A child is stolen by a monkey
Illustrated Police News/
9 July 1870
Inthe small village of Manxbridge, Somersetshire, Mr Judcote kept a monkey named Hulch. For a long time the animal had been given the freedom to roam around its master’s house and gardens; though large, it was believed to be harmless. One morning in the summer of 1870, though, the monkey escaped.
Mrs Hemmingway, one of Mr Judcote’s neighbours, was out walking in her garden with her youngest sister, Clara, when Hulch suddenly appeared. Snatching Mrs Hemmingway’s newborn baby out of Clara’s arms – as a special favour, Clara had been allowed to hold the child – Hulch sprang onto the roof of a nearby outhouse, still carrying the baby, then disappeared.
Mrs Hemmingway, distraught and terrified for the safety of her baby, immediately ran to Mr Judcote’s house; he dispatched a number of his manservants to find both child and monkey. No tracks or evidence of the missing could be found, and all parties were deeply worried. Quite by chance, around eight o’clock that evening, some farm labourers discovered the runaway monkey, still holding the baby – luckily unharmed – in a nearby wood, and returned both to their respectivep homes. News s story sourced from b britishnewspaperarc chive.co.uk and re ediscovered byb
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