Peter Mann believes his family may be connected to the victim of the South Bank crime
Peter Mann at the grave of his ancestors, Henry and Jane Churchman, in Linthorpe Cemetery(Image: Peter Mann)
A researcher has unearthed a possible link to a gruesome and unsolved Middlesbrough murder while investigating his own ancestry. Peter Mann is hoping others may be able to help after finding evidence suggesting a family connection to the German man killed in 1890.
Old newspaper reports tell how the body of Philip Kirchmann, or Churchman as he was also called in reports, was discovered on November 18, 1890, in a pond near the brickworks in South Bank. The 38-year-old had suffered two deep gashes near his ear, one which reached his spinal cord, and another two stab injuries to his chest.
There were no slash marks to his clothing and his shirt had been buttoned back up over the wounds. Theories in reports at the time briefly suggested the involvement of a secret society, which were said to be rife not only in Germany, but also in German colonies in England at the time.
The killer, or killers, were never found. County Durham writer Peter, 47, is now hoping other people may be help as he tries to piece together the puzzle.
“I’ve been researching my family history for over a decade now, starting after coming across a letter of my grandfathers after he’d passed away,” he said. “We’ve always had knowledge of a familial line originating from Germany, with my three-times great grandfather, Henry Churchman, arriving in Middlesbrough in the mid-1860s.
“Henry and his wife Jane were living in Nelson Street in the late 1800s, and he was employed as a blast furnace worker.” Throughout Peter’s continued research into his Middlesbrough Churchman ancestors, it would see him come across the case of the tragic murder victim.
Clipping from the North Eastern Weekly Gazette in 1890(Image: North Eastern Weekly Gazette)
He found potential clues provided by the inquest and several witnesses cited in newspaper reports. The victim had lodged with the Monk family, at 11 Albion Street, having separated from his wife Margaret the previous year.
An inquest said Mr Kirchmann “was regarded by his neighbours as a quiet, inoffensive man, fond of music, and to the delight of many of the children would walk up and down the street playing a melodian.” Peter said: “Despite the gruesome nature of his death, and some questionable recreational activities, prone to debauchery and alcohol which many believed led to that fateful night, Philip was seemingly a likeable person overall.
“The more I looked into this story, the more I became fascinated with it. Philip not only had the same surname as my mother’s maternal ancestors, both having been anglicised from Kirchmann to Churchman, but they also lived within close proximity, with Philip in Albion Street, and Henry on Nelson Street. In addition to this was that they both seem to have originated from the same part of Germany, Essen Darmstadt.”
Press cutting about the murder(Image: Northern Review)
A newspaper report at the time said there was rumours of “a numerous community of Germans and South Poles” in South Bank carrying sharp daggers. “Suggestions he may have met his death through a secret society and four men being seen carrying a dead body across the brickyard field in the direction of the pond in the dead of night, and other blood-curdling stories, have caused much annoyance to the foreigners in South Bank, who are law-abiding and peacefully disposed,” said the report.
At the time, Mr Kirchmann had been working at the Clay Lane furnaces as a labourer. Fellow workers had last seen the 38-year-old two days earlier, coming out of the works and heading to his lodgings. Mrs Monk said he had got up about noon on the Sunday before his death and had a pint of beer with his dinner.
He left at about 5pm, saying he was going to work, but returned about half an hour later. Her husband asked what was wrong and Mr Kirchmann reportedly replied: “Nothing is the matter. They sent me home.”
They shared a beer and Mr Kirchmann then went up to bed. At about 9.30am on Monday he got up, she said, and went out without his breakfast, wearing a suit and his slippers.
She would never see her tenant alive again. A grocer on Middlesbrough Road recalled seeing Mr Kirchmann between 10am and 10.30am on the Monday, heading towards the post office in good spirits. What happened next appears to remain a mystery to this day.
Old picture of the Clay Lane blast furnaces in the distance
A post-mortem confirmed Mr Kirchmann had died before his body was dumped in the water. There were also suggestions he may have been with a woman prior to his death.
“All the houses of ill-fame in the town have been searched absolutely without result,” said a newspaper report. “He was too poor a man to suggest robbery as the motive for such a horrible crime and his pockets were not rifled when he was found.”
A report from the inquest said: “He was a fine powerful man, close upon 6ft and from 13 to 14 stones in weight, and it would need four men to carry his body to the water and throw it in. There were no marks in the grass of him being dragged.”
Houses near the brickworks were searched but all police investigations drew a blank. Anyone with information on Philip, Henry or the Germans of Middlesbrough in the second half of the 1800s, is asked to email Peter at petermann78@hotmail.com
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