{"id":9918,"date":"2021-07-31T23:14:04","date_gmt":"2021-08-01T03:14:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=9918"},"modified":"2021-09-09T07:38:46","modified_gmt":"2021-09-09T11:38:46","slug":"episode-399-the-short-and-horrific-life-of-george-everitt-green-home-child-part-three","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=9918","title":{"rendered":"EPISODE 399 THE SHORT AND HORRIFIC LIFE OF GEORGE EVERITT GREEN, HOME CHILD , PART THREE"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Note\u2026some readers may get upset as this court case unfolds.  Be forewarned. Of all the Home Child cases<\/div>\n
I have read, and there have been many, this is the worst.  It seems many journalists agree for the case is<\/div>\n
mentioned often.  No other journalists seems to used the court records though.   For good reason.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

EPISODE 399: THE SHORT AND HORRIFIC LIFE OF GEORGE EVERITT GREEN, HOME CHILD ,  PART THREE<\/p>\n


<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n
August 2021<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
The condition of George Green when he arrived at Miss Findlay\u2019s farm was critical to the case.<\/div>\n
If the testimony of the stage drive was competent then Miss Findlay could not be held responsible<\/div>\n
for his death.   He was mentally and physically ill.  James Jeffery, blacksmith apprentice in Kemble, was called to the witness stand.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
JAMES JEFFERY.  SWORN.  EXAMINED BY DEFNSE ATTORNEY TUCKER ND CROSS EXAMINED BY ATTORNEY MACKAY<\/div>\n
FOR HE PROSECUTION.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
QUESTION: MR. MACKAY:  You told us the first time you saw George Green he appeared to be healthy and straight?<\/div>\n
ANSWER: JAMES JEFFERY:  Yes sir<\/div>\n
He was not all twisted and tangled up, like Mr. Johnson said?<\/div>\n
Not that I noticed. <\/div>\n
Then you didn\u2019t see him again until the end of September (one month before George Green\u2019s death)<\/div>\n
Would you say he was thinner?<\/div>\n
I think he was a little, sir<\/div>\n
He did not look as plump and healthy looking.<\/div>\n
No<\/div>\n
Did he look as if he had been weakened down from some cause?<\/div>\n
Yes, sir.<\/div>\n
HIs face was not clean and not as good a colour, is that right?<\/div>\n
When you saw him first he had a pretty good colour\u2026.was a healthy boy?\u2026.mannerly?   polite? kind and docile?<\/div>\n
\u2026he did not seem impudent\u2026inclined to be bashful.<\/div>\n
Yes sir.i<\/div>\n
Did you ever see anything in him that would indicate he was a saucy or impudent boy?<\/div>\n
I never saw anything.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Did you see the boy\u2019s trunk or valise?<\/div>\n
Yes I did..not very long ago.<\/div>\n
Did you see it in the stage that day?<\/div>\n
No sir, not that day.<\/div>\n
Do you know the difference between a Home trunk and a valise?<\/div>\n
Lately I do sir<\/div>\n
What is a Home boy\u2019s trunk.<\/div>\n
A wooden box, sir.<\/div>\n
Not leather like a valise at all?<\/div>\n
No sir.<\/div>\n
What size would the trunk be?<\/div>\n
I would judge about 26\u201d across, 30\u201d long and 18\u201d deep.<\/div>\n
Then Mr. Johnston is not right when he says it is a valise?<\/div>\n
That wooden box is not a valise\u2026I\u2019m sure of that.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
NOTE:  Why is this debate between a valise and trunk important.  What point is Mr. MacKay trying to establish?<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
The jury had a great deal of difficulty since witnesses tended to contradict each other.  Some witnesses were<\/div>\n
lying.  But why?  Mr. Johnson testified that George Green was an imbecile\u2026a museum piece.  On the other<\/div>\n
hand James Jeffery, a Home boy working in Kemble, testified that George was \u2018very healthy looking\u2019 when he arrived<\/div>\n
in May but by September he wa \u2018rather thinner (and had) no conversation in him\u2019. <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Subsequent testimony by Alexander Amos, a nearby farmer, suggested starvation when George Green came \u2018for a <\/div>\n
basket of green leaves\u2019 in August.  Mr. Guido, another neighbour testified George wore boos while others said he<\/div>\n
was barefoot.   All agreed he was bareheaded much of the time which accounted for the peculiar marks on<\/div>\n
his head.  Sunburn.  On the other hand the prosecutor witnesses believed the mark on the head and body<\/div>\n
indicated George had been struck several times.   Who could the jury believe.?<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Farmers Guido and Horne were called to move the body from his bed to two boards.  Mr. Guido\u2019s testimony was <\/div>\n
in sharp contrast to the medical doctor who was called at the same time. (both Guido and Guidi names are used for <\/div>\n
the farmer)<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
MR. JOSEPH GUIDI, SWORN, QUESTIONED BY MR TUCKER.<\/div>\n
(Joseph Guidi or Guido had the farm to the west side of the Findlay farm)<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
QUESTION:  Had the boys\u2019 physical appearance changed  from the time he was first seen in June until the<\/div>\n
time he was seen again in the middle of October?<\/div>\n
ANSWER: No, with the exception that he looked cold,  I could not see any difference as far as physical condition.<\/div>\n
Did you ever see him alive again?<\/div>\n
No, this was the last time.<\/div>\n
Did you ever see him dead?<\/div>\n
Yes<\/div>\n
What day was that?<\/div>\n
Sunday morning\u2026he was in his bed.  I was over helping remove him from the bed he died in.<\/div>\n
Who assisted you?<\/div>\n
Mr. Horne<\/div>\n
What condition was that bed?<\/div>\n
Well\u2026middling fair<\/div>\n
What do you mean by that?<\/div>\n
Possibly I have seen cleaner and I have seen dirtier clothes, I would just call them  in between.<\/div>\n
What was the atmosphere in that room?<\/div>\n
It didn\u2019t smell very pleasant, I suppose on account of the corpse\u2026but it was a good deal the smell as in<\/div>\n
a farm house where the were boiling turnips for the pigs.  I didn\u2019t smell anything until we moved the corpse.<\/div>\n
What was the condition of the floor of the upstairs?<\/div>\n
I didn\u2019t see anything out of the way on the floor.<\/div>\n
It is said by one witness there was old harness and rags it was generally dirty.<\/div>\n
There was no harness that I noticed.<\/div>\n
What was his physical appearance Sunday Nov. 10 as compared with when you first saw him in June?<\/div>\n
The body looked quite natural to me with the exception of the scars on his nose and face.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
The condition of the room was described by Dr. Cameron in quite the opposite manner.  The room was so indescribably <\/div>\n
filthy that the doctor had never in his whole practice, even in the slums of Glasgow, seen such a room where a<\/div>\n
human being was expected to live.  George Green was found curled up in the fetal position, in the centre of a<\/div>\n
nest in a straw tick.  Around the nest was a hardened ring of excrement.  The smell was overpowering . The<\/div>\n
Findlay bedroom was the dirtiest, most unwholesome living quarters Dr. Cameron had ever seen\u2026and caused him<\/div>\n
recurring nightmares ever since.   To Dr. Cameron the marks on the boys\u2019 body suggested terrible abuse;<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
DOCTOR SCOTT,   EXAMINED BY  MR. MACKAY<\/div>\n
(Another medical opinion solicited)<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
QUESTION:  MR. MACKAY:   Suppose the boy was used in this way:   struck with a broom handle, with a manure fork handle,<\/div>\n
kicked around, punched with fist when he was down, hit with slipper and that he had been repeatedly thrashed in that<\/div>\n
way throughout the months of July, August, September, October \u2026 and also compelled to sleep in a filthy room…<\/div>\n
Would all that accelerate death?<\/div>\n
ANSWER, DR. SCOTT:  Yes<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
TESTIMONY OF DR WILLIAM G. DOW <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
QUESTION BY MR. MACKAY You are a practising physician of how many years?<\/div>\n
ANSWER BY DR. DOW: Nearly ten years<\/div>\n
You went down to the Findlay farm on 11th November with coroner Cameron?<\/div>\n
I did<\/div>\n
You held a post mortem examination I believe?<\/div>\n
Yes<\/div>\n
Did you see the bed in that room?<\/div>\n
I did<\/div>\n
Give me the condition of the Bed in which he died or was said to have died.<\/div>\n
We found the room very dirty, a  good deal of old rubbish.  On the bed was a blanket, part of which looked like it <\/div>\n
had been in the stable.<\/div>\n
Was there any clean clothing at all?<\/div>\n
Not what would call clean.<\/div>\n
Give me the condition of the bed in detail.<\/div>\n
It was an old fashioned posted bed with board in front and a straw tick opened down the middle showing straw which was short, very<\/div>\n
filthy and semi-solid, very filthy\u2026no spring.<\/div>\n
What kind of filth?<\/div>\n
Well. the only way I could describe it wa as being a place where possibly a pig might have lain for a week or longer.<\/div>\n
What kind of filth? Human?<\/div>\n
Yes, Might have been there for weeks.<\/div>\n
Did any part of that bed show any signs of having been made up in recent times?<\/div>\n
None whatever<\/div>\n
What about the atmosphere.<\/div>\n
Stifling.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Note:  Readers  might be asking themselves if this case of abuse could get any worse.  It can and does.<\/div>\n
  <\/div>\n
NEXT EPISODE<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Note\u2026some readers may get upset as this court case unfolds.  Be forewarned. Of all the Home Child cases I have read, and there have been many, this is the worst.  It seems many journalists agree for the case is mentioned often.  No other journalists seems to used the court records though.   For good reason. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9918","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9918","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9918"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9918\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}