Community researcher – Michelle Shoebridge
It was a fairly regular occurrence for bodies to be found in the leats. In 1872 the body of a new born baby wrapped in brown paper was found in the leat at Powhay Mills. In 1873 a young mother and her baby were found drowned near the same mill. In 1872 the torso of an 18 month old baby boy, Reginald Hyde, was found in the leat beneath Powhay Mills, the head and other body parts were found in other parts of the leats.
An inquest carried out at the Princess Alexandra Inn next to the Head Weir Mill (now residential flats Alexandra House) and the ensuing trial were covered by all the national newspapers. The mother Mary Hoskins, from Cornwall, had been living in Ide before the birth and left the baby with a ‘baby farmer’, Annie Tooke of South Street, who was found guilty of the murder and executed on 11 August 1879.
