In a re-run of a tale as old as time, Charles Bradley, foreman of a bottling plant in Southgate, Yorkshire, put Florence Fordham, 21, in the family way. He agreed to marry her and the banns were read at Wakefield Cathedral for the ceremony, fixed for October 28th, 1909. But 10 days before the big day Bradley chickened out, reversing his decision in a letter to Florence.
Four days later, on Friday, October 22nd, Florence collapsed and died in hospital. The inquest, held on her scheduled wedding day, was told that her womb had been violently perforated by something like a crochet needle. Death was from peritonitis. The jury decided she was murdered by a back-street abortionist.