9 “Murder in the Storm” The death of David Thomas in Cowbridge, 1885 In 1885, a farmer and cattle dealer named David Thomas resided at Stallcourt Farm, Llanblethian. Llanblethian is a picturesque hamlet on the outskirts of Cowbridge in the Vale of Glamorgan. David was well-known and popular within the district, and had a reputation for generosity. However, David was also shrewd and not one to be taken advantage of. He was fond of alcohol, but did not drink to excess. David was married and had several children. He had spent some years in America and was often referred to as ‘The Yankee’ in the parts of South Wales where he was known. On 30th October 1885, Mr Thomas left his home before The Duke of Wellington Inn, High Street, Cowbridge. 9am and caught the train from Cowbridge to the market Edward was a sawyer by trade and lived in a small two- at Treorchy. roomed cottage on his own plot within a quarter of a When he arrived, he received £60 worth of money he mile of Stallcourt Farm. Father and son, the latter about was owed. Amongst the gold handed to him by a man 28 years of age, were well known in the district, but few called Jenkins, David found a sovereign which had a hole people cared to have much to do with them. David in it. Mr Thomas placed all the loose money in a canvas Roberts in particular was shunned and avoided with the bag he regularly carried. He then went to have dinner in exception of a few. a tavern in the town and enjoyed a drink with some David Roberts was a heavy loutish-looking man with a acquaintances. sullen expression and a thick, dark moustache. However, After visiting one or two other places nearby, the cattle he and his father were devoted to one another and quite dealer made for home. He reached the railway station at inseparable. They lived alone in their cottage. David had Cowbridge at about 8.30pm. He was under the returned home some three months earlier after serving influence of alcohol but was still capable of attending to in the army. business, as he received some more money from a David joined his father at the Inn shortly before Mr farmer at Cowbridge. Thomas arrived. David did not have any money so his This man walked with Mr Thomas to the Duke of father paid for the drinks. They were joined by a third Wellington Inn, where both were well known as regular man, whose name was John Thomas, the nephew of the customers. Whilst under the influence of alchohol, Mr cattle dealer. Thomas became excited and extremely generous with Mr Thomas reached the Duke of Wellington at 9pm and his money, displaying his heavily laden canvas bag to all joined the Roberts party, paying for the first round of the customers present. drinks. He took the money from the canvas bag and boastfully said: “I am willing to lend anyone here £20,” Drinking with the locals and rattled the heavy bag upon the table. In the absence An old man named Edward Roberts was present of any takers, Thomas put the bag away, and invited the in the tap-room. He had been there since about Roberts' and his nephew to join him in a game of cards. 7.45pm. Edward Roberts was too drunk to play and fell asleep on Edward Roberts, and his son David Roberts, did not a settle in the corner of the room. He was able to leave have good reputations. the public house at 11pm with the others though. 2 The four of them were seen heading in the direction of their homes together. They proceeded down Church Street, Thomas and his nephew in front, and the two Roberts' following behind. After going down Church Street, they crossed a stile on the right hand side of the road, against the Town Mill, to the footpath leading to Stallcourt Farm. The weather had been very wet and gusty all day, and towards the evening a gale sprang up; the rain pelting down in torrents. It was blowing a hurricane when the men left the Inn, and they could hardly see where they were going or keep themselves steady. The footpath was almost under water, and the adjacent Stallcourt Farm, home of the murdered man fields were like swamps. David Thomas, who was comparatively sober, though he had been drinking all day, Roberts, who with his father, had been attracted to the remarked it was ‘the worst night he had known in the spot, actually assisted in carrying him to the house; a years he had lived there.’ The elder Roberts, who was circumstance greatly discussed afterwards. certainly drunk, fell down twice but was hauled up and On the night of the murder which robbed Mrs Thomas supported by his son. of her husband, she dreamed that someone very dear to To go to their cottage, Edward and David Roberts would her had met with an accident, causing death. In her ordinarily leave Mr Thomas at that point and go past the dream she saw men running away from the scene. The Town Mill to the left. dream was so vivid that, rising early next morning because of her alarm at her husband's failure to return A woman living next door to the cottage came forward home, she was led to speak of it to her children, who afterwards to say that she went to bed a little after 11pm were in bed. that night. Some time later, though how long she could not say, she was awakened by the sound of footsteps in Within 20 minutes of this conversation, whilst everyone the next cottage and two men talking. The voices were was wondering about his absence, she learned that her those of David Roberts and his father. husband had been killed within a stone's throw of the house. Mrs Thomas and her children were overcome Murder Most Foul with grief, and for some time she was out of her mind. At 7am the following morning, a man named The murder was committed within 200 yards of Mr Benjamin Williams made a shocking discovery on Thomas's house, and 500 yards from a cottage called his way to work: he came upon the body of a man ‘The Old Kennels’ at the bottom of the hill. at a point half-way between the stile at Town Mill 48-year-old David Thomas had four children; the oldest and Stallcourt Farm. was 16-year-old. David’s nephew, 23-year-old John The man had been most savagely murdered. Thomas, had recently married and worked in a bakery at Llanblethian. The head and the face had been so battered as to render For some time, John was suspected of taking part in the him unrecognisable. There were terrible wounds at the crime and was actually arrested. back of his head, two incised wounds in the front of his face, and one wound on the left side of his nose, However, it was proved that he had left the deceased at penetrating to the bone of his skull. This last injury, the stile and gone to his own home. He was discharged inflicted with some blunt, heavy instrument, must have from custody at the first magisterial examination. been instantly fatal. The love of a devoted son The rain ceased about 2am but as the dead man's clothes were saturated, it was clear that he had been assailed The police acted promptly and arrested Edward and killed before that hour. His pockets were turned out Roberts and his son, as they were the last people and no money was found on him. There was a notebook seen with the murdered man. and one or two small articles, but that was all. Both denied their guilt, with David remarking to his The police were quickly on the scene, and the body was father: “This is a nice job, dad, what do you say?” immediately identified as that of David Thomas. He was To this, Edward Roberts replied: “I know nothing at all conveyed by ladder to his own house. The younger about it. I never saw Mr Thomas last night at all.” 3 That remark was obviously untrue. Many witnesses In 1877, David enlisted in the Royal Scots. He served for confirmed that the four men were drinking together at seven years, but five of those were spent in prison for the Duke of Wellington, and then left the Inn together. military offences. He was finally discharged as Edward Roberts stated that he had been in a drunken incorrigible. sleep all the time he was at the Inn, but that was disproved by the landlord and several of the customers. The Confession The Roberts' cottage was searched and a blood-stained David’s only admirable trait was his dogged devotion to pocket handkerchief containing £66 in gold, and a his father, and it was this, no doubt, that led to the sovereign with a hole in it, was found in a dark cupboard. following confession: The following morning, the police discovered a billhook “On the night of 30th October 1885, I was in the which bore traces of blood, but upon examination, an house in which I live in Llanblethian between 7 and 8 analyst could not swear that the blood was human. The o'clock. John Thomas, the deceased's nephew, came most he could say with certainty was that it was the to me and asked if I would go to Cowbridge.