After his his trial, conviction and subsequent reprieve, Dr. Burke was moved from Armley Gaol in Yorkshire and transported to her Majesty’s Convict Prison, Park Hurst, on the Isle of Wight. He remained there for over a year. His physical and indeed mental condition went from bad to worse. In November 1889 he went into rapid decline and had to be hospitalized.

The bullet wound, he inflicted on himself in a bid to end his life, had never fully healed. He also had pleurisy, making the condition of his lungs worse. It was perhaps becoming clear that he would not survive much longer, so he was released.

Sadly Dr. Burke did not enjoy any freedom.

Sources

30 November 1889 – York Herald – York, Yorkshire, England

Sheffield Evening Telegraph 10 February 1888. P2

Barnsley Chronicle, etc. 11 February 1888. P8