The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-06-24 00:00:00

THE BALHAM MYSTERY.

APPLICATION FOR A FRESH INQUEST.
In the Queen's Bench Division on Monday morn.
ing, before Lord Chief Justice Cockburn and Justices
Mellor and Field, an application was made to the
Court by the Attorney-General for another inquiry
into the death of Mr. Bravo, the circumstances of
whose death by poison, now nearly two months ago,
have excited so much public interest. The Court was
crowded to its utmost capacity.

The application was made by the Attorncy•General
upon affidavits embodying the conmer's notes of the
evidence taken at the inquest, find also independent
notes cf the evidence taken by a barrister present at
the inquest.—The following account of the proceedings
before the court on Monday is taken from The Times—
who also preceded their report with a general history of
the case from the commencement, and which we do
not give, as it has been to recently before the public.
"The Attorney-General, with whom were the Solicitor-
General, Mr. Poland. and :qr. C. Bowen, said he rose to move
for a writ of certiorari to bring up the coroner's inquisition
that it may be questioned, and for a rule ceiling on the
coroner to show cause why it should not be quashed and
why there should not be a writ ad mclius inquirendum,
to have a fresh inquiry either before him or under some new
commission. He made the application on the ground that
the finding of the jury was Imperfect and incomplete, and
that the inquiry was conducted in wch a perfunctory way
as to be quite unsatisfactory, and that indeed the conduct of
the coroner was such as to amount to a miscarriage'of justice.
He then entered into a statement of the history of tie case.
Mr. Bravo, he said—a barrilter—had recently married a lady,
a Mrs. Ricardo, who had £3,C00 or £4,000 a year, and, as far
as one could learn, except from some statements made since
the matter came into the hands of the Solicitor for the
Treasury, he was quite happy. He was a man of a happy
and cheerful disposition, and there was nothing, so far as
could be ascertained, to show that he had any reason to
commit suicide. On the 18th of April, in the evening, after
dinner, he was taken ill in his own room, about nine or half.
past nine.

The Lord Chief Justice,: At what hour had he dined?
The Attorney-General: At half-past seven. After dinner
he and Mrs. Bravo retired to their rooms, and he appears
to have been gone to his room at some time before half-
pist nine. Ile was seen to go upstairs, looking ill, though
he did not complain. After a little time he called
cut loudly for hot water, and he was found in his night-
dress, apparently suffering very great pain. It seems that be-
t/re any one could come he had vomited out of window, for
It was found afterwards on the leads beneath the window.
Ile was ill all that night and the Wednesday and Thurs-
day, and he died on the Friday. The inquest was held On
the 25th, and some barristers, friends of Mr. Bravo, at-
tended, one of whom, Mr. Reed, took a careful note, which
has been verified on affidavit, and it will be necessary to
point out very serious discrepancies between this note and
the notes of the evidence given by the coroner. The coroner
seemed to have taken up from the first a foregone conclusion
that the death of Mr. Bravo was caused by snicide, for from
the beginning to the end of the inquiry he was evidently
unCer the influence of that impression—an impression he
betrayed to every one present. Nothing could remove that
impression from his mind, and he summed up stror gly for a
verdict of suicide. Yet there were strong grounds for be-
lieving that he had not committed suicide, and it was his
bounden duty to have inquired fully into the matter, and to
have heard all the evidence he could and might have obtained
bearing on the question, which would have satisfied him that
the deceased had not committed suicide.
The Lord Chief Justice: Were there any other inmates in
the house?

The Attorney-General: There was a lady named cox, a
companion, living with arr.. Bravo. There was no other
inmate in 'ens noun except the servants—a butler, a foot-
man, and several female servants. No one else besides Mrs.
Cox. It had been arranged that Mrs. Cox should leave-, net,
perhaps, definitely, but it had been spoken of that she was
to leave. The Attorney-General proceeded to read and
comment on the evidence of the witnesses at the icquest,
as given by the- coroner in his notes, which, as far as -is
material, were as follows. The evidence of Mrs. Cox wcis
thus given :
"Jane Cannon Cox, sworn: I am a widow. I have been
staying now with Mrs. Bravo as a companion for nearly four
years. On last Tuesday night, at about half-past nine
o'clock, I saw deceased in his bedroom. Hb had
been up and abcut that day. The servant called
to me. I found him standing by the window. He
locked very ill. He said as cc on as I went to him he had
taken poison. I saw two bottles on the chimney-shelf,
both labelled—one a blue bottle, labelled 'Chloroform,
poison.' nere was a small quantity of a whit-Isla
fluid in it ; it had a cork stopper the other bottle,
white, labelled Laudanum ;' there was a small quantity of
a brown fluid in it. I had seen these bottles before,
He used these ingredients for neuralgia, rubbing his gums
therea ith. I asked him tow he came to do so, bat he
made no reply. Dr. Harrison was sent for, who came.
Before he arrived, Dr. Moore had came. I did tell Dr,
liariisou what deceased had said. He was at this time suf-
fering from neuralgia, and had been for ten days. I saw him
continually unt:l he expired, but he did not explain to me,
or in my hearing, how he came to take the poison. No paper
writing 11,43 been found as having reference to his death..
He was a person of good mind. He and his wife lived on
good and affectionate terms. He had no reason to commit,
suicide Why he should have taken the poison I cannot give
an opinion."
Mr. Justice Mellor upon this asked,—Did she say she did
or did not tell Mr. Harrison what Mr. Bravo had said?
The Attorney-General: That she "did" tell him, and that
Is most material, became it will appear that she did not sat
a word about it until some four or five hours afterwards.
He then read the corenar'a note of the evidence of Mr.
Harrison :

"George Harrison, sworn: I am a surgeon in practice, re-
gistered. I was on last Tuesday night, 18th, called to the de-
ceased person. On arriving here I saw him, and Dr. Moore
with him. I found him in a ckmplete state of collapse, almost
pulseless—pupils of the eye widely dilated, his limbs flaccid,
the muscles of his body inactive, and he was unable to
swallow. We tried to give him brandy and water. I did
not detect the t Myriad chloroform or laudanum emanating
from his breathing. The only effluvia I noticed was that of
mustard, understanding that had been given as an emetic
and that be had vomited. At this time it was thought that
some blood vessel connected with the throat had given way,
as there was a failure of the heart's action from some cause.
He was treated for collapse. S,me hours afterwards be re-
vived. I was with him all night, and saw him again the next
day. He was quite restored to consciousness, and made a will:
From the symptoms that arose after he rallied, it was be-
lieved he was labouring under an irritant poison. The first
symptoms were those attendant upon chloroform, which is a
poison. He vomited blood before becoming conscious; atlo
passed blood from the rectum, which gave rise to the idea he
was labouring under an acrid poison."
The Attorney-General observed that it would appear that
the deceased had told Mr. Harrison he had not taken any
poison knowingly, and had said nothing as to his having done
sa. "Yet all that was, he would not say suppressed, but at
all events it was omitted in the coroner's notes. At this
time Mrs. Cox had sworn that she bad told Mr. Harrison InZ
had said to her he had taken poison.
Mr. Justice Field: At what time did she say he said that
The Attorney-General: At once • on his seeing her just at
half-past nine o'clock, The medical evidence showed beyond
a doubt, there having been a pest mortem examination and
an analy,is of the contents of the stomach, that he died of
antimony, a large quantity-of which was found—as much as
ten grains—in the matter vomited alone. Then there was
the evidence of the maid who was called up to attend Mr.
Bravo, and which the coroner thins gave :

"Mary Ann Keeber, sworn: I am a single woman.
have been in the service of Mrs. Bravo for two years and
three months—that is, prior to her marriage with Mr.
Bravo. last Tuesday week, at near ten o'clocic at night, I.
was requested by Mrs. Cox to get some hot water for Mr,
Bravo. I did as requested, taking about a quart to Mr.
Bravo's bedroom, where I found her (Mrs. Cox) and Mr.
Bravo. I took it in a metal water-can. Mr. Bravo was
seared on the floor. Mr. Bravo did not speak a word. I
obtained some mustard and Mrs. Cox mixed some in wafer.
in my prezenee, and it was administered to him, hut he
could not swallow, only a very little. He appeared in.
; his breathing was affected. At no time did'
I hear him speak as to his illness; but on Wednesday
morning, on seeing me, he said, 'Mary Ann, how •
are you f' I replied, Very well,' and asked him how
he was. Then he said, 'We shall not have our trip to
Worthing.' I said, 'I hope we shall,' He then said, My
next trip will be to Streatham churchyard. He did not
again speak to me. My capacity here is housemaid. My
master and mistress left in the forenoon of Tuesday for
town, and Mr. Bravo returned, but what time be did I do,
not know. I cl!el not see him again until he was upstairs.
I heard him call 'Florence!' his wife's name, and say,.
Hot water ! het water ! ' as loud as he could. He called
from his bedroom door and was in his night-shirt. Mrs., Cox
was then in Mr. Bravo's bedroom. Mr. and Mrs.' Bravo ,
occupied separate rooms, as she was ill; otherwise they usually '
slept together. I saw nothing added to the water besides the '
mustard. They had not slept together for a week or nine
days in consequence of her health. I know of nothing else
Why they should not; in general, they lived together very
happily. He did not make use of the word poison 'in neiy
hearing, nor was it made use of by 3Mrs. Cox on the Tuesday
night."

Then there was the evidence of Mr. Royes Bell, Which was
thus given by the coroner :—.
"Hutchinson Reyes 8011, sworn : I live at 44, Harley-
street, Cavendiah-square, and am a surgeon. The deceased
was my cousin I was sent for, and came here on the morn-
ing al the 19th. I saw deceased. He was sensible, and air.
Johnson and Dr. Moore were present I remained with him
until he expired. In answer to Dr. Moore, he said he had
taken laudanum for neuralgia. D. Johnson said 'That won't'
do ; it does not explain your symptoms.' He then said 'lt
was not laudanum. I don't know what it was.' lie did not
make any further admission of having taken anything." .
The Lord Chief Justice asked what this meant--" It it is not
1 tudanum, I don't know what it is. I have taken nothing
bnectme,osftroinampzrhtatenht to
it
else ?"
contrast
The Attorneyw-Guehnetrbael s
dd
eiptewn eunl dt
different. From this evidence, as
said, but something very
would appear that tids was not at all what Mr. Bravo had
It was here Riven by
admitted having taken poison,
the deceased gentleman had a
the coroner, it would appear as though
au antun,
tated Just the reverse
whereat) It would appeal Plat be I
though he did not know what it was tilt was not l d

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