CRIME IN PAST TIMES

The mystery gunman

Such was the outrage at criminal acts in past times that the people were only too ready to help catch the culprits and their willingness to assist in law enforcement was amply demonstrated during the summer of 1849 in the case of the mystery gunman who ambushed and shot a travelling salesman who was about his business in the countryside near Bourne.

Peter Dickson, a tea dealer, of St Leonard’s Street, Stamford, was journeying from Morton to Edenham along a footpath leading through a wood when the attack occurred and the events that followed were reported by the Stamford Mercury on Friday 22nd June:

“He was deliberately shot at by some miscreant secreted in a dyke behind a hedge, close to which the footway runs. Five of the shots lodged in his face, the bulk of the charge taking away the tye [knot] of his neck-cloth and shattering the stick on which he carried his pack where it ultimately lodged.

“From the position in which the rascal was placed, it was evident that Mr Dickson was not more than four yards from the gun. The shock stunned him and he fell and although not seriously hurt he remained senseless sufficiently long to allow the miscreant to escape.

“Immediately reason resumed its sway, Mr Dickson went to Edenham where a posse of twenty persons aided by Rouse, the constable, commenced an active search, but without avail. Mr Dickson then hurried to Bourne for medical assistance whence active constables were immediately despatched. Mr George Munton, surgeon, of West Street, extracted five shots from the face and the wounded man was afterwards conveyed home to Stamford.

“It is difficult to conjecture the object of the assassin. Mr Dickson knows of no one who has enmity against him, and it seems almost impossible to believe that, in England, in broad daylight, on a public path, any one would, for the sake of a little plunder, run such a dreadful risk. The first impression was that it could not be designed but must be the result of an accident from a poacher lurking for game.

“The season, however, seems to belie this conclusion; as also does the direction of the gun, and the absconding of the parties. The marks of feet were visible in the ditch, and the fellow was tracked by Handley, one of the constables, for a considerable distance, until lost in a broad riding in the wood.

“A young man, a traveller with drapery, who met Mr Dickson shortly before the diabolical attempt and who proved to be on very friendly terms with him, was detained at Bourne that evening to give information and explanation to the magistrates the next morning: nothing, however, was elucidated. The young man, whose name is Wilson, was discharged by the magistrates who expressed regret at the necessity of his detention, and assured him that no reflection could rest upon him.”

Meanwhile, despite the hue and cry by the posse of villagers who had scoured the surrounding countryside, the mystery gunman remained at large and the reason for his attack was never explained.

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