Edward Theophilus Nelson was born 22 October 1874 in Georgetown, British Guiana (now Guyana) where his father Philip was a builder. He was educated at St. Philips School, Demerara and came to Oxford in 1898 to read law at St. John’s College (the wealthiest college in Oxford, with estates stretching to Cambridge).
In 1900, his second year, he was elected Secretary to Oxford Union and was nominated as Treasurer in 1900 by Raymond Asquith, the son of Herbert Asquith. He held the position for 1900/01, which post has been held three Prime Ministers. On 31 March 1900 he received a telegram from John Barbour-James and Georgetown’s Argosy who cabled their congratulations. There are two group photographs of him at Oxford. In 1901 he was living in Eltham, London and graduated in 1902.
He was called to the Bar at Lincoln’s Inn in 1904, probably the first West Indian to be called to the English Bar. He was living at Beech Holme, Stamford Road, Bowdon in 1906, then 2 Laurel Bank, Stamford Road in 1907 probably as a lodger. He moved to Cecil House (now 47/49) Cecil Road, Hale in 1909 after splitting it into two houses. He remained there for the rest of his life and attended St. Peter’s Church.
He had a legal practice at 78 King Street, Manchester and in 1910 was defence barrister in a dramatic case at Dukinfield, Cheshire, the murder of George Harry Storrs who was stabbed 15 times on 1 November 1909. The case was known as the ‘Gorse Hall Murder’, later the ‘Stalybridge Murder’. Edward first appeared at Duckinfield Magistrates Court for Cornelius Howard who was subsequently acquitted by jury at Chester. Edward then successfully defended a second accused, Mark Wilde.
The experienced Mr Nelson successfully argued in court that if the only witnesses to the intrusion at Gorse Hall were convinced that Cornelius Howard was the murderer, then their identification of Wilde as the murderer must be ignored; and that if there was any reasonable doubt about Wilde, he must be acquitted. After only 50 minutes, the jury agreed with the barrister and Wilde was found not guilty.
There is a portrait of Edward as Wilde’s barrister at the Chester trial in the Stalybridge Reporter of 29 October 1910. In 1919 Edward was retained by the London-based African Progress Union to defend 15 Liverpool Black Men charged with riotous assembly and assault in the aftermath of the race riots in Liverpool in the summer of 1919. 700 Black men and their families had been removed from their homes. The local paper said that he had conducted the defence ‘with great clearness and ability’.
Edward was well known in legal circles in Lancashire and Cheshire and frequently appeared on cases at the Assize Courts as well as in Petty Sessions and County Courts. Some of his more important cases reached English Law Reports and can be accessed on CD-ROM.
In March 1913 Edward stood for West Ward of Hale Urban District Council as a Conservative candidate and was successful with 224 votes against his opponent’s 91. There is a report in the Altrincham Guardian of 28 March 1913. He remained a councillor with Hale until his death in 1940.
He was elected Chairman of the Lighting, Hackney Carriage and Fire Committee in 1913. Edward was deeply interested in literature and was elected as Chairman of the Library Committee from 1921 to 1939. He was Chairman of the Council in 1917/18 and 1937/38 and part of 1939, and was generally a prominent figure in the public life of Hale. An authority on rating and valuation he was chairman of Hale Council’s Rating and Valuation Committee since its inception and was the first representative of Hale on the County Valuation Committee and its chairman from 1936 to his death. He was also first Chairman of the Cheshire Urban District Councils’ Association and a member of the District Councils’ Association of Great Britain.
He was a recognised authority on Local Government and understood the legal aspects. He was a small, quiet and modest man and was clearly very popular. His colleagues respected his friendship, his depth of knowledge, his considerable ability and his fairness. He was a member of Hale Cricket Club which was associated with St. Peter’s Church and played behind Hale Chapel, Hale Barns. He also played for Bowdon at South Downs Road. There are several a photographs of him held by Hale Civic Society.
He died on 3 August 1940 aged 66, (newspaper reports say 62) with the service at St. Peter’s Church, Hale. He was buried in Altrincham Cemetery, Hale, witnessed by a large group of local worthies and his daughter Maisie and his niece Vera. In 1942 Edward’s sister Jane Nelson was living at 47 Cecil Road and in 1974 Onasie A Nelson, possibly another sister. He married but nothing is known of his wife-they may have separated. They had a daughter Maisie (May) who lived at 47 Cecil Road and who died 21 June 1984 when an oil painting of Edward and some of his furniture were sold locally for £4,900.
Edward’s Deaths Register reference is Bucklow 8a 470, cemetery plot C4 where Maisie was also buried in 1984, where the stone is black. There is an obituary of him in the Manchester Guardian of 5 August 1940 and the Sale Guardian of 9 August 1940. There is a more substantial biography of ET Nelson by Jeffrey P Green in New Community Volume 12 Number 1 1984 and a book by Jonathan Goodman covers the stabbing of George Harry Storrs.
From the Cheshire Communigate http://www.communigate.co.uk
