Why suicide that occurred in England from the early 20th century, was "Shakespeare"

In September 1905 a small English town of Wickford, Essex, was shaken by a horrible event. 24-year-old wife of the priest of the parish Nevendon located in the suburbs, found dead. Woman at home lying on his bed, and lying next to two empty bottle marked "Poison" and two letters. All said that the woman killed herself, but that was only the beginning of a tragic history that makes people sigh, even a century later.

The body of the wife of a blind priest Nevendon Augusta McGowan was found by the maid, alarmed by the fact that the hostess came out from the bedroom at the usual time. Police arrived at the scene, interviewed the households of the deceased and found that August was a happy marriage, happy and loved by the parishioners of her husband.

All hope was on the letters lying next to the dead woman. One of them was written in ink and addressed to his mother Augusta, and the second is written in Braille and was intended for her husband — Reverend Willie McGowan.

Just two days after the death of the wife of the priest, five miles from the house of MacGowan it was discovered another dead body. It also belonged to a young woman — Theodore Uniac. Her death did not become for anybody a big surprise, because this lady was suffering from tuberculosis, and her days were numbered.

But surveying the house Theodora, the detectives of the police found some interesting telegrams. From these messages it became clear that August and Theodore were in an intimate relationship, and quite a long time. It was clear of unrequited love, sanctioned, and the disease forced the beloved Augustus to drink poison.

To conduct a thorough investigation made no sense and the police Wickford reported on the closure of the case, and the evidence was passed to the archive. Spicy for that time the story has spread rapidly amongst the British Newspapers and was the subject of intense debate. The details of the story emerged only a century, thanks to the efforts of a man with no connection with the detective business.

In our days this tragedy became interested in Ellen Crowell, Professor of English at Saint Louis University, USA. Raising archival documents, a woman found out that Aug met Theodora at the age of 18, shortly after he linked his life with a blind priest who was her senior by 22 years.

The Holy father himself acquainted with Uniac wife, who was his parishioner. First women were just friends, but then between them began an affair. In 1905, the journalists covering the tragedy, missed an important detail. Besides the letters next to the body of Augusta was found a telegram from his mother Theodora Uniak Francis. It was only two words: "Theodora is sleeping".

In the house of Theodora was also found a strange telegram from Augusta with the text: "1,3 31. Dawson, Stella Maris, Dorian simply give Aphrodite one thing, if possible." It was obviously a coded message that the police at the time ignored.

Ellen Crowel decided to unravel the mystery of two deaths and deciphered telegrams. It turned out that the beloved was a fan of decadent poetry — or rather, "erotic verse", used in the early 20th century, popular with the romantically-minded young person.

The numbers designated the page and line in a book of poems by Ernest Dowson, is dedicated to the separation and dedication, "Stella Maris" — the title of the poem is about love between two women. Under the names of Aphrodite and Dorian was hiding August and Theodore. A telegram with the text "Theodora is sleeping" sent by the beloved mother, Augusta, was the answer to the question of whether Theodore.

Francis Uniak sent a message in which she said that her daughter is resting, but obviously August had misconstrued the text and decided that the girl died. Grief-stricken, the Minister's wife took a massive dose of opium prescribed to her to treat a sore throat, and died. Two days later followed by sweetheart and Theodore, but due to the illness. Her weakened disease organism did not sustain stress.

A letter addressed to her husband and written in Braille, was read and interpreted correctly in 1905. Its content is difficult to get wrong:

Obviously, August was respected and loved her husband, but he did not answer her back. In the documents of the police of the early 20th century said that Willie Machain also was not a supporter of the traditional orientation. But his passion was not just reprehensible as his wife, but also criminal. The blind priest accused of lewd behavior toward juvenile boys and that the marriage cracked.

August ceased to share a bedroom with her husband, completely surrendering to the passion for the beloved Theodore. The priest was sentenced to 6 months of community service, but his fate wasn't succeeded to learn. Ellen Crowel believes that "Shakespeare's" the story of the doomed romance of the Augusta Theodora and relevant at all times.