Henry Burke Godwin was Henry Godwin’s son.

He committed suicide in 1895 after he had lost £20,000 in a project of Samuel Elliot's to purify smoke when the project failed. 

It was an idea way-ahead of its time. £20,000 is conservatively reckoned to be worth 2 million pounds by today's standards, depending on which yardstick you use to determine the value (others suggest it could be as much as 20  million!).

Fog or Smog was ever present in victorian towns.  In many ways this unhealthy atmosphere was considered normal and in addition coated buildings with soot, and caused serious health hazards for many.

In this situation, to purify the smoke before releasing it into the air would seem a wise and lucrative course of action and a local Newbury businessman, SAMUEL ELLIOTT, having watched his son playing with a chemistry set, came up with a scheme to do just that, patented in Britain in 1889. 

Full details are contained in his application for a U.S. Patent which can be viewed on-line  (briefer details are in the Journal of Electrical Engineering of 1890 and The Bay of Plenty Times, 16th February, 1891), but, basically, the idea was to force smoke through water in a state of agitation to purify it before releasing it to the outside world, at the same time creating some useful by-products.  A system called “scrubbing” and ironically much in use today.

Despite exhibiting his system to the press in 1890, to MPs on the Thames Embankment in 1891, at The Mint in Birmingham in 1894 (and no doubt elsewhere), it failed to take off and Mr. Elliott was declared bankrupt in 1895 – the very year of HBG's disappearance.

The idea failed because there was no legislation to force its uptake.  HBG also had not spread his risks and had put “all his eggs in one basket.”

Henry Burke Godwin was a Newbury solicitor. Besides his partnership in Messrs Godwin & Louch, he was:-

* The Town Clerk for 18 years 

* Clerk of the Borough and County Justices

* Clerk of the Board of Municipal Trustees and Grammar School

* Secretary of the Newtown Road Cemetery Company, just like his father before him.

He lived at No. 5 Donnington Square– a prestigious location to the north of the town - together with his wife and two children, Walter and Maud. 

His father, HENRY GODWIN F.S.A., had been a solicitor too, and a well-known personage in town.  He had been instrumental in setting up the Newtown Road Cemetery Company; had been party to the establishment of the Newbury District Field Club; was the author of The Worthies of Newbury (1859), and The English Archaeologists’ Handbook (1867). And much more (further details may be found on our website). When he died in 1874, the stained-glass window in the cemetery chapel was erected and dedicated to his memory.

The first indication to the public of the breaking story of the Town Clerk's departure was in the editorial column of the Newbury Weekly News of 28th February, 1895 which observed “The town has been deeply moved during the past few days by the announcement of the sudden and mysterious disappearance of Mr. Henry Burke Godwin.”   The article continues with the following information ...

It appears he'd been present at the corporation's monthly meeting the previous week, had transacted his usual business, attended his office on Wednesday morning then left to travel to London “by no means an unusual journey”. This was 20th February.

But he didn't return that night although nothing untoward was felt until Thursday afternoon when a letter was received at his office “stating he could never again return to Newbury, there being too a mysterious allusion to Leicester being far enough for his purpose. He also returned his watch, rings and one or two personal articles.”

Godwin's partner, F.Q. Louch, his son Walter, and a member of staff set off at once for Leicester, arriving there at three a.m. on the Friday where they made enquiries at all the hotels and involved the local police. But to no avail.

The known facts are:-

On Wednesday 20th February he left his office around 11am and caught the midday train to London (Paddington).

On Thursday 21st: Letter received (London postmark) in Newbury stating he would “never return” and an allusion that Leicester was “far enough away for my purpose”.

HBG was sighted in the booking hall of Leicester Midland Station at 2:30 by William Canning who communicated this to Newbury.

HBG again sighted, this time in the Union Inn at about 6:15 where he took refreshment.

Friday 22nd: Parcel of personal items and newspaper cutting received in Newbury.

Monday 25th: A dead body was taken from the canal (no apparent connection) and HBG was recognised as one who went to see the body.

On Thursday 28th: HBG's body was found.

Friday 29th: Inquest held.  Doctor thought death had occurred “three or four days previously”.

Monday 4th March: HBG's body collected and returned to Newbury, and buried the same afternoon in Speen churchyard.

It remains a mystery as to why Henry went to Leicester but possibly there was more to his meeting with Richard Canning who he “happened to bump into” at Leicester railway station.   Possibly he was seeking further finance and was turned down.

Sources: