Thomas Nash was seen walking hand-in-hand with his daughter to Swansea pier on a stormy night in 1885, but spotted later leaving without her
Few crimes have the power to shock in the way a parent causing harm to their child does - it's as true today as it must have been in 1885 when Swansea was gripped by the case of a father accused of murdering his young daughter by throwing her off the town's pier into the stormy sea.
In early November, 1885, Nash suddenly moved out of the lodging house, taking his possessions but leaving his children - aged 17 and almost six years - behind. Over the following weeks the landlady of the house, Eliza Goodwin, saw Nash around town a number of times and told him she could not continue to look after his girls. Nash apparently promised to return to collect his children, and to settle the outstanding bill for their lodging, but never did.
At around 5.15pm that evening a number of pilots and boatmen standing outside the watch-house on Swansea pier saw a man walking hand-in-hand with a little girl onto the pier. It was a blustery evening with waves breaking over the pier, and it was already quite dark. The men in the watch-house thought it odd someone should be taking a child onto the pier in the inclement conditions. The figures seen disappearing into the darkness were Nash and Martha Ann.
Nash was later taken back to the the pier by police officers where he told them he had put his daughter on the railings in order for her to climb onto his back but she had slipped, and the wind had blown her over the side into the sea. The suspect was taken to the police station and subsequently charged with murder.
The court also heard from Eliza Goodwin and the landlady of another lodging house, Hannah Daffy, who told the court Nash and his new wife had lived with her from November 17 to December 4. The jury also heard evidence from police officers who had been involved in the investigation, as well as medical evidence from surgeon David Howell Thomas.
After deliberating for 15 minutes the jury returned a verdict of guilty. The judge placed a black silk square on top of his wig, and the clerk of the court asked the defendant if there was any reason why the death penalty should not be imposed. Nash replied "quietly but firmly: 'I am not guilty, sir'." The Weekly Mail reported that outside the courtroom "the disconsolate daughter of the convict was conducted away in a paroxysm of agonised weeping".
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