ON January 10, 1905, after having tea, 11-year-old Lily Swain went out to play with friends.

Tragically, she was not seen alive again and her disappearance remained a mystery.

At the time Lily, whose parents lived at Brampton, was living with foster parents in Sheffield where she had been for the previous eight years. On the day she disappeared she had been to school, returning home at the usual time.

She had tea with her foster mother and then expressed a wish to go out and play for half-an-hour. She was allowed out around 6.40pm, but when her foster mother went to look for her later the child had vanished from the yard at the back of the house where she usually played with her friends.

The police were informed. No trace of her was found until the discovery of a body in the River Don a month later.

A grinder at a local works saw the body floating on the water near his place of employment and he immediately notified the police. Inquiries had been made as to Lily’s whereabouts in the immediate neighbourhood and all over England but not the slightest clue as to her whereabouts was found until the gruesome discovery.

Various theories were put forward to account for her disappearance. The first was that she had been kidnapped, but this was discounted. However, her body was found a considerable distance away from her home and she was not in the habit of straying away from beyond the terrace in which her foster parents lived.

At an inquest, the coroner said there had been a good deal of speculation as to what had happened to the ‘poor girl’, but according to the doctor’s evidence, she had drowned. However, it appeared she had suffered an injury to her left eye which was very swollen and her nose was crushed.

But it was thought these injuries could have been caused as a result of her falling onto a large stone when she fell into the river. The jury decided upon a verdict of ‘found drowned’. There was no evidence to show how the girl came to be in the water.

Although this tragic incident occurred more than 100 years ago, one of her treasured childhood possessions, her money box, is still intact and a Brampton vendor has asked Wilby’s of Barnsley, to offer it for auction at its sale to be held on Thursday (July 29).

It is a typical Victorian cottage-style money box which, we believe, would have been given to Lily when she was born as it has the words: ‘Lily Swain born March 1 1894’ inscribed at its base.

The sale will be held at Milton Hall, starting at 10am.