The story begins during 1866 when a young Miles Weatherhill, a weaver  who lived with his mother and sister on Back Brook Street, Todmorden,  fell in love with Sarah Bell, a cook working for the Reverend Anthony  John Plow at the local vicarage.

A self-educated, well groomed, smart looking man, Miles had also  taken on a teaching role for a local Sunday School which was run by the  Reverend John Plow – and it would seem at this point in his life he had  everything to live for. He had a respected job, was well liked by most  of the people he came into contact with and he had fallen in love.

And whilst the months between 1866 leading up to November of 1867  would be filled with joy and hope for the future, his world would  ultimately come crashing down around him, escalating into violence and  with horrific consequences.

Sarah Elizabeth Bell had moved from York to work as a cook within the  vicarage that was occupied by the Reverend John Plow and his wife,  Harriet. Plow had promised her parents that he would look after Sarah,  as he would with his own children, so when Miles approached him to ask  for permission to court Sarah, Plow told Miles he would speak with his  wife Harriet and to seek her thoughts on the matter.

Miles was an intelligent man and wanted to do things the proper way  and to not go behind the back of Plow by dating Sarah without his  blessing, so as you can imagine, Miles was taken aback when, after  waiting a day or two for Plow’s answer only to be told that he and  Harriet had spoken about the matter and decided that it would be best  for Sarah never to meet with Miles again. He reasoned that not only was  their age an issue – Sarah was just 16 whereas Miles was 21 at the time –  but Plow also stated that he didn’t want a long courtship within his  home.

Stunned by this rejection, Miles went away fuming at the prospect of never being able to see Sarah again.

Meanwhile, Plow made it clear to Sarah that she had a job to do at  the vicarage and that she would not be allowed to meet with Miles ever  again.