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3 Clifton Street

Clifton Street was named after a sea captain from Bristol who built Clifton House (see further down), but this story is of a smaller cottage. A Miss Elizabeth Thomas cleaned the church and laundered the choristers' surplices in a hot tub by the fire before hanging them up to dry in her kitchen.

On the 11th January 1953 she bought some sweets from Clifton Stores opposite the house (see above), and shortly afterwards she was murdered in the hallway of her home, at 3 Clifton St, aged 78. The supposition was that the murderer was robbing her of her savings, and later £200 was found under the mattress. The villain went through the back door, down the garden, through the river and escaped over the fields. The pic below is of the policeman, Police-Sergeant T.J. Morgan who discovered Ms Thomas' body.

A local 48-year old man named George Roberts, but better known as Booda, was arrested as he was seen in the area at the time. But Booda walked the streets of Laugharne every day, doing odd jobs for people, and was a friend to many, including Miss Thomas.

Booda was what they used to call a 'deaf mute' and was educationally challenged. According to the police he 'confessed' through a series of crude drawings and gestures, but the magistrate threw the case out. Miss Thomas was heard to shout, 'Hurry! Hurry!' as she was being beaten, by a local man who tried to break down the door. The murderer was never discovered. However, a man called 'Harry' lodged at number 5 Clifton St. Was she screaming out his name to make him stop? We shall probably never know.

Booda was a friend of Dylan Thomas and his family and lived in Ferry House. He often popped into the Boathouse. However, Dylan strangely took little interest in the case. Sadly Booda didn't return to Laugharne after the case and spent the rest of his life in a Carmarthenshire care home.

A treasure trove of information on the case can be found by clicking here and here.

The fireplace in the former kitchen

A cow that had wandered up the river
and loitered temporarily
in the garden of 3 Clifton St

Clifton House, a little further up the street

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