Saturday 3rd May 1879

Thames Valley Police have revealed details this morning, of a tragedy that occurred in the Abington area overnight. According to Sergeant Lendenbrook, of the abovementioned force, shortly before midnight a fire broke out in the country house of Lady Hyacinth Abernathy and despite heavy rain, quickly caught hold and grew beyond the means of those resident to contain. The fire appears to have started as a result of lightning which struck the building during the fierce storms that have beleaguered the whole of the southeast.

Five souls perished in the tragedy, Miss Jessica O’Hara, goddaughter of Lady Abernathy, Madam Perceptica, an entertainer and two household servants were lost in the inferno while a third servant was found in the woods not far from the house, impaled by a fallen tree branch. According to survivors, this latter, one Rufus Harengus, the butler, had entered the woods in an attempt to raise assistance in fighting the fire from a nearby village. Those familiar with the Abernathy family will no doubt note the uncanny similarity to accident which took the life of the late Lord Abernathy six years ago.

Due to the remote and inaccessible location of the house, police and fire fighters were not able to reach the site until early this morning by which time the building was all but destroyed.

It is reported that Lady Abernathy, the widow of the late Lord Reginald Abernathy, was hosting a small gathering on the evening of terrible events and that the surviving guests were forced to take shelter in the property’s boathouse until help arrived.

Thames Valley Police are keen to speak to two individuals they believe were present at the house on the night in question, one Jacob Black, a servant, and a Mr Simon d’Chartreuse, purportedly a guest at the gathering. According to witnesses, both survived the fire but neither could be located when members of the Thames Valley Police sought them for statements.

In related news, London Metropolitan police are investigating the suspicious deaths of Mr and Mrs Randolph O’Hara whose bodies were found in their Mayfair home by a coalman in the early hours of this morning. The cause of death is at this stage unknown although the bodies appear to have been deliberately concealed within the coal store and may have been there for a number of weeks. According to neighbours, it was believed that the deceased couple had sailed for the New South Wales colony some three weeks previously. Mr and Mrs O’Hara were survived, albeit briefly, by their daughter Miss Jessica O’Hara.