The Murders at Stanfield Hall were a notorious

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...

double murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse committed with the necessary intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisdiction. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse ...

on 28 November 1848 that was commemorated in print, pottery, wax, as well as a novel by Joseph Shearing. Additionally, it was the inspiration for the 1948 English film ''

Blanche Fury ''Blanche Fury'' is a 1948 British Technicolor drama film directed by Marc Allégret and starring Valerie Hobson, Stewart Granger and Michael Gough. It was written by Audrey Erskine Lindop, Cecil McGivern and Hugh Mills adapted from the 1 ...

''. The victims, Isaac Jermy and his son Isaac Jermy were shot and killed on the porch and in the hallway of their mansion, Stanfield Hall,

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

. The perpetrator, James Bloomfield Rush (1800–1849), their delinquent tenant-farmer, who had conducted a complex, devious scheme to defraud them of their property and their lives, was hanged at

Norwich Castle Norwich Castle is a medieval royal fortification in the city of Norwich, in the English county of Norfolk. William the Conqueror (1066–1087) ordered its construction in the aftermath of the Norman Conquest of England. The castle was used as a ...

on 21 April 1849. The unwitting accomplice to the attempted fraud was Emily Sandford, whom Rush had employed as a

governess A governess is a woman employed as a private tutor, who teaches and trains a child or children in their home. A governess often lives in the same residence as the children she is teaching; depending on terms of their employment, they may or ma ...

but who was also his mistress.

Events

In 1848, Isaac Jermy and his son Isaac Jermy were shot and killed on the porch and in the hallway of their mansion, Stanfield Hall,

Wymondham Wymondham ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the South Norfolk district of Norfolk, England. It lies on the River Tiffey, south-west of Norwich and just off the A11 road (England), A11 road to London. The pari ...

, near

, by James Bloomfield Rush. Rush had been their tenant for nearly a decade, and he had

mortgage A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law (legal system), civil law jurisdictions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners t ...

d and remortgaged his farm, ostensibly to raise money for improvements, but without any resultant improvement in the farm's output. The deadline to pay off the mortgages was approaching; otherwise

foreclosure Foreclosure is a legal process in which a lender attempts to recover the balance of a loan from a borrower who has Default (finance), stopped making payments to the lender by forcing the sale of the asset used as the Collateral (finance), coll ...

and eviction would follow, which would adversely affect both his children and his pregnant mistress, their

Emily Sandford. The Jermys had problems with relatives over the title claim to their estate. However, Isaac Jermy was the Recorder of Norwich, a prominent local man with legal connections; thus, it was unlikely that he would lose the property. Rush's plan was to kill both Jermys, their servant, and the younger Jermy's pregnant wife while disguised and blame the massacre on the rival claimants to the estate.Murders at Stanfield hall by John Millman
/ref> Rush's plan called for Sandford to provide an

alibi An alibi (, from the Latin, '' alibī'', meaning "somewhere else") is a statement by a person under suspicion in a crime that they were in a different place when the offence was committed. During a police investigation, all suspects are usually a ...

by stating that he was at the farm during the hour or so that the crime was committed. Rush wore a false wig and whiskers, but failed to hide his body sufficiently, so that the wounded Mrs. Jermy and the servant, Elizabeth Chestney, who both survived, would later identify him. Sandford also refused to support his alibi. Evidence on forgeries involved in the case was given by Alfred Smee, creator of the Bank of England’s official “Bank Black” ink. Tried in 1849, Rush defended himself and was convicted. He was hanged and buried in the grounds of

Popular culture

Staffordshire Potteries The Staffordshire Potteries is the industrial area encompassing the six towns Burslem, Fenton, Hanley, Longton, Tunstall and Stoke (which is now the city of Stoke-on-Trent) in Staffordshire, England. North Staffordshire became a centre of c ...

produced collectable figures of Rush and Sandford, plus the main locations Potash Farm, Stanfield Hall and Norwich Castle. A life-size waxwork representation of Rush was displayed in the Chamber of Horrors at

Madame Tussauds Madame Tussauds (, ) is a wax museum founded in London in 1835 by the French wax sculptor Marie Tussaud. One of the early main attractions was the Chamber of Horrors, which appeared in advertising in 1843. In 1883, the restricted space of ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, from 1849 until 1971.Waxwork of James Rush
at

References

External links

*
Porcelain figures of Emily Sandford and James Rush

Porcelain figures of Emily Sandford and James Rush and Stanfield Hall

''On Camera: The Stansfield Horror''
1972 – East Anglian Film Archives {{Mass shootings in the United Kingdom 1848 in England Crime in Norfolk History of Norwich Murder in England 19th century in Norfolk November 1848 1848 murders in the United Kingdom