The Sun.
London, England, 1806-07-01 00:00:00

C9RONEKt'S INQUESTS.

• Early Sunday mornini a party of friends, con-
sisting of Mrs. Van Butchel, she wife of 1)r. Martiti
Van Bigchel, of Mount-street ;
her
Mr. Isaae Van Butchel ; three MI% sA s'' 6
stot'idaugh-
tersson, of. Mr. Aston, an eminent gul..qock-'imith, of
Robinsonne, Chelsea ; and nine rs, went
Up the River id a four-oared cutter, b!t.:')flging to
GOdtrey, of Lunhetli, •to Richmond, wi!t. thq
dined and spent the dziv: On; their return t... 1 'the'
_o'clock,
hoisted a sail. About half past Nlne
O'clocC, they were sailing through Fulham Gut, ~1
Short distance on the lower .of Putney-Bridge ;• .
Mr. Van Butchel-Wits then at the helm; and he-un,.
fortunately being an inexperienced helmsman, ne,
gleeied the rudder, the' shocking consequence was,
the boat ran athwart a sailing barge, which was
lying at anchor about 40 yards off Sir Philip Stephen'4
house ; in the collision, the side of the boat was
stove in, and she tipset ; in consequence of which
the whole of the company were plunged into the
River. Some of them clung to the cnhie of the
barge, and soine to the sides Mr. Van Butchel ob-
serving his mother sink, dived after her, andbronght
her up ; but unfortunately striking his head against
the barge, he sunk, never to rise again. The three
Miss Astons held by the side of the barge for a
considerable time. Two of them', Ann and Han-
nah, sunk, their strength being exhausted ; the ebb-
tide sucked them under the barge ; they rose no
more.

Sir Philip Stephens being in his garden, and ob,
serving the shocking catastrophe, exerted himself,
with his servants, in sending off boats; they reached
the barge in time to relieve Miss Aston, who was
still clinging to the barge, from her perilous situa-
tion; with the assistance of persons who were pass-
ing at the time in boats, they also recovered Mrs.
Van Butchel, and the rest of the company (eleven
out of the fourteen),- and carried them to shore.
The bodies of those who did not rise again were
dragged for by some watermen, Without delay,
and in about ten minutes Mr. • Van 'Butchel was
found. He was taken immediately to the Swan
public-house, at Fulham, when the means recom-
mended by the Hutnane Society were tried, for se;-
veral hours, by some Medical Gentlemen -in that
neighbourhood, but we -art sorry to say without
dffed. It is supposed his striking his head against
the barge, on, rising with his mother, proved
fatal.' The survivors were all taken on shore, and
dry clothes being procured they were conveyed home
in carriages. The watermen continued draggingfor
the bodies of the. Misses Astons till the return of the
flood-tide, 'which-prevented them from Tireceedieg.
Early yesterday morning they 1-.suined their search,
wheti Richard Tindale, a waterman, foetid the/body
of Ann 'Aston;a young Lady 18 years of age, a short
distance from' the fatal spot. • •
In the evening G. Ht..inoSoN, Esq. the Coroner for
the county, held an Inquest upon the betties, at the
Swan publidrhoue, when John 'Chileot; a cheese-
monger) who Was one of the company, gave, evidence
to the above,effeEt; • upon which the Jury, withoet
hesitation, brought ,in their ••verdid —:efccidt.nta/
'Death.

Afa late bout-last night the body of Miss Hannah
Aston was not found. The sun iving Miss ,Aston
and her father are
..inconsolable for th,:ir
former' was not out of danger last night. Mrs. Aston
is, on a visit to some relations in
.S.tatforckhire.

A Coroner's Inquest was held th one o'clock yes-
terday, at the Swan Inn, Mount-street, °Lithe boaies
of Wm. Moulton, horse-,dealer in
,Cumoerlandyari'L
Kensington,.Rob. Street, bis servant-boy, I 5 yards of
age,
.and Sarah Collins, all taken out of the Seri. en-
tine river, in Hyde Park, last Saturday afternoon, as
stated in our Paper of yesterday. The first witness
was Thos. Winter, who lives at No.•4,,New-court,
Kensington. He stated, that on Saturday. last, about
three o'clock in the afternoon, as!he was passing
through Hyde Park, at the.head of the Seiyeattine
river, he saw Mr. Moulton (whom he had knol/4‘
perfectly well) 'at the distance of thirty or forty
yards, driving a one-horse chaise, on
.the North
side of the road, with a boy at his. side, at a very
slew trot, There was no horse or carriage on
.the,
road near him at the time, and Witness was, going
on towards.the South side of the River, when, on a
sudden, he heard a great plunge and splashing in
the water. Witness turned round to look, and be
saw Mr. Moulton, with the boy, in the chaise, and
the horse, swimming, at about 50 pr to yards froM
the head of the river; the chaise was perfectly up-
right, and both sitting in it, and he observed Mr.
Moulton.pull-his right-hand rein -to turn the berse
round. Mr. Moulton being a weighty man,
.the
chaise upset towards the side he sat in, and the boy
jumped out on the other side. He immediately ran
to give-them assistance, and perceiYed Mr. Moulton
rise ,several times, with his hands up. The boy lie
did not see, and the horse and.chaise had sunk. ! He
was about two or three minutes in coming to the
spot, and in.that
.time a Soldier bad pulled off his
coat, and had been in the water, but could nut
render any assistance. He said, the chaise might be
twenty yards from the shore when it sunk. He
knew the'river well, and,,at that part of it, there was
a sudden descent of near fiffeen feet, which coal-
penced 'at !the distance of five yards from the
shore when the -water- was low ; but when at
'its proper height, it was near fifteen yards' from
the shore. Horses had been frevently watered
on that spot. A Gentleman on horseback dis-
..mouhted, and told him to mount,' -and ride to
'the boat-house for assistance, which is sixty yin- Us
from the place where' the accident happened.—
' When ,be arrived there, he saw only a woman ;
he ran 'to procure a boat belonging 'to the Ranger,.
which was .mbored near thirty yards farther On, and
steered off with the drags, attended by a soldiJ• and
James Dunn, a chimney-sweeper ; by that tune a
great many people Lad assembled on the shore,. who'
were endeavouring to give assistance. He thrw
the drag fifteen times, without any effeet, the Ai.i.-
teentlTtitrie be brought up the horse by the cOhar,
and the chaise, which was brought on shore. , The
horse was dead. He went otit •again, find dragged
for the bridles 'of the man and boy ; the drag caught
hold of Mr. Moulton by.the breeches, but Lot being
sufficient to holds the rope broi,e twice.
On being questioned by the .Coroner, whether he
understobd•the nature of a drag'f be said he diet, and
that the one, in use was nut a proper one, tile teeth'
being too short and blunt, and the ropes not being
thick enough.- Fle went •bl-ck- for- thO last 'let pre=.
seated_ to the Humane Society, out it was too