Weelky Meeting with guest Speaker, Graeme Campbell of Moffat Museum

At the weekly meeting of the Rotary Club of Lockerbie & District held at the Sure Hotel, Lockerbie on Monday 6 November, Past President Stuart Martin welcomed Graeme Campbell from Moffat Museum as guest speaker.

Graeme stated “The Museum originally opened in 1984 in an old Moffat bakehouse. In 2013 the Museum was extended into an adjoining building increasing the exhibition area.  The kindness of various benefactors, bequests, funding secured from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Clyde Wind Farm, Foundation Scotland and fundraising within the community made this possible.”

“Each year the museum hosts exhibitions on themes associated with Moffat.  This year there were two.   One based on ‘William Dickson’ a Moffat man and slave abolitionist.   He was Secretary to the Governor of Barbados for a number of years where he witnessed the brutality with which slaves were treated.  The exhibition explores his experiences and his subsequent campaigning around Scotland for the abolition of slavery.”

“The second, graphically illustrated the ‘Moffat Ravine Murders’ referred to as the birth of modern forensics.    It tells the story of two gruesome murders in 1935, when Dr Buck Ruxton murdered his common law wife Isabella and housemaid Mary Jane Rogerson in Lancaster. He dismembered the bodies and dumped the parts over a bridge on the A701, just north of Moffat. The investigations into the murder broke new ground in forensic science and the case is remembered for the significant part it has played in the development of the sophisticated approaches taken by Police and scientists today.”

“The Exhibition told the story of the murder and the subsequent investigations, highlighting the innovative forensic techniques that were developed. This includes ‘The Ruxton Maggots’, the first time that entomology was used in UK forensic investigations. The Exhibition showed the significant roles played by some of Scotland’s leading experts at the Universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh as well as the local Police Sergeant in Moffat, Robert Sloan.”

“Sgt Sloan’s notes and map of the scene were vital as was the fact that he carefully handled the newspaper in which some of the remains were wrapped.  They were really significant because later on in the process when these were dried out, they were able to identify which newspaper it was, which date it was, and the fact that this was a limited-circulation newspaper which was of great importance.

“A team led by Prof John Glaister of the University of Glasgow - involving experts in a range of areas - worked on the investigation. They used pioneering techniques to get fingerprints from one of the badly damaged bodies and also superimposed photographs onto one of the skulls they had found to help identify one victim.  The other significant piece of work of course was their use of entomology to establish the time of death "really conclusively" based on the life-cycle of maggots.”  

“This was one of the highest profile murder cases of the 1930’s and groundbreaking in terms of how the killer was brought to justice.  This was a real first. The trial was all about forensic and specialist evidence.   The case played an enormous part in the whole development of forensics.  The painstaking investigation saw Ruxton sentenced to death for the murder of his common-law wife Isabella and housemaid Mary Jane Rogerson."

In giving the vote of thanks Past President Ving Thomson, thanked Graeme for a fascinating presentation on Moffat Museum and an insight into   theintriguing details surrounding the Buck Ruxton murders, following which those present showed their appreciation in the usual manner.