Bill o' Jack's Grave Slab

THIN SOURCING - only found via one local history blog so far, worth independent verification. William Bradbury, an elderly innkeeper known as 'Bill o' Jack's', and his son Thomas were beaten to death at their inn on Saddleworth Moor in April 1832. Despite huge contemporary interest, no one was ever convicted. Unusually for this genre, the inscribed stone is a grave slab in the churchyard of St Chad's, Uppermill, rather than a marker at the crime scene, which lies some distance away on the moor above Greenfield. NO LONGER THIN-SOURCED: a second, more detailed account was found at Dovestone Heritage (doveheritage.com), which quotes a contemporary newspaper report of the surgeon's (Mr Higginbottom, of Uppermill) findings at the scene in full, and adds detail not captured above - the two named companions on the road that evening, Reuben Platt (who walked partway with Thomas before they parted) and neighbour James Whitehead (who raised the alarm after granddaughter Amelia found the bodies); an unsettling detail that Thomas and Reuben Platt passed three strangers on the road shortly before, one of whom spoke with an Irish accent and asked the way to Holmfirth, which made Thomas uneasy about leaving his father alone; and that the pub (The Moor Cock, 'Bill o' Jack's') was demolished in July 1937, with only a cellar (used as a sheep shelter) now remaining. The site also reproduces a Yorkshire Post photo from 11 February 1937 'with permission of the British Newspaper Archive'. The specific 1832 newspaper the surgeon's account is quoted from isn't named on the page - worth tracking down directly (see sources_needing_access).