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This article recounts the case of Margaret Walber – the last woman hanged in Liverpool, who chained her husband in the attic for four months before beating him to death with a chamber pot. The content is for educational and historical documentation purposes only, based on newspaper archives and court records from 1894. It does not aim to glorify violence.
Margaret Walber: The Jealous Wife Who Chained Her Husband for Four Months Before Beating Him to Death
In April 1894, a rare event took place at Walton Prison, Liverpool. A woman mounted the gallows. She was not a professional criminal, nor was she a serial killer. She was Margaret Walber, 53, a small grocery shopkeeper from Gildart Street, Liverpool, and she had just been sentenced to death for murdering her husband. But the story behind that sentence was not simply a domestic dispute. It was a story of insane jealousy, of brutality that lasted four months, and of a death by chamber pot – the strangest murder weapon in Liverpool’s criminal history. Margaret Walber did not merely kill her husband; she turned him into a prisoner in his own home, chained him in the attic like an animal, until he had nothing left to lose but his life. And when drunken rage reached its peak, she ended his life with the very chain that had held him captive for so many long days.
First, an unhappy marriage and the return of an old flame ignited Margaret Walber’s jealousy
Margaret Murray married John Walber in 1889, when she was 48 and he was 50. Both were heavy drinkers, and their marriage was not a happy one . They lived with Margaret’s son from a previous marriage, John Murray, and two lodgers, James Pearson and his girlfriend Mary Vouse, at 4 Gildart Street, Liverpool . The trouble began when John’s former lover, Ann Connolly, moved nearby on Oakes Street in the spring of 1893 . A romance dead for 17 years suddenly revived. John began secretly visiting Ann, reliving old memories. But Margaret, a jealous and hot-tempered woman, discovered the betrayal. One day, she followed John to Ann Connolly’s house. A fight broke out on the spot: Margaret punched, kicked, and verbally abused her husband in front of his mistress. Ann Connolly, tired of the drama, yelled that Margaret could keep her husband – she no longer wanted John Walber .
Second, Margaret turned her own home into a prison, chaining her husband in the attic for four full months
That night, John returned home dead drunk. The argument continued until he passed out. Margaret, in a fit of jealousy and rage, dragged John’s unconscious body up the stairs, stripped him naked, and locked him in the attic room. She secured the door with a heavy chain and padlock . From that night on, John Walber was no longer a husband; he was a prisoner. For four months, she held him captive in that dark attic room, taking away his clothes so he could not escape . When the lodgers questioned her, she lied that he was locked up to prevent him from visiting brothels . Others heard screams and sounds of beatings coming from the attic, but no one dared intervene. In Victorian society, interfering in another family’s domestic affairs was considered improper . John repeatedly begged for release, promising never to see Ann Connolly again, but Margaret would not be moved .
Third, John Walber’s death occurred on November 16, 1893, during a drunken and uncontrollable fit of rage
Before that, Margaret had repeatedly threatened to kill her husband. She told one of the lodgers that she had flypaper (which contained arsenic) and would give it to him . When John’s sister visited in early November and found him in a “bewildered” state unable to work, she offered to fetch a doctor or a priest, but Margaret refused . On the night of November 15, Margaret and Mary Vouse went to a local pub. There, she even offered another woman money to smash Ann Connolly’s windows, and again threatened to kill John . After returning home, Mary went out. Sometime during that period, Margaret entered John’s prison room. She beat him to death with a chamber pot and the very chain that had held him captive for four months . The Liverpool Mercury newspaper described the scene: “The place presented a horrible spectacle… the chamber ware was broken, pieces of glass were lying about the room, the bedclothes were scattered, and the floor, walls, pillows, and clothes were covered with blood” . A post-mortem examination revealed that John Walber’s body was covered with awful gashes, and death was due to shock and loss of blood .
Fourth, after the crime, Margaret attempted to blame her son, but forensic evidence and witness testimony quickly led to her confession
Initially, she told Mary Vouse that her son, John Murray, had killed her husband and fled to Ireland . But the testimony of Mary Vouse and James Pearson, along with evidence of blood on Margaret’s clothing (an early form of forensic evidence noted in this case ), proved otherwise . When interrogated by police, Margaret admitted that she had struck her husband on the head with the chain while drunk, because she was angry that he had managed to put his trousers on . She also confessed that John had been imprisoned for four months because she would not allow him any opportunity to commit adultery again .
Fifth, Margaret Walber’s trial took place on March 14, 1894, at St. George’s Hall, Liverpool. After a single day of trial, the jury found her guilty, and she was sentenced to death
She was hanged by executioner James Billington at 8:00 a.m. on April 2, 1894, at Walton Prison . This was the first female hanging carried out by Billington. The drop length was recorded as either 6 feet 2 inches or 6 feet 7 inches depending on the source . The execution was reported to have been performed “in a satisfactory manner, with no hitch whatsoever” . Margaret Walber became the last woman hanged in Liverpool .
Margaret Walber was neither a serial killer nor a professional criminal. She was a jealous, alcoholic wife who allowed her hatred to spiral completely out of control. Her story is a unique and gruesome chapter in Liverpool’s criminal history: a woman who chained her husband like an animal in an attic room for four months, and finally ended his life with blows from a chamber pot and the very chain that had bound him. This is a rare case of a woman sentenced to death in 19th-century England, and a reminder that brutality knows no gender. Her case remains, as a dark mark on the city’s history.