100-year-old mystery of Cheshire woman's disappearance remains unsolved

Canadian soldier Duncan Gammon was born in River John, Pictou County, Nova Scotia, in 1897.

He was severely injured and lost an eye whilst serving for the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) in Arras, France – a city a little more than six miles from the front line during World War I.

Duncan met his wife whilst recovering from his injuries in battle. He was hospitalised at Catsclough Convalescent Hospital (Catsclough House) in Winsford, commandeered as a medical unit for WWI casualties.

Catsclough can be found just off Grange Lane in Winsford. Sarah Ann Helling of 73 Swanlow Lane, and later 95 Gladstone Street, worked at the hospital.

In January 1919, Duncan and Sarah married after a short courtship and engagement. Duncan then returned to Nova Scotia to prepare for his bride to live with him in Canada.

During the next three to four years, they tried to settle in Canada. However, they visited Sarah’s family several times, as evidenced by Trans-Atlantic passage records, showing journeys with the Canadian Pacific line and the White Star line.

Sarah was reportedly quite homesick for England. They had their first child in April 1921, a girl named Ida and a second child, James Henry, two and a half years later whilst residing in Nova Scotia.

Canadian soldier Duncan Gammon (Image: Paul Hurley)

In 1923 Sarah wished to have an extended visit to her parents in Winsford and Duncan agreed to her wishes.

They lived with her parents in Gladstone Street for a while, and Duncan managed to gain employment with Brunner Mond in Northwich.

Unfortunately, Duncan again did not settle in Winsford and decided to return to Canada; Sarah agreed to go with him again. In 1923, they returned to try to build a home again in Canada.

In September 1924, the Helling family in Winsford was shocked to receive a note from Duncan’s sister-in-law.

It was addressed to Sarah, asking if she had returned safely to England and how she had managed to leave without the children. Also, it was long after she left before his sister found out Sarah had gone.

Sarah’s mother, Mary, wrote back to say that Sarah had not come home and asked for inquiries to be made as to her whereabouts. These inquiries failed to discover Sarah, and in February 1925, her husband wrote to Mary.

"I gave her money to go home with, but it looks as if she has gone somewhere else. She fooled me, after all.

"If I had known she was not going home, she would never have got away from me. I have got the police after her as I want her to go home or stay with me."

The last sighting of Sarah Ann Gammon was by a neighbour who said the family all left on a trip out, and then Duncan returned home with the children.

The neighbour added that Duncan said his wife had gone back to England. Sarah’s parents were very concerned for her and requested Cheshire Police contact the Canadian Police to investigate her disappearance.

Due to various discrepancies in Gammon’s recollections of events, he was detained for more than nine months whilst the investigation continued.

In April 1925, Canadian newspapers reported the Attorney General had offered a reward of $500 to find Sarah’s body and that Gammon would be prosecuted for murder even if no body was found.

Later that month, a shallow grave was found on the Pictou to Truro Road, but any contents had been removed. The authorities deduced that it had contained a body, but it had been removed and presumably reburied elsewhere. No further evidence was found.

It is said that Gammon placed the elder child, Ida (who died in 2017), in an orphanage shortly after his wife 'disappeared', and the son, James, was placed with a widow with whom he was said to be associated! Duncan Gammon was released under a writ of 'Nolle Prosequi', this meaning the dismissal or termination of legal proceedings.

So what became of the pretty Winsford girl who tried to forge a new life in Canada? Perhaps we will never know. Duncan Gammon is believed to have died in 1970.