A Dangerous Dance

One Lancashire detective was commissioned to follow a former actress as she danced her way round Blackpool, without her husband...

Last week, I briefly looked at the origins of Standen’s Detective Agency, founded by former policeman Jonathan Standen, and which was later run by his son-in-law Herbert. Today, I’m lookin at one of Herbert’s early cases.

Joseph Anderson Hutchison of Bolton stood before the Divorce Court judge in March 1913 to accuse his wife of committing adultery with two men: Captain Christian Gibson Phillips, 33, and Ralph Besso, a 25-year-old Manchester cotton merchant.

The wife in question, 28-year-old Laura Emily Hutchison, denied any misconduct, but key evidence came from a private detective hired to spy on her by her husband.

Poor Mrs Hutchison was, admittedly, hiding a secret, but it wasn't the one that the private detective had uncovered. The divorce case, publicised in the press, was what made her secret public knowledge. She had been a child actress, having been put on the stage at the age of seven. By the age of 16, she was making her living independently, and by 18, she was a mother, having given birth to an illegitimate child. She later lived with at least two other men as husband and wife, and had a second child, who survived (the implication being that her first child had died).

In 1909, she had met Joseph Hutchison. She had been acting in a production at a theatre in Farnworth, Bolton, at the time, and on a day off, had gone to a local skating rink. It was there that she and Joseph met. It was love at first sight, and they had quickly become engaged, marrying only two months after first meeting. Soon after, in February 1910, their only child, Kenneth, was born.

Laura Hutchison, as depicted in Reynolds’ Newspaper of 16 March 1913 (via British Newspaper Archive)

Mrs Hutchison - a beautiful woman with auburn curls and striking eyes - knew she should have told him about her past, but she was 'unable to do so', fearing an end to their relationship if he found out that his wife had had sex with another man before their marriage. She insisted that she had even asked him to delay their marriage, so that she could tell him her secrets beforehand, but to no avail.

In the summer of 1911, Mrs Hutchison had gone to stay at a bungalow in Cleveleys, near Blackpool, and Joseph Hutchison commissioned Herbert Whittaker, the Stockport-based private detective, to watch the bungalow and report back on any comings and goings. Whitaker duly stated that he had seen Mrs Hutchison with both Captain Phillips and Mr Besso.

Laura Hutchison was an independent woman who enjoyed singing, dancing and acting. She had been in Blackpool to enjoy herself with her friends, 'learning a jolly dance'. She had not really known her husband, and he certainly didn't know her well. Within a short time of their marriage, Joseph had told Laura that he was "sick of me, and wanted to clear out."

When she met Captain Phillips, she had "liked his society" and flirted with him. They had previously gone on a day trip to Liverpool together, where Captain Phillips took her to tea at a hotel, followed by a restaurant dinner. On that day, they had kissed. Later, she stayed at the Metropole Hotel in Blackpool (where Ralph Besso regularly stayed) and was joined by Captain Phillips for a weekend. Soon she found herself in love with him, although both parties insisted that they had never done more than kiss.

Later, in Blackpool, Laura had been seen with another lady - identified by Herbert Whittaker in his notebook as 'the flapper', but by others as a 'Miss Whelan', daughter of a Lancaster wine merchant, whose brother had been a schoolfriend of Ralph Besso's. This would be Irene Whelon (not Whelan), who was 24 at the time. She was the only surviving child of wine merchant Alfred Westfield Whelon.

The two women, who had been introduced by Besso, had gone to the Metropole Hotel, and then to the Palace Skating Rink, with three men, only returning at 10pm. She and her friend then went out in a car with Mr Besso sitting between them. They returned after midnight. The next day, the two women met Captain Phillips and another man on the pier. Whittaker tended to give nicknames to a lot of people: one of the men who Laura met was recorded in his detective's notebook as 'Swanker'.

Laura Hutchison and Ralph Besso, however, stated that nothing untoward had gone on: when Whitaker reported that Laura and Irene Whelon had gone up to Mr Besso's private sitting room at one point, the others stated that it was simply to practice a 'new two-step dance'. Laura also implied that it was Miss Whelon who was in a relationship with Besso, and that she had found the two together in his room. Laura's father in law - she and Joseph had been living with his parents - said that he had seen her sitting on Mr Besso's knee at home, but this was, Laura said, a lie.

Laura wanted to be liked; and she was liked by both Phillips and Besso. Unfortunately, however, her husband saw his chance at making a decent amount of money by claiming that Laura had had an affair with Besso as well as Phillips, and nearly ruined Besso's reputation as a result.

In court, Captain Phillips' barrister stated that his client was in India so couldn't give evidence in person, but that he had previously denied any suggestions of familiarity with Laura: "I have flirted with her but nothing more". Mr Besso, in turn, said that he had only ever met Mrs Hutchison 12 times in his life, but admitted that they regularly wrote to each other. In one letter to him, Laura Hutchison stated her intention to leave Bolton, her marital home, for good, adding that she hoped to return to the stage:

"I am looking for work, which will probably be in the back row of some London chorus. Some kind friend has tried to make bad out of my little bits of fun, which have been nothing."

There appear to have been rumours about her relationships with the two men that had got back to her husband, who had then sought evidence for a divorce. Her 'little bits of fun' were deemed by Joseph to be adultery, against her marriage vows.

In court, Laura Hutchison's barrister asked the jury not to let her past influence them; she insisted that there had been no misconduct since her marriage. Ralph Besso's barrister said he was a 'modest, decent, wholesome young man' who had been brought to court in a 'rotten, bolstered-up case'. His father was known to have money, and, it was claimed, Joseph Hutchison was only demanding damages from him because he was hoping to get money from a rich family. None had been claimed from Phillips simply because 'he was a soldier and had no money'.

The extended Hutchison family, including Laura, listed in the 1911 census for Bolton (TNA/TheGenealogist)

However, although the jury found that she had not committed adultery with Mr Besso, they believed she had indeed had an affair with Captain Phillips. Joseph Hutchison was granted his divorce.

Some of Herbert Whittaker's evidence in this case seems weak; he was employed in Blackpool, where Laura was usually in the company of Miss Whelon, and was never alone with any man. It appears to have been other evidence that really proved Laura’s adultery with the dashing Captain Phillips. However, this story for me is particularly interesting because of the insight it gave into the private detective’s methods and way of recording what he saw for his client. His use of nicknames for the parties involved both said something about him, and something about the individuals he was watching.