A furious row broke out in the Edwards family home in Bedford Row, Maidstone, on March 16th, 1857, when younger brother George, 18, refused to go to work with his father. Thomas, the older brother, told George that if he didn’t do as he was told he would be thrown out of the house. Two nights later, when everyone was in bed, George launched a savage attack on Thomas with an axe, cutting his brother’s face into pieces.

George fled out of the bedroom window as his parents came running in, but was soon caught. He was tried at Kent Assizes on July 31st and was hanged on Thursday, August 20th, 1857, outside Maidstone Prison alongside Stephen Fox (see below).