The Roche Abbey Murder
The Families
The Coopers
John Cooper was a young man, twenty six years of age. He was employed as a Gardener, and for some time he had been with Messrs. Fisher and Holmes of Handsworth, near Sheffield.
His father and Mother lived at Stone, near Maltby, fourteen or fifteen miles from Handsworth
The Sargissons
The family of the Sargissons came from near Retford to Brookhouse. The grandfather of the prisoner, James
William Sargisson, was a Navigator, but when the Barnby Moor and Rotherham turnpike road was constructed,
he obtained a permanent position and settled at Oldcoates. He had seven sons, the eldest, John was the father of
James. Two or three of the brothers caused considerable annoyance to the neighbouring magistrates and landed
proprietors by their poaching habits, although John was of excellent character. He married Elizabeth Roe in 1842
at Oldcoates, and shortly after they moved to Brookhouse. James Sargisson was born in 1843 at Brookhouse, and
was the eldest of a family of three. He was taken from school at an early age and worked for Samuel Beech, a corn miller and farmer, and
other local farmers, as a farm
labourer. Later he was a Carter in a brewery at Huddersfield where apparently, he fell into careless habits.
After two years, he returned home to Brookhouse where he had no permanent employment, but helped out with a
thrashing machine, and carried out other casual work in the village.
His evenings were spent at the pubic house where he was seen regularly, standing with his hands in his pockets, watching the picnic parties visiting the ruins of Roche Abbey which was not far from his house. It was generally understood in the neighbourhood that he had done some poaching but he was never charged with the offence.
His main associate was William Taylor, the man at first suspected of the murder. He had also been friendly with George Denton.
In 1881 The family were still living at Brookhouse:
- John SARGSON age 70 born in 1811 at Brompton, Lincolnshire, an agricultural Labourer
- Elizabeth SARGSON Wife age 64 born in 1817 at Oldcoates, Nottinghamshire
- Fanny SARGSON Grandaughter age 11 born Brookhouse
Photograph of Oldcotes: Reproduced courtesy of The Francis Frith Collection.
