TALES OF BROADMOOR

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21562, 5 August 1933, Page 2 (Supplement)

TALES OF BROADMOOR

"OLDEST INHABITANTS" '% DEATHS AFTER LONG YEARS ' I HALF-CENTURY AND UPWARD One by one Broadmoor; the worldfamous asylum for insane criminals ia 5 losing its most notable " oldest inhabitants." The most recent to pass away is Mrs. Elizabeth Hammond, a Yorkshire woman of 84, who had Rpent no fewer than 54 years within the walls A of the institution. It was as a young woman of 30 that Hrs. Hammond first became an inmate of Broadmoor, having been found guilty, but insane, when charged at the Yorkshire Assizes with the murder of one of her children and ordered to be detained " during Her Majesty's pleasure." Mrs. Hammond had been a happy and contented wife, wrapped up in her family and her home, and i;hat she should have taken the life o;i one of the children she adored seemed inexplicable. Yet there was no doubt whatever that the terrible crime had been committed by her, and medical evi« dence showed that she had been the victim of a sudden brainstem. This woman remained to become Broadmoor's very oldest inhabitant. A year or two ago a visitor found her placidly sewing. She then spoke highly of the treatment she had al vays received, and declared that it was her intention to end hor days in Broadmoor. It is customary to hold an inquest when a Broadmoor in mite dies, and in Mrs. Hammond's case it was established that senile decay had been the cause of death. Man With 55 Years' Record The previous oldest inhabitant of Broadmoor was an old man of 90, who had beten there no fewer than <>s years, and who died aboijt three years* ago. His name was Peter Murphy, and he was a Londoner, who bad istood in 'the Old Bailey dock as long ago as, 1875 to answer ji charge of ihalieio;i3 wounding, having suddenly aid inexplicably attacked another man with a bar of iron. >v j At Broadmoor Murphy began what is probably the longest period of de-: tention to* be found in British; records! by working in the tailors' shop. Work is not compulsory at Broadmoor, but there are few among the inmates of either sex who prefer idleness to occupation. Murphy never again showed signs of! that homicidal mania that had led to his incarceration. Instead, he became an exceedingly popular figure, both among the guards and his iellow-in-mates, and after some years he bo*, came a member of the asylum band. Ho could not play wind or string'instruments, but he had a good senso of rhythm, and, under tuition, speedily became an expert side-drummer. Fori well over jp years he held tliis posi-; tion at t&s- weekly concerts given bv; the band, s)ntil at last sheer old age: compelled him to relinquish the drumsticks to younger hands. Those younger hands belonged to, Ronald True, the ex-flying officer, who was reprieved in 1922 after being cos-j demned to death for the murder of Gertrude Yates in a flat at Fulham. Death After Half-a-ceniury Only a few months ago there passed away a man of 81 who had fipent 50 1 years in Broadmoor. He was Thomas Blackman, a Lancashire man who had originally been sent to prison, in 1883,! for a minor offence involving the small sum of half-a-crown. Whilo eorrjng tb» short sentence passed him he Qerel-i oped insanity, and was fated i:o spend the remainder of his life as an inmate of the asylum. Quite a number of both aen andi women inmates have spent more than 1 40 years in Broadmoor—a fact which would seem to suggest that this place, situated amid sylvan surroundings pa the fringe of the great Windsor must be' one of Britain's healthiest; spots. Release in most cases has been out of the question, for a great proportion of the inmates have homicidal or, suicidal tendencies, lying dorriant soj long as they are closely watched and follow the normal routine of the place, but regarded as definitely unfitting! them to take part in the battle of life outside the asylum walls. These older inhabitants of Broadmoor are perfectly happy, and scarcely one has any desire now for release. Some time ago it was suggested to ona who had grown old and grey in the place that if he cared to go. out tho Salvation Army would look after him and try to set him on his feet again in the world.

The reply was definite. "I am quite happy here." the old man declared. " I have not a friend in the outside world now. and if you send me away I shall come back." Man who Came Back Once a man who had been released actually did come back. A year or two ago an old man, footsore and weary, arrived at the gates and told an astonished official that ho was none other than a man named .Tames Kelly, who had made a escapo from the piace no fewer than 59 years earlier! He had wandered the world since then, and had now returned to give himself up for the sole res._son, as ho explained, that he was worried lest he should die a, lonely death, having no one to look after him. The secret of how he had effected his escape had remained a mystery; until he himself gave the. explanation. It was with a wonderful skeleton key that ho had made from a steel busk of the old-fashioned type of woman s corset, which he had somehow managed to get hold of. The key lie had fashioned after months of work must have been one of the finest specimens of tJ® lock-picker's art ever made in such circumstances, for it opened the essential door to freedom without leaving any trace. Broadmoor bears no resemblance to the ordinary prison, except for the fact that the inmates may not leave it. There is never any lack of volunteers for labour in the gardens, on the fa 1 " 1 / 1' in the bakery, the cookhouse, or ta® various workshops. The men engaged on these Staffs aro paid by means or orders for tobacco, groceries or hixuries. They are not allowed to handle money. Pictures and Flowers There are tennis courts and cricket pitches, while indoor recreations, suctt as billiards, draughts, cards and chess, are well provided for. A number o brilliant chess players are among tli inmates. Some of the inmates hay private rooms, which they are a" 3 ' 6 decorate to their own tastes. . . are the fortunate possessors of b'K ' *> comes, which they are allowed to iitui for themselves to a certain extent.__ There are also philanthropic _ ' acll of means who take an interest in o or more of ..the female patients. ?o of the cubicles are therefore furnish in a most, artistic manner, with ca - pets and cushions, pictures and flowe > and many patients possess -their o little libraries. A patient, in f «. read and write very much what ne she-likes, and quite a number of ov have actually been published that w written within the walls of Broadmo • The asylum has accommodation some 600 men patients and 200 , wo "}. ' and periodically there are examinaby a Home Office panel of sointt _ the cleverest, mental experts m country to decide whether any ■<» , inmates have sufficiently re , c °^ P . r1 » their mental balance to be freed. JV > effort is made to secure the futur those who are eventually discharges.