The Unsolved Murder of Lucy Sands: A Victorian Tragedy in Workington

Lucinda “Lucy” Sands was born in February 1865 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, to William John Sands, a pork cutter, and Mary Ann Stewart. The family lived modestly in Belfast, with Lucy’s younger brother, James Henry Sands, born in 1867. Tragedy struck early when both parents died in the 1870s, leaving Lucy and James as orphans. Around 1876, the siblings were sent to live with their grandmother, Sarah Stewart, and a relative, Esther Rea (possibly another grandmother or aunt), at 2 Christian Street in the industrial town of Workington in Cumbria, England. Workington, a bustling port town fueled by coal mining and ironworks, offered a stark contrast to their Belfast roots, but it provided shelter with family.

By the 1881 census, Lucy, then sixteen years old, was working as a domestic servant, a common occupation for young women of her background. She lived in a household that included her brother James, grandmother Sarah (in her sixties), and Esther Rea. Sarah, widowed from shoemaker William Stewart, would later die in 1895, while Esther passed in 1883. Family connections extended to second cousin James Reay, who lived nearby and was reportedly the last family member to speak with Lucy before her disappearance. These ties to extended relatives in Workington highlight the immigrant Irish community’s support networks in industrial England.

On the evening of December 1st, 1881, Lucy left her home on Christian Street to meet friends for what should have been a routine outing in town. Some accounts suggest she may have also planned to meet a young man named Maynard Harrison, described as a “gentleman friend.” She never returned home, vanishing into the cold winter night. For three agonizing months, her family and the community searched, but there were no leads.

The breakthrough came on March 1st, 1882, when a road-mender (or stonebreaker) began his work on Northside Road, a quiet area on the outskirts of Workington. Around ten a.m., he uncovered Lucy’s remains hidden beneath a pile of cobblestones. The body had been ravaged by vermin, making identification difficult but confirming the brutality of the attack. Contemporary reports speculated that the murder lacked premeditation and might have been the work of vagrants or “tramps,” aided by the area’s isolation.

The case quickly became a sensation, with police launching a major investigation amid public outcry. Attention focused on Maynard Harrison, the youth Lucy was thought to have met that fateful evening. He was arrested and tried for her murder, held in custody for six weeks. However, the evidence was circumstantial at best, and Harrison was ultimately acquitted, leaving the case unresolved. No other suspects were formally charged, and the solitude of Northside Road was cited as a factor that allowed the perpetrator(s) to escape detection.

Despite the trial’s outcome, the murder lingered in local lore, though official records faded over time. Lucy was buried in the graveyard of St John’s Church in Workington, but her gravestone was removed during a clearance about sixty years ago.

For over a century, Lucy’s story was largely forgotten, but in the early 2010s, it was revived by independent filmmaker Stephen Baldwin. Baldwin, originally from Devon, claims a vivid dream fifteen years ago—in which he heard a young girl’s scream while walking a street—prompted him to delve into historical records. His research led him to Workington, where he connected the dream’s location to Northside Road. Over years of investigation, Baldwin tracked down relatives of the alleged killer in Wales and America, incorporating them into his project. He asserts he has solved the case, identifying the perpetrator who evaded justice.

What began as a film in 2018 evolved into a seven-part television series, The Ballad of Lucy Sands, filmed across West Cumbria with over 300 local participants as actors and extras. The series explores Lucy’s life, the murder’s motivations, and the societal impact, premiering episodes at the Helena Thompson Museum in Workington.

In February 2025, Workington Town Council unveiled a memorial at St John’s Church: a plaque and rose bush on the site of Lucy’s grave.

While officially unsolved, Baldwin’s claims and the cultural revival through film and memorials have breathed new life into the Lucy Sands case, though as of this writing, it’s unclear if there will ever be complete closure.