“THE TRAGIC DEMISE OF ROLAND LANCELOT THOMAS ROE OF HORHAM” Diss Express 16th June 1899

A shocking tragedy was enacted at Horham on Monday evening when in the absence of his parents, Stanley Roe, aged 12 years, said he should put his brother aged 4 years to bed and told him that if he didn’t lie quietly he would shoot him. He then took up a gun, which he states he did not know was loaded, and the weapon went off, blowing the younger boy’s head almost completely from the body. The father of the lad is a miller and merchant, and the sad affair happened when Mr and Mrs Roe were returning home from Eye market. A correspondent to the contemporary states that the occurrence seems to have been purely the result of an accident. Mr Fred Roe is the occupier of a windmill and dwelling house beside the high road from Eye to Stradbroke, and has a family of seven children, the eldest of whom is fifteen years of age. On Monday both Mr and Mrs Roe went to Eye market as usual but the woman who is generally left in charge was detained elsewhere by the illness of a relative. Mr W. Baldry, farmer and carpenter, Mr Roe’s brother-in-law, lives close by, and it was thought that the children could be safely left. In the corner of one of the sitting rooms Mr Roe had placed a double-barrel breech loading gun. He used the weapon last week and was particularly careful to leave it unloaded. Unfortunately, however, the elder boys knew where the cartridges were kept and loading one barrel they took the gun to William Smith, the man employed at the mill and asked him to go out into the garden to shoot a blackbird. When Smith went outside the bird had flown, and later on he told the boys to take the gun indoors again as he would not have it in the mill. The gun was taken indoors and place in the corner. Then the children had tea, and shortly before six o’clock Clement and Stanley Roe, the elder boys ordered the youngsters off to bed. The youngest but one named Roland Lancelot Thomas Roe, who would have been four years of age next month, made some demur about going. The dispute was all in good temper, it appears, and in the same spirit Stanley Roe aged twelve, put his hand on the gun and threatened to shoot his brother. He did not actually take the weapon up, but simply slanted it down. To his horror, however the gun went off immediately, the trigger or hammer it is supposed striking against the chair. The muzzle was on a level with the head of little Roland, and the back part of his skull was blown clean off, the wall of the room being bespattered with blood and brains. Stanley Roe picked the dead body up in his arms and carried it outside, along the side of the house, and lying it down there, called loudly for Smith. “Oh Smith” he called out “come and do something for the little boy, there is something the matter with him. Can you make him well? Shall I be hung?” Smith and Mr Baldry ran to the spot, and the latter carried the child indoors. He also discharged the sad duty of binding up the child’s head, and removing the traces of the accident. A message was sent to the Rectory, and Miss Frere rode on her bicycle to Stradbroke and procured the attendance of Dr. Frere, while William Smith, getting a ride towards Eye, met Mr and Mrs Roe on the road and informed them of the sad occurrence. Mrs Roe was overcome with grief on hearing of the ending of the bright little fellow, who had implored her before she left home to bring him back a present from market. An inquest on the body was held on Thursday afternoon before Mr C. W. Chasterton, Esq., coroner. The Jury returned a verdict of “Accidental death,” but added as a rider that it was regrettable that William Smith gave the gun back to the boy loaded. They also felt it was exceedingly careless of Mr Roe to have left the gun and ammunition about where the boys could get it, especially bearing in mind the parents were away from the house. The Coroner said that he entirely concurred with the remarks of the jury, and he thought Mr Roe would acknowledge that he had been very careless.”

Linda Hudson (Athelington, Horham & Redlingfield News, Summer 2023, Issue no. 61).