Death recalls gang-terror case
Originally published: June 23, 1953
Almost 50 years after he was wrongly accused of being responsible for the series of Wyrley Gang outrages, which terrorised people in a wide area of Staffordshire, Mr George Edalji has died at Welwyn Garden City, aged 77.
It was on August 18, 1903, that Mr Edalji, a young solicitor practising in Birmingham and living with his father, the Rev Shapurji Edalji, then vicar of Great Wyrley, was arrested and charged with mutilating and killing a horse.
At Staffordshire quarter Sessions, two months later, he was found guilty and sentenced to seven years penal servitude. He served three years of the sentence before an agitation set up by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the novelist, and others resulted in an enquiry which led to his release and the grant of a free pardon, but the Home Secretary refused him compensation on the ground that he had contributed to the miscarriage of justice.
Mr Edalji was readmitted to the Law Society and practised as a solicitor in London. He was unmarried.
His death on June 17 came within a few days of the death of Mr J.H. Hall, formerly superintendant of Wednesbury, who, as a police officer, took a big part in later investigations.
Many of the strange incidents which excited public attention over a period of years at the beginning of the century were associated wiith the activities of the Wyrley gang, described as "the terror that walks by night."
First of these events was in 1888, when threatening anonymous letters were received at Great Wyrley vicarage by the Edalji family. A servant was arrested and bound over.
Between 1892 and 1895 there was a second outbreak of anonymous letters, many of which were sent to the vicarage and showed great hatred of the Edalji family, who were also the victims of a series of hoaxes.
On February 1, 1903, the first of a series of brutal attacks on horses, sheep and cows occured at Cheslyn Hay. Other instances came on May, June and August of the same year, and at the same time letters were received by people unconnected with the crimes, by the police and by the editor of the Express and Star, all signed "G.H. Darby, captain of the Wyrley gang".
Some of these letters stated when and where cattle would be maimed, and the crimes were duly committed, sommetimes wiithin a short distance of police patrols. No sounds were heard except occasionally the gallop of animals in the field.
After the conviction of Mr Edalji the outrages continued while he was in custody and twice after his release when he was far from the scene.
The mystery remained unsolved, but in 1934 a man, now dead, was convicted of sending anonymous letter signed "G.H. Darby." It was in this aspect of the case that ex-Superintendant Hall was concerned.
One of the oplice who night after night laid raps for the Great Wyrley cattle maimer was the late police constable J. Bradley, who died recently at Springhead, Sedgley.
He related to the Express and Star on one occasion how officers kept weary and wet vigils for the cattle maimer, whoever he was.
"We found beasts maimed within a few feet of where vigilannt police were waiting but didn't catch him," said police constable Bradlley.
"It was like the hunt for Jack the Ripper, whose name was in everyone's mouth when I was young."
