The Murder of PC Alfred Austwick of Lumby and Dodworth (1855-1886)

PC Alfred Austwick was born and grew up in the tiny hamlet of  Lumby, North Yorkshire.  He had been a commanding and respected figure in the police force but at the age of thirty he was murdered by a single gunshot just before midnight on Saturday, 31st July 1886 in Dodworth, near Barnsley. Leaving a widow, Sarah and five children, his stricken wife agreed that his body should be returned for burial, just over thirty miles away, at St Mary's, South Milford. The church still had strong family links and Alfred's brother, Henry, was also buried there having died in tragic circumstances five years earlier. This is the story of a brave and respected man and the fate of his murderer largely drawn and edited from newspaper accounts of the time, most notably The Barnsley Chronicle, The Selby Times, The Dewsbury Chronicle, The West Riding Advertiser and the Yorkshire Post & Leeds Intelligencer as well as court reports from Barnsley Magistrates and York Assizes.