THE DISPATCH
Note Before Beginning
Many family members have the same or very similar names, and many of the names have various spellings in media. Therefore each potential victim is also given a number.
Happisburgh
Happisburgh, Norfolk, England was a small, cliffside village with fewer than 300 residents. In recent years, Happisburgh had been crumbling into the sea, revealing ancient sites. These include the oldest archaeological site in northern Europe at 900,000 years.
The Murders
When Jonathan and Elizabeth (1) Balls lived in Happisburgh in the 1830s and 1840s, the elderly man was allegedly tied up in the declining numbers of the residents. Jonathan was known as a bad character and had been found guilty of “many offenses” before the murder accusations started.
For years the couple lived on the support of their daughters. By 1846, eighty-two year old Elizabeth (1) was supported by parochial services as she had been bed-ridden for a number of years. She and her husband, Jonathan, 77, had three married daughters, each of whom had children.
When these grandchildren began dying, the rumours started and eventually, after Jonathan’s death, an inquiry was held.
In 1843, granddaughter 9-week-old Ann Elizabeth Pestall (2) (also spelled Pestale and Pestle) died and was buried within just a few hours. Grandson Samuel Pestle (3) died under “similar circumstances” in September, 1845.
In December 1845, Jonathan’s wife Elizabeth (Ann) Balls (1) died, as did granddaughter Elizabeth Ann Pestall (4). They were buried the same day. There was village talk of the rash of unexpected deaths afflicting the family, but no one took action until Jonathan himself died in a similar manner on April 20, 1846. Talk of poison began circulating.
A doctor who had been summoned for Jonathan later stated the man was vomiting and experiencing stomach pains.
In May, 1846, coroners decided to hold an inquest, and disinterred Jonathan Balls and Ann Elizabeth Pestall (2). By May 18th, they requested that Elizabeth Balls (1), Elizabeth Ann Pestall (4) and Samuel Pestall (3) also be exhumed for examination.
The coroner, Mr. Pilgrim, was joined by the village vicar the Rev. Mr. Birch, several church wardens and even neighbouring Coast Guard senior officers, to examine the bodies.
At the inquest, the possibility of rat poison was raised. One servant girl recalled seeing Jonathan sprinkling white powder into tea for his ailing wife Elizabeth Balls (1). The servant girl also fell ill around that time, prompting Jonathan to say, “I suppose we are all going to be taken alike.” Balls reportedly asked a different young woman to buy rat poison on his behalf, but she declined.
The inquest was told that at the post mortem, signs of arsenic poisoning was found in each of the three bodies. Arsenic was also found in the stomachs of Jonathan and his wife.
The coroner’s inquiry ended June 19, 1848 with allegations of additional murders.
Jonathan’s daughter Maria Lacey (5) died in 1835, partly from “ill treatment” from her husband, and partly from arsenic poisoning. She previously had 4 of her 6 children die, with 3 later confirmed as by arsenic poisoning (Lacey 6-9).
Jonathan’s daughter Mary Green had 7 of her 11 children die “suspiciously” between 1836 and 1846 (Greens 10-16).
Daughter Elizabeth Peggs had one of her 5 children, named Hannah or Anna (17), die in 1839 “under circumstances of great suspicion”. Some deaths were attributed to scarlet fever, others to arsenic, and others were undetermined.
The alleged reason for the murders of his grandchildren was so that his daughters would have more money to support him and his wife.
Jonathan’s two sons (Balls 18-19), and his parents (Balls 20-21) also died earlier under questionable circumstances, and it was alleged he may have killed them too. A neighbour named Mr. Nurse (22) died within hours of going to a pub with Jonathan to “make up” after Nurse accused Jonathan of murdering his grandchildren.
In total, Jonathan Balls was posthumously accused of possibly poisoning 22 relatives and neighbours before committing suicide.