No, not the famous incident of
the dog that did nothing in the night-time. This dog was
active in full view in the day-time. Paul Phillips, of Clyst Honiton, thought his dog's behaviour was curious.
Paul said: “It is fascinating that we have found a bit of history in my garden. My dog, Stanley, has been digging in the same spot in our garden for probably about a year. We kept patching up and even at one point had to put a paving slab over it but he was insistent there was something there he wanted.
“One day I went outside and Stanley had exposed a pipe, so I got on my hands and knees, had a rummage around, did some mini-excavation and realised it was a bottle. It was a bright blue bottle in perfect, mint condition and said the words, ‘Not To Be Taken’ on the glass.
There's something of a two-pipe problem in the story that follows.
“I thought that was cool and did some research, and it came up as a Victorian poison bottle, and then I I remembered reading something about a hanging in the village years ago. So I went back online and found the old newspaper article about William and Mary Ann Ashford living in Clyst Honiton in 1865 next door to the police station – which is the next door to us but one.
“It was there I believe Mary and her husband used to live and she was having an affair.
“I think our property used to be a big cider barn and there would have been more land. But it is so weird, if you had bought that bottle for the right reasons – like killing rats or something – why would you bother burying it? The fact there was a murder due to poisoning in the nextdoor down from us – you have to put two and two together. The fact it was buried and not thrown away shows someone was trying to hide it.’’
We have the motive which is money, the body that is dead, and the dog who has delivered the evidence and is relaxing.
William Ashford was a shoemaker by trade and had an estate valued at £120, Mary Ann being the sole beneficiary of his will. She was hoping to use this money to set up home with Frank Pratt. Newspaper reports suggest Will started feeling ill and was regularly given medicine for an undiagnosable sickness. He suddenly died and Mary was arrested by the police officer living next door. Tests later showed his wife had traces of arsenic and strychnine on her clothes.
Paul said the “brutal” story about Mary’s hanging has left him not wanting to keep the bottle inside the house. He said: “It was a brutal hanging so there was no way I want the bottle in my home. It is in the garage at the moment which is a shame because it’s lovely but I bet it comes with some weirdness. My family are totally engrossed with the story, and the neighbour, a dear friend and councillor, loves it too.”
Paul added that Stanley has not been digging in the spot since the discovery and hopes a local historian will help the family find out more information about the unique story.
He said: “What’s crazy is that Stanley, after he dug the bottle up, hasn’t been digging there since. If there is a local historian who is interested in coming to have a chat and do a bit more digging, that would be great”
Hangings are ghastly, even when they're done properly. The story is about the dog's discovery, not about the evidence to convict Mrs Ashford (
she confessed) of the murder of Mr Ashford.
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