The brutal murder of Mary Pemberton

MARY Pemberton was a pretty 19-year-old chamber maid employed at Leftwich Old Hall,a large tudor mansion-house situated midway between Northwich and Davenham village.

She was an orphan and had been placed out to service at the age of 12 by her guardians, (the overseers of the poor for the township of Northwich). For her duties she received £7.10s.6d. per annum plus free board, lodgings and maid's uniform provided by her employers.

The large farmhouse and stead consisted of 180 acres of rich pastureland, and employed two kitchen assistants, chamber maid, two cooks, two cowmen, three teamsmen, a shepherd, a cheesemaker and two labourers.

Duties for the household staff began at 6.00a.m. and usually finished around 7.00p.m. after evening meal, with alternate Sundays off duty.

Mary's living quarters were in a large garnett, which she shared with the two kitchen staff. The girl had been brought up in the Witton poorhouse where, despite her tender age, the conditions were harsh, and Mary considered herself fortnate to have attained such lucrative employment at Leftwich Old Hall, where the living quarters and conditions were above standard.

Mary had met Samuel Thorley, a local farm Labourer, at the annual Witton Wakes and the two had been 'going steady' for almost 18 months.

The couple were making plans for a spring wedding, and had been promised the rental of a small cottage, by Thorley's employer, Mr. Ted Leather, a local farmer and timber merchant.

Thorley had served in the King's service for two years and had been wounded whilst serving abroad. He was well respected within the local community and had hopes of starting up his own carrier business with a small legacy left to him by his late aunt.
Mr. Ted Leather had offered him some timber haulage when he obtained heavy chain horses and timbers.

Late one Sunday evening Mary Pemberton failed to arrive home at Leftwich Old Hall. Her two room mates thought she was delayed because of a violent thunderstorm which had been raging throughout the evening and that she had decided to stay overnight with her elderly aunt in Northwich.

They thought she would arrive early the following morning but by mid-day she had failed to report for work and her employers sent a rider into Northwich to enquire of her whereabouts.

One of the serving girls was instructed to go across to Ted Leather's farm and to speak to Samuel Thorley. From the accounts later reported, Mary had not arrived at her aunt's and Thorley himself had failed to report for work. The cottage where he lived with his mother was empty.

Two days later there had been no reports of the couple's whereabouts, and there was great speculation that they had eloped to Gretna Green, and would probably return married. Six days after the disappearance of the lovers a gruesome discovery was made in the River Dane beds, belonging to Mr. George Gorst. One of his men, whilst cutting willows in the plantation, had discovered the partly clothed body of a young woman.

Doctor Hennrietta later confirmed that it was the corpse of Mary Pemberton, and that she had been strangled.

An immediate search was made for her assailant, and the missing Samuel Thorley.
Several important witnesses reported seeing the couple. A butcher annd farmer, testi-
fied on oath that he had passed the couple crossing the Dane Meadows, and that he heard the sound of raised voices, and Samuel Thorley had raised his fist as if to strike the woman.

The brutal murder shocked the whole town. and tradesmen offered a substantial rewards for information leading to the the killer.

Ten days later Thorley walked into the offices of the Justice at Chester Castle. He was unkempt and said he had walked from Northwicb, and had been living in Delamere Forest.

Thorley pleaded guilty. The couple, he said, had a violent quarrel over wedding plans and in a fit of temper he had strangled her, leaving her lifeless corpse in the willow beds. Thorley's trial took place at Chester and on his own evidence, he was hung on April 10, 1777. The corpse was later gibbeted.

A local ballad of Samuel Thorley was often sung by girls employed in the Northwich Cotton Repository, which stood alongside the River Weaver. Leftwich Old Hall was demolished many years ago, and a farmhouse erected on the site.

In the 17th century, Leftwich Old Hall was the residence of the Leftwich family.

Today little remains to remind us of the past, but ghost stories, legends and reports of strange happenings abound in his area of Mid-Cheshire.


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