Hilda Murrell - Dedicated to Hilda Murrell, murdered in UK in 1984
https://hildamurrell.org/
In 1984 Hilda Murrell, a 78-year-old distinguished rose-grower turned anti-nuclear campaigner, was found brutally murdered outside her home town of Shrewsbury, England. The case became one of the biggest, most bizarre and baffling British murders of the 20th century involving political conspiracies surrounding the nuclear industry and the Falklands War.
https://politicsthisweek.wordpress.com/2023/02/09/not-the-bcfm-politics-show-presented-by-tony-gosling-126/
Hilda Murrell was born on 3 February 1906 in Shrewsbury, Shropshire in the West Midlands of England, and lived there all her life. The elder of two daughters, she came from a family of nurserymen, seedsmen and florists going back to 1837. Her grandfather Edwin Murrell established and ran Portland Nurseries until his death in 1908.
A gifted pupil at Shrewsbury Girls’ High School where she was head girl, Hilda won a scholarship to Newnham College, Cambridge (1924-27). She graduated with an MA in English and French literature, and Modern and Mediaeval Languages.
Having no brothers, in 1928 Hilda was persuaded by her father Owen to join what was by then a successful and well-known family rose nursery and seed shop business run by him and his elder brother Edwin Foley Murrell. She quickly developed outstanding horticultural and business skills, and took over as Director in 1937.
Her energy and organisational flair proved assets during World War II in her voluntary work for the care and resettlement of Jewish refugee children in Shropshire foster-homes and schools, making lifelong friends of some of those she helped. Her fund-raising efforts included arranging recitals in Shrewsbury by such world-famous performers as the pianist Dame Myra Hess and violinist Jelly d’Aranyi.
Under her management, Edwin Murrell Ltd enjoyed its final golden years from 1949-70. Hilda had become an internationally respected rose-grower and authority on rose species, old-fashioned varieties and miniature roses. The firm regularly won top awards at Chelsea and Southport Flower Shows as well as at the oldest annual flower show in the world in Shrewsbury. She sold roses to the Queen Mother and the Churchills, and helped Vita Sackville-West design her White Garden at Sissinghurst Castle in Kent. Her annual rose catalogue was widely known and respected both for its information and elegant writing; and she also designed many gardens. In a final tribute, David Austin gained her approval to name a rose after her just three weeks before she was murdered.
After a cold case review, in 2005 Andrew George, who was a 16-year-old petty thief from a foster home, was convicted. In 2011, Hilda’s nephew, former British Navy Commander Robert Green, published his book ‘A Thorn In Their Side’ about his pursuit of the truth, in which he revealed fresh evidence which almost certainly would acquit George. An updated UK edition was published by John Blake Publishing in 2013.
A Thorn In Their Side Bformat Cover2 CMYK_The Crossbow killer
REVIEWS OF ‘A THORN IN THEIR SIDE’
“The former Royal Naval commander in charge of nuclear weapons , and his prominent Kiwi peace campaigner wife, blow the lid off this and many other British security scandals in an explosive tell-all book printed up in complete secrecy at the dead of night by their Masterton publisher…it is a gripping read. Something to rival le Carre or Fleming.” – THE PRESS – Saturday 8th October 2011
“This is a tale of mystery and intrigue which touches all our lives. Carefully researched and lovingly told, you cannot remain unmoved. The questions come thick and fast. There is always another stone to be overturned. Far more than a ‘who dunnit’, it is also a ‘why’ and ‘what dunnit’. Echoes of the death of David Kelly. It is a story which uncovers the life-threatening risks that have to be endured by a few for the many who ‘dare not speak’. – Michael Mansfield QC
More Reviews Online…
The Source Documents page on this website contains a list of other anti-nuclear campaigners who were killed or intimidated because they were trying to get information to Rob Green about the murder, or they spoke out about contentious nuclear issues. There are links to scans of the original documents referred to in the book, including the death threats and the suppressed 1985 Northumbria Police report on their review of the handling of the case by West Mercia Police.
The History page on this website outlines the ‘The Belgrano Connection’, ‘The Nuclear Motive’ and a link to the ‘An Ordinary Citizen’s View of Radioactive Waste Management’ paper which Hilda was going to present at the first public inquiry into a new nuclear power plant in Britain, at Sizewell.....
