The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-06-12 00:00:00

MYSTERIOUS DISCOVERY in HARLEY-
STREET, LONDON.

On Thursday morning in last week a horrible dis-
covery was made at the residence of Mr. Henriques,
139, Harley-street, Cavendish-square, London. The
butler, in clearing out a cellar under the pavement,
found the body of a woman in a cask. It was much
decomposed, having been covered with chloride of
lime. The butler had been led to clear out the cellar
by noticing an unpleasant smell there.

Mr. Henriques has resided in the house for very
many years, and the present butler, who made the
discovery, has been with him since the end of 1878.
Soon after he entered the service of Mr. Henriques,
in the commencement of the winter season, a smell
was noticed which was thought to arise from the
drains, and workmen were called in to remedy the
supposed defect. For a year and a half after the
smell continued until the discovery was made.

The body was removed to Marylebone Workhouse,
where it was examihed. by Drs. Bond and Spurgin.

On Monday, Dr. Hardwicke, the Central Middlesex coroner,
opened an inquest a Marylebone upon the body found in the
cellar of 139, Harley-street—We take the following report
of the inquest from The Times of Tuesday:—

After the coroner and jury had viewed the remains,
Mr. Jacob Quixona Henriques was called as a witness.
He-stated that he was a merchant. He had lived at
139, Harley-street, for more than twenty years. On
Thursday (3rd), the butler came to him while he was
at breakfast and said that human remains had been
found .in a barrel in the rear cellar. This was the
first he heard of the matter. He t01c.4 the butler
to send for a policeman. Two policemen came
and went into the area, where they saw the
barrel, which had been removed from an inner cellar.
lie left the police to deal with the remains, and
they were removed to the workhouse that night. The
butler had been with him for 18 months. The police
had been furnished with the names of all the servants he
had had during the last three years. The family were
in the habit of going away for a month or six weeks in
the autumn. They had done so two years ago. Each
spring the area had been whitewashed and painting
had been done, and in the autumn, also, workmen had
been employed. The cellar in which the remains had
been found was situated behind another cellar in
which boots and knives were cleaned. It contained a
cistern and some lumber. The present butler, when
he came into his service, had complained of bad
smells, and suggested that they came from the drains.
This witness was satisfied could not be the case, and
he had the dusthole seen to, regarding that as the
cause of the smells. The butler had not told him that
the smells had ceased. The persons who had kept the
house while the family went into the country were not
his own servants, who went with the family. Wit-
ness could give no clue to a solution of the mystery.
John Spendlove deposed that he had been butler to
Mr. Henriques since the 21st of November, 1878. He
was married. He usually slept at Harley-street, but
went home occasionally to his wife at Wimbledon.
His p i pantry was n the basement, and when he first
went into Mr. Henriques's service he noticed a bad
smell from the area. The dustbin was looked to, but
the smell continued. From the first he had noticed a
barrel under the cistern in the inner cellar. He had
thought it was full of seltzer water bottles, as a num-
ber of empty bottles were on the top. On Thursday
he happened to go into the cellar, and it occurred to
him to see what was in the barrel. He tock off some
of the seltzer bottles, and found something which
looked like an effigy in the dim light. He called the
footman to assist him, and they male out that it was
a human body. He told Mr. Henriques, on whose
order he sent for the police. The name of the butler
who had been in Mr. Henriques's service previously he
believed was Henry Smith. The area gates were locked
each night, and the key taken up to Mr. Henriques.
Arthur Kirkland, footman to Mr. Henriques, said
he had been in his service for a year. During this
time he had noticed..a smell in the cellar, but had not
regarded it as anything in particular. On Thursday
the butler pulled the tub out. Witness saw the limbs
of a human being. On the butler's order he brought
the police.

Mr. Stephen Lucas, Chief Inspector of the D Divi-
sion, stated that on being called to 139, Harley-street,
on Thursday, he saw the body in a flour barrel, and
after it had been seen by Mr. Spurgin, the police
divisional surgeon, it was sealed up by orclei of the
Director of Criminal Investigation and taken to St.
Marylebone Workhouse, where it was seen by Dr.
Bond.

The Coroner here explained to the jury that the
police authorities in thus acting had interfered with
the duties and responsibilities of the coroner. By his
orders the body had been taken to the mortuary for a
separate examination by Dr. Pepper, of St. Mary's
Hospital. It had now been removed to the parish
mortuary in Paddington-street. He had had a corre-
spondence with the police authorities, and explana-
tions had been given.
Mr. Lucas, in reply to questions by the jury, said
that many things had been found in the cellar. He
should be able at a future time to state fully the re-
sults of inquiries which were now being made.
Mr. Spurgin, the police divisional surgeon, deposed,
—I was called at twelve o'clock on Thursday morning
to 139, Harley-street, where I saw the barrel contain-
ing human remains. When I first saw it the barrel
had been reversed from the position in which it
originally stood, and the original bottom was upper-
most, with a board taken out, showing hair to be ad-
hering to the side of the cask. I had the barrel re-
versed so as to stand in the way it had stood in the cellar,
taking care that nothing escaped in the process. I then
saw the knees of a human body uppermost. I saw on
the legs, after careful looking, the remains of stockings,
and both legs were gartered with elastic garters having
metal buckles. The body appeared to be entirely or
nearly naked, and decomposition was considerably ad-
vanced. I had no time then to continue the investi-
gation, and, placing the barrel and its contents under
Inspector Lucas, I returned at three o'clock and re-
newed my examination. The body was removed
to the St. .I‘farylebone Workhouse, where Dr. Bond
also examined it with me. Since then I have made an
examination with Dr. Pepper and with Dr. Bond.
When I examined the body with Dr. Bond several other
medical men were there—Dr. Randall and Dr. Fuller.
I had the body removed from the cask. The head
was doubled backwards with the face to the right. On
the head was a small portion of hair, which appeared to
have been cut off so as to leave an inch and a half on
the scalp. The hair adhering to the side of the cask
was longer. I found in the flesh of the neck a red
coral bead, apparently belonging to a necklace. There
were no earrings or rings. There were some nortions
of garments which had been on the body. I have been
able to measure the body, and make it 4ft. 7in. I
should say that the body had a considerable curvature
of the spine, caused by pressure, but not during life.
It was covered more or less with chloride of lime, and
was partly "mummified "—dried, but decayed.
The Coroner: Can you form an idea of the length of
time to which the body has been subject to the action
of decomposition?
Witness: My opinion is that the body had been
where it was found for more than a year. It might
have been for a certain period beyond that. I should
limit myself to a year beyond that, supposing that
the atmospheric conditions to which it has been ex-
posed have been unchanged. Part of the left shoulder
has rotted away; but making the examination with
Dr. Pepper, I saw an opening on the left side
between the fourth and fifth ribs, and the appear-
a,nces in the tissues surrounding this opening were
such as to indicate an infNsion of blood.

The Coroner: Hence you have arrived at the con-
clusion that the death arose from a stab?

Witness : I arrived at a strong assumption that such
might be the case, but the investigations are still going
on. Still, I can say that I have seen things which
lead me to the view that the death of this woman was
due tl violence. I should like to add that the ribs
were separated from the cartilages on the left side,
and not on the right side.
Dr. A. J. Pepper, of St. Mary's Hospital, said :
When I examined the body on Saturday I found
that an examination had been made and part of
the viscera removed. Yesterday I made an examina-
tion, lasting for some hours, in the presence of Dr.
Spurgin. I have come to the conclusion that the
body found in the barrel is the body of a woman
4f. 10in, in height. My reason for taking a different
height from that given by Dr. Spurgin is that I allow
two inches for the spine curvature, which was certainly
a post-mortem, curvature. The woman was certainly
as much as 30 years of age, probably 40; she may have
been a little over 40. The cause of death I think was
probably a stab. The stab could scarcely have been
self-inflicted, and it could hardly have been acci-
dental. (The witness then gave a lengthy history
of the dental appearance, and stated that one wisdom
tooth had not been cut.) I should say that the body
had been in the place where it was found within six
months of two years—six months more or less.
The Coroner: Do you think that the person came
to her death by violence?

The Witness : I do, by stabbing with a knife. A
table-knife would cause the stab.

In reply to the Coroner, Mr. Lucas said the police
would he ready to continue the evidence next week,
and the inquiry was accordingly adjourned.

It is announced that the widows and relatives of
those lost on board the Atalanta will receive the amount
which would have been rine to officers and men up to Friday
in last week, that being the date fixed for closing the ship's
books. In the case of widows of petty !officers and seamen a
sum equal to a whole year's pay of their late husbands will
also be paid over to them to meet present necessities.

• During the performance the other evening of
Midsummer lifight's Dream, at the Brighton Theatre Royal,
some sparks fell from the proscenium just as the act drop
was lowered. An alarm of fire was raised, and a partial
stampede ensued ; but it was fortunately arrested before
any injury resulted by the manager coming forward and assur-
ing the audience that there was no ground for fear. The
damage done was insignificant, and the performance was
promptly proceeded with and played to the conclusion.