This image is from Shutterstock and isn’t a true photograph of Lt Close and Anna Grubb
I was searching through old newspapers recently and came across this sad story. It’s a cold case about a young Quaker woman and a British Lieutenant who both disappeared in the early 19th century. The place was Clonmel, County Tipperary, where I was born and, to this day, no one knows what really happened that night.
A Budding Romance
February 1826 - Seventeen year old Anna Grubb, a girl from the Society of Friends (the Quaker religion), had moved to Clonmel in County Tipperary to work, and was staying with her uncle in the town. While there, she met and fell in love with Lt Frederick Close, a twenty-one year old British soldier stationed at the Clonmel garrison.
The couple often met in the evenings when they would walk along the towpath beside the River Suir. Anna’s parents weren’t particularly overjoyed about this budding relationship, but they were peace loving Quakers.
The River Suir in County Tipperary
Night of the Disappearance
One evening the couple were seen walking towards the river on 26th February 1826. They were never seen alive again. After they vanished, many in the town suspected they had eloped.
One month later in March, Frederick’s body was discovered washed up by the bank of the river. The authorities then searched the water and found Anna’s body caught on a weir.
Coroner’s Verdict Inconclusive
The autopsy for Anna and Frederick could come to no conclusion other than an unsatisfactory ‘Drowned’. Anna had a slight mark on her neck from the chain of her cloak but Frederick’s body showed no sign of violence. They had not been physically attacked before falling into the water.
Graves in Clonmel
The cause of their deaths has remained a mystery ever since. Gossip abounded, including the idea of a joint suicide pact; foul play by a jealous lover of Anna’s, and accidental drowning.
Could they have been set upon by republicans and pushed into the water? But the date was too early for this.
Lt Frederick Close was interred with full military honours in the graveyard of Old St Mary’s Church in Clonmel. Anna was buried in an unmarked spot in the nearby Quaker graveyard, as was the custom back then.
Old Saint Mary’s Church in Clonmel, County Tipperary
Will we ever discover the truth? It seems unlikely after two hundred years and their demise remains an unsolved and tragic mystery.
A Memorial Service
A special memorial service was held in St Mary’s Church for the couple this year to commemorate their passing two hundred years ago. Those who attended heard the tale of their disappearance and watched as a wreath was laid on the grave of Lieutenant Close. They then walked the short distance to the Quaker cemetery in O’Neill Street.
Rumours abound about sightings of the ghost of Frederick Close rising after dark from his tomb in Old St Mary’s Church to visit his sweetheart, Anna Grubb.
Suzanne Winterly is the author of mystery and dual timeline historical mystery novels set in the late 19th century and in the present. More details below:
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