The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1824-08-12 00:00:00

CORONERS' INQUSSTS

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II oLn tat.w Dieislowi—Yesterday an thqueet was held at the!,
Anchor and Hope Tavern. Lower-street, Islington, before Taos. !
DTI alit 14 0 , Lsq. Coroner. on the body of Mr. Eiweid llert, aged !
sixty years, a gentleman of praperty, who wedded is the New.road, I
Islington.
The cam excited considerable Interest, in consequence of as ex. I
tranidinary mental delusion under which the deceased lanoured, 11
and several iodiviiittals of a sect to which the deceased belenged, ;
denominating themselves the " Amicable Christian Satiety,;' at. i
tended the investigatian.
William Hall, being swam, depneed that he had known the
deenera for :littera' years. He was about sixty years of ale,
and
was living on his property at his residence, New-road, Idiegton,
in which neighbourhood he had several freehold houses. On Sun. I
morning last witness wee in bed at hit lodgings, next house to that'
where the deceased lived, when he was awoke out of his sleep (the
time beetle about three o'clock) by Mrs. Lord, a female who had ;
' been nursing the &ceased, calling out that " Mr. Hart was in the I
, water-butt.' Witnes► it:dandy got out of bed, and after alanniug
;asethes lodger (Telma Allen) out of hi. sleep, they proceeded, 1
together with !I r. Loraine() the deceased's back-yard, where they
perceived his legs protruding from the water-butt, and Is bead.
i foremost in it, which contained about four or nee feet deep of
water. They released him from his dreadful situation, but be ap.
!peered quite dead; no. withstanding, he sent for a surgeon, but it
, wile useb.ee to apply remedies. The deceased west a widower, and
had no children. Witness is connected with a religious sect in the
neighbourhood, to which the deceased was introduced some time
ago ; anti daring the period of his attendance, which was eery maw-
; tai, at all Omit- meeting*. lie pourtrayed the strictest devotion, and
I was much respected by all the members ; but tweedy the deceased
became afflicted with the rheumatic gout. which caused him to re-
! stain at home, which interfered materially with the performance of
his religious ditties. and viewed to prey upon Lis nand so as to
base Mewed it considerably, and despair had full if b •
Rend, which originally poeseseed ease and con ort ; and when.
I ever einem met hint, lw would express a desire for death, raying
he wan troubled with devils, and that Satan visited him every night.
1 Wit endeavoured to remove this miserable delusion, by render-
ing Rim every oweiolatory advice, and vignetting him to drive the',
actinism front his imagination i but the deceased contended that!
his intsginetion had not been imposed upon; that he had too:
strong proofs that :he Devil himself had visited him, which ire wasl
lin the constant habit of doing every night. Witness frequently
heard hitn talking to Satan during the night, as be could hear him
1 thromeh the partition, and requesting him to go away. The deceased
described his Satanic Majesty and his visits as followe :
; That when he retired to bed his ettention would be attracted by
distant founds, shortly after which Satan would make his appear-
ance at the window, through which he would enter the room, and
advance towards the bed, while the deceased (as may be imagined)
i lay trembling with tear. The Devil would then mount the bed-
: stead. and eat upon his stomach, and breathe down Ins throat with
! such violence, that it had the elfect of depriving him of his breath ;
after this the deceased would say the Lord's Prayer, and beg of the
Devil to leave him. After a short time he would rush through the
' window and disappeer. [Ennead heard the deceased frequently he.
1
prating the Lords ['Toyer, and 'speaking, as if to the Devil, during
the right; indite (witness) used frequently to prey by him, and
; read the Bible. The deceased wed to drink a considerable
quantity of water, sometimes. a quart at a time. Does not
suspect any body threw him
0 own act, whether by aiteident or intention it was impoesible for
him to any. He had two cuts over the forehead when taken out of
the water-butt, and had en his great coat, shirt, breeches, and
stockings.
Mrs. Mary Lard, an elderly widow tat 7, deposed that she had
been sequahited with the deceased fur the Lest tourteen years, dur-
ing part of %bleb time his mind appeared to be affected. In con.
sequence of hie Wane be requested witness to attend at hie house,
to prepare a few necessaries, to which she consented. He used to
tell witness that the Devil was in the habit of calling on hint under
the most flightful circumstances a ben he was alone, but remained
away when any body was with hint. Witness remained with him
during the whole of Saturday night last. The deceased went to
bed, and witness tweesiosally las down outside the clothes iu her
apparel to sleep. At a little before three o'clock in the morning
she awoke out of a trifling sleep, and felt toe the deceased, who was
then in bed ; she shortly afterwards awoke again, and on putting
her hand across the bed, the deceased was miesing. She arose is '
the greatest alarm and ran into the yard, where, alter searching for
him. she observed his legs protruding from the water-butt. She
instantly alarmed the last witness, who came and took him out.
Ile was quite dead.
Henry Hall corroborated the above evidence.
Them being no direct evidence to prove by what means ths de-
ceased got into the water-butt,
The Jury returned a verdict.—" That the deceased was found
drowned in a water-butt, having been previously iii a stem of tem-
porary derangement."
Danene re L ACCIDIF:NT.—Yepterda afternoon a Coroner's In-
quest was held at the Three Mariners, In Fore-eweet, Cripplegate,
before Thomas Shelton, Esq. on the body of Richard Manville.
Richard Ship deposed, that he lodged at Mr. nloweley's att. Fore-
street, where the deceased also lottg, who came home on Monday
night very much intoxicated. Witness gave him a light, and he
retired to his bed-room. About half an hour afterwards he heard
something fall on the pavement. lie understood by sonic person it
etas the deceased who had fallen from the attic window.
Air.. Meseley stated, the deceased lodged at NI house about
tare week.. NVitness had been retr, amf returned home about ten
o'clock, and was int:timed by a female bring on the opposite side
the deneeroits situation of the deceased ; but from the violence of
his temper, she was afraid to pa to him. She afterwards heard
the deceased had fallen from his bell-room window.
Mary Ringwood deposed, she kept a vegetable-atoll opposite the
'totem where the deceased lived. She had observed him reclining
his head on hie arm upon the parapet-wall, and mentioned it to the
people of the house; about a quarter before eleven o'clock the
deem-mil fell, anti in falling his feet struck her bonnet and cap
hon'
her head. His skull was fractuted in a dreadful manner, and is
brains were scattered about, and his body bleeding profusely. He
I was carried to a surgeon, in Aldernianbury, on a shutter, but was
brought beck directly. as the poor fellow was dead.
Several other witnesses were examined, but gave no additional I
',rider. cr.
The Coroner having summed up the nbove evidence, the Jory
tett:rune a verdict of " Accidental Death."
One of the Jurymen addressed the Coroner, and asked whose
duty it was to appoint places to hold inquests ?
The Coroner said, it was the duty of the Churchwardens, but
that the Beadle gerivilly appointed a place.
The Juryman said, his reason for asking the question was, that
the body was brought in the first instance to this house, but the
landlord mitteed to take the corpse in ; it was afterwards conveyed
to the Green Dragon, kept by a widow woman, who took it in. and
was at some trouble and a spensc in cleaning the room where the de-
ceased was deposited, and he trusted she might be awarded some-
thing fur her expenses. Ile at the same time expressed surprise
-that the inquest wen not held at the Green Ivragoo, as he eaneeteee
she was beg entitled to any emolument arising under such eireum.

stances.
One of the Churchwardens cuing present said, there was no fund
for defraying such expenses ; the only thing the parisli could allow
waits. to be apart by the Jail.
The Coroner lamented the want of liberality eu the part of the
parishes in eases of the proem nature, as, he said, in many in-
stances when accidents occurred, medial gentlemen bad not only
' to give their assistance at the time, but also to attend the inquests
'without receiving any remunerotion whatever, and he (the Coroner)
I conceived if something was aloweal in such eases it would lot be
Funioiss 1./styli/U.—Yesterday afternoon an Inquest was held
before Mr. CELL, Coroner for VVest 11l i l later, nt the Roll public-
house. New Tuthill-street, M'esuninstcr, on view of the body of
Win. Smith, aged 50 years.
Mr. T. 11. Dakir, house surgeon at the 'Westminster Infirmary,
deposed, that on the 2,1 inst. the deceased came to the Institution,
and stated that he had met with an accident in Smithfield from
the pole of a carriage having struck and knocked hint down. Ilc
died on Tuesday evening, and yesterday witness opened the body,
when he lound a rib on the left side fractured, and bruises nn the
same side. There was some effusion in the chest, and tuarks of
Inflammation on the lungs on the right side. These, no doubt,
caused li;s death.
Charles Johnson, a butcher, of Old Tothill-street stated, that
the deceased occasionally
_worked for him. After the accident hap-
pened, the d (+Ceased WWI on witness, and told him that while he
was driving sonic sheep one ran away, and in endeavouring to turn
0, the ptde of a carriage knocked hitu down. Witness thought
he said the hones were galloping at the time..
The Coot/Nina explained to the Jury the law regarding daa.
elands, and said that the Jury might affix any value in the nature
of deodand upon the coach and horses they pleased, in proportion to
tke neglect of the coachman.
The Jury consulted together. The Foreman was for giving Is.;
another said it ought to be 2tlol. ; but at length returned a ver.
diet of "Accidental death;" deodand
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CORONERS I A-cur.—Thursday evenirg, en inquisi-1
tion was held at the house of 31r. R. NVitittle, the si;,m of the Red
Linn, Little Ouililfurd-strtet. Brunswick-square, bvfore TtIGMSS
Stirling, Esq., Coroner, on the body of ilham Bartlett, raged
sixty years. The deceased, it appeared, was coachman to the Rev.
Mr. Hewlett, and lived with his wife, who is a laundress in Little
(.omm-street. Ile went to bed in perfect health about eleven
o'clock on Sunday night, and next mer..ing, on bis wife going to
call him up (they slept seperste on atzeunt of the closeness of the
weather), she found him a corpse. The Jury, atter hearing all the
evidence, returned a Verdict---. Died by the vishation of Hod."