News & Updates from Triskelion Cards

Ive been investigating an unsolved Edwardian murder that took place in London in 1914. Five year old William Starchfield was strangled and hidden beneath the seat of a third class North London train carriage and the police investigation that followed failed to find the murderer.

The Metropolitan Police were inundated with reports from the public saying they had seen Willie on the day he went missing with both men and women in various places around London, but most of them turned out to be false leads, until one woman, Clara Wood, said shed seen the little boy with a man she recognised at the inquest.

That man was Willies father, John Starchfield. He was quickly arrested and sent to trial, but Clara Woods testimony was confused and John had an alibi, backed up by several other people.

The case was a shambles and he was acquitted.

Poor Willie Starchfields murder has gone unsolved for over one hundred years. Ive obtained the original police files and the inquest and trial documents from the National Archives in London, and numerous newspaper reports from the era, and am working my way through the evidence to see if I can discover any missed clues.

Im documenting all of my research on my newsletter, inviting anyone who wants to be part of the investigation to join me in sifting through the witness statements and other reports.When the investigation is finished, Ill be releasing the results in a book about the murder.

Its a long and complex process, but totally engrossing, and every new detail might lead us to solving this almost forgotten case.If youd like to be part of the team youll find my Murder, Misdeeds and Microhistory newsletter on Substack.com where I also write articles on other historical true crimes.

I hate throwing anything away that I think I might be able to recycle or reuse in some way.

Especially if it might be used for a creative purpose, so whilst most people would consider tea bags to be beyond any use other than making a cup of tea I leave them to dry, empty the tea out and iron them flat.

Now they can be used for creating beautiful works of art. You can paint them, draw on them with coloured pencils, felt tips and markers, or even embroider them and add beads and sequins.

I find inspiration in all kinds of areas, from architecture to portraits, but I find myself drawn mostly to nature, and especially flowers.This particular piece used Derwent Inktense Pencils which are an innovative product.

They are very much like watercolour pencils in that you add water to your drawing resulting in a watercolour paint effect, but the core of inktense pencils are ink.

Activating with water results in intense colour, as the name suggests and when the painting is dry the colour is fixed allowing for more layers on top which wont ruin the colours underneath.I mounted and framed this lovely field of poppies and cornflowers and gave it to a friend.You can find more of my art on my Facebook page Helen Saunders Artist