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Murdered watchmaker's rare timepieces for sale

Katy Prickett
BBC News, Norfolk
TW Gaze Two mid-19th Century gold-coloured watch movements. The one on the right is slightly smaller than the one on the left. The one on the right is marked Beha & Lickert & Co, St Stephens Plain, Norwich. The one on the left is marked Beha & Co, St Stephen's Plain, Norwich. They are etched with intricate designs.TW Gaze
Watchmaker Lorenz Beha was only 28 when he was murdered while travelling between two villages

Two pocket watch movements linked to a Victorian man bludgeoned to death in a robbery are to be sold at auction.

German-born Lorenz Beha, a 28-year-old watchmaker from Norwich, was travelling between two Norfolk villages in 1853 when he was attacked on a country road.

Auctioneer Elizabeth Talbot, a director of TW Gaze, said the movements showed he was "such a master of his craft", despite his young age.

She admitted the lot's estimate of between £50 and £70 was "modest" but explained: "It's not about the money; it's about the light it sheds in terms of East Anglian history."

TW Gaze Side views of two mid-19th Century gold-coloured watch movements. The one on the right is slightly smaller than the one on the left. The views reveal each has two discs, one laid over the other with just glimpsed wheels in between.TW Gaze
TW Gaze believe the one marked Beha & Co (left) was made before he died, while the one marked Beha & Lickert & Co (right) was made after his nephew took over the business

The lot comes from a collection of clocks and watches begun by Henry Potter Stevens (1875-1965) and continued by his son Humfrey.

Mr Beha was a travelling watchmaker and jeweller who had a shop in St Stephen's Plain, Norwich, at the time of his murder.

His body was found by several people after they uncovered a trail of blood leading to a hedge, the Diss-based auction house said.

National newspapers at the time reported his murder, including the extreme violence used by his attacker.

Local labourer William Thompson was accused of the crime and incriminating evidence, such as his blood-splattered trousers, several watches marked L Beha and cash, were discovered during at his home.

TW Gaze Two 19th Century watch faces. The one on the left is cream coloured and slightly smaller than the one on the right. It also has a much smaller second hand face. The one on the right is whiter in colour. TW Gaze
Elizabeth Talbot said works by Mr Beha were scarce due to his early - and violent - death

Mrs Talbot said: "There was nothing in the records we've found that suggest the two men knew each other.

"But as an artisan manufacturing in gold and metalworks, Beha would have been identified as much better off.

"The workman who clonked him must have believed him to be a target who would yield some treasures."

Thompson was executed in public the following April at Norwich Castle, which was then the county jail.

Public hangings continued there until 1867. The last private execution was held inside in 1951, according to the auction house.

"So the movements also have a link for to what used to happen at the castle, which we now take for granted as a wonderful historical place," she added.

The auction will begin at 10:00 GMT.

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