Shot For Train Fare

Boarding a London-bound train at Eastleigh, Southampton, on JANUARY 17th, 1901, George Henry Parker, 23, had a problem. He was going to London, but had sufficient money to pay for a ticket taking him only to Winchester.

Knowing he would be fined for not paying the correct fare when he arrived in London, he decided to rob another passenger. He chose William Pearson, a farmer who boarded a carriage at Winchester.

When the train reached Surbiton, Parker retired to the lavatory and loaded his gun. Returning to his compartment, he shot Pearson dead and proceeded to rob him, watched by the compartment’s other occupant, a horrified middle-aged woman.

As the train arrived at Vauxhall, he jumped to the platform clutching the farmer’s ticket. But the woman also alighted, screaming, “Murder!” Chased and caught, Parker was convicted at Hampshire Assizes and hanged at Wandsworth Prison on March 19th.