The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1883-08-25 00:00:00

THE RECENT FIRE AT A LUNATIC

ASYLUM.

The exploration of the ruins of Southall-park, which
was commenced immediately after the extinction of the
fire, was resumed at dawn on Saturday, about 50 la-
bourers being employed in the excavations. The cham-
bers on the south or garden side of the basement, lying
immediately under the spot once occupied by the bed
and dressing rooms of Dr. Boyd and his son, Mr. W.
Boyd, had, by a late hour on the previous night, been
cleared of the bricks and rubbish, which, as the walls
fell in, crushed down upon the charred materials and
furniture, pressing the pulverized ashes into a layer
two or three feet deep. In one of the basement
chambers next the garden, the first discovery of human
remains was made about half past six o'clock in the
morning. There, almost upon the floor and loosely
embedded in the surrounding ashes, a few charred
fragments were found, which upon subsequent exami-
tion by Dr. M'Donald, proved to be the bones of a 2
adult. These few relics, for they were picked out one
by one from among the rubbish, and would scarcely
fill a quart jug, consisted of a portion of one of the
bones of the pelvis, two vertebra, parts of the
bones of two femurs, and the top of one of the
tibia. From the appearance of the last-mentioned,
which is one of the least injured and most perfect
of the fragments, it is inferred that the bones are
those of a human being under 40 years of age, and
the supposic on is that they are the remains of Mr.
W. Boyd, the doctor's son, who was probably suffo-
cated in his bedroom some 30ft. above, whence they
had descended when the burning roof and floors:fell to
the basement. That Dr. Boyd said the other victims
were speedily suffocated there is now little doubt, as
since the catastrophe it has been ascertained from the
doctor's daughters, that the smoke was so stifling that
before they attempted to leave their bed room, which
was on the north side of the mansion, they wetted
towels, which they held to their faces while escaping
across the corridor to Dr. Boyd's dressing room, where
the door of the escape was situated. The supposed
remains of Mr. W. Boyd were placed in a small
wooden box, and removed to an upper room in the
recently erected little infirmary, a building detached
from the rest of the asylum. Nothing more, excepting
some silver plate, scorched and discoloured by the
great heat and smoke, and extricated from the ashes
on the pantry floor, was found at this end of the ruins.
By about ten o'clock the workmen had nearly cleared
the east end of the lowest corridor, above which, on
one of the upper floors, the cook's bedroom had been
situated. Only a few feet of charred debris had to be
lifted from the corner, and there, as had been antici-
pated, human remains were again brought to light—
not in the form of a skeleton, or even in a heap, but
scattered about. This second find included part of an
occipital bone, several vertebra, a great many small
pieces of the long bones of the arm, and part of a
lower jaw. Unlike the incinerated fragments of the
first discovery, which resembled black pieces of char-
coal, with the exception of the tibia, the remains,
which. are presumed to be those of the cook, presented
a whiti h-brown appearance and were nearly calcined
to powder. These pieces of bone were also enclosed
in a box and removed from the ruins to the in-
firmary. At the north-east angle of the basement
vertebra and rib and other bones were rapidly un-
earthed, and in a few minutes portions of almost a
complete set were collected within the rough wooden
box in the corner of the cellar. The bones recovered
at this spot consisted of several pieces of skull, a part
of the pelvis (hip joint), a char bone, arm bones, ver-
tebra, most of tbe fragments beiog easily recognizable
and forming the largest collection of the three dis-
covered in the ruins. They are believed to be the
remains of Captain Williams, though among the bones
are very possible some of those of Mrs. Cullimore, who
was burnt. The bones were removed without delay to
the infirmary for further examination. By about a
quarter past six o'c:ock in the evening the exploration
of the ruins, which had occupied nearly five days, was
concluded, some 1,400 tons of building materials having
been removed from the site during the search.

Dr. Diplock, the coroner for the district, has intl.
mated that he can hold no inquest upon the human
remains found among the ruins of Southall-park
Asylum, as these are too scanty to admit of any
identification. A private inquiry into the circum-
stances of the fire will, however, be held by some of
the Lunacy Commissioners.