Dead man was far from home

A strange incident occurred south of the border in the summer of 1935.

A man was walking along the main Cheltenham to Stroud road and had just reached the outskirts of the former when he happened upon a gruesome sight.

Lying in the ditch, at the side of the road, was the dead body of a man, who was around 50years- old.

The passer-by had first of all been attracted by a bicycle which was standing against a telegraph pole and, crossing over the grass verge, he saw the man lying on his back, with a gun between his knees.

Constable Neale, of nearby Shurdington, was alerted and, arriving on the scene, discovered that the man had been shot through the heart.

The body was conveyed to the mortuary, where several letters were found upon his person.

In one letter was the name WS Hamilton, Carholme – a village four miles from Cheltenham.

On another of the notes was the address of a man believed to be the dead man’s brother.

The address was Auchinane, Castlehead, Paisley – the home of Paisley’s Sheriff Hamilton.