The Sun.
London, England, 1867-12-07 00:00:00

STARVED 70 DEATH.

Some of the most harrowing statements we have ever
met with were made at an inquest just held at Bromley,
on the body of George Henry Pritchard. Some years
ago the deceased commenced business as a cigar-maker,
with a capital of £3,000. His business was ruined in con-
sequence of his having " signed a paper " for a friend, and
for about three years he has earned a precarious living by
making polishing powder, which he hawked from house to
house. His brother, who is in business at Manchester,
sent him money occasionally to pay the rent of the house
he occupied in Eagleton-road, Bromley.
William Pritchard, a boy of 12, dressed in the garb of
the Poplar Union, said that he had four little sisters.
The family had often been without food ; for a long time
past they had nothing but half a loaf of bread in the
morning, and another at night, to live on. His mother
had been very ill for some weeks. She had pawned her
last skirt to get food ; they had no furniture. His father
had been too ill to go out for a fortnight past. On Sun-
day morning he got up off the bed on the floor to sit
down ;he stumbled and fell forward on his face. "We
thought," said the witness, " that he went to sleep, for he
never stirred. He lay there all the day and all the night
quite still. He did not groan. My mother was too ill to
know what happened. On Monday morning I said to my
little sister Ada (aged nine), Wake him up.' She said,
' I can't make him hear when I shout ever so loud in his
ear.' We made a great noise to wake him, but he did not
move. The last sovereign that came from the country my
father had saved two or three shillings out of to get my
mother something to eat, as she was so ill ; the rest he paid
tor rent."

Mr. H. Ellis, Ebenezer Cottage, Bromley, was one of
those who gratuitously visited the sick and poor in the
district, and confirmed these statements.
The Rev. Mr. Lance said that from what he could hear
the deceased and his wife were very high-minded people,
and shrank from making their destitution known. The
little girl Ada was now delirious, and in her delirium she
spoke Of nothing but her previous misery. It was pitiful
to hear her say " It is the last bit of bread ; keep it for
the baby !"

The little.boy said that his father had spoken of the
workhouse, but he did not go there, for he expected to get
in some debts that were due to him. He got a box of
clothes from his brother, but they had all to be pawned
for food.

The jury returned a verdict of " Death from pleuro-
pneumonia, accelerated by want of food and necessary
clothing."

DEATH OF A RECLUSR

We have to record the death under distressing circum-
stances of a son of Ebenezer Elliott, the poet. The de-
ceased gentleman, Benjamin Gartside Elliott, has for the
last eleven years lived the life of a recluse, at Shire
Green. The house was formerly occupied by Mrs. Gart-
side, his aunt, and during her life was 'kept in excellent
order. It was as charming a country retreat as could be
desired. It stands in its own grounds, and is surrounded
by lawn and shrubberies, Mrs. Gartside left the property
to her nephew, and from that time, owing to some
morbid feeling, no one has ever been allowed to enter
the house. The garden for years has been entirely
neglected. Little by little every vestige of glass has dis-
appeared from the windows of the house, the shutters
have been kept constantly closed, and Mr. Elliott has
lived in a small kitchen at the back, his only companion
being a dog. He has had his milk and other necessaries
handed in to him at the door, which he opened no further
than to admit them. The only one with whom deceased
seems to have held any communication is the police-
man at Shire Green, and with him he has walked for
three or four hours together during his night duty. Some
time ago Mr. Elliott burst a blood-vessel in his leg, which
he bound up himself without surgical assistance, but
expressed an opinion that he should die on the approach
of cold weather. On Sunday morning last he received his
milk as usual, but on Monday and Tuesday morning no
one answered the door. On Tuesday night the door
was burst open by the neighbours, and a scene of com-
plete confusion presented itself. With only the light
of a policeman's lantern it was at first difficult to
discern objects, but at last the body of Mr. Elliott was
found under the sink stone in the back kitchen, quite
stiff and cold. He was only partially dressed in trousers
and shirt, bouts unlaced, and without stockings. His legs
were crossed, and one hand rested on his breast. In one
pocket was found an old flint pistol, unloaded, and in the
other a half sovereign. The room was covered in all di-
rections with papers and memoranda, and presented an
extraordinary sight. Near the fireplace, the grate of
which was in a dilapidated condition, stood a cast-iron
chair with a cushion, which had evidently been used
by deceased, and on the other side an old sofa covered
with rugs, which had been his bed. In other parts
of the room stood an old printing press, a chest of
tools, with razors and crockery, in admired confusion—
in the farthest corner a swprd and an old musket
with the bayonet fixed ; and on the mantel-shelf a note,
" That the Greeks were an intellectual, but not a polite
nation," with references to Greek historians supporting
that opinion. Near the couch was a well-worn oopy of
" Frankenstein." The other parts of the house were well
furnished and in good order, there being some excellent
oil paintings and elaborately- carved old oak furniture,
When Mr. Elliott left the house at night he always carried
a formidable hedging bill, and as his house was supposed
to be bristling with fire-arms the youngsters of the neigh-
bourhood usually kept aloof from it after dark. Deceased
wig Ocl years lidepenclent.