She had been 'walking out' with Matthew Weeks, who had been working at Penhale for Mrs Peter for 7 years. On Sunday, April 14th , at about four in the afternoon, Charlotte and Matthew Weeks both changed into their Sunday best and left the house together. They didn't say where they were going, but Charlotte told Mrs Peter, her employer, that she although she would not be back in time to milk the cows, Matthew would.
Charlotte was wearing a green striped dress and a red shawl, while Matthew was wearing a dark velvet frock-coat, blue stockings and a fancy waistcoat. Matthew arrived back at about half past nine, but without Charlotte. He told Mrs Peter he didn't know where she was. Charlotte was not seen alive again. Charlotte's body was eventually found, by a search party, nine days later on Tuesday April She was found by the side of the River Alan below Roughtor.
Her throat had been cut. Matthew Weeks, Charlotte's erstwhile sweetheart, was tried and hanged for her murder at Bodmin Gaol. Even a short account of the case and the events and evidence which led to Matthew's conviction and execution would be too lengthy to include here, but Linda Stratman's article, available online , does a good job of summarising the events.
Pat Munn's book, based as it is on research of primary sources, is even better, but is sadly out of print. Interestingly, each writer extrapolates from the evidence a different conclusion about the guilt or otherwise of Matthew Weeks. It was not until that her grave had its own marker, this being a flat stone, engraved with her name and dates, and donated by the Goodenough family of Higher Tremail Farm.
On 18 June , thanks to public donations and fundraising, including a concert at the church, a raised headstone was added to the grave. A memorial to Charlotte was paid for by public subscription, and was erected near the murder site on the edge of Roughtor soon after the execution of Matthew Weeks. It consists of a granite obelisk inscribed:.
The memorial has been listed Grade II for historical, architectural, and group value interest. The listing states the reasoning thus: [25]. It was common practice for an illegitimate child to be baptised using the father's surname as a middle name. As Charlotte was baptised with the middle name Helston, it is quite possible that her father was called Helston. In and Charlotte's mother Mary was living with a James Medland. Research ongoing to assess the likelihood of him being Charlotte's father.
Rowe , 22 August UTC. Topical phrases of the month November: 'Christmas Shopping'. Things to do in this area.
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Rough Tor. Showery Tor. Click here for Charlotte Dymond Monument Accommodation. Charlotte Dymond Monument Caravan Parks. Charlotte Dymond Monument Cottage Collections. Charlotte Dymond Monument Farm Holidays. Charlotte Dymond Monument Glamping. Charlotte Dymond Monument Holiday Parks. He was buried in the Gaol's coalyard, and the Gaol today is a tourist attraction, as is Bodmin Shire Hall which displays a mock-up of the trial. Charlotte was interred at Davidstow, and a monument erected by public prescription now stands near Roughtor Ford.
In the last three decades, doubts have been cast upon Matthew's guilt by the Cornish author Pat Munn, and a Pebble Mill documentary was screened about the case in However if you study the case and the post mortem it is obvious that Weeks killed her out of jealousy when she dumped him for another farm hand and they both ridiculed Weeks who was not handsome and very insecure. He admitted it to the prison chaplin and with his help wrote two letters admitting his guilt prior to his hanging.
At his arrest he had belongings of Charlotte Dymond that she had had on the day of her murder.
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