Murder at the Asylum
Lovers of Derby history will be very familiar with the plight of the former Derby Hippodrome building on the corner of Macklin Street and Green Lane - they might not be aware however, that it was built on the location of a former 'lunatic asylum' and that this asylum was the location of a gruesome murder in 1848.
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An article in the Derby Mercury reported that the privately run Green Hill House was Derby’s first ‘lunatic asylum’ as the headline described the establishment.

Green Hill House before 1889 by S. H. Parkins.
It opened on February 1, 1832 under the superintendence of a Mr. Morris and a Mr. Fisher but for reasons unknown the partnership was short-lived and by December 5, 1832 it was reported that Mr. Morris and his wife had withdrawn from the partnership.
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Though contemporary reports paint the establishment in a good light with the Derby Mercury in 1836 describing the apartments at the house as ‘numerous, spacious, and lofty, affording ample space for the classification of patients’, we should, perhaps, temper this with our knowledge of how patients were attended to in those times under the guise of treatment. Whatever the particulars of the treatment though, it was a murder that occurred there in 1848 that hastened the demise of the establishment.
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On December 6, 1848 the Derby Mercury reported on the inquest of Samuel Tomlinson – a patient ‘confined’ at Green Hill House. Describing the victim’s body at the inquest it was reported that 'the head presented a wretched appearance, particularly on the right side, the lower jaw being fractured, and several of the teeth knocked out’.
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Tomlinson had been found in the room he slept in the night previously. The room had three bedsteads with one of them currently unused and the third slept in by another patient, Harold Strelly.
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George Bailey – one of the keepers at the asylum - told the inquest that he’d left the deceased at around 7pm with Harold Strelly in their room and returned to the room at around 6.15am the following morning. He told the inquest that this was earlier than his usual time to visit the room in the morning which would have been around 7.45am.
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The reason given for the early visit was that one of the patients had recently been to see him for a candle and he’d heard Samuel singing – something he was apparently prone to doing when he heard people around. On this occasion however when he heard the singing, he’d also heard an unusual noise in addition to it.
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On his arrival in the room, Strelly was standing naked by the side of his own bed, with Tomlinson lying on the floor bleeding profusely and moaning. Pushing Strelly onto his bed and covering him up, he went downstairs to fetch a light and, taking with him another patient, he returned to the room where it seemed that Tomlinson was now dead. Strelly was still in his bed, unmoved from the position he’d been placed in.
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George then called for Dr. Brigstock – at that time the proprietor of the asylum – and on his arrival the room was searched, and a bed lath was found with a considerable quantity of Tomlinson’s blood on it. Strelly was immediately taken into the sitting room and ‘secured'.
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After testimony from Dr. Brigstock and Charles Borough – the visiting surgeon to the asylum – the coroner ruled that to him it was quite clear that the assailant was Strelly and the weapon was the bed lath and returned a verdict of wilful murder, with his trial to take place at the next assizes.
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Strelly’s trial was held the following March and during the trial he alleged abusive behaviour at the asylum, accusing Bailey of hitting him on numerous occasions. During the summing up the jury was told that there didn’t appear to be any evidence that Strelly had 'wilfully committed the crime' and there had been sufficient evidence to prove his insanity at the time of the crime. If the jury agreed with this, Strelly would be sent to a place where ‘he would not likely be locked up with another lunatic from 8 o’clock at night until 6 next morning, and with a tremendous bludgeon at hand.'
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The jury found him not guilty, on the grounds of insanity.