A Forgotten Tragedy

Occasionally when scouring the archives, one comes across entries that warrant, demand even, further investigation. The above is one such example. It is from the burial register of Charles the Martyr (Charles Church) Plymouth, and records the burials on 9 July 1812 of John, Susan and Elizabeth Hyne, with the intriguing annotation “Father & two daughters, M”. What did the “M” stand for?

Further research revealed a second copy of the original entry; this time, the corresponding annotation left no room for doubt in the mind of the reader - “Father & two daughters, murdered by the father”.

A search of the various archives led to an entry in the Plymouth Rate books telling us that the burial in the churchyard cost 6 shillings for John Hyne and 1 shilling for each of his daughters. More importantly their ages were included in the entry – John was 35 years old at the time of his death, Susan and Elizabeth were 3 years and 12 months respectively.

Armed with this information, it was soon discovered that a John Hyne, the son of Nicholas and Susanna Hyne was baptised at Plymouth St Andrew on 30 December 1778, and that he married Maria Bray on 22 October 1808, also at Plymouth St Andrew. On 1 September 1809, Susan Hyne the daughter of John and Maria Hyne was baptised at Plymouth St Andrew, having been born on 6 August that same year. No entry for Elizabeth could be found, but it's apparent that she would have been born in or around the July of 1811.

So what happened to this apparently normal and respectable family?

Through various newspaper accounts we can get a detailed account of how the tragedy unfolded in their reports of the incident and of the coroners inquest at the Globe Hotel in Plymouth on the 7 July. The main witness was Elizabeth Bolt, one of two servants in the household of John Hyne – a flour and corn merchant and partner in the firm Hyne & Harvey - in Old Town, Plymouth. She described how on the morning of 6 July she was attending to breakfast for the Hyne's youngest daughter Elizabeth, while John Hyne had written a letter and then directed the other (unnamed) servant to deliver it to his mother (probably in Whimple Street). With the other servant gone, John went into the kitchen took his daughter in his arms and sent Elizabeth Bolt to her other duties. He walked through the backyard and on reaching the privy he took out a razor and cut his young daughter's throat so savagely that she was almost decapitated. He laid Elizabeth's lifeless body on to a chair and returned to the kitchen, then went upstairs to the bed chamber where his wife and their eldest daughter Susan were still in bed. He took three pistols from a bureau and on entering the bedroom turned to his wife, kissed her chest and shot her. Next he picked Susan up and with another pistol shot her in the head. Of course, the noise and screams of Mrs Hyne brought Elizabeth Bolt running. John Hyne shouted at her “ Brush, brush Betty, brush!”, clearly in a deranged and dangerous state of mind. She ran from the house to raise the alarm, hearing a third shot as she did so. As neighbours and passers-by came to her assistance they found John Hyne dead of a gunshot wound to the chest, lying in the hallway of the house. Upstairs was a scene of carnage, but Mrs Hyne was still alive – her bedclothes on fire, and the wound in her chest bleeding heavily. she managed to say “My dear Betty (Bolt), I forgive your dear master!”. Meanwhile someone had gone to the privy in the backyard and found the body of Elizabeth and brought her back into the house.

The three pistols were found – two in the bedroom, one of these in the child's crib, the other on the floor. Another lay in the passage near the body of Mr Hyne. The razor used to kill Elizabeth was found in the privy.

The two young girls and their father were buried as stated above on the 8 July, in two coffins; the ceremony took place at the early hour of 3 o'clock of that morning, to avoid any large crowds assembling.

At the inquest, the jury heard all the evidence and after several hours of deliberation, delivered its verdict; that John Hyne “being deranged in his mind, did with a razor and two pistols, kill his two children and himself.

Mrs Maria Hyne was, on 23 July, said to have recovered fully from her physical wounds, although one wonders how long it would take to recover from the mental and emotional damage – if she ever did.

There is no clue as to what caused this formerly respectable man, loving husband and affectionate father, to fall into such a deep despair that he could carry out such an atrocity; however, there is a report of the bankruptcy of William Harvey (surviving partner of John Hyne, deceased, trading under the firm Hyne & Harvey) in various newspapers of 21 August 1812, and also the sale of his Tin Street premises which included a large dwelling house, lodging rooms, substantial warehouses and lofts. Could an impending bankruptcy charge have been the catalyst for murder and suicide?