PC Nathaniel “Nat” Cox was the village policeman at East Coker, living there with his wife and four young children. He was 37 years old, broad‑shouldered, physically strong and regarded locally as a capable officer who could look after himself. On the night of 16 November 1876 he was murdered while carrying out his duty, an event that shocked the parish and led to one of the most controversial verdicts delivered at Taunton Assizes.
The night before Yeovil Fair was traditionally troublesome for the police, with increased poaching and horse‑stealing. Extra patrols were deployed, and Cox was paired with PC Henry Stacey of West Coker. During their round they stopped a horse and cart driven by one man, accompanied by three others walking alongside. Without warning Cox was struck a heavy blow to the head and dropped to the road. Stacey, attempting to assist him, was also felled by a blow that left him unconscious in a ditch. When he recovered, the cart and the four men had vanished, and Cox was missing.
Help was summoned from a nearby farm. Cox was found lying dead a short distance away. The local doctor later gave evidence: “I found he had a compound comminuted fracture of the scalp on the left side of the head and the brain was protruding. The left ear was badly lacerated.” He believed the injuries were caused by repeated heavy kicks. Stacey survived but was critically ill for weeks with severe concussion.
A police notice named three members of a well‑known poaching family: George Hutchinson (55) and his sons Giles (30) and Peter (26). A fourth man, Charles Baker, was quickly arrested. George and Giles Hutchinson later surrendered, and Peter was found hiding in a loft at West Coker. All four were charged with the murder of Cox and the attempted murder of Stacey.
The evidence was confused and contradictory. The local population had no doubt about the guilt of the accused, but Lord Chief Justice Sir Alexander Cockburn told the jury: “When PC Cox met his death, it was by foul means, both gross and brutal… That the violence was the act of some, if not all the prisoners is, I feel, clear. But as to how and in what precise circumstances the constable met his death, we are left absolutely in the dark.” After only 45 minutes the jury returned a verdict of manslaughter for all four men, provoking audible disbelief in the courtroom.
Cockburn accepted the verdict, stating that the jury had taken “a merciful view” and that he did not believe the killing was premeditated. A dramatic intervention followed: Baker declared that George Hutchinson had not left the cart and took no part in the attack. Cockburn granted Hutchinson a free pardon. The remaining three were sentenced to 24 years’ penal servitude.
Mrs Cox later recounted an unsettling detail. On the night before his death her husband had slept badly and told her: “I’ve had a bad time. I dreamt that I had a fight with some gypsies and they gave me a horrible smack on the head.”
PC Nathaniel Cox was buried in East Coker churchyard, where a stone marks his grave. His murder remains one of the most violent incidents in the parish’s nineteenth‑century history and a case remembered for both its brutality and its controversial legal outcome.
