Rachel Mosely Samuel was born in 1803 in the City of London. By 1878, the seventy-four-year-old was a well-to-do widow living alone at 4 Burton Crescent, a respectable address in a crescent of elegant brick-and-stucco townhouses built by developer James Burton. Described as a recluse, Rachel was known to keep to herself, her life marked by quiet solitude. Her home, however, contained valuables, including jewelry and a significant sum of money, which may have made her a target.
On the morning of December 11th, 1878, Rachel Samuel was found dead in the kitchen of her residence. The scene was grim: she had been beaten, and her body bore signs of a violent struggle. Some reports suggest her throat was cut, while others indicate she was bludgeoned to death. Small items were missing—some coins, her wedding ring, and her boots—suggesting a possible robbery motive, though valuable jewelry and money on the mantelpiece were left untouched. The absence of significant theft fueled speculation about the true motive behind the killing.
The murder took place at night, with the assailant described as an “unknown assassin” who vanished without a trace. The lack of forced entry or disturbed locks and bolts added to the mystery, suggesting the killer may have been known to Rachel or had access to her home. The brutality of the attack, coupled with the selective theft, left investigators puzzled.
The investigation into Rachel Samuel’s murder was swift but ultimately fruitless. Authorities arrested Mary Donovan, a former servant of Rachel’s, and charged her with the crime. Donovan appeared at Bow Street Police Court, but the case against her was dismissed on January 10th, 1879, due to insufficient evidence. No other suspects were definitively identified, and the police were left grappling with a lack of witnesses or clear clues.
Theories abounded at the time. Some speculated that Rachel, as a reclusive figure, might have been involved in secretive activities, with one wild rumor suggesting she was a Nihilist spy and the murder was an act of political vengeance. However, no evidence supported these claims, and the case remained unsolved, joining the ranks of other mysterious Victorian-era crimes.
The gruesome event, dubbed the “Burton Crescent Murder,” tarnished the area’s reputation. When a second murder—that of Mary Ann Yates—occurred at 12 Burton Crescent in 1884, residents petitioned to change the street’s name to distance it from its morbid associations. In 1908, the crescent was renamed Cartwright Gardens, after John Cartwright, a radical political reformer who had lived at number 37. A bronze statue of Cartwright now stands at the entrance to the gardens.
Crime Immemorial 