The Sun.
London, England, 1842-01-20 00:00:00

EV.ENING SUN

ttEteLyeAniNiiCHOLY OCCURRENCE.
an inquest was held by Mr. Payne, at the
Commercial 1 avern, Sherborne-lane, on view of the body
of an infant
to the he
only onen month
on Sunday last.
i old, whose
e mother had
broughtcoLm r
eia
o i
thel evidence Tarn, it
of
appearedEleano thatrColstoc thek , servant at the
poorwoman
was brought to the inn on Sunday last about two o'clock,
by a porter, with the intention of staying only one night,
and of proceeding to Yorkshire by the steam-packet
the following day. She said that she had just arrived
from Bristol, and that her child, which was well in the
morning, was then ill. She warmed the infant by the
fire. It appeared convulsed, and witness advised her to
take it to a doctor, but she bathed it with some warm
water, and did not go for medical assistance wail the
evening.
of 53,
King William-street, Mr. Hush Fuller, surgeon,
was examined, and said that the child was brought to
him by the mother between six and seven o'clock on Sun-
day evening, when he thought that the infant was dead;
however, he put it into a warm bath, and reaction took
place. The mother told him she had arrived from Bris-
tol that afternoon ; and exposure to the cold was quite
sufficient to cause the death of a child so young. There
did not appear any thing suspicious about the death of
the child:
The CORONER here ordered the summoning officer to
call the mother of the child.
He found her in an adjoining room, apparently faint-
ing, and having communicated the fact to the Coroner,
Mr. Fuller was requested to go to her, which he did, and
in about five minutes returned to the Inquest-room, and
informed the Coroner and Jury that the poor woman had
just expired. The circumstance, as may be supposed,
produced a great sensation in the room, particularly
when it was stated that only a few minutes before she
had appeared in perfect health.
Mr. Fuller said that when he went to the poor woman
he found another medical gentleman attending her, and
endeavouring to get her to swallow a little brandy, in,
which he assisted ; but she was unable to do so, and ex-
pired without having spoken since she was first taken.
The CORONER said that this was certainly one of the
most melancholy cases he ever knew and he thought
that under the circumstances they had better adjourn
the inquiry, in order that some of the poor woman s re-
lations might be sent for. They had had no satisfactory
evidence as to the cause of the child's death, and now
that the mother was dead it could not be obtained by any
other means than through her friends.
Mr: William Handy, landlord of the Commercial Inn,
said that he saw the poor woman a few minutes before
her death, and she appeared then quite well, and walked
up stairs with a brisk step. She had every attention
while there.
The inquiry was then adjourned till Monday next.

THE LATE FATAL OCCURRENCE
ON THE RIVER. -
Yesterday the adjourned inquiry, occupying upwards
of nine hours, took place before Mr. Baker, the Coroner,
and a most respectable Jury, at the Royal Mason,
Sophia-street, Poplar, on the body of John Cattin, aged
42, a butcher in the employ of Mr. Lambert, of the West
India-road, who, together with his son, was drowned,
whilst in a skiff with several othei persons, in conse-
quence of being struck by the Orwell, fcswich steamer,
on the afternoon of the 2d ultimo.
It will be remembered that the inquiry was ti,d.journed
from Saturday last, in order to give the Steam-boat com-
pany, or some one in their behalf, an opportunity to be
present.
From the evidence of those on board the skiff it ap-
peared that there were eight persons in it beside the de-
ceased and his child. About five in the afterii6on, onr
the day in question, they were crossing the river, from
Limehouse to Rotherhithe. They were nearly, a third
across the river when, although dark at the time, the
Orwell steamer was observed steering her course towards
the north shore ; they, however, immediately after
changed their tack to the south shore, at which tame she
was within 100 yards of the skiff. They called out to
her, but the steamer still cam• on, between the skiff and
the south shore. They again called out, and in •
minute after the skiff was struck by the starboard
paddle and upset, and much broken. They were
all precipitated into the water, and, with the ex-
ception of deceased and his son, eight years of
age, all saved, in which the captain and crew of the
steam-boat assisted. At the time of the collision the
river, at this part, was quite free of craft. Six out of the
eight survivors had brought actions against the Company
for the injury they had sustained. The witnesses all
underwent severe cross-examination, but their statements
varied but slightly,
On the part of the Steam-boat Company, Captain
Wing. and several of the crew of the Orwell were exa-
mined. Their evidence went to show that so far from
the river being clear, they ran to the south shore to avoid
the numerous craft which covered it at the time. The
Captain was on the paddle-box, and the pilot on the look-
out at the time. The persons rowing the skiff were endea-
vouring to cross the bow of the steamer as she was coming
up, instead of doing which they ought to have held on
and dropped astern. They called out to those in the
boat to do so, but they paid no attention. The Captain
ordered the engines to be stopped and the boat to be
turned astern, which was carried into effect with all
possible speed.
The Coroner then, at some length, remarked upon the
nature of the case, and eulogised the plan adopted by
Sir John Hall for keeping the pool clear, and which was
manifested by the fact that it was now two years since he
(the Coroner) had held an inquest in consequence of a
steam-boat accident.
The Jury, at six o'clock, retired, and after an hour's
absence returned a verdict of—" Accidental death,
with a deodand of 20/. on the Orwell steamer, and they
felt that the conduct of the captain and the crew was
highly censurable in not keeping a proper look out."

INQUEST ON A CHILD. VER-
DICT OF WILFUL MURDER.
Yesterday an inquest was held before Mr. Wakley,
M.l'., Coroner, and a respectable Jury, at the Fulham
workhouse of the Kensington Union, on view of the body
of a female child, about two months old, which was
found on Friday the ith instant, at -ten o'clock at
night, on the step of the door of Mr. J.- Cotterell, No.
35, Kensington-square.
From, the evidence it appeared that the deceased child
was found wrapped in a white cotton frock and cup, with
a flannel shawl over its body and head, as above de-
scribed, by a female named Begley, residing at Barlow's
Cottage, Kensington, who was attracted to the spot by its
cries.. The child was taken by Dr. Merriman's coachman.
who carne up at the moment, to the station-house, and
from thence to the Workhouse at Kensington. There the
child was offered to various women in the house to
suckle, but it was.covered with an eruption, and none of
them would take it on that account. According to the
regulations of the Union it was sent on the following
Monday evening to the Fulham Workhouse. On its
arrival at the Fulham Workhouse, it was so ill that the
surgeon (Mr. Holmes) was sent for immediately.-
Mr. Holmes, in his evidence, stated, that when he
first saw the deceased child, it could retain nothing in
its stomach, but vomited everything that was given to
w it, and it as much emaciated. At a post mortem ex-
amination of the body, he found each organ (otherwise
healthy) presenting the appearance which belonged to
extreme exhaustion, brought about by the exposure, and
from that cause he believed that she died. There were
no external marks of injury on the body produced by
violence.
The CORONER then made inquiries into the cause of
removing the deceased child from Kensington workhouse,
where it was doing so well, to Fulham, and pointed out
the risk and impropriety of the journey to an infant in
its 'condition, to which the surgeon replied that it was
removed in compliance with the usual custom. The
Master of the Kensington Workhouse confirmed this
statement.
The CORONER said that the question of removal might
have been a very serious one for the Board of Guardians.
The evidence of the surgeon was, that from the
exposure in Kensington-square the death was pro-
duced. But it must be remembered that while
the child :was in the Kensington workhouse, it was
so well that the Governor regarded it as a compa,-,
ratively -fine and healthy child. In fact, .1t h was
much altered in health that the Governor said
.ehcu
not now identify the body
Tash that of the child
of
the chi whic c.nt
Id
from his establishment. transmiss
at such a time, and in such a season, might have de-
manded a verdict of manslaughter against the Guardians,
instead of one of murder against other persons.
A bill, printed by order of the Guardians, was shown
in the room, offering a reward of 21. for the discovery of
the parties who exposed the deceased.
The CORONER said he hoped it would be of use; but
he regretted to say that since he had been in office, in not
a single case of exposure in which he had held an inquest,
had the offenders been found.
The Jury then returned a verdict of " Wilful Murder
against some persons or persons unknown."

SUICIDE IN THE REGENT'S PARK.—Yes-
terday an inquisition was taken before Mr.Wakley, at the
Marylebone Infirmary, on the body of Thomas Davis,
aged 28, who committed suicide by hanging himself on
a tree in the Regent's-park, under the following painful
and melancholy circumstances :—Garret Percy, police-
,serjeant, 1) 3, said that on Monday morning, about
eleven o'clock, he was on duty in the Regent's-park, near
the Zoological-gardens, when a man came running to
him, and stated that there was a man hanging on a
tree... He went with the man in the direction he had
pointed out, and on arriving near North-gate he dis-
covered he deceased suspended by a silk handkerchief
from the branch of a tree in the shrubbery. He could
reach the branch from the ground, and with the assist-
ance of the mAn alluded to, he untied the handkerchief,
and got the body down. He was quite dead. Oa
searching his bcdy.he found a silver watch, two gold
seals, a purse cons tning 7s. sid., a bunch of keys, four
handkerchiefs (two silk and two cotton), a letter, and
a memorandum book. The contents of the letter were
not permitted by the Coroner to transpire, but it is said
to have been addressed to a young woman to whom
the deceased was paying his addresses. Mr. Bransden
stated that the deceased was groom to Mr. Dowbiggn,
the upholsterer, of Mount-street, Grosvenor-square. 110
saw him last alive on Monday, sliortly before
o'clock, when he came home with the horse andog:s,
having driven his master into the City. He was.in s. r
industrious man. Verdict—" Temporary Insar:
This day will be the anniversary' o
of ike
most important events that occurred during oingn
century—the acknowledgment of the
the .)asthe independence of
aoward. thudis-
.tdb
deathAlner oc America,
,Ginarrli7cBk3.inltl
7w7i
9l alsoand of
fe
jtohhenanniversar :the
tinguished philanthropist, in 1790:- en . •
invi e y her
sia. The Nu-ble
has title, during the ye our
The Earl of Aberdeienna.
Majesty the Queen to IV
gingonofof aFrtulty llext•
Ind
of his Majesty the
INTO town for Wiodlior