Henry Hutchinson was aged thirty-four years and worked as a miner at Wath. On the afternoon of Monday 22 September 1873, around 3.30 pm he was drinking at the Gate Inn at Swinton, when an argument broke out between himself and a thirty-six year old man named William Naylor. Hutchinson challenged Naylor, who was from Swinton to take the argument outside and fight, and the two men went outside and commenced to scrap. After two rounds Hutchinson was struck under the left ear which left him insensible on the ground, where sadly he died a few minutes later. Needless to say the police were informed and William Taylor was taken into custody.
An inquest was held at the Kings Head Inn, Swinton on Wednesday 24 September by Coroner Mr Dossey Wightman to which the prisoner attended. The first witness was Mrs Ann Hutchinson and she told the inquest that she had last seen her husband when he went to work on the Monday. Only later in the day was she told her husband had died at the Gate Inn and she saw his dead body. A witness, William Firth told the jury that he had seen the argument break out and Hutchinson take off his coat as he challenged Naylor to fight him. Firth said that it was clear that the prisoner did not wish to fight and told Hutchinson to put his coat back on. Mr Wightman asked him if both the men appeared to be sober, to which he replied that they did.
The witness described the fight as ‘not taking long’ and added that at that point the two men were ready to call it off, but another man called Mick Oldfield persuaded them to have another round. It became quickly obvious that Naylor appeared to have the upper hand and within a matter of minutes Hutchinson lay on the ground, before his body was carried into a nearby garden. Another witness John Emery confirmed this version of the fight and said he had tried to reason with the two men, but in vain. He said there had been a previous argument between them which had never been resolved and they both wanted to finally ‘have it out.’
He had witnessed Naylor striking Hutchinson on the left side of his head, before he fell to the ground landing on his left side which made a ‘loud smack’ as he hit the ground. However in his version he maintained that Hutchinson appeared to be not too sober and that Naylor had been seen crying after Hutchinson was declared dead. A man called Thomas Pearce told the inquest that the deceased man’s body lay in the garden for about half an hour before he was removed back inside the Gate Inn. Mr Edward Dibb, surgeon of Mexborough said he had been called out around 4.15 pm on the Monday when he found Hutchinson in the garden.
The man was unconscious at first, but died after around 20 minutes. That was when he ordered Hutchinson to be taken back into the public house. Dibb stated that he had completed the post mortem and found that death was due to apoplexy, caused by a fracture of the skull. He found a swelling just under the jugular vein on the deceased man’s left side. He said internally all his organs were healthy apart from the lungs which were congested. At this point the coroner stated that was all the evidence he intended to call and in his summing up emphasised the fact that men engaged in fighting were committing an illegal act. He therefore told the jury they had no option but to return a verdict of manslaughter.
However Mr Wightman said that he had seriously questioned whether or not Naylor should be the only person charged with the offence. The coroner pointed out that according to Emery the fight might have ended if not for the urging by the man called Mick Oldfield to continue. He also pointed to the guilt of all three men, Naylor who acted as principal and the two others who appeared to second the fight, William Oldfield and William Botwood. He questioned whether they too should also be implicated in the deceased man’s death. However after a short consultation the jury returned a verdict that William Naylor only should be sent for trial for manslaughter.
However when the case came before the Rotherham magistrates on Monday 29 September all three men, Oldfield, Botwood and Naylor were placed in the dock and charged with the death of Henry Hutchinson. The prosecution Mr Taylor outlined the case and stated that this was a case of a clear violation of the law and therefore all three prisoners should be sent to take their trial at the Assizes. However, after hearing the evidence from the same witnesses as at the inquest, the prisoners defence, Mr Rhodes claimed the court had nothing new to offer, therefore he would reserve his defence until the Assizes.
The three prisoners were then ordered to take their trial at the next Assizes although they were allowed bail. Accordingly they appeared in a subsidiary court at Leeds before judge Baron Pollock on Saturday 4 April 1874. However by this time an account of the crime had changed somewhat. The reporter claimed that after Hutchinson had been struck on the jugular vein ‘he immediately turned dizzy and fell, his skull being fractured by the fall. He claimed that apoplexy had set in and he died in less than ten minutes.’ The prisoners defence claimed that when the deceased attempted to strike Naylor he missed his aim and in staggering backwards, fell onto his head and thats when he received the fatal injuries. After hearing all the evidence the jury retired for a short while to consider their verdict. When they returned that gave a not guilty verdict for all three prisoners.
These kind of cases made such an impact on the Rotherham legal authorities, that two months later the Mayor of Rotherham called a public meeting in the Mechanics Hall in the town. He wanted to ban pubs from opening on a Sunday at all. However local men took exception to his trying to stop the enjoyment of a Sunday pint, that the meeting was very poorly attended. It was reported that it was due to start at 7pm, but so few people arrived that it was actually 7.15 pm before the proceedings commenced. In the end a simple resolution on the matter was sent to the local MP and the Sunday openings continued.