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00:00The Warren Farm Tragedy of 1891. Join me as I look back at one of Newbury's grisliest crimes.
00:08On January 15th, 1891, a sister and a brother were both killed by shotgun at Warren Farm,
00:15with only the sister's husband able to recount the horrific events of the evening.
00:19Warren Farm, which has since been demolished, once stood in the now leafy, pleasant and suburban Warren Road
00:26by Park House School in Washcommon.
00:28John Chamberlain, the sole survivor of the tragedy, said that his wife, Annie Maria,
00:34had shot her brother, Sydney Heath, in the head with a shotgun.
00:39Up following this, John tried to wrestle the gun from his wife,
00:43and in the ensuing scuffle, she was shot in the back, dying shortly after.
00:48The Newbury Weekie News reported on the inquest, which occurred just a few days later at the gun pub.
00:56This is what was reported.
00:58Mrs Chamberlain had possessed herself of a double-barrelled, breech-loading gun,
01:03and creeping up slothfully behind her brother had literally blown his brains out.
01:08Death, happily, must have been instantaneous, as the left side of the skull was completely blown off
01:15into a corner of the room, while the poor fellow's brains bespattered the piano, the sheet of music and the wall.
01:23On Tuesday, January 20th, 1891, Annie and Sydney Heath were buried together in the graveyard
01:30of St Michael and All Angels Church in Enborn, where they remain today.
01:35To discover the whole story of the grisly Warren Farm tragedy, read my full story on Newbury Today.