The bodies of John Downey and Joan Williams were recovered from the canal at Litherland decades ago – but how they got there remains mystery
A young and seemingly happy couple were found dead in the Leeds Liverpool Canal over 70 years ago – but how they ended up there is still not known. On Friday, October 14, 1955, John Downey, 21, who lived on William Morris Avenue in Bootle, went to see his girlfriend Joan Williams, 20, who lived a few minutes away on Hawthorne Road. Later that night, they both went out together.
The couple seemed happy and had a lot to look forward to. John had studied at Oxford and was due to continue his academic life with a three-month course at Sorbonne University in Paris.
John was due to catch the train that night from Liverpool to begin his journey to the French capital. The couple left Joan’s house at 6.45pm. This was the last time her family saw them both and they were soon reported missing.
Their disappearance sparked national headlines. On October 18, the Daily Express quoted a police spokesperson who said: “A runaway romance is unlikely. We are most concerned – some harm may have come to them.”
Sergeant Tom McCarthy, then acting chief of Bootle CID, said: “They are not the type of people to run away and get married. In any case they have no money.”
John had left his money, along with his luggage and passport, at home.
After extensive searches, their bodies were found and pulled out of the Leeds Liverpool Canal on Saturday, October 20 1955. Press reports state this was in the Litherland section of the canal but the exact location is not known.
An inquest into their deaths was held five days later at Waterloo Coroners Court, which was covered by the likes of the Daily Mirror and Daily Express. The London Evening News reported that the coroner, Mr C Bolton, said “there was no evidence” to show how John and Joan came to be in the same canal.
The Rev. Hugh Fitzpatrick, of St. Monica’s Church, Bootle, said that he had known Joan for about eight years. He last saw her on October 6, when she was in normal good health.
Jean was a member of his church choir. He described her as “a good girl” who was “well behaved and devoted to church”. Her relationship with John Downey was known to him, adding: “They were both extremely good people and were of good moral integrity.”
John was looking forward to leaving for Paris for further studies and Jean was giving him every encouragement. The reverend added: “I know of no reason why these two young people should take their lives.”
Francis Downey said his brother John had no worries or troubles. He added that John had been in “good spirits” when he left their house at about 6.45pm to visit Joan. He added that their parents knew about Joan Williams and approved of their relationship.
Frances Williams said her sister Joan was not upset about John going away. She said John Downey called at their house on Friday evening at about 7pm. Joan, who worked as a shorthand typist, said she would be back home by 10pm.
Dr C. A. St. Hill, Home Office Pathologist, said the cause of death for both of them was asphyxia due to drowning. There were no marks of violence.
Recording an open verdict, the coroner said clearly there was no evidence to suggest suicide. In a Daily Mirror report, he is quoted as saying: “No-one has been able to tell me how they came to be in the water. I am not entitled to speculate, and I can only return an open verdict.”
After the verdict, the case seems to have fallen out of the spotlight, with very few articles about it in the years since.
It did catch the attention of Pat Finn, a London based historian specialising in British True Crime. It was one of the cases he covered in his 2020 book, Unsolved 1955, mainly covering unsolved murders that took place in that year.
On what drew him to the case, Pat told the ECHO: “Cases like this are often totally forgotten and sometimes I add cases that might not really belong in the book.
“In this case, the coroner seems to rule out foul play, so that might (mean it is an) accident, and hence not a ‘murder mystery’. However, because of their ages and plans, it still qualifies I guess as a tantalising mystery. It’s hard to imagine them just falling in, and then, also, not being able to get out.
“I did visit the canal, but it’s hard to know exactly where it happened, although it didn’t look too dangerous.
“Some cases are deeper than others. However, what I don’t do is look at their history, their parents, or dig about to see if anyone remembered it or if the family survived.
“I imagine that it was quite a sensation at the time and plenty of people had opinions and theories, and gossip, but unless it’s in a newspaper I don’t cover it.”
It doesn’t seem that the case has been re-investigated since. In 1955, it would have been covered by Bootle Borough Police.
Merseyside Police was founded in 1974 following several mergers of different local forces such as Bootle.
When asked about the case this week, a spokesperson for Merseyside Police told the ECHO: “This is not on any of our homicide lists and to their knowledge the Serious Crime Review Unit (SCRU) have had no dealings with the case or the family.
“Because it occurred so long ago it is not possible to say if it has been reviewed in the past, but if it was the SCRU do not hold any records.”
Do you know anything about this case? If so, email [email protected]
