The Slaidburn Angel Book

Prologue

Kaslo, British Columbia, Summer 1928

Montreal, Quebec, Summer 1975

What Went Before

A Legacy of Loss and Sadness

To Lose One’s Mother

The Great Chrysanthemum Massacre

Stepmothers are Natural Villains

Trying to Understand the Past to give Meaning to the Present

A Mill Town in Lancashire

Margaret Isherwood, born April 9, 1876

The Importance of Being Margaret

The Absence of Jane

A Sad Good-bye

The Gardners of Dalton-in-Furness

A Dreadful Plight

Meanley Without Jane

A Slaidburn Wedding

Murders Large and Small

The Morning After

SUSPECTED CHILD MURDER 1885                                         

Crime Scene Investigation: Slaidburn

Margaret’s Place in the World

A Surprise Visit from Aunt Isabella

A Wonderful Place to Be

Old Enough to Observe, too Young to Understand

Bewildering and Frightening Times

A Bizarre and Tragic Day

A  Conscientious Police Constable

A Break in the Case

The Slaidburn Connection

Considerable Commotion

Present Day - Updates from Slaidburn

Victorian Times - The Machinery of Justice

MAGISTERIAL PROCEEDINGS

Signs of Great Distress                                                                        

Committed for Trial at the Leeds Assizes                                                                 

Painful Recollection                                                                                              

Isabella Incarcerated

A Prison Like a Fortress

John’s Plight

A Lawyer Well-Chosen for a Difficult Task

A Thoughtful Assessment

Similar Problem, Apparently Different Solution

Contemplating a Defence

In Hopeless Circumstances, Sometimes the Absurd seems Logical

The Biography of a Two Year Old

An Excerpt from Charles Morley’s Notebook:

Extenuating Circumstances

A Question of Paternity

Another Child Lost

No Chance to ‘Plead her Stomach’

A Straw in the Wind?

Weighing New Developments

Preparing in Leeds

Oh Grandma, We Hardly Knew You

Mr Justice Wills Presiding                                                           

ASSIZE TRIAL REPORT                                          

The Result was Applauded in a Crowded Court                                  

The Youngest Witness                                                                           

Coming Home

Not Guilty in the Eyes of the Law

Another Time, Another Place

Isabella’s Dilemma

The Comparative Comfort of Home

There’s a Story Here

A Strange Coincidence

Dickens would have Wept

Cold Case Investigation: 1885 Child Murder

The Slaidburn 1885 Chat Room

Just do the Math

A Letter to Mrs Creary

Some Questions, Some Answers

Practicalities

Wrappings

A Timeless Topic

A Lesson in Effective Research

An Official Expression of Outrage

World’s Apart

Two More Boys

Carrying on as Best She Could

Life in Haslingden

Another Lost Boy

The Inhabitants of Grave C 999

David Sat Bolt Upright

My Turn to Wonder

Looking for Isabella

A Careful Reading of the Reporting at the Time

Third Person Singular

Respectable Employment for the Gardner Girls

A Jury of a Different Sort

Just One of the Mill Girls

It’s a Hard Knock Life

A Member in Good Standing of the Mothers’ Union

Isabella’s Fate

Grace’s Vigil

Margaret Leaves the Mill Behind

A Very Long Journey

Marked with a Cross

Less a Murder Investigation and More a Sentimental Journey

Questions Just Keep Turning Up

My Emerging Theory of the Acquittal

The Passing of a Decent Man

Kaslo Pioneer Visits England

Various Verdicts

Being Isabella

A Meditation on Thomas Gardner (December 15, 1882 – May 16, 1885)

Paradise Lost

A Kind of Immortality

Appendices