“Madame X” - Kate Jackson
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| Northern Whig |
So, who was Mrs Jackson?
Kate Jackson (1885–1929) was a mysterious woman who claimed
to be born in India and told her husband she was the author Ethel M. Dell. A
birth certificate gave the name Kate Atkinson, born in Lancashire the daughter
of Agnes and John Atkinson. She said she had purchased this from a girl, but
this appears to be her identity.
During her teenage years, around 1904, Kate went to London oping
to become an actress. She lived as common law wife to a Leopold le Grys
and styled herself "Mollie le Grys”
In 1914 she began a con trick on a George Harrison which
began with her fainting in his presence after a minor car accident at Charing
Cross Road, she got him to take her to lunch. This turned into an affair.
She told Harrison she was pregnant and asked £40 for an abortion. He paid this,
but she began repeatedly asking for sums and it effectively turned into
blackmail. A weekly payment of £30 became normal. However, Harrison paid this
by embezzling funds from his workplace.
Following the First World War, Kate, married in 1919 Tom
Jackson, a war veteran, in Cardiff, it is unclear how they met. They initially
lived in Kate's property: a farmhouse in Surrey. They had
an adopted daughter, Betty. Around 1927 they moved to a small remote bungalow
in the Mumbles in south Wales. She told the neighbours her name was Kate, but
Tom and close friends still called her Mollie.
Kate lived quite extravagantly for a fishmonger's wife and
appeared to live beyond her theoretical means, indicating some hidden wealth or
unknown income. Every Wednesday she received a letter containing £30 cash from
a source unknown to her husband - George Harrison. This long running blackmail was
revealed in 1927 when Harrison was put on trial for embezzling £19000. He
claimed £8000 of this was to supply the regular payments to the woman he knew
as Mollie le Grys. Whilst this did not bring her a fortune, it was far above
the average weekly wage, and it allowed her many additional comforts. However,
as with any crime of this nature, it had a potential to backfire, and Kate
lived in fear of this.
On the 4th February 1929, on Plunch Lane, in the
tiny hamlet of Limeslade on the edge of Mumbles, Jackson was attacked.
Just after 10pm, Jackson and her neighbour Olive Dimick were
returning from the Tivoli Cinema, having left home together at 6pm. Olive has
only just said goodbye to Kate when she heard her scream. She went outside and
found Kate near the back door of Kate's neighbouring bungalow
"Kenilworth", with her husband bent over her. She was bleeding from
the head and barely conscious. They moved her to the back door. Olive saw that
Tom was in his underwear and told him to get dressed. Olive's husband Sydney
arrived, as did another neighbour, Rose Gammon.
Mr Jackson reappeared with clothes on and Mrs Gammon offered
to call for a doctor, but he declined saying he would fetch someone if she got
worse. As Kate was bleeding from the head this was strangely complacent. Tom
eventually went to another neighbour Mrs Janet Philips and phoned Dr Neil
Seddon Taylor of the Mumbles who agreed to come out. They met at Boyle's
Garage, 100m from their house. Tom told Mrs Philips that Kate had recently
received threatening letters regarding an embezzlement trial two years
previously.
The doctor arrived and found that Kate's wounds were very
serious. He shaved back her hair and stitched the more serious wounds. She
complained that this hurt. She did not reply when questioned who did it, but
then uttered a single, but inexplicable word: “gorse”. She repeated these three
or four times.
The doctor told Tom to call the local hospital, call a taxi
to get there, and call the police to report the incident. He went to Mrs
Philips but only called a taxi. On return the doctor said the hospital would
only admit her with prior notification. This time Tom went to a different
neighbour (perhaps not to disturb Mrs Philips a third time): John Skidmore who
lived at Marydale bungalow to the south. He told Skidmore that his wife had
been attacked on her way back from the pictures.
The taxi arrived and the driver helped get Kate onto the
back seat then drove with Tom to the hospital. The doctor followed in his own
car. They went to Swansea General Hospital. Tom did not stay at the hospital
but went back to Limeslade with the taxi driver. He had gone by the time
hospital staff arrived to interview him about the incident. They informed the
police a little after 3am and they then called Dr Taylor for more details. They
went to the hospital then to Limeslade to interview Tom, arriving a little
before 5am. Tom was slow to answer the door.
The police found broken glass in the pool of blood near the
back door. Tom claimed he heard a noise at 10.45pm and found Kate near the back
door just as Olive ran up.
Mrs Philip only became aware of the seriousness of the
attack through the police. Olive said Kate had a fear of strange cars and there
was one opposite their house on the night in question
Superintendent Harry Fox of Mumbles arrived later in the
morning and was joined by Detective inspector Frederick William Gough and the
Chief Constable, Captain Thomas Rawson
An x-ray revealed Kate had a fractured skull. There were at
least nine separate wounds on her head
Press descending on Limeslade quickly discovered that Kate
was "Madame X" a mystery witness in a London embezzlement trial
involving a man called Harrison who had embezzled the money on her behalf
Both Tom and the neighbour Olive confirmed that Kate had a
deep fear of being discovered and had wanted to live in Limeslade due to its
remoteness
Police guards stayed with Mrs Jackson in the hospital hoping
she would recover enough to name her assailant. On Saturday 9 February she
became lucid and was able to answer questions. The police interviewed her at
noon but gleaned no useful information
Her condition deteriorated overnight. A final attempt was
made to interview her. She died just after noon on 10 February. The official
cause of death was a heart attack brought about by the trauma
As the only suspect, Tom was charged with murder two weeks
after the death and put on trial in July. A tyre lever had been found
concealed in the kitchen but there was no positive evidence whatsoever to link
Tom to the crime nor was any motive evidenced. The judge told the jury he saw
no evidence of a third-party involvement. Tom's nonchalant attitude did not
help things and is not easily explained. However, he had nothing to gain by her
death. He was found not guilty in July 1929. The media generally supported this
viewpoint
The word "gorse" was never explained. In terms of
the story it may have been "grys" rather than "gorse".
Perhaps Leopold Le Grys also held a grudge. Leopold le Grys certainly existed:
he was born in 1876, lived and worked in London as a portrait artist and died
in Kensington in 1971. He married Adal Collins in 1922
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