Who did kill the bears?

Who did kill the bears? Seventy five years after the brutal killing of two performing bears in the Forest of Dean the villagers of Ruardean and Cinderford are still accusing each other of the crime. It's a tale of touring entertainers, child murders, foul rumours and mob justice. Lionel Hampden attempts to find out what really happened with one of the last eye witnesses to the events of 24th April 1889.
The incident also inspired the local playwright, Dennis Potter, to write 'A Beast with Two Backs', that was broadcast as part of the Wednesday Play series by the BBC in 1968.
Notes from "The Offences Book" of Drybrook Police Station
3 May 1889
Name Age Details
George WILKES 49 Fined £5 or 1 month imprisonment for assault
Fined £1 plus £20 damages for killing the bears, or 1 month imprisonment
Ernest CINDERRY 29 Fined £5 or 1 month imprisonment for assault
Fined £1 plus £5 damages for killing the bears, or 1 month imprisonment
George RAWLINGS 22 Discharged on the charge of assault
Fined £1 plus £5 damages for killing the bears, or 14 days imprisonment
Robert WILKES 21 Fined 10/-d or 7 days imprisonment for assault
Fined £1 plus £5 damages for killing the bears, or 14 days imprisonment
Henrey BALDWIN 27 Fined 10/-d or 7 days imprisonment for assault
Fined £1 plus £5 damages for killing the bears, or 14 days imprisonment
Joseph HOPKINS 19 Discharged on the charge of assault
Fined £1 plus £5 damages for killing the bears, or 14 days imprisonment
Isaac BALDWIN 28 Discharged on the charge of assault
Fined £1 plus £5 damages for killing the bears, or 14 days imprisonment
Arthur GOLDING 21 Discharged on the charge of assault
Fined £1 plus £5 damages for killing the bears, or 14 days imprisonment
William BALDWIN 15 Discharged on the charge of assault
Discharged on the charge of killing the bears
Thomas MEEK 21 Fined £5 or 1 month imprisonment for assault
Discharged on the charge of killing the bears
Joseph HARDWICK 26 Discharged on the charge of assault
Discharged on the charge of killing the bears
George TIPPINS 22 Fined £5 or 1 month imprisonment for assault
Discharged on the charge of killing the bears
Sidney RAWLINGS 19 Fined 10/-d or 1 month imprisonment for assault
Discharged on the charge of killing the bears
William WILLIAMS 23 Fined 10/-d and costs for assault
Discharged on the charge of killing the bears

[@toddwatkins6162]

Brilliant bit of footage, thank you for uploading. 28 years in the forest and I was never sure on the story.

[@contaxman]

And if you believe this film you still won't know. The people who were found guilty are on record so there's no question of where they came from. If the makers of this film did some proper research then they could have told the correct story - but they didn't. Of the eight men found guilty of causing the death of the bears, six were from the Ruardean area, one from Drybrook, and one from Harrow Hill. All those found guilty are listed at deanweb.info/history5.html.

[@toddwatkins6162]

Peter Robinson do you know where I can find out more about the true story? Thanks

[@paulwebb6087]

@@contaxman None of them were from Ruardean village so try and get it right

[@contaxman]

@@paulwebb6087 Your comment is hardly worth responding to, given your demonstrable ignorance of the English language and your inability to understand what you've attempted to read. However, for the record, everything in my comment is 'correct' so I don't need to 'get it right'. If you disagree with the facts as recorded in the relevant historical documents, then feel free to put forward your evidence.

[@Gannett2011]

Wow. I worked in Shire Hall, Gloucester, and a lot of my colleagues were from the forest. It was a sort of running joke to say to them "Who killed the bear" and "Who put the pig on the wall to watch the band go by?"

[@abigailjones9076]

Omg I live in that sort of area been thair multiple times

[@rolandfletcher4973]

They don't know the meaning of hofmiester

[@BeastOfBrierleyRoad]

My great great great uncle Ernest Cinderey did.

[@crazycressy7986]

My great grandfather "spickie Kight" was a well known slaughter man in Cinderford, he would kill the pigs with a pick axe hence the spickie in his name ,"what dim die of old butt ,nothing serious,,,,lol