TRAGEDY OUT A MOOR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XL, Issue 12401, 24 October 1903, Page 2 (Supplement)

TRAGEDY OUT A MOOR.

TWO GAMEKEEPERS MURDERED BY POACHERS.

ONE BODY BURIED.

Ox a lonely moor on the borders of Lancashire, a few miles from Marsden and 12 miles south-west of Hudderseld, the bodies of two gamekeepers were found in the early part of" September, both bearing terrible gunshot wounds. All the circumstances point to a desperate affray with poachers, ending in a double murder. The men were William Uttley, fifty-six. of Marsden, and Robert Kenyon, twentysix, an ex-soldier.

What precisely happened may possibly never be known." The shooting rights over a considerable range of moorland in this neighbourhood are rented to Messrs. F. V. and J. Crowthcr. manufacturers, of HuddeTsfickl, and T. H. Ramsden. a. Kuddersfield solicitor. In their employ as gamekeepers were William Ultley. one of the dead, and William Kenyon." the father of the second killed. Poachers had recently lessened the quantity of the game on the moor, aud the keepers had been instructed to watch for them. About half-past three o'clock one afternoon, Kenyon and his son. Robert, went on to the.moors to watch. Robert had for the past few clays been on a visit to his father. Soon after they tinned out they saw a man some distance away on the moor top. Young Kenyon "set oft' to intercept the man. He bad no gun or other weapon to defend himself. Gradually he disappeared from sight, and his father, owing to his advancing years, was unable to follow him. This was the last time the old man saw his son alive.

' Youug Kenyon having failed to return ! home at midnight, the father went out and searched the moors unavailingly until morn- j ing. Then a message was sent to the house of the keeper Uttley, but it was found that he too had been out. all night, and was still : away. It was then remembered that ; sounds of firing had been heard, and I search parties were organised. The first ■ party included the elder Kenyon, Mr. Crowtheri and two others. The lour separated, proceeding towards Oldham. About a- quarter of a mile from the road leading to the Junction, Kenyon and Mr. Crowther came to a dough (or'cleft) called Ben Cut. Their attention was called to something by a dog barking, and there, placed apparently for concealment, they found the body not of young Kenyon, but of William Uttley. It was cold. There was a gunshot wound behind the left ear. and the upper part of his coat was burnt, showing that the shot had been fired at close quarters, probably by a grouse gun, as the wound was very large. The body was removed to the deceased's house at Marsden. Uttley leaves a widow and three children. A FAITHFUL DOG. A pathetic incident in connection with the discovery of Uttley's body was the manner in which the search party were attracted bv the barking of the murdered man's dog", which sat by the body as though keeping watch over his dead master. The search for young Kenyon was taken up by Superintendent Pikard, of the West Riding Constabulary!, and he later was joined"by William" Kenyon and others. Kenyon had with him a sheep-dog, and in consequence of the behaviour of this animal the search party were once more attracted to what is called a " gruff"— a d'eep indention of the moors. Here they found the body of Robert Kenyon, a mile away from that of his comrade, concealed under a pile of heather, sods, earth, and stones. It was found that a fatal shot had penetrated the neck. The young fellow's father was utterly overcome with grief. The body was removed to Buckst ones.

No clue to the perpetrators of the crime had been discovered, and the work of trading the miscreants has been rendered particularly difficult by the fact that the heavy rains 'have obliterated all traces of footmarks.

It is supposed that the poacher, failing to elude his pursuer, took cover, waited a convenient opportunity-, and then shot the gamekeeper, taking him unawares. Thb view is confirmed by the fact that the shot appears to have first penetrated the back of the deceased men. The injuries were so deadly that the poacher may have felt secure in resuming his flight. Uttley, however, having heard the shot, probably went after Kenyon. in the direction of the sound of the firearm, and the poacher seeing him overtaking him, again took cover and shot him at close quarters as he passed behind one of the huge boulders that stud the moor.

Marsden Moor, the scene of this tragedy and others of a similar kind, lies on high ground above the deep valley of the river Colne. The country is wild and barren, the hills being covered "only by heather. Large reservoirs supplying Huddersfield and the various mills and foundries in the district have been built on the moor, and about three-quarters of a mile from Marsden village the Huddersfield Canal passes through the Stanedge mountain, a tunnel over three miles long having been cut through the solid rock. .