Monday 18 January 2010

The Pembroke Murder

On 21st March 1950, the Rosemarket farmer Albert Edward Jenkins was convicted of killing his landlord, William Llewellyn. The jury at Pembrokeshire Assizes, consisting of two men and ten women, took less than two hours to reach their verdict.
Jenkins had denied the allegation throughout the trial, however the facts of the case were clear.
On the morning of 10th October 1949, Jenkins was visited by his landlord at his home, Lower Furze Hill Farm, in Rosemarket, Pembrokeshire. There was back rent owed and discussions were being held regarding Jenkins buying the farm. He claimed to have handed Llewellyn £1,050 that day: £50 for the rent, and the rest in order to purchase the farm. The cash was taken from a beam in the roof where Jenkins had kept it.
William Llewellyn never returned home and his wife subsequently alerted police. His body was found the next day, buried in a clay pit on Jenkin's land. The injuries to the body were terrible, revealing that he had been killed by a number of heavy blows.
According to the South Wales Evening Post, the judge pointed out to the jury that

'there was no evidence, no evidence of any eyewitnesses, but from the knowledge of affairs the jury would hardly expect in murder cases to find eyewitnesses. The evidence placed before them by the Crown was circumstantial and circumstantial evidence was often the best.'

The case for the prosecution was that Llewellyn was killed by Albert Jenkins. Despite what the accused man said about giving his landlord a considerable sum of money - and having a receipt to prove that the money did indeed pass hands - no cash was ever found on the body.
An officer of the Milk Marketing Board, Mr Cudd, had called at Lower Furze Hill Farm on the morning of 10th October and saw Albert Jenkins driving his tractor down the field. There was, he said, a large bundle on the box of the tractor, covered by tarpaulin and Jenkins 'looked rather wild.'
Llewellyn's bicycle - on which he had arrived at the farm - was later found at nearby Neyland. Two witnesses claimed that they had seen Jenkins riding a bicycle towards Neyland on the afternoon of 10th October, yet when he was later seen by a policeman, returning from Pembroke Fair, he was walking and there was no sign of the bicycle.
William Llewellyn's boots were also discovered buried in manure in the calve's cot at the farm, and leather laces on the murdered man matched two more laces found on Jenkins. Earth taken from in front of Jenkin's house was, when tested, found to be saturated with human blood.
The prosecution case was clear. After obtaining a receipt for the money, Jenkins had clubbed the unlucky Llewellyn to death and reclaimed his money. He had then wrapped the body in tarpaulin and buried it in the clay pit. When the guilty verdict was given, Albert Jenkins gazed intently at the judge and remained unmoved during the proceedings.
With Albert Pierrepoint officiating, Jenkins was executed on the morning of 19th April 1950. At 9:25 a.m the main gate of Swansea Prison opened and two warders posted the declaration of the sheriff and a certificate from the surgeon at the door. A crowd of around thirty five local people stood outside.

12 comments:

  1. Albert Jenkins was related to my father by marriage, after his demise his wife and children were housed in Scoverton Fort in Pembrokeshire as they were homeless, this would have been about 1950, Have looked on the internet and found Scoverton Fort is now derelict.

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  2. My Dad was drinking in the Number Ten Pub in Swansea, with his soon-to-be Best Man, on the evening before this execution. The Pub was quite noisy and lively, but in walked Albert Pierrepoint and all the conversation stopped immediately. He had a small black case with him. He ordered a small whisky, drank it straight down, thanked the Barman and left, when all the conversation started up again. According to my Dad, all of Swansea was agog with the trial and execution, as it was a relatively local case and Swansea Prison didn't do many executions.

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  3. Their is no mention were the money was, Did he hide it or is there more to this case ,if he hide it somewhere. Safe in a container keeping it dry even in the ground or in a stone wall it should be still their, It was a stack of notes I should imagin ,it doesn't add up nothing not a note found ,its a large sum of cash,more attention on Llewellyn murder to me the two go as a marriage, body x cash =conviction ,some one working on the case had it away or its still were he hide it to this day the cash was no good to him with him facing death you would say something even word like you won't find it just to get a reaction you would wind them up that's a fortune ,I would love to trace his foot steps after the murder to the next day,finding it would stop me thinking the people who worked on the case. Found it slipped it away for themselves why hide it it was his after all no one knew how much he saved ,some one had it, and thay knew get it away fast no one will be the wiser ,I bet that's how the cash disappeared ,TOM ,DICK ,OR ,HARRY could never get close to it ,???

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    1. There was no money, Jenkins made it up to lure Mr Llewellyn to the farm. He was behind with his rent and was also over drawn with the bank. The only way he could see out of his predicament was to kill Mr Llewellyn and forge his rent book saying he had bought the farm.

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  4. So, was your father related to Albert Jenkins' wife? If so, we are related also, as Albert's wife was my grandmother's sister. I've been trying to find information about this side of my father so, if this is the case, I'd be really interested in communicating with you.

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  5. So, do you know anything about his wife, Gladys? She was my grandmother’s older sister. I was told my nan nursed her when she died. I’ve been trying to trace my grandmother’s family but the records are limited. I think they may have spent time in the workhouse (around the 1911 census). I was also told that Gladys had been in service before she married Albert Jenkins. Would love to know any information you might have about her. Thanks.

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    1. Hi Have you found any more information since this post ? I am related to Gladys younger brother.

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    2. Hi, I'm guessing that you're related to either David or Ivor then? I do have more information actually about Gladys and two of her sisters - Dulcie and Elizabeth. It would be great if we could swap details, but I'm not sure how to do it on here without publishing it to the world.

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  6. I am David's grandaughter. Who was your grandmother? I can give you loads of info about David's parents and his 10 siblings. Not sure how to do this either on this blog or how to contact you.

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  7. I am more than excited about the fact that you have information about this side of my family!!! And I think I've found a way of us swapping details. So, I've set up a gmail address in the format of two names and a number - so it will look something like: maryjohn37@gmail.com. The first name is your grandfather, David's, youngest sister. The second name is his youngest brother (English spelling, not Welsh). The number is the house number they lived in in Duffryn Crescent. All letters are lowercase. Really looking forward to speaking with you!

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  8. I don't know if any of the previous commentators here will help me, but I am the great granddaughter of William Llewellyn on my father's side. My dad was born in 1952, so he never knew his grandfather. I don't know if anyone would be willing to share information that they have with me, but I have set up a different email address for this purpose, just in case. You can get in touch via jessicahatchettwrites(@)gmail.com.

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