An accidental shooting in the Hamlets

Life was not always without incident in the normally quiet hamlets. A brief report in the Wolverhampton Express and Star on 22 September 1876 tells of a “Fatal Gun Accident near Dudley” and goes on

“A most painful case of accidental shooting occurred at Oakham on Tuesday night. Three young  men, named Samuel Russon, William Redfern and Thomas Wellings, were in a house belonging to Redfern [or more accurately, it transpires, a house on Turner’s Hill and belonging to his father] when the young man Redfern reached down a gun which had lain on a shelf for a long time, and said he would try if it was loaded. Upon examination he said he would see of a cap was on it, and finding none proceeded to snap the trigger. As he did so, the gun went off and the contents lodged in the face of Russon, who died in great agony an hour afterwards. The affair has created a profound sensation.”

Copyright Wolverhampton Express and Star.

Samuel  Russon, aged 16, was buried on 24 Sep 1876 at St John (Kates Hill), his abode given as Oakham. Samuel was born on 20 Feb 1861, and baptised at Dudley St Thomas on 4 Aug 1861, the son of Joseph Russon and Elizabeth nee Poulton, of Cawney Hill. Joseph’s occupation then was given as a glass blower, possibly at Chance’s.

In the 1861 Census, Samuel was with his parents and his older brother William in Cawney Hill, living next to his maternal grandparents Benjamin and Rhoda Poulton. But Samuel’s father Joseph Russon died and was buried on 20 Dec 1868 at St John, Kates Hill, aged only 31.   In 1871 Samuel was living with his mother and brothers, William, and two younger brothers Joseph and Benjamin, still in Cawney Hill and still next door to his Poulton grandparents and his four uncles.

Copyright: Alan Godfrey Maps. Cawney Hill can be seen just under the printed heading St John’s Ward, top left, the map also shows the proximity to Oakham and, just to the right of the map, Turner’s Hill.

William Redfern had been baptised on 27 May 1860 at St Giles, the son of Joseph Redfern and Ann Maria nee Morris of Turner’s Hill. William was one of at least seven children.

Thomas Wellings was the son of Joseph and Harriet Wellings, born in Rowley Regis according to the 1871 Census at which time his family was living in Brades Road, Oldbury.  Although he was named in the newspaper report, he does not appear to have played any part in the incident, except that he was in the house at the time and he does not seem to have been called to give evidence at the inquest.

A longer account of the tragedy is given in the Dudley Herald on the 23rd September 1876 which reported on the Inquest which was held at The Wheatsheaf Inn, Oakham. Emmanuel Whitehall, a miner, gave evidence of identity as Samuel’s stepfather and he confirmed that Samuel was 16 and worked in a mine. He had seen Samuel at about half past five that evening. At about quarter past seven, he had gone to his mother’s house at Gadds Green, and, hearing an outcry he had gone to Joseph Redfern’s house on Turner’s Hill and found his stepson sitting on a chair bleeding heavily from his jaw and face.  He was told that Samuel had been shot by William Redfern.

Afterwards he asked what had happened and heard that Samuel had asked William to reach the gun down and he did, upon which he said he would see if there was anything in it, and through lifting up the hammer the accident was caused. He believed that it was entirely an accident and that William was not aware the gun was loaded. The gun used to hang over the screen and he had seen it there several times.

Samuel had not spoken after the accident. Mr Houghton, a surgeon of Dudley, had been sent for and his assistant was quickly in attendance but by that time, Samuel was dead.

Samuel’s mother Elizabeth gave evidence that Samuel had left home about seven o’clock on Tuesday evening and shortly afterwards she was told that he was dead. She had gone to the house but, although he was alive and knew her, he could not speak. She was also sure that it was an accident as the two boys had been such ‘excellent  friends‘.

William Redfern also gave evidence, saying that he lived at No.3 Turner’s Hill. Samuel had come for him to go out. Both of his parents were out but Thomas Wellings was in the house. As William was going out of the room to wash, Samuel had asked him to reach down the gun which was hanging up. The gun had hung there for a long time, as it was simply for protection of the house against robbers. At first he had told Samuel not to meddle with it but Samuel had said he would get it down himself. Upon that, William had got it down and pulled the hammer up to see if there was a cap on but as he could not see a cap, he let it down with its own force and it went off. At the time he was holding the gun with the muzzle towards Samuel who was sitting down only four or five feet away and the charge entered his right cheek. Neighbours had come to look after Samuel and William had run to Dudley for the doctor but by the time he got back, Samuel was dead.

William said that his father had not known that the gun was loaded but had cautioned his son against taking down the gun, and he said that he would not have taken it down if he had known it was loaded.

William’s father Joseph Redfern, a boat unloader, told the inquest that the gun produced was his and that as a rule it was not loaded. He did not know how it came to be loaded but the previous 5^th November he had lent it to his eldest son to fire off [perhaps for Bonfire night] but his son did not remember leaving it loaded.  His son also said that he had not used any shot when he fired it in November.

The Coroner summed up the evidence and the jury returned a verdict of “Accidental death”.

What a terrible accident this was and how deeply affected all concerned must have been. Poor Elizabeth had lost her husband and now one of her sons. Imagine how William must have felt as he ran up and over the hill to Dudley to fetch medical help, though he must already have been in terror for his friend’s life. William, who was only sixteen himself, had accidentally caused the death of a close friend, and one would think that he may have carried a burden of guilt for this for the rest of his life, living as he did, close to Samuel’s family although it was clear from the Inquest that they knew this had been a terrible accident and did not appear to blame him.

William Redfern appears on my family tree in a very remote connection (he was the uncle of the wife of the stepson of my 2nd great-great-aunt Sophia Cole if you are really interested!)  and he married Emma Morris (who has the same surname as William’s mother so may well have been a cousin of some sort) three years later in 1879 and they had ten children. Living in Springfield Road, William was working at the stone quarry. Alas, William did not make old bones either and died of pneumonia in September 1901, aged only 43. He was buried at St Giles on 26 Sep 1901.

There are three family trees on Ancestry which include William, including one by a Redfern so it appears that some of William’s family have researched their family tree. I hope that, if they read this, they do not find it disrespectful as it is not intended to be but to recount the facts of an incident which must have very much affected these close knit local communities at the time.

The fascination of guns, particularly for boys and young men, seems a common theme in accidents of this sort, and such accidents seem to be going on even in the present day. But this was a very local tragedy involving the families of the Lost Hamlets and happening on Turners Hill. It must have remained in local memories for many years.