01/05/2026
This Week in the News - April 1876
BRUTAL ATTACK ON A POLICEMAN NEAR BRIDGWATER
On Sunday night, the 2nd April, 1876, a cowardly and brutal attack was made upon Police Constable Charles Hawkins, a member of the county constabulary stationed at Bawdrip, near Bridgwater.
The affair began at the Knowle Inn, Bawdrip, where four young men from Bridgwater had been drinking together during the evening. They were Alfred Henry Culverwell, son of an innkeeper and baker in St John Street; James Foster, a carpenter employed by Mr Knight of West Quay; Walter Nutt, employed by Mr Davey, cabinet-maker of Eastover; and Conway Jones, employed by Mr J. Willis of St Mary Street.
The young men left the inn at about nine o’clock. Soon afterwards, a man named Lynham, also of Bawdrip, declared that he had lost his watch. One or two persons in the house stated that they had seen a watch, similar to the missing one, in the hands of one of the young men who had just departed.
Information was at once conveyed to P.C. Hawkins, who set off in pursuit. Hawkins, who had only recently come to Bawdrip from Yeovil, was at that time dressed in plain clothes, though it was stated that he made himself known as a constable. He overtook the party near Bradney lane and, believing Culverwell to match the description of the man seen with the watch, took hold of him and asked to see the watch in his possession.
Culverwell refused, and when the constable ordered him to return with him to the public-house, he again declined. At that moment, it was alleged, Hawkins was struck a violent blow on the head from behind, apparently with a stone. The blow felled him to the ground and stunned him.
Whilst lying on the ground, it was further alleged that the constable was kicked and otherwise severely maltreated. Upon partially recovering consciousness, Hawkins attempted to retreat towards his home at Crandon Bridge, about a quarter of a mile distant, but the young men followed him and continued their assault.
At this point, a woman named Mary Tozer, wife of a coachman employed by Squire Greenhall of Knowle Hall, came upon the scene. Seeing the injured constable being pursued and beaten, she interfered and asked the men if they intended to murder him. One of them was said to have struck her a severe blow. A young man named Hunt, employed by the Great Western Railway Company at Dunball, also attempted to intervene and was likewise attacked.
Eventually, Hawkins was assisted home by a man named Lane. His injuries were found to be very serious, particularly about the head and face. His face was badly bruised and disfigured, one eye being, as the newspaper rather vividly put it, completely “bunged up,” and the other nearly so. Mr F. J. C. Parsons, surgeon, was called to attend him and considered it doubtful whether the constable’s jaw had escaped fracture.
The following morning, warrants were issued for the apprehension of the men involved. Culverwell and Nutt were found at the Lamb Inn, while Foster was apprehended at Wembdon. Conway Jones, however, had not been taken into custody.
There was, however, an important twist. Lynham’s watch had not, in fact, been stolen. On the following morning he admitted that it had been found in front of the public-house. The suspicion against the Bridgwater men was therefore unfounded, and the newspaper observed that the wrongful accusation may have been the spark which first excited their indignation. It was also said that they had been the worse for liquor at the time.
Foster, Nutt and Culverwell were brought before the magistrates charged with assaulting P.C. Hawkins whilst in the ex*****on of his duty. At first, Hawkins was too badly injured to attend court, being confined to his bed, and the prisoners were remanded in custody, bail being refused. At a later hearing, as the constable continued to recover, they were admitted to bail in their own recognisances of £50 each, with sureties.
When the case came on again, it excited considerable public interest, the court and its approaches being crowded. The injured constable was brought from Bawdrip by vehicle, appearing in court pale and with his head bandaged.
For the defence, Mr Norris, barrister, admitted that Foster and Nutt had been guilty of an assault, though he argued there was considerable doubt as to Culverwell’s part in it. He emphasised that the accusation of theft had been wholly groundless, that the missing watch had been found, and that the constable had acted in plain clothes. He further suggested that Culverwell had a right to resist what he described as an unlawful apprehension, though he did not attempt to justify the violence that followed.
An apology was offered on behalf of the defendants, and their regret was expressed. It was also stated that, up to the time of this unfortunate occurrence, they had borne good characters.
Superintendent Jeffs gave the court his account of the matter, saying that Hawkins had been on special duty in plain clothes, had gone to the inn after a disturbance concerning the watch, and had later overtaken the young men at Bradney-lane. After telling them they had better return and clear the matter up, an altercation took place. The constable placed his hand on Culverwell’s shoulder, saying, “You must come back,” or words to that effect. The others then began to stone him, and after he was knocked down, kicked and assaulted him badly. Two women came up, one crying, “Don’t murder the man.”
After much discussion between the magistrates, their clerk, and counsel for the defence, the Bench adopted a comparatively lenient course. The three defendants were bound over in their own recognisances of £20 each to come up for judgement when called upon.
Thus, what had begun as a drunken misunderstanding over a supposedly missing watch ended in a serious assault upon a constable, injuries to those who tried to help him, and a crowded Bridgwater courtroom, yet no immediate prison sentence or fine. The £20 recognisance was not paid at once, but stood as a substantial warning: should the men come before the court again, they risked forfeiting a sum worth a great deal to a working family in 1876.
What became of those involved?
I have had a little dig though the census records -
Police Constable Charles Hawkins, aged 28 at the time and born in Ashcott, continued his career in the constabulary. He was later promoted to sergeant and served in Dulverton and Bishops Lydeard. Following his retirement from the force, he returned to Bridgwater, where he is believed to have become a publican, possibly at the Bristol & Exeter public house.
The young men involved in the assault each aged just 18 or 19 all came from respectable local families in Bridgwater.
Alfred Henry Culverwell, whose family ran the Beaufort Arms in St John Street, went on to build a successful career in the spirits and liquors trade.
Walter Nutt, from a family grocer’s business in Union Street, later moved to London, where he continued working as a carpenter.
Conway Jones, a Welshman living with his grandparents at the Steam Packet Inn in St John Street, returned to Wales after the incident and eventually settled in Cardiff, where he remained for the rest of his life and never married.
Mary Tozer, the courageous woman who intervened and was struck during the attack, went on to have six children and later moved to Surrey.
The incident itself centred around the Knowle Inn at Bawdrip, a public house with origins dating back to the 16th century. Remarkably, this historic building survived for centuries before being destroyed by fire in August 2022. It now stands derelict - a stark contrast to the role it once played at the heart of village life.
