Two deaths on Sark in 1933

In 1933 Beatrice Britter and Leslie Bradley travelled to Sark together. Both were later found dead, their bodies recovered separately.

The surviving account records folded clothes on Sark’s cliffs, objects found in a nearby shed, injuries to Beatrice, two inquests and several explanations considered at the time. It does not establish what happened to either of them.

Clothes were found on Sark’s cliffs

The case reached the Guernsey Press on 2 October 1933, when the newspaper reported the discovery of a man’s and a woman’s clothes on Sark’s cliffs.

The clothes had been left neatly folded.

A man and a woman had been seen travelling from Guernsey and walking through Sark towards Little Sark.

A nearby shed contained a woman’s comb, a silver button and a torn piece of petticoat. The surviving material records those objects but does not establish how they came to be there or what significance, if any, they had.

Beatrice Britter was found nine days later

Nine days after the clothes were found, a woman’s body was recovered close to the area where the clothes had been discovered.

The woman had serious injuries to her head and neck. Medical evidence about the cause and timing of the injuries was disputed. The disagreement led to two inquests.

The cause of death was recorded as injuries, shock and immersion.

The woman was identified as Beatrice Britter. She was 37, the mother of three children and the wife of Chief Petty Officer Harold Britter.

She had told her husband that she was going to visit relatives in England. Instead, she travelled to the Channel Islands with Leslie Bradley.

Leslie Bradley had travelled with her

Bradley was 30 and worked as an electrical apprentice. He and Beatrice had met at a dance hall in Rochester while Harold Britter was overseas, and they had become lovers.

Before the trip, Bradley wrote to his mother. He said that he needed, for a time, to disappear from his friends. He also described himself as wonderfully happy.

Those statements survive as part of the record. They do not explain what later happened on Sark.

Bradley’s body was recovered nine days after Beatrice’s

Contemporary explanations considered during the enquiry included a bathing accident and double suicide. Murder was also considered.

For more on Sark’s history, see our short history. If you want to spend longer on the island, see retreats on Sark.