The Express.
London, England, 1864-11-25 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, FRIDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 25, 1864.

SINGULAR SUICIDE.

Last evening Mr. C. J. Cartier, coroner for
West Kent, held a lengthened Milan at the Primer of
Wales Tavern, Blackheath, into the circumstances attend-
' tag the death of Emma Ann Bannister, aged 25, the wife
ci a Mabee merchant, carrying on bushier at Stretford,
Dear Manchester, whose body was found drowned in a peed
on Blackheath on Moseley morning last, under the fol-
lowing extraordinary circutostaaosa From the evidence
adduced it appeared that the deceased, who had been mar
ried six years, was the mother of four children, three of
whom are living. On Friday morning last, between eight
and nine o'clock, her husband left home for the transaction
of his usual daily business, leaving the deceased aid two
of his children Ohs other being away), at bona with • ser-
vant, bat on returning in the evening he ascertained from
the servant that soon after he left home in the
morning the deceased also left. Concluding that
she had gone on • visit to her father and
mother, who reside at Longeide, in the neighbourhood of
Manchester, and at whose house she was occasionally in the
habit of staying aadidesping, no notice was lakes, but as
she neither returned ea the Saturday, nor soot soy endue.
tion of her absence, inquiries were made aka* parade' resi-
dence, and it was thea ascertained that she had not been
seen there. On the Sunday inquiries were made in the
locality, and from • description gins by the officials at the
Manchester station of the Great Norther' llailway of •
young lady who had booked herself as • first-class pas-
senger by the 3 p.m. express train to Loadea, it was
concluded that the person alluded to was the decissaad.
Advertisements; were accordingly inserted in the Tina
of Tuesday sod Wednesday, giving a description of the
deceased, and gateman her to communicate with her
friends, and this led to her ideotiacatson and the extraordi-
nary finding of her body, as above described; and from the
evidence taken oe this point it appeared that • man in Ma
service of Mr. Anglicans, M.P. for Greenwich, was return.
tag to Charlton with his wife and nephew, after attending •
place of worship, and in paeans through • secluded leas
something was observed lying in a dry ditch, which proved to
be the deceased, in an inasosible state. She had a bottle in
, her hand which contained • small quantity of brandy, and
which she was holding to her mouth. Oa base aroused she
slated that she bad been taken to the spot where she was
found by a gentleman dressed is dark clothes, sad had dark
whiskers, and who had given her the bottle she held
in her hand, having left her after robbing btu
of her gold watch sad chain and 235. in money.
It was proposed that the police authorities
be communicated with, but this the deceased objected to,
at the cams time producing the half of a return ticket tram
Blackheath to Woolwich by the North Beat Railway, sad
saying that she should see the gentleman again. This was
some distance from the Blackheath Railway station, and the
nephew is young man 22 years of age) and another man
were left to see deceased to the station. The other man,
who lived in • contrary direetion, after proceeding some
distance on the road, left the deceased with the young man
referred to, and, according to his statement, the deceased
then refused to go by the train, bat canted
to go to Woolwich by road if lie would en
her on the road. This he agreed to do, and
remained in her company or watched her move-
ments for some four or five hours, the deceased
eventually bidding him " good night," and he returning to
his house. The same morning, on • young men driving •
bone and cart into the pond, the lifeless body of the di-
mmed was found. Dr. Barnett, who had performed the
autopsy, gave it as hie opinion that the death of the dot
ceased had resulted entirely from suffocation by drowns',
there being neither external marks of violasce on the body
nor internal traces of poison. The father of the deceased
was 'remised, and described the married life of deeeseed as
one of great unhappier' ; but it was also admitted that
:there was • hereditary tendency to insanity in the family of
' the deceased, two of the mambas of which bad committed
suicide, one by drowning and the other by cutting his
I throat. The learned cocoon having remarked upon the
distressing nature of the cue, the jury returned • verdict,
" That the deceased smannitted suicide while labouring un-
der temporary inanity," it being seated by the father that
there was no truth in the assertion that the unfortunate
young woman had been robbed as described, as she had
left her gold watch at his house some three or four wake
since.