Alma Clarke Dolling Packenham Rattenbury born appr. 1897-8. Died June 4, 1935, at the age of 37.

Alam Rattenbury

On March 28, 1935, Francis Rattenbury, the BC Legislature and Crystal Gardens architect in Victoria, BC, died in Bournemouth, England.

His wife and her young lover were charged with murder.    One of them was found guilty, and the other was acquitted.

His wife, Alma Clarke Rattenbury, was probably born in Prince Rupert, BC, and spent some time in Kamloops. She studied piano and voice, played with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in her teens, and composed music.

When she was 17 or 18, she married Caledon Robert John Radclyffe Dolling.  Her husband enlisted and was stationed at Prince Rupert.  In 1915, they moved to England.  Her husband was KIA at the First Battle of the Somme a year later.

Alma subsequently volunteered with the Scottish Women’s Hospitals for Foreign Service.  She served in France and was awarded the Croix de Guerre for her war service.

The death of her husband and her experience in the war caused her a lot of trauma.  Her personality changed, and she became more ‘live and let live.’

She started an affair with Compton Packenhman, a British American journalist.  He was married but divorced his wife in 1920.  They had a son together but divorced soon after.

She returned to BC and continued her music career.  She met Francis Rattenbury and began a torrid affair. Rattenbury, who was about 20 years older than her, was broke and could not find work.  She was a beautiful woman.   There were allegations of drug use and alcoholism.

He divorced his wife, and Alma married him in 1925.  He thought he could continue his work in BC, but the scandal was never forgotten. They moved to Bournemouth, England and had a son in 1928. Their relationship deteriorated soon after, and they slept in separate bedrooms.

In September 1934, Alma was looking for an employee to help around the house and act as a chauffeur.  George Stoner, age 17, was employed and moved in with them.  Stoner and Alma started an affair.  It may have been that Rattenbury tolerated it.

Stoner and Alma decided it would be better if she were no longer married.  Maybe she did not want another divorce.

On March 24, 1935, Rattenbury was bludgeoned to death with a wooden mallet.  He died 5 days later.  Alma confessed to the murder but also implicated Stoner.

The trial was a huge scandal in the British press.  The verdict came in that Stoner was guilty.  The judge ordered the death sentence.  Alma was acquitted.  She committed suicide on June 4 by stabbing herself in the chest six times.

Stoner’s sentence was reduced, and he left prison seven years later.  He was allowed to enlist and joined the British army in WWII.