The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-01-04 00:00:00

THE LATE SIR WILLIAM HAYTER,

BART.

On Saturday afternoon the corner's inquiry into
the circumstances attending the death of Sir William
Goodenough Hayter, Bart., was held at the residence
of the deceased, Southall Park, Berkshire. Lord
Arthur Hill was foreman of the jury, and Colonel
linter, M.P., son of the deceased baronet, was
present during the proceedings. The deceased was,
on Thursday morning in last week, found drowned in
one of three .lakes, /boat 200 yards from the house.
Upon the lakes are a large quantity of waterfowl, and
deceased was very fond of them. He appeared to have
thrust away the shrubs to enable him to get to the
banks, it is supposed, to watch the waterfowl. The
grounds are very extensive —between 700 and 800 acres
—and remarkable for large fir plantations, beech, larch,
&c. There are numerous gardens, with a rhodo-
dendron walk, which are very beautiful in summer.
Blackhill, a portion of the estate, is celebrated through-
out the country for the magnificence of its walks and
scenery. Tne late baronet was said to be very wealthy;
he was eighty-six years of age, and Lady Hayter is
thirteen years his junior, Great regret is felt in the
neighbourhood at the melancholy occurrence, Sir
William Hayter being a good and kind landlord, and
also much respected by the country gentry.
The follosving evidence wa, taken at the inquest :
James Dougal, steward to Sir William Hayter,
sad,—On Thursday morning last I was in conversation
with Sir William at about half-past ten in his study.
He asked me whether 1 required money to pay his
Christmas bills, and at the same time handed me a
cheque for the purpose. He also asked me whether
I had given the usual lia,f-sovereign for the poor
ef the union to have a dinner. I replied that I
had done so out of my own pocket. He then re-
quested me not to enter it in my book, saying that
he would give me -it. He then handed me the
half. sovereign. He then remarked that he felt
very poorly indeed, and putting his hands to his head
said, " I really think I shall go distracted." I re-
plied, "I hope you will be better." He said, "Oh,
never, never, never." These were the last words that
he uttered. About an hour afterwards I learnt from
the butler that he was missing. I directed the
gardenbr and some of the men to go round the walks
in search of him. After looking for some time I came
round to the place where he was found, and there saw
Mr. Ayres and some others. They directed my atten-
tion to a hat in the pond, and I exclaimed, "That's
my dear master," and jumped into the water. This
was in one of the lakes near to the house. I found
the body near to the hat. I took him out with assist-
ance. He was quite dead and cold. There were no
signs of struggling near to where I found the body. I
have noticed that the deceased was very depressed and
low-spirited lately. He often complained of his head.
John P. Ayres, the butlerfdeposed,—l saw deceased
alive on Thursday morning about half-past nine. I did
not have any conversation with him then; but shortly
afterwards I took him some newspapers and went to
see that his fire was burning. He was sitting dowti
with a cheque in his hands. I did not stop then. A
short time afterwards—perhaps twenty minutes past
ten—l heard him go out. I did not see him, but I
thought it was him. I came in shortly after and
noticed that his coat and hat were gone. I thought
he had gone out to have a cigar. There was nothing
unusual about deceased to specially attract my at-
tention. About a quarter past eleven Lady Hayter
asked use if I knew where Sir William was. said,
"I think he is out in the corridor. I heard lam go
out some time ago." She said, "He is not there
now; but perhaps he will be in directly." Soon after
this she came again and said, "He is not there,
Ayres, I wish you would go to the farm or to the
stables and see whether you can see anything of him."
I immediately went out in search of him. It was
raining at the time. I went first to Mr. Dougal and
asked him whether he had seen Sir 'William, and I
also inquired at the. stables, No one had seen him.
We thought we would go and see whether he had
stepped into a pit and could not get out. Mr.
Dougal went one way and I went another, sub,es
quently meeting at the back of the premises. I in
quired in the house whether Sir William had returned,
and finding he had not went out again to make further
search. I met her ladyship's brother, and saw a hat
on the surface of the. lake. He directed me to get a
rake or something of the kind. Mr. Dougal came up
and joined us, and upon seeing the hat he said, "It is
my poor master," and jumped in. The deceased was
then taken out of the water. I have noticed that
deceased was very unwell lately, but have not noticed
anything particular. I never knew Sir William to
suffer Lour fits or giddiness.
_ _

Dr. Orange, F.R.C.S., M.D., medica superin-
tendent of Broadmoor Asylum, said,—l have seen Sir
William from time to time, and have known him for
the last fifteen years. Although he was in his eighty-
Eeventh year, he was able to take his share in the per-
formance of public duties, even to within the last
month. He would have been eighty-seven on the 2-,th
of next month. At the cownieneement of the cold
weather I noticed a distinct failure of vital energy, and
following the general failure of strem:th, there was
also a considerable depression of spirits. He also
suffered from occasional headache and giddiness. I
last saw him on Sunday, the 22nd inst. He then con-
versed with me upon matters of general and local
interest, and also spoke of feeling discomfort about
the head and want of spirits. In consequence of a
message I received on Thursday, the 26th inst.,l went
to his house and there saw deceased. "Life was then
extinct. It was then shortly after two o'clock. I ex-
amined the body externally and have no doubt that
death was due to drowning. In November I noticed
that there had been a f tilure in bodily strength as
well as in mental powers. His eyesight was also very
defective. It was quite possible that if he had been
seized with a fit of dizziness be would have fallen into
the lake. When he spoke to me the last time his in-
tellect seemed perfectly clear, although there was a
general failure of bodily strength and not quite the
same clear and incisive way of speaking about things
in general, but nothing more than that. He sponta-
neously spoke to me about matters .which had occurred
in the neighbourhood. He talked peWectly clearly
and showed no loss of memory.
The coroner, in summlng up, said he did not think
it was necessary to call any more witnesses. He should
think there was no doubt that death had arisen from
drowning—whether accidental drowning or not it was
for the jury to consider. The evidence was quite
consistent with an accidental fall into the water
from giddiness At the same time, the jury had
also heard of his depressed spirits, and the remark
he made to Mr. Dougal just before he was- missed.
It would be for them to say whether they thought
it was a case of suicide or nit.. It might have been an
accident and it might have been suicide; but to return
an open verdict of" Found drowned" would meet the
case. The jury could not say it was an accident; nor,
on the contrary, could they say it was a case of suicide.
After a short deliberation, the jury returned a
verdict of "Found drowned," there being no evidence
whatsoever to show how the deceased came into the
water.

The youngest son of Mr. John Ha 'ter, of Winter.
bourne Stoke, Wiltshire, the late Sir William was born
early in 1792, and was educated at Winchester and
Oxford. In 1819 he was called to the Bar at Lin-
coln's-inn, and for some years practised with success in
the Court of Chancery. His sympathies, however,
were really with political life ; in 1837 he was returned
to the House of Commons as one of the members for
Wells, and two years afterwards retired from legal
practice. From the end of 1847 to the middle of 1849
he was Judge-Advonate-Gene, afterwards becoming
Financial Secretary of the Treasury, and in 1850 Par-
liamentary Secretary. Except during the time of Lord
Derby's first Administration, he held the last-men-
tioned post until 1858, when he retired: He was re-
warded for his services by a baronetcy; and in 1861 a
dinner was given in his honour and a service of plate
presented to him. at Willis's Rooms, by Lord Pal-
merston and 365 members of the Houq3 of Commons,
"in remembrance of the courtesy, fairness, and effi•
ciency " with which he discharged his duties for many
years as Liberal " Whip." At the General Election
in 1865 he retired from public life.—The Times,