The Sun.
London, England, 1841-06-03 00:00:00

CORONER'S INQUEST.

SUICIDE OF AN EX-POLICEMAN.—Late on Monday eve-
ning Mr. Carter, the Coroner for Surrey, and a respectable
Jury, met at the Adelaide Inn, Wandsworth, to inquire into
the death of William Dickson, aged 38, formerly a tradesman
of consi.lerable eminence, but late a constable in the L division
of police, who was found drowned in the river Thames.
Mr. John Hall, carpet-warehouseman, No. 1, Southampton-
buildinf,s, Holborn, was well acquainted with the deceased,
who sva., the last time he saw him alive, in the L division of
police. He was a married man, and had a family of seven
young children. On Sunday morning last a policeman came
to his residence and said a man had been found in the Thames
at Wandsworth, with a sealed letter on his person, addre,,sed
to witness. As soon as he saw the superscription he knew it
was the deceased, and came over and identified his body.
The CORONER proceeded to read the letter. It was dated
Saturday morning, and commenced—
" Dear John—lt is with feelings of no common kind that I
write to you. I'm the victim of a broken heart, produced by
a piece of tyranny unparalleled in its brutality. I've been dis-
charged from the police force, my last resource for bread upon
this earth, and by the time you receive this I shall cease to
exist. There are two things I wish you to do, my dear John—
write to Barnard Castle and to Scarborough, but not to my dear
wife. Tell her not, I entreat you, how my miserable career
was ended. I hope God will forgive me, but I did it for
the best. I had nothing in store for my dear wi:e and chil-
dren but starvation ; but perhaps, now that I'm gone,
friends will spring up and do something for them; and may
that God, into whose presence I am going, protect and sup-
port her. John, I say again, I have been the victim of a most
cruel persecution—my heart is broken. Tell my brother
Joshua to pay you what I owe you, and, should you not get all
the money, you will have the consolation of knowing that you
have, at times, saved me from starvation, and with my dying
breath I bless you for it." The letter then d tails at consider-
able length the circumstance to which the unfortunate deceased
alludes to in the previous part of his letter. It appears that
he was dismissed the force upon an alleged charge of drunken-
ness, and in the most bitter language he.accuses some of his
superior officers in the L division of the grossest injustice to-
wards him, and says that, as they have thrown him destitute
upon the world, his death lies at their door. Others of the
officers and constables he speaks of in terms of gratitude. After
some directions as to how money may be raised for his wife and
family, the deceased says, " My body will be found somewhere
near Putney. Bury it, my dear John, and God will remember
you." The letter concludes with, " From your truly heart-
broken and wretched friend, WILLIAM DICKSON."

The witness, who was• deeply affected at the contents of the
letter, said that, four years since the deceased was in extensive
business as a draper, at Scarborough. He kept seven young
men, and spent 8,000/. in the business, when he became a
bankrupt. He had been in London during the last six months,
seeking a situation as assistant in the business, but could not
meet with one. He had endured the greatest privations, and,
as a last resource; had consented to become a policeman. He
was not a man of intemperate habits. He had an extremely
sensitive mind. The deceased's wife and children were at
Scarborough.
The Jury returned a verdict, " That the deceased William
Dickson was found drowned in the river Thames, but how or
by what means the deceased got into the water there is no posi.
tive evidence before this Jury to show."