Stevens 1871-10-08

Hole being Curate of St Michael’s, Stockwell, I was invited to preach this afternoon and to read prayers in the evening, which I did. During the afternoon service time the Rev Watson, MA, formerly Headmaster of the Stockwell Grammar School, living in a street close by, murdered his wife under circumstances of great horror. Of course the deed was not known till the evening at the earliest, as there was no one else in the house at the time. He was doubtless insane and was ultimately acquitted on the ground of insanity and ordered to be detained during Her Majesty’s pleasure.

I went to Mr Estall’s to supper this evening.

Read more about the Rev John Selby Watson. Beryl Bainbridge’s novel Watson’s Apology is a fictional reconstruction of the affair.

This entry raises a question about when Stevens actually wrote his diary. He presumably wrote this page after Watson’s trial, which took place three months later in January 1872 (10 diary pages later).