On Tuesday afternoon; amidst drenching rain and peals of thunder ever --- rumbling in the distance, the mortal remains of the poor child whose life was so cruelly taken on Saturday last, by a depraved, debased and inhuman being , were carried to their last resting place in Brimington Cemetery there to lie until the last great day. Under any circumstances a funeral cannot fail to be impressive and saddening but more especially is this the case when the body consigned to the grave is that of a girl in the springtide of life, who but one short week before was in the possession of health and strength, ------and yet in one brief hour fell a victim to one of the most revolting crimes which can disgrace humanity. Words would fail to express the indignation which the outrage has created in Brimington and the neighbourhood and therefore it is not to be wondered at, that as the hour fixed for the funeral---5 o’clock----approaches large numbers of people gather in the vicinity of the house of the deceased’s parents and also in proximity to the cemetery gates. The crowd though large is far from fashionable, it is a crowd-------- loud in the expression of their detestation of the tragedy which has taken a young child from their midst ,which has thrown into mourning one of the most respected families in the village, which has turned a house of joy into a house of sorrow, which has robbed a mother of one of her youngest born and taken from a father one of those for whom it was his delight to toil . The crowd embraces the sturdy, rough spoken collier, the strong handed farm labourer, the able artisan, their wives, sweethearts.....and children, many of whom have been the playmates and companions of the child-------

The rain falls down pitilessly, ceaselessly and noiselessly, but the assembled multitude –though many of them are unprotected from it –heed it not. As the hour of interment approaches (the coffin iscarried out of Mr Windle’s house by two friends --- Calow and Wright. It is placed on a table near the door until the members of the bereaved family appear(ed), and whilst the coffin lays there it is covered with wreaths of flowers) the bell in the cemetery tower commences to toll in a doleful and mournful manner adding as it were to the solemnity of the occasion. The bell has not ceased its melancholy tolling ‘ere the mourning procession leaves the house in Almond Terrace, and proceeds towards the cemetery which is situated some few hundred yards away. Plain and unpretentious is the mourning cortege, it includes neither hearse nor mourning coaches , but its very plainness lends an impress to the scene. Between the rows of villagers who line the road the procession proceeds with slow measured tread and the entrance gates of the cemetery are quickly reached. Here it is met by the Reverend Thomas Wilkinson , superintendent minister of the Chesterfield Wesleyan Circuit who has undertaken to perform the funeral ceremony. For Mr Windle and his family-------- are amongst the most regular attendants at Brimington Wesleyan Chapel, the deceased child having been also an attendant at the Wesleyan Sunday School.

As the procession nears the cemetery we note that at its head is Miss Hendrin, mistress of the Brimington National School, where the deceased received her education. (She was much attached to the murdered girl, for the child was one of her most engaging and intelligent scholars.) Miss Hendrin wears a white scarf and carries a beautiful wreath of stephanotis and cluster roses. Next come 13 scholars, members of the class with which the poor child was formerly associated. These are followed by 6 young women bearing the coffin, which is constructed of oak , and bears the simple inscription –--------------

-“Eleanor Windle, born June 7th, 1875; died August 20th 1881”. The young women are teachers in the Wesleyan Sunday School.-------Misses Bagley, Gibson, Larkworthy, Wharton, Astle, and Doughty (who wear white shoulder scarves across their black dresses and white tulle veils, and have each a bouquet) ---- Following close upon these come Mr. William Windle and Mrs. Harriett Windle , the parents of the deceased, the latter seeming overwhelmed and prostrate with grief. (She tottered in her walk, and had to be supported by her husband, on whose arm she leaned heavily) In close succession are Walter Windle (19yrs)the eldest son; and 5 other children, Frederick William (17yrs), Francis (16yrs),Alice (14yrs),Ernest Henry (10yrs),and Albert John (4yrs). Next are Mrs. Mary Windle, the girl’s grandmother; and Mr. Francis Windle and Mrs. Mary Windle (uncle and aunt) of Newbold; Mr Joseph Windle and Mrs Elizabeth Windle (uncle and aunt) of Newbold, and many friends.

Prior to entering the cemetery Miss Hendrin and the scholars formed in two lines at the gates, and remained there until the mourners had passed on towards the mortuary chapel when they rejoined the procession and entered the building in which the first portion of the burial service was conducted. Mr Windle being a Dissenter the first part of the funeral service is performed in the neat mortuary-chapel set apart for the use of Dissenters. The little edifice was quickly filled to its uttermost limits, hundreds of persons being –compelled to remain outside. --------------- at (the ceremony’s)close the procession reforms and slowly wends its way to the new made grave, which is situated in the Dissenters’ part of the Cemetery (in the unconsecrated portion of the ground), some 35 yards distant from the mortuary chapel(about 50 yards from the cemetery gates and not far from the turnpike road. Undeterred by the rain, which continued to fall in torrents, the people crowded near the grave, ---some of whom found it difficult to retain their footing on the newly –turned soil, which became very miry with wet, and the trampling of many feet. The ground at the grave side was more like a morass than anything else, so incessant was the downpour...). Feelingly, touching and sympathetically, Mr Wilkinson performs the concluding part of the ceremony, and there is scarce a dry eye in the large concourse assembled round the grave as the coffin is lowered into the grave. Its lid is completely hidden by wreaths and flowers, amongst the former being one which deserves special mention. It is the gift of several of the deceased’s companions, and it is composed of wild flowers, prominent amongst them being a sprig of the blackberry plant which the deceased and her playmates had set out to gather on the morning of the day which was to be her last on earth. These wreaths may be of somewhat rude construction, they may not embrace exotics and flowers of a rare description, but they are the freewill offering of friends and neighbours of the deceased’s parents and, prompted by sympathy, their value is great. The rattle of earth on the coffin proclaims that all is over, and the poor mother who has with difficulty borne herself throughout the trying ordeal, now gives way to her grief, and, leaning her head on her husband’s breast, sends up an agonising cry of “My child, my poor child” Gently and tenderly she is removed from the spot, the mourners take one farewell look into the grave of the child whose career on earth was so sadly terminated and then depart.-------------------so ends a scene which those who witnessed it can never forget. The rain still falls, the thunder peals, and the dusk of evening comes upon the scene, and beneath the sod in the hillside cemetery is left the body of Eleanor Windle,-----------------------