Now! Then! Henry Ross of Sheffield kidnaps neighbour Jenny Whitnear’s youngest son and flees to New Jersey, but 30 years later everyone will have questions to answer

18 September 1904: Henry Ross of Sheffield kidnaps neighbour Jenny Whitnear’s youngest son and flees to New Jersey, but 30 years later everyone will have questions to answer

Times. 1935/02/08. Arrest After 30 Years. London. Get it:

Excerpt

Ross in 1900 was living at Lovell Street with his two sisters when, he said, he met Jenny Whitnear. “She used to come in and see my sisters, and I became very friendly with her. Then the Whitnears moved from Lovell Street, at which time they had three children. Mrs Whitnear told me that I was the father of her son John. John Whitnear knew of my association with his wife and encouraged it, Mrs Whitnear kept asking me to take the boy John away, I was very fond of him and I took him to my sister’s home at Manchester. I did not tell Mrs Whitnear of my intention to take the boy away.” Answering questions, Mrs Woodward (previously Whitnear) agreed that she and the Ross family became very friendly. They lived close together and visited each other. She denied that she knew that the neighbours were talking about her association with Ross, and that Ross had bought furniture for the house or paid for the upkeep of her house. John William Whitnear, the boy, now a man of 35, living near Rotherham, said that he remembered being in a ship with Ross, and being in Newark. At Newark, Ross went by the name of Ingle, and once when he (the witness) called him Ross “he gave me a good hiding.” Whitnear said that when he returned to England he and his brother Fred wrote to Ross several times, and Ross used to send him money and presents. His father knew of those presents, but he did not think his mother did. Mr Scorah for the defence: “Looking back now, it looks as if he were fond of you?” “Yes.” “And you were fond of him?” “That is correct.” “He treated you like a father?” “Except for the time when I called him Ross.” “You don’t like what we are doing today, do you?” “No.”

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To facilitate reading, the spelling and punctuation of elderly excerpts have generally been modernised, and distracting excision scars concealed. My selections, translations, and editions are copyright.

Abbreviations

Comment

Via Chris Hobbs, who documents the collapse of the case when sent by the committal hearing to the Leeds Assizes.

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Original

ARREST AFTER 30 YEARS
MAN CHARGED WITH KIDNAPPING
Henry Ross, 70, whose address was given as Lovell Street, Sheffield, was yesterday committed by the Sheffield magistrates to the Leeds Assizes for trial on the charge of kidnapping a boy named John William Whitnear, aged four years and 10 months, on September 18, 1904.
Mr. J. J. McAvoy, solicitor, appeared for the prosecution, and Mr. F. S. Scorah, solicitor, for the defence.
Mr. McAvoy, in opening the case, said that Ross was arrested on a warrant taken out in 1904, and the offence was under section 56 of the Offences against the Person Act. The penalty for this class of offence was seven years’ penal servitude. The warrant was taken out on sworn information by the father of the child which was taken away.
Proceeding, Mr. McAvoy said that the two principals in the case were Ross and John William Whitnear, who was now 35 years old, the person who was taken away by Ross. The defendant in 1904 was friendly with the boy’s parents, and although he was separated from his wife he was attracted to the boy and his brother. Often he used to take them away on day excursions. One day in October, 1904, Ross sent to the boy’s mother and asked if he could take the boy John on a fishing excursion. The mother gave her consent and that was the last time she saw her boy for five years. She had no idea where he went, and as he did not return that night she complained to the police.
TRIP TO AMERICA
A warrant was taken out by the boy’s father, and Mrs. Whitnear offered £5 reward for information that would lead to the discovery of the boy’s whereabouts.
In 1909, Mr. McAvoy went on, the police heard that Ross and the boy were living in Newark, New Jersey. Mr. Whitnear could not afford extradition proceedings against the man, and it was decided that his other son, then 21, should go to the United States and identify the boy. The brother left England on March 6, 1909, in the Mauretania and went to the headquarters of the state police in Newark, New Jersey. After that they discovered Ross and the boy living as father and son under the names of Harry and John Ingle.
Two detectives, who accompanied the brother to the house, placed a copy of the notice offering the reward on the table, and Ross admitted he was the man concerned. The brother recognized the boy, but the boy had great difficulty in recognizing his brother.
The American police told the defendant that they could not arrest him, but that it would be better for him if he left the town, because if the citizens got to know about what had happened he would probably be lynched. The boy returned home, and the street and the house where he lived in Sheffield were decorated to welcome him.
After that the affair was more or less forgotten, but the warrant was still in force, and on January 23 certain information was received by the police. The files were searched, the warrant was brought out, and on the 24th two detectives visited Ross, when he admitted that he was the man named in the warrant. He then made a statement.
ROSS’S STATEMENT
Mr. McAvoy then read the alleged statement, which was to the effect that Ross in 1900 was living at Lovell Street with his two sisters when, he said, he met Jenny Whitnear. The statement continued:-
She used to come in and see my sisters, and I became very friendly with her. Then the Whitnears moved from Lovell Street, at which time they had three children. Mrs. Whitnear told me that I was the father of her son John.
John Whitnear knew of my association with his wife and encouraged it, Mrs. Whitnear kept asking me to take the boy John away, I was very fond of him and I took him to my sister’s home at Manchester. I did not tell Mrs. Whitnear of my intention to take the boy away.
Mr. McAvoy, referring to the statement, said that this was the first time it had been suggested that Ross was the father of the boy. Mrs. Whitnear would indignantly deny it. She never suggested in any way that the man should take the boy away.
Mrs. Jane Woodward, formerly Mrs. Whitnear, said that she was now aged 69. John William Whitnear, the boy concerned in the case, was the youngest of her three sons.
Cross-examined by Mr. Scorah, she agreed that she and Ross were about the same age.
Mr. Scorah. For some reason or another the events of 30 years ago have been raked up again?—Yes.
If you had had your way it would not have been so, would it?-Yes, it would.
You deliberately say that?-Yes. because he wanted punishment for what he did to me and my husband.
Mr. Scorah.-In view of your answer I shall change my line of cross-examination altogether.
Answering questions, Mrs. Woodward agreed that she and the Ross family became very friendly. They lived close together and visited each other. She denied that she knew that the neighbours were talking about her association with Ross, and that Ross had bought furniture for the house or paid for the upkeep of her house.
Mr. Scorah.- Didn’t the time arrive when Ross cooled off towards you?-I do not remember that.
Did you say: “If you don’t come back, I shall put the child on your mother’s doorstep and leave him there for you to keep”?-No.
Did he say: “If you will keep away I shall pay towards the child”?-I never went near him.
William Houson Whitnear, 57, the eldest son of Mrs. Woodward, described how he visited Newark, New Jersey, in 1909, and brought his brother home.
THE “BOY” IN THE BOX
John William Whitnear, the boy, now a man of 35, living near Rotherham, said that he remembered being in a ship with Ross, and being in Newark. At Newark Ross went by the name of Ingle, and once when he (the witness) called him Ross “he gave me a good hiding.”
Ross.- That is not true.
Whitnear said that when he returned to England he and his brother Fred wrote to Ross several times, and Ross used to send him money and presents. His father knew of those presents, but he did not think his mother did.
Mr. Scorah.-Looking back now, it looks as if he were fond of you?-Yes.
And you were fond of him?-That is correct.
He treated you like a father?-Except for the time when I called him Ross.
You don’t like this-what we are doing to-day-do you?-No.
If you had had any control over this, nothing would have been done about it-you don’t approve of it, do you?-Not a bit.
Mr. Scorah submitted that the case should go no farther. He contended that Ross had a claim of right, and the fact that he had claimed that right to the child was sufficient to bring him within the proviso.
Mr. Scorah added:-“A nephew of Ross, a man called White, thinking that the old man come home from America was a man of means, pestered him for money, and when the old man was unable to satisfy this demand, then this man said: ‘Very well, I will see that you get into trouble.’ Then you get the surreptitious visit to the police. It may be that the person I have referred to may have not heard the last of this, and of his part of it, and something may be done to get him the justice which, in my submission, he ought to have.”
The magistrates said that a prima facie case had been made out, and Ross was committed for trial at Leeds Assizes, bail again being allowed.