“It is not uncommon for an individual to have killed two, three, or more persons and to be charged with one or more of the murders. It is not quite so common for an individual to have been twice charged with murder in his lifetime. I should think that it is very uncommon indeed for an individual to be charged on three separate occasions with murder and it must surely be a record for that person to be acquitted each time on the charge of murder.”
- Thrice Charged With Murder, Det. Supt. J. Cocksworth, December 1964
William Burkitt: The Hessle Road Serial Killer
When you imagine Britain in the late 1800s, do you imagine sprawling fields or heaving cities?
For Hessle Road, the reality was somewhere in the middle, with rural countryside being replaced with the bare bones of a blossoming city. By 1882, the only open land laid between Division Road and the Dairycoates, though the South Myton Cricket Ground was quite large as well. Even these would soon disappear though, as the population of Hull exceeded 151,000 and continued to grow.
When St Andrew’s Dock opened in 1883, Hessle Road became home to many families involved in the fishing trade. By 1885, most of the buildings situated on the actual main road were small shops and, as the neighbourhood continued to evolve, banks, churches and larger retailers opened. Soon enough, Hessle Road was one of the main roads in all of Hull.
Unfortunately, many of the families that lived there remained poverty-stricken despite the industries being built up around them. Incredibly high birth rates led to overcrowding, both in homes and in the job market. In the mid-1880s, a publication studying the area revealed Hessle Road to be “as bad as the foulest slums in Constantinople.” Homes were small but packed, sewage-filled overflowed onto pavements and farm animals wandered around like they were in their very own street gang.
It was into this slum that William Burkitt was born in 1887. He was the eldest of nine children born to Mary Ann and William Burkitt Sr, a pleasant couple often referred to as good-natured. Sadly, William Sr died when Burkitt was a teenager, leaving the eldest son as the man of the house. It seemed that Burkitt was up to the challenge and after leaving school he went to sea to become a trawler fisherman.
Despite public appearances though, Burkitt clearly had a devious nature. In November 1913 he appeared in court and was ordered to pay for an illegitimate child. The following month he was called back, having ignored the court’s demands. Soon after this Burkitt entered the Royal Navy, joining many other men from Hessle Road in defending the country during World War I. However, in November 1914 Burkitt fled from the HMS Hero and, after being returned, later disserted the HM trawler Dinas in March 1915. He was charged with desertion and returned to Hessle Road, where he was also arrested in June 1915 for causing a crowd to assemble.
Mary ‘Polly’ Tyler
Soon after this, Burkitt began an affair with Mary ‘Polly’ Tyler of Derwent Avenue, Alfonso Street. Polly, 32, was already married but had been living apart from her husband for 12 years. She hadn’t been living alone though, as it was well-known Polly was living with a fisherman named Harding and that her ex-husband would often come to visit. By all accounts, it seems that Burkitt and Harding would switch places depending upon who was ashore. Nobody is completely sure if either of the men were aware of this.
“I have done Polly in”
At 8.45pm on August 28 1915, Burkitt arrived at his mother’s house on Worchester Terrace, Gillet Street. Upon opening her front door, Mrs Burkitt heard her son say: “I have done Polly in.” When she asked why he had done such a thing, Burkitt replied: “She won’t tantalise anyone else. Come with me and I will show you.”
Once they arrived at the home on Derwent Avenue, Burkitt unlocked the front door and revealed what was left of Polly Tyler; a corpse slumped in a corner in a pool of her own blood. Mother and son soon left the property, but Burkitt met one of Polly’s daughters Flora Tyler as he attempted to flee. Burkitt demanded that Flora fetch her brother George from the cinema, refusing to answer any of the daughter’s questions pertaining to her mother.
Burkitt returned to his own mother’s home where he confided in his brother Harold before handing him a bloodstained, badly bent knife. Burkitt then removed his belt and handed his brother a halfpenny, stating that they were keepsakes, before leaving the house. Moments later, Harold heard a scream and rushed outside to follow his brother.
The scream had come from Flora Tyler.
Burkitt had again met the young girl in the street, but this time he was much more forthcoming. “Here is the key,” he told Flora. “Take the first police man you see to your house, you will find your mother dead.”
Flora soon found Police Constable Marshall and the two of them went to the house. After seeing Polly, the PC immediately contacted the police station, launching a murder investigation. Burkitt was arrested later that night on Dock Road and is thought to have told PC Marshall: “she has brought me down to this.”
The First Murder Trial
Now aged 29, Burkitt appeared at York Castle on November 23 1915. Justice Atkin and the jury listened to Burkitt’s defence lawyer Mr Rowan Hamilton as he defamed Polly’s character. He stated that Polly had been violent and “unfaithful to many men, constant to none”. Polly’s sister Kate Elizabeth Witty was asked to give evidence regarding Polly’s life and reputation but admitted she had no idea who Burkitt was. Elizabeth Houghton told the court that she had known Polly as Mrs Harding but was aware of her relationship of Burkitt, who she had known for 3 years.
She had become agitated and unreasonable when she saw a photo of Burkitt fishing in Scarborough. In the photo, Burkitt had his arm around a woman Polly did not recognise. She hit Burkitt, used strong language, tore up the photo and told Burkitt to go back to the Scarborough woman if he did not want her. Burkitt exclaimed that Polly “had his money” and so planned to stay, though he did threaten to blind her. When the row continued, Polly decided to gtfo of there and spent the night at her friend Elizabeth Houghton’s.
Over the following few days, Polly and Burkitt had many more arguments but there were periods of calm. However, when the arguments began again on Saturday afternoon, Burkitt snapped and - this is where it gets a bit real - stabbed Polly three or four times, with a cut to the jugular being the critical wound.
In his closing statement, Mr Hamilton claimed that Burkitt was probably the only man who had ever truly loved Polly. He added that although he could not prove definitively that Burkitt did not kill Polly, the jury should consider the torment he had experienced over the days leading to the murder. Fortunately, Justice Atkins was less of an asshat and reminded the jury that “if nagging by wives was justification to reduce a charge from murder to manslaughter it would be a very dangerous thing.”
Regardless, the jury deliberated for only one hour before finding Burkitt guilty of manslaughter. He was sentenced to 12 years, but his next murder was less than a decade away.
Ellen Spencer
While Burkitt was in prison a woman named Ellen Spencer was having a true Hessle Road time. In 1922, she became the first woman in Hull to be caught by an anti-shoplifting alarm after trying to nick something from Boyes. She was also married but was living with another gentleman named Sarginson. Of course, that didn’t deter Burkitt who started an affair with Spencer, 44, after being released from prison on 23 November 1924. He had served 9 years of his 12-year sentence for murdering Mary ‘Polly’ Tyler.
The Woman On The Couch
For a while, it seemed that Spencer, Sarginson and Burkitt were all getting along fine. However, on November 3, 1925, it was discovered that Burkitt had gone back to his old ways.
Ellen’s daughter Matilda Walkington went to visit her mother on Leslie Avenue, Lorraine Street, having not seen her for almost a fortnight. When she couldn’t get in through any of the doors and noticed that the blinds were all drawn, Matilda asked a neighbour, George Hamilton, to help her break in.
After breaking down the back door, Matilda found Ellen dead on her living room sofa, covered in two overcoats and pouring blood from a huge knife wound in her neck. Police were called to the scene, presumably via tin cans attached by string, and it was DC Douthwaite that noticed the gas was on. Burkitt was found upstairs unconscious having clearly attempted to gas himself. DC Douthwaite accompanied Burkitt in the ambulance where Burkitt told the officer he had stabbed the “woman on the couch” due to jealousy.
The Second Murder Trial
After a brief stint in Hull Royal Infirmary Burkitt was taken to York Castle, again charged with murder. In front of Justice Fraser and a jury, Burkitt claimed he had lashed out in self-defence. Burkitt recalled that he had returned from sea on 29 October and gone drinking at Myton Tavern before returning to Leslie Avenue to sleep it off. Burkitt stated that Ellen had attempted to wake him up, which had frightened him enough for him to lash out. Unfortunately, he was completely unaware that he was holding a pocket knife and so didn’t realise he’d stabbed Ellen in the jugular. When asked why he didn’t go out for help after realising what he had done, Burkitt had no answer.
The jury charged him with manslaughter on November 20, 1925, and Burkitt was sent to Dartmoor to do a 10-year sentence.
Emma Brookes
This time, Burkitt actually did his full sentence and was not released until August 15 1935. Sadly, it seems that no amount of rehabilitation could stop Burkitt from repeating his past deeds. He returned to Hessle Road yet again - a far more forgiving neighbourhood than one would think - and met Emma Brookes. Again, Brookes was a married woman who was living apart from her husband but at least this time it seemed as though she lived alone. Except for of course when Burkitt, now 53, returned from his time at sea as a trawler fireman.
Not everything was smooth sailing for Emma and Burkitt though. One time, Burkitt had told his sister Maria Kerslake that Emma had been giving his clothing away and getting off with other men. He had often complained about her behaviour, even naming two of the men he thought Brookes had gotten off with.
It was on March 1, 1939, that the inevitable happened.
Burkitt the Serial Killer
Burkitt showed up at Maria’s home on Witty Street at 7.40am, foaming at the mouth and mumbling: “to tell you the truth I have killed her.” He added that he’d also taken around 600 aspirin but refused his sister’s pleas for him to seek medical attention. Instead, Burkitt somehow made his way to Victoria Dock and threw himself in the River Hull. While Burkitt was out having a swimming, Maria had alerted Inspector Davison who had visited 5 Pleasant Place, Neptune Street and found Emma Brookes on her bed, dead from asphyxia.
Two months later, Burkitt appeared in a Leeds court having been rescued from the River Hull.
The Third Murder Trial
This time Burkitt claimed he had returned from sea on February 27, 1939, to a moody Emma. She had taunted him about another man she had been seeing while Burkitt was at sea, causing Burkitt to snap. While in the dock he said: “everything went black and when I came to I realised what I had done and was desperate.” However, a woman the couple had previously lodged with told the court that Burkitt had choked Emma in the past. He had also threatened to kill Emma after finding her with other men on several other occasions, even confiding in her sister-in-law and a local hotel owner.
On May 17 1939, the jury deliberated for just 15 minutes before again charging Burkitt with manslaughter. However, Justice Cassels was totally over Burkitt’s antics by this point. He had been made aware of Burkitt’s past and noted that the jury were ignorant of his past murders. Speaking to Burkitt, the judge said he was responsible for the deaths three women. “I can see in your case not one redeeming feature,” the judge explained. “The sentence I pass on to you is that you be kept in penal servitude for the rest of your natural life.”
Dartmoor
Following the badass judge’s speech, Burkitt was taken back to Dartmoor Prison. Over the next 15 years, it is said that Burkitt became a well-respected member of the prison. He even gathered several nicknames from other inmates including ‘The King of the Serial Killers’, ‘The Ironman of Dartmoor’ and ‘Fishy’. His lack of remorse was clear, as Burkitt went on to get tattoos depicting the gravestones and death dates of his three victims. Thankfully, appeals to have his sentence reviewed were unsuccessful despite his attempts to make people feel sorry for him. “For nearly ten years I have lived a living death,” Burkitt wrote in one appeal letter. “I have had held over my head the most dreadful sentence that has ever been uttered by a sane judge.”
Death
In 1954, Burkitt was diagnosed with an “incurable illness” and was released from Dartmoor on compassionate grounds on May 13. He returned to his old stabbing grounds of Hessle Road but soon ended up in Hull Royal Infirmary. Apart from a brief escape in 1955, Burkitt spent the last two years of his life in the hospital. On Christmas Eve 1956, the Hessle Road serial killer finally died at the age of 69.
Over the following decades, Hessle Road continued to thrive despite now having its own serial killer. The 1954 census noted that many of the street’s shops, pubs and entertainment venues remained open. Throughout the 1950s and 60s, many new council estates and industrial parks were built, which is why many of the cramped slums no longer stand. Really Boulevard North, Coltman Street and Tyne Street are the only roads that still have the houses of the 1800s. It wasn’t until 1975 when St Andrew’s Dock closed that Hessle Road stopped being the go-to area for those employed by the fishing industry. Instead, it became a place where anyone could live, regardless of their background or career. To this day, Hessle Road remains an important part of Hull’s past, present and future.
Thank you for reading my piece of the Hessle Road Serial Killer, I hope you enjoyed it. Although I read multiple articles and books, by far the best source was Charles Rickell’s Yorkshire’s Multiple Killers, which I highly recommend you read if you’re interested in the murders and mysteries of Hull. Thanks again!
