The Lady with no hands
 

does anyone remember or have any information on:

Agnes Rhodes Wildman... she lived in the Barnfield area of Accrington:

This is the lady that had her hands cut off by her step-father ( John Whalley) 1923 at the time they lived on Victoria Street Accrington:

Her mother was called Maud:

thank you:

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

How awful. Why did he cut her hands off?:confused:

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

I remember my mum telling me about the incident, terrible thing.
I was told the girl was pushing her arms onto the underneath of a table to stem the bleeding.
That's all I know

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

Her step-father cut of the little girl's hands ( she was five at the time) the man had been falling out with the little girl's mother... he took the Agnes away from school and then in an act of total madness he cut of her hands , then tried to kill himself: the later he failed and got life in prision:

I am doing some research into the case... I am looking for stories and also if anyone's got any old pictures of victoria street Accrington that would show number 12:

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

I remember my dad telling me about this, many years ago. Dad was 15 when it happened. He said the child was found under the table, which agrees with what you said, Mancie.

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

pm sent magpie

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

Maud was a widow when she got hitched to John Whalley, her first husband, joseph wildman, died in scotland on munitions in november 1918. Their daughter Agnes rhodes wildman, was just a few months old at the time of her unfortunate fathers death - too young to miss or remember him, she was less than three years old when her mother tied the knot with her future step-father.

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

i'm not writing the whole story out but basically....



4 years later after rowing with his wife...knowing she intended leaving him, john whalley took agnes out of st marys school in woodnook, battered her teacher, took agnes home and chopped off her hands at the wrists...on arriving at victoria street pc Maudsley described the scene as 'an appalling spectacle' it was no exaggeration, there on the hearthrug, between the table and the fireplace, little agnes rhodes wildman rested on her knees and elbows. there were two pools of blood in front of her. she was fully conscious and tried, unsuccessfully, to get to her feet, it was then that two constables realised that both the childs hands had been completely severed at the wrists, they were lying under the table less than a yard away.

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

All I know Magpie is that she was living in the same residential home as my mum, 'Whinside' in Whalley Road. My mum died in 1995 and Agnes was still there. Unfortunately, Whinside has now reverted to a private residence, and no idea what happened to her.

Sure the ex-owners have further information for you .. just see them now and then and could probably get contact details, but don't like if you know what I mean.

Think the Observer ran an article on her a good few years ago when she was there.

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

in the kitchen they found john whalley unconcious with his shoulders on a gas boiler and his legs on the stepstone. He was bleeding from a gash in his throat and in his mouth was a flexible gas tube attatched to the pipe supplying the gas boiler

it was noted later that the gash in whalleys throat though five inches long was not very deep and somehow avoided the windpipe and any arteries, the sincerity of the suicide attempts is inevitably called into question by such circumstances. It is noticeable generally how all too many ruthless and efficient killers subsequently become inept and blundering when attempting suicide



agnes' mother was at work at the time all this happened

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

I remember my old fella telling me about this...he was about the same age as Agnes and his family lived on nearby Marsden Street at the time. He recalled that when he went dancing in the thirties, he would sometimes have a dance with her and she always wore gloves over her artificial hands.

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

on thursday 8th of november 1923 the magistrates finally heard the charges against john whalley at a special sitting...feloniously wounding sarah ann horbury (the teacher) at 12 victoria street accrington, by means of a coal shovel with intent therby to murder her and feloniously, unlawfully and wilfully causing grievous bodily harm, with intent to maim, to his stepdaughter Agnes Rhodes Wildman, aged 5 years, by severing both her hands with a razor.

widespread, countrywide interest in the case had been generated and nearly £5,000 has been subscribed to aid Agnes in the mayor's fund.

on saturday, 8th of december 1923, at the manchester assizes, john whalley pleaded guilty to both of the charges against him....



mr justice branson chose his words carefully and delivered them with deep feeling and emotion

the story of your offence is the most horrible to which i have ever listened. A cold, calculated, fiendish attempt to be avenged on your wife through this unfotunate little girl. I am afraid that no punishment that i can inflict upon you is adequate, There is a maximum i can give and i will, you will do penal servitude for life.

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

it was not, of course, the final chapter for little Agnes Rhodes Wildman. For the rest of her life she had to 'get by' on a day-to-day basis. She married and lived to a good age, finally residing in the Barnfiled area of the town. Local children knew her as 'the lady with no hands' though its unlikely any of them knew the true story behind her disability. Her sufferings and frustrations over the years can only be imagined but her indomitable courage, first to the for in those dark days of autumn 1923, shines like a beacon down through the years.

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

can i stop typing now please?

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

Cheers sent one back ...

to you to me to you to me :)

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

Where did you find the info ? (if you don't mind me asking)

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

i have a book here called 'foul deeds and suspicious deaths in Blackburn & Hyndburn'....by Steve Greenhalgh


i like reading about criminology and psychology

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

Thanks all please keep the information coming... :-)

I want to cover this case in full detail: again thanks

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

do you not think you should ask permission of her living relatives it might be bit sensitive. i know she has living relatives in accrington ..:confused::confused:

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

this came from a book, so its widely spread

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

That is a horrible story.

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

it is Bernie, but unfortunately its also a true story

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

Thanks; it's best if you credit your sources.

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

Yes I just find things like this hard to believe. How on earth do you cope with something like that? It must leave mental scars

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

i suppose its not a case of coping, its a case of HAVING to cope, and not give up

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

Very true shows a very determined character

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

My Dad recalls hearing about this but it is very vague; he lived in Accrington at the time; he is 70 now. Hope this gives us some kind of perspective.

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

Such an awful story but very interesting. It would be good to know more about her life.

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Re: The Lady with no hands
 

Do you know, I never knew she had married. Atarah

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

My grandfather William Mawdsley was one of the policemen who attended this dreadful crime. My mother said that he found the childs hands under the chair. Sadly he died before I was born but I'm told he never got over the horror of that day. Until now I never knew the date of the crime so I intend to search Accrington Observer records.

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

There is already a press folder about this, at Accrington Library :

Just ask in the local studies section... Magpie

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

i was brought up on victoria st i remember my parents talking bout girl wi no hands i also remwmber bout vthem talking bout a body of a girl who who was found under a bridge on nuttal st

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

This lady was my great grandmothers niece and i used to visit her often. I don't know a lot about the story as she didn't like talking about it. However that didn't stop her day to day life. She was an avid painter and produced some excellent pieces of art. She later went on to marry Arthur Weaver. They both passed away a number of years ago. Arthur while they lived at Ledger Court, Accrington and Agnes while residing at Whinside, Whalley Road. She was a lovely lady and has been sadly missed.

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

My neighbour used to be her neighbour when it happened. She met her again when she had grown up, she worked at a jewellers and Agnes came in with her fiancee to buy a ring - thats how she remembered her. It was very sad, but her strength of character shone through.

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

She was my dads cousin

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

Susan, My nana was brought up in Victoria St and said she used to walk to school with Agnes, she was older about 12 years old when it happened and she told me the story much later about what happened, She said she and Agnes wrote a xmas card to each other every year until her death. My nanas maiden name was Jenny Haworth and i think she said she lived at 5 Victoria St. I later after her death at 97yrs (my nana) researched and got copy of Accrington local paper of the year it occured to see how much of Nans memory was true and found out it was the truth. It had huge impact on nan as her mum died a few weeks after this happened as well.

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

Simon Entwistle the ghost story teller tells a tale of this when he does his talks on murders and mysteries

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

Apart from the Lady with No Hands, do any of you lot remember the man with no face? Going back to the 1960's I would see him occaisionally walking along Blackburn Rd, dressed in a brownish raincoat and a trilby hat; he had no nose, no eyelids or eyebrows or lips. At some time, he'd been horribly burnt but because of his injuries it was impossible to put an age on him, so whether he was a vet. of WW1, 2 or a had suffered industrial injuries, I don't know.

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

I remember seeing him, but know nothing about him.

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

I remember him Tealeaf, always had a plaster where is nose was, always felt sorry for the guy

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

I should have added that his head was usually down. I wonder who he was?

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

I'll bet MargaretR will know

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

Yeah...she will probably say he was attacked in the Great Flying Saucer Invaison of Accy in 1936 (all records of which are still hidden from the public).

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

We have discussed this gentleman before, but don't think we came to any conclusion :

http://www.accringtonweb.com/forum/f...s-42315-3.html

#52 onwards.

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

My mum told me he'd been in some sort of industrial accident at Bulloughs, I think.

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

Ya know Wyn I think my mum said he had some form of Cancer, but we're very unlikely to find out the truth now

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

yes he does... however I think he shows people round the wrong house... because the house where this happend was knocked down many years ago.... and he talks about standing in the yard where it took place and so on.... I did email him to tell him his facts were wrong ( he never got back)

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

Never let the facts get in the way of a good story. Journalists do it all the time. :D:D:D:D

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

He is pig ignorant, and a liar, I've challenged him on a couple of his tales about Accrington's past, like you I got no reply. There are still some that believe in Santa, and that the moon is made of Green Cheese.
Retlaw.

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

With regard to the man with no face--I wonder if he was the same man that I knew.Iserved my time at Howard and Bulloughs just after the war and as part of my training I spent some time in the Turning Shop learning about Lathes etc. The man with no face worked there and I worked with him for a while.He used to chew Tobacco,I remember he cut me a plug off and told me to chew it as it would keep the smell of the coolant off. Like the young mug I was at the time I did as I was told. It was the most horrible thing that I ever tasted in my life.But I will always remember tha man with no face. Has as been said before he had no nose or lips and his eyes were just sockets, How he came by his injuries I never knew and I dont remember his name.

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

That is a very scary, dirty story.

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

Please choose your words more carefully, Bee.
The most likely explanation is that his face was burned off in an aircraft or a tank during WW2,fighting for us. It happened to a lot of men, they didn't have any face protection from fire.
If you're refering to the lady, that's also a tragic story, not a dirty one.

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

Well Gordon Booth it's dirty by blood and razors (which was used to cut her hands off) and being scary by her hands being cut off.
:hesoff: :hesoff:

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

I too think that 'dirty' is an inappropriate word for this story. The word 'sad' comes to mind.

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

That stupid moronic man. He should've been put on the electric chair for doing that :mad: :mad:. Also, the child should've been taken off him, he's not fit for being a stepdad :mad: :mad:.

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

Such a sad, scary story.

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

Groove thinks that if such an event happened today with the media coverage etc, the perpetrator would have been as notorious as Ian Huntley or Brady etc.

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

I remember this guy ... used to see him where the buses left for Clayton ... even earlier than the 60s 'cause I remember my mom giving me a good talking to for staring at him ...

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

Hi All,

I have just worked out that Sarah Ann Horbury is my great great great Aunt small world I will have to get the book to read the story

Re: The Lady with no hands
 

I remember a girl that had her hands cut of by her father. They lived in Pendle Street and were called Stephenson. She always wore a cape