TUCKER	Serv	U	25	F	House Maid	Jacobstow-DEV
William DINSCOMBE	Serv	W	60	M	Gardener	Newton Abbot-DEV
William SHARLAND	Serv	U	28	M	Ag Lab	Tiverton-DEV

By The time of the 1871 Census:--

Babbicombe House
Name	Relationship	Mar	Age	Sex	Occupation	Birthplace
Emma A. W.KEYSE	head	u	53	F	gentlewoman	Edmunton-MID
A. H. EDWARDS	visitor	m	58	F	gentlewoman	Edmunton-MID
B. J.EDWARDS	visitor	u	29	F	gentlewoman	Cross castle- HER
Eliza NECK	servant	u	57	F	Lady's maid	Tor- DEV
Jane NECK	servant	u	53	F	parlour maid	Tor- DEV
William DISCOMBE	servant	u	70	m	gardener	Newton- DEV
William TOMS	servant	u	27	m	general servant	Bigbury- DEV
Mary BURNS	servant	u	22	F	Cook	Churston- DEV

JOHN LEE, at this time was still living with his parents in Abbotskerswell as the 1871 census shows:-

Tree Cottage, Abbotskerswell
Name	relationship	Mar	age	sex	occupation	birthplace
John LEE	head	m	37	m	Ag Lab	Ipplepen- DEV
Mary LEE	wife	m	38	F		Trusham-DEV
Amelia LEE	dau		9	F	scholar	Abbotskerswell-DEV
JOHN LEE	Son		6	M	Scholar	Abbotskerswell-DEV
John Lee	Father	Wid	67	M	shoemaker	Ipplepen- DEV

After her mother died in 1871 Miss Keyse lived there alone, apart from her servants- including Jane & Eliza Neck who had been with the family for nearly 40 years,

After leaving school, John Lee worked as a servant at the Glen, but in 1879 he had joined the navy

The 1881 census shows ;---

Dwelling Babbacombe House, Tormoham, Devon
Name	Relationship	Mar	Age	Sex	occupation	Birthplace
Emma W. KEYSE	Head	U	63	F	no occ	Middlesex, England
Eliza NECK	Serv	U	66	F	Servant	Tor
Jane NECK	Serv	U	64	F	Servant	Tor
Amelia M. LEE	Serv	U	21	F	Servant	Abbotskerswell
Samuel BARTLET	Serv	U	17	M	Gardener	Abbotskerswell

But as you see no sign yet of John Lee,- he in fact is in Devonport;-

Vessel: "Implacable" Census Place: Devonport, Devon, England
Name	Marr	Age	Sex	Birthplace
John Henry George LEE	U	17	M	Abbotskerswell, Devon, England
Occ:- Boy 2 Class

he was invalided out after 3 years and went to work as a boot boy at the Royal Dart Hotel in Kingswear, he then came back to Torquay, worked as a porter at Torre railway station and then as a footman at a large Villa in the Warberries, but in 1883 he was convicted of stealing from his employer and sentenced to six months imprisonment. On his release from prison in January 1884, his half sister, Elizabeth Harris - interceded with her mistress who gave him a job in an attempt to help and reform him.

He also became engaged to a girl called Kate Farmer, from Grafton Terrace in Ellacombe, who in 1881 was 17 and was living with her family at 3 Grafton Terrace, St Marychurch Road, Torquay

At the time of the census in 1881 Elizabeth Harris was working as a servant to the Chant family at the National Provincial Bank at 10 Bank Street, West Teignmouth.

On November the 14th 1884, in the early hours of the morning, the usual quiet of Babbicombe was greatly disturbed when a number of fires were discovered by a servant at "The Glen", Elizabeth Harris rushed to the nearby Cary Arms to raise the alarm, and when the coastguards, fishermen and other helpers had put out the fire, they discovered the body of Miss Keyse lying on the dining room floor. Her throat had been cut, she had three wounds to her head and it was evident that whoever had committed the crime had tried to burn the body as well. Papers soaked with paraffin had been arranged around the body and set on fire. Blood was discovered in the hall, outside of the dining room, but nothing was missing.

In May 1885 Elizabeth Harris gave birth to an illegitimate child in Newton Abbot Workhouse- the father is not known- but was he, perhaps, at the Glen on the night of the fire?

The Glen, in ruins, after the fire

John Lee, then only 20 years old, was the only male in the house and he was found to have a cut arm and could not account for the injury or give an account of his movements at the time of the murder, he was arrested and sent for trial at Exeter Assizes. The trial took place and although all the evidence was circumstancial, on 5th February 1885 he was found guilty of murder and sentenced to hang. John Lee pleaded his innocence all the way along both before, during and after his trial, and is even reported to have said to the judge after he had been condemned to death, "The reason I am so calm is that I trust in the Lord and He knows I am innocent".
James Berry was the executioner and although the trap on the scaffold opened successfully every time it was tested- THREE times it failed when John Lee was stood on it with the noose around his neck. The execution was postponed and the Home Secretary then commuted the sentence to penal servitude for life. He gave his reason , not in his belief of Lee's innocence but because he believed that "It would shock the feeling of everyone if a man had twice to pay the pangs of imminent death"

All sorts of rumours surround this murder and who may have committed it, various names have been put forward- but after so long who will ever know for sure. John Lee was eventually released from prison after serving 23 years. Rumours abound about what happened to him after his release, but in 1909 he is said to have married a girl called Jessica Bulled in Newton Abbot.. By 1911 he and his wife, and two children were said to be in London, but Lee is said to have deserted his family and possibly went to America or Canada, but it may even have been Australia- Nobody really knows.

I can recommend the following books;-

"The Man They Could Not Hang" by John Lee. published in 1908. but republished by Devon Books ISBN 086114-760-X

"The Babbacombe Murder" by Frank Keyse published privately at Carreg Lwyd, in 1988, ISBN 0 95111281 3

"The Secret of the Babbacombe Murder" by Mike Holgate published by Peninsula Press Ltd in 1995, ISBN 1 872640 34 6

Watch out for a new book being published next February!!! I'll put details here as soon as I know them

I can also recommend this web site- well worth visiting!!!

http://www.murderresearch.com/johnlee/

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