July 2, 2025 • 14 mins
In July 1938, a woman’s body was discovered on Somerset Road in Wimbledon, just yards from Centre Court. The investigation revealed she had been murdered, prompting a nationwide search for van driver George Brain. In this episode, we explore Brain’s background, how the police tracked him to his hideout, and the revelations that emerged during the investigation.
Subscribe to my YouTube channel for video versions of the podcast:
📺 youtube.com/@prashsmurdermap
💡 Support me on Patreon to get ad-free audio only episodes
https://www.patreon.com/prashsmurdermap
💰 Make a one-off contribution
Every little bit helps! If you'd like to make a one-time donation, you can do so via PayPal here: https://www.paypal.me/prashsmurdermap
🎧 Listen to my new podcast Curious Britain
Explore the mysteries, folklore, and forgotten stories of Britain. Listen now: https://linktr.ee/curiousbritainpodcast
🙏 Thank You!
Your support means the world to me and helps keep Prash’s Murder Map alive. I truly appreciate it!
Sources:
Ancestry
National Archives
Evening Mail 14 July 1938
Evening Sentinel 14 July 1938
Yorkshire Evening Post, 15 July 1938
Daily Herald 18 July 1938
Daily Mirror 18 July 1938
Daily News (London) - 18 July 1938
Daily Express 19 July 1938
Daily Herald 21 July 1938
Sunday Despatch 24 July 1938
Daily Express 26 July 1938
Daily Mirror 27 July 1938
Daily Herald 20 September 1938
Music: "Long Note Two" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ES_Even If I Go "Long Note Three" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Subscribe to my YouTube channel for video versions of the podcast:
📺 youtube.com/@prashsmurdermap
💡 Support me on Patreon to get ad-free audio only episodes
https://www.patreon.com/prashsmurdermap
💰 Make a one-off contribution
Every little bit helps! If you'd like to make a one-time donation, you can do so via PayPal here: https://www.paypal.me/prashsmurdermap
🎧 Listen to my new podcast Curious Britain
Explore the mysteries, folklore, and forgotten stories of Britain. Listen now: https://linktr.ee/curiousbritainpodcast
🙏 Thank You!
Your support means the world to me and helps keep Prash’s Murder Map alive. I truly appreciate it!
Sources:
Ancestry
National Archives
Evening Mail 14 July 1938
Evening Sentinel 14 July 1938
Yorkshire Evening Post, 15 July 1938
Daily Herald 18 July 1938
Daily Mirror 18 July 1938
Daily News (London) - 18 July 1938
Daily Express 19 July 1938
Daily Herald 21 July 1938
Sunday Despatch 24 July 1938
Daily Express 26 July 1938
Daily Mirror 27 July 1938
Daily Herald 20 September 1938
Music: "Long Note Two" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ES_Even If I Go "Long Note Three" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It was Thursday, fourteenth of July nineteen thirty eight, and
the Wimbledon Championships had ended less than two weeks earlier.
Reigning champion American Don Budge won the men's singles again
in style, using his rolled backhand to good effect against
Britain's Bunny Austin. In the women's game, Helen Will's Moody
(00:24):
lifted the trophy in what would be her final Wimbledon appearance.
There would be just one more summer of tennis before
World War II suspended play for the next six years,
but for now, death and disaster were far from the
minds of most ordinary people, and the motorists driving along
(00:45):
the quiet, secluded Somerset road at midnight was startled when
he saw a woman's body lying in the road, illuminated
by his headlights. She lay almost directly opposite a side
entrance to the All England Lawn Tennis Club, just eighty
yards from center court. At first glance, a hit and
(01:09):
run accident seemed the most likely explanation. Police arriving at
the scene observed a tire mark on the woman's right
stocking near her ankle, which was consistent with an Austin
seven or a Morris eight. She lay on her back
in the road, her head resting on the vergin, a
(01:30):
pool of blood. She was dressed in black and wore
a pair of black lace gloves, but if she'd had
a handbag with her, it wasn't there. Now on closer inspection,
police saw that the woman's face was badly lacerated, she
had multiple head wounds, and most shocking of all, she'd
(01:53):
been stabbed in the neck. The road accident theory now
took a back seat as investigators realized they were dealing
with a murder inquiry. Local residents and Wimbledon ground staff
came forward to tell the police that Somerset Road was
(02:13):
known as a lover's lane, where couples would park at
night for some privacy. One witness reported seeing a woman
get into a green van on Somerset Road at around
eleven thirty pm that night, just half an hour before
the body was discovered. This woman matched the description of
(02:36):
the victim, who was around five foot four with dark
brown hair. Home Office pathologist Dr Eric Gardner conducted the
post mortem, standing in for the renowned Sir Bernard Spilsbury,
who was away on his summer holiday. Gardner concluded that
the victim had been struck repeatedly on the head with
(02:57):
a blunt object before being stabbed in the neck. Divisional
Detective Inspector Henry and Detective Inspector Philpot of Scotland Yard
were assigned to lead the investigation. Their first step was
to interview all registered owners of green vans in the area.
(03:19):
Around the same time, police received a complaint about a
man named George Brain, a twenty seven year old van
driver from Richmond who worked for a firm of boot
and shoe repair as in the West End. His employer
reported that he had misappropriated thirty seven pounds from the
company and disappeared, but most interestingly of all, he drove
(03:43):
a Green Austin van. One day later, police located a
Green Austin van parked in a garage off Tottenham Court Road,
eight miles away from where the body was discovered. There
were bloodstains inside and samples were analyzed at the police
lab and confirmed to match the victim's blood type. Inside
(04:09):
the garage washroom, officers discovered a handbag concealed behind some
wooden boards. Also hidden nearby was a bloody cobbler's knife,
which forensic testing proved was the murder weapon. The shoe
company confirmed the van was theirs, and it was assigned
(04:30):
to their employee, George Brain, who drove it daily for
his duties. Meanwhile, police still needed to identify the deceased
woman and printed an appeal for information in the newspaper.
A thirty three year old laundry worker from Lambeth named
(04:50):
George Robert Atkins read the article and was horrified to
find that the description matched that of his wife, thirty
year old Rose Muriel Atkins. The couple would marry ten
years ago, but had been separated for the last four
and although George had not seen her for at least
two of those years, Rose continued to visit their two
(05:14):
children regularly. George Atkins visited the mortuary on Saturday, sixteenth
of July and confirmed that the murdered woman was his
estranged wife. As soon as I saw her, I knew
it was Rose. He said she left me four years ago.
(05:34):
There was another man. Our two children, Cecil aged nine
and Rose Lavinia, aged six, and I then went to
live at my parents' home. I saw my wife about
two years ago in Clapham Common, but she would tell
me nothing about herself. She loved our children. She often
(05:54):
came to South Lambeth and saw them as they came
out of school, but she never came to the house.
Only a few days ago my parents told me she
met the children and made them little gifts. Rose had
two brothers who also learned of her death through reading
the newspaper. One of them said, where grateful our father
(06:19):
was not alive to know what happened to her. It
soon transpired that Rose Atkins had been working as a prostitute,
nicknamed Irish Rose by her clients. The police launched a
man hunt for George Brain, the owner of the Green Van,
and widely circulated his description. After speaking to people who
(06:44):
knew him, detectives began to build a picture of the
man they were seeking, described as five foot seven, weighing
thirteen stones, with a plump red face and a double chin.
He was clean shaven, had a long, prominent note, dark
brown hair, and blue eyes, and was dressed in a gray,
shabby tweed jacket and trousers. He lived with his parents,
(07:09):
Richard and Alice Brain, at Saint James's Cottages in Richmond,
and was due to married twenty four year old fiancee
Sissy gadd in a week's time, a ceremony that had
been hastily arranged due to her unexpectedly falling pregnant. It
emerged that Brain had a habit of playing billiards and
losing money at the greyhound races, so he had started
(07:32):
stealing from his employer to fund his addiction. He had
also been paying for the services of prostitutes, one of
whom was Rose Atkins. Given the vicious nature of the attack,
it was imperative that the police traced their only suspect
as soon as possible. Detectives visited cafes and lodging houses,
(07:58):
monitored ports in Casey tried to flee the country, and
received multiple dead end tips and force sightings from the public,
which kept them busy as far south as Eastbourne and
as far north as Leeds, but one lead finally proved
to be genuine. On the afternoon of Monday twenty fifth
(08:20):
of July, nearly two weeks after the murder, Sergeant Beaker
and Constable Boot, both stationed in Sheerness, received a tip
off that a man was hiding out in a cave
beneath Minster Cliffs. Acting on the information, they made their
way along the rocky shoreline and entered the cave. There
(08:43):
they found George Brain reading a newspaper. He was arrested
and taken to Wimbledon Police station, where crowds gathered in
heavy rain, hoping to catch a glimpse of him in
the back of the police car. When he was charged murder,
Brain replied, yes, I understand. I'll speak the truth. It's
(09:06):
the best way. In his statement, he explained what had happened.
According to Brain, he had met Rose Atkins about four
months ago and had seen her several times since. On
the night of Wednesday, thirteenth July, he was driving along
Somerset Road near the Tennis Club when he spotted her
(09:29):
walking along the road. He pulled up and called out
to her, suggesting they have sex. She climbed into his
van and they drove on a short distance before stopping
in a quiet spot. At this point, she apparently told
him she was struggling financially and tried to blackmail him,
(09:51):
threatening to report him to his employer for using his
work van out of hours if he didn't pay up.
Fearful of the consequences, Angry George Brain slapped Rose in
the face, then hit her with the car starting handle,
which was beside the seat. He made no mention of
stabbing her with the cobbler's knife, which was either a
(10:14):
stupid omission as the police had already found the weapon,
or a clever move in the hope that the inconsistency
of his statement would ultimately lead to reasonable doubt. Brain
claimed that everything had gone blank, and he awoke later
to find Rose dead, so he pushed her out of
(10:34):
the car and drove off, which was likely the point
at which the tire mark had been transferred to her stocking.
He then returned home to his parents' house, explaining to
the police, I told Mummy and Dad I was late
because I had trouble with the van. He admitted that
he had tried cleaning the van in the morning and
(10:55):
had found his victim's handbag inside. He took all shillings
from the handbag, then hid it in the washroom next
to the garage, where it was found by the police.
He also admitted to hiding the bloody knife there, though
he maintained he could not remember using it. Police successfully
matched Brain's fingerprints the ones on the handbag. The trial
(11:21):
began in September nineteen thirty eight and Brain's defense was
funded by his father and brother. His barrister, Fred Hallis,
tried to convince the jury that his client had been
provoked into the attack and that it should be considered manslaughter.
Prosecutor mcclaw, however, asked the jury to consider if the
(11:44):
degree of violence used were justified based upon the level
of provocation that Hallis was claiming. When Brain said he
had blacked out during the attack, the judge, Mister Justice
Rottersley remarked pointedly, there's no excuse to say I did
not remember doing it. The jury took just fifteen minutes
(12:06):
to arrive at a guilty verdict. Despite his bad habits,
George Brain had many friends and was known as a
likable man, and as many as sixteen thousand people signed
a petition calling for his reprieve, but the sentence was
upheld and Brain was hanged at Wandsworth Prison on his
(12:29):
mother's birthday, first of November nineteen thirty eight, by Thomas pierpoint.
Two weeks later, Sissy gave birth to a son and
moved in with her sister. A year after the murder,
a prostitute known locally as Vera the Vixen, wrote to
(12:49):
Scotland Yard, telling them that she had known both Rose
Atkins and George Brain. Although Brain had claimed he attacked
Rose in fear of being exposed for using the company
van out of hours, Vera suggested there was another reason.
She revealed that he had secretly enjoyed wearing women's clothes,
(13:12):
something that was taboo in society at the time, and
she suspected that this was what Rose had threatened to
tell people unless he paid her. After all, Brain was
already in trouble for stealing from his employer. Would he
really have been so worried about them finding out about
the van that he'd killed to keep its secret. Brain's
(13:38):
cave hideout became a popular tourist destination, but over the years,
the sea has eroded the cliff, much of it has
now crumbled into the sea, swept away on the tide
like the echoes of this tragic story, a story which
many tennis fans visiting Wimbledon have no idea, played out
(13:59):
on doorstep of the Hallowed Courts at sw nineteen, more
than eighty five years ago. You've been listening to Precious
Murder map. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave me
a thumbs up, comment or review, as it really helps
to support the show and help more people to find it.
(14:20):
You can also join me on Patreon for audio only,
ad free episodes. Thanks for your support and I'll see
you again soon
It was Thursday, fourteenth of July nineteen thirty eight, and
the Wimbledon Championships had ended less than two weeks earlier.
Reigning champion American Don Budge won the men's singles again
in style, using his rolled backhand to good effect against
Britain's Bunny Austin. In the women's game, Helen Will's Moody
(00:24):
lifted the trophy in what would be her final Wimbledon appearance.
There would be just one more summer of tennis before
World War II suspended play for the next six years,
but for now, death and disaster were far from the
minds of most ordinary people, and the motorists driving along
(00:45):
the quiet, secluded Somerset road at midnight was startled when
he saw a woman's body lying in the road, illuminated
by his headlights. She lay almost directly opposite a side
entrance to the All England Lawn Tennis Club, just eighty
yards from center court. At first glance, a hit and
(01:09):
run accident seemed the most likely explanation. Police arriving at
the scene observed a tire mark on the woman's right
stocking near her ankle, which was consistent with an Austin
seven or a Morris eight. She lay on her back
in the road, her head resting on the vergin, a
(01:30):
pool of blood. She was dressed in black and wore
a pair of black lace gloves, but if she'd had
a handbag with her, it wasn't there. Now on closer inspection,
police saw that the woman's face was badly lacerated, she
had multiple head wounds, and most shocking of all, she'd
(01:53):
been stabbed in the neck. The road accident theory now
took a back seat as investigators realized they were dealing
with a murder inquiry. Local residents and Wimbledon ground staff
came forward to tell the police that Somerset Road was
(02:13):
known as a lover's lane, where couples would park at
night for some privacy. One witness reported seeing a woman
get into a green van on Somerset Road at around
eleven thirty pm that night, just half an hour before
the body was discovered. This woman matched the description of
(02:36):
the victim, who was around five foot four with dark
brown hair. Home Office pathologist Dr Eric Gardner conducted the
post mortem, standing in for the renowned Sir Bernard Spilsbury,
who was away on his summer holiday. Gardner concluded that
the victim had been struck repeatedly on the head with
(02:57):
a blunt object before being stabbed in the neck. Divisional
Detective Inspector Henry and Detective Inspector Philpot of Scotland Yard
were assigned to lead the investigation. Their first step was
to interview all registered owners of green vans in the area.
(03:19):
Around the same time, police received a complaint about a
man named George Brain, a twenty seven year old van
driver from Richmond who worked for a firm of boot
and shoe repair as in the West End. His employer
reported that he had misappropriated thirty seven pounds from the
company and disappeared, but most interestingly of all, he drove
(03:43):
a Green Austin van. One day later, police located a
Green Austin van parked in a garage off Tottenham Court Road,
eight miles away from where the body was discovered. There
were bloodstains inside and samples were analyzed at the police
lab and confirmed to match the victim's blood type. Inside
(04:09):
the garage washroom, officers discovered a handbag concealed behind some
wooden boards. Also hidden nearby was a bloody cobbler's knife,
which forensic testing proved was the murder weapon. The shoe
company confirmed the van was theirs, and it was assigned
(04:30):
to their employee, George Brain, who drove it daily for
his duties. Meanwhile, police still needed to identify the deceased
woman and printed an appeal for information in the newspaper.
A thirty three year old laundry worker from Lambeth named
(04:50):
George Robert Atkins read the article and was horrified to
find that the description matched that of his wife, thirty
year old Rose Muriel Atkins. The couple would marry ten
years ago, but had been separated for the last four
and although George had not seen her for at least
two of those years, Rose continued to visit their two
(05:14):
children regularly. George Atkins visited the mortuary on Saturday, sixteenth
of July and confirmed that the murdered woman was his
estranged wife. As soon as I saw her, I knew
it was Rose. He said she left me four years ago.
(05:34):
There was another man. Our two children, Cecil aged nine
and Rose Lavinia, aged six, and I then went to
live at my parents' home. I saw my wife about
two years ago in Clapham Common, but she would tell
me nothing about herself. She loved our children. She often
(05:54):
came to South Lambeth and saw them as they came
out of school, but she never came to the house.
Only a few days ago my parents told me she
met the children and made them little gifts. Rose had
two brothers who also learned of her death through reading
the newspaper. One of them said, where grateful our father
(06:19):
was not alive to know what happened to her. It
soon transpired that Rose Atkins had been working as a prostitute,
nicknamed Irish Rose by her clients. The police launched a
man hunt for George Brain, the owner of the Green Van,
and widely circulated his description. After speaking to people who
(06:44):
knew him, detectives began to build a picture of the
man they were seeking, described as five foot seven, weighing
thirteen stones, with a plump red face and a double chin.
He was clean shaven, had a long, prominent note, dark
brown hair, and blue eyes, and was dressed in a gray,
shabby tweed jacket and trousers. He lived with his parents,
(07:09):
Richard and Alice Brain, at Saint James's Cottages in Richmond,
and was due to married twenty four year old fiancee
Sissy gadd in a week's time, a ceremony that had
been hastily arranged due to her unexpectedly falling pregnant. It
emerged that Brain had a habit of playing billiards and
losing money at the greyhound races, so he had started
(07:32):
stealing from his employer to fund his addiction. He had
also been paying for the services of prostitutes, one of
whom was Rose Atkins. Given the vicious nature of the attack,
it was imperative that the police traced their only suspect
as soon as possible. Detectives visited cafes and lodging houses,
(07:58):
monitored ports in Casey tried to flee the country, and
received multiple dead end tips and force sightings from the public,
which kept them busy as far south as Eastbourne and
as far north as Leeds, but one lead finally proved
to be genuine. On the afternoon of Monday twenty fifth
(08:20):
of July, nearly two weeks after the murder, Sergeant Beaker
and Constable Boot, both stationed in Sheerness, received a tip
off that a man was hiding out in a cave
beneath Minster Cliffs. Acting on the information, they made their
way along the rocky shoreline and entered the cave. There
(08:43):
they found George Brain reading a newspaper. He was arrested
and taken to Wimbledon Police station, where crowds gathered in
heavy rain, hoping to catch a glimpse of him in
the back of the police car. When he was charged murder,
Brain replied, yes, I understand. I'll speak the truth. It's
(09:06):
the best way. In his statement, he explained what had happened.
According to Brain, he had met Rose Atkins about four
months ago and had seen her several times since. On
the night of Wednesday, thirteenth July, he was driving along
Somerset Road near the Tennis Club when he spotted her
(09:29):
walking along the road. He pulled up and called out
to her, suggesting they have sex. She climbed into his
van and they drove on a short distance before stopping
in a quiet spot. At this point, she apparently told
him she was struggling financially and tried to blackmail him,
(09:51):
threatening to report him to his employer for using his
work van out of hours if he didn't pay up.
Fearful of the consequences, Angry George Brain slapped Rose in
the face, then hit her with the car starting handle,
which was beside the seat. He made no mention of
stabbing her with the cobbler's knife, which was either a
(10:14):
stupid omission as the police had already found the weapon,
or a clever move in the hope that the inconsistency
of his statement would ultimately lead to reasonable doubt. Brain
claimed that everything had gone blank, and he awoke later
to find Rose dead, so he pushed her out of
(10:34):
the car and drove off, which was likely the point
at which the tire mark had been transferred to her stocking.
He then returned home to his parents' house, explaining to
the police, I told Mummy and Dad I was late
because I had trouble with the van. He admitted that
he had tried cleaning the van in the morning and
(10:55):
had found his victim's handbag inside. He took all shillings
from the handbag, then hid it in the washroom next
to the garage, where it was found by the police.
He also admitted to hiding the bloody knife there, though
he maintained he could not remember using it. Police successfully
matched Brain's fingerprints the ones on the handbag. The trial
(11:21):
began in September nineteen thirty eight and Brain's defense was
funded by his father and brother. His barrister, Fred Hallis,
tried to convince the jury that his client had been
provoked into the attack and that it should be considered manslaughter.
Prosecutor mcclaw, however, asked the jury to consider if the
(11:44):
degree of violence used were justified based upon the level
of provocation that Hallis was claiming. When Brain said he
had blacked out during the attack, the judge, Mister Justice
Rottersley remarked pointedly, there's no excuse to say I did
not remember doing it. The jury took just fifteen minutes
(12:06):
to arrive at a guilty verdict. Despite his bad habits,
George Brain had many friends and was known as a
likable man, and as many as sixteen thousand people signed
a petition calling for his reprieve, but the sentence was
upheld and Brain was hanged at Wandsworth Prison on his
(12:29):
mother's birthday, first of November nineteen thirty eight, by Thomas pierpoint.
Two weeks later, Sissy gave birth to a son and
moved in with her sister. A year after the murder,
a prostitute known locally as Vera the Vixen, wrote to
(12:49):
Scotland Yard, telling them that she had known both Rose
Atkins and George Brain. Although Brain had claimed he attacked
Rose in fear of being exposed for using the company
van out of hours, Vera suggested there was another reason.
She revealed that he had secretly enjoyed wearing women's clothes,
(13:12):
something that was taboo in society at the time, and
she suspected that this was what Rose had threatened to
tell people unless he paid her. After all, Brain was
already in trouble for stealing from his employer. Would he
really have been so worried about them finding out about
the van that he'd killed to keep its secret. Brain's
(13:38):
cave hideout became a popular tourist destination, but over the years,
the sea has eroded the cliff, much of it has
now crumbled into the sea, swept away on the tide
like the echoes of this tragic story, a story which
many tennis fans visiting Wimbledon have no idea, played out
(13:59):
on doorstep of the Hallowed Courts at sw nineteen, more
than eighty five years ago. You've been listening to Precious
Murder map. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave me
a thumbs up, comment or review, as it really helps
to support the show and help more people to find it.
(14:20):
You can also join me on Patreon for audio only,
ad free episodes. Thanks for your support and I'll see
you again soon
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.