The Sun.
London, England, 1842-08-22 00:00:00

SUICIDE BY LEAPING FROM THE

MON UMEN T.
IDENTIFICATION OF THE BODY.

A singular occurrence took place during the after.
noon relative to her identity, the circumstances of
which may be briefly described as follows :—A young
female named Croombridge, living in the service of
Mr. Arnold, toy-manufacturer, King William-street,
London-bridge, had a presentiment that the deceased
was her sister, and requested permission to view the
body. Mr. Arnold's nurse accompanied her to the
church, and on the features of the deceased being
exposed to view, the young woman, Croombridge,
screamed out that it was her sister, and that she had
destroyed herself through the cruelty of a young man
with whom she had been acquainted for some time
past. Her state of excitement was such that some
person present imagined her impression to be correct,
exc -pt the nurse, an intelligent woman, who had once
or twice seen the sister of Croombridge, and could not
trace all the features in the deceased. Another sister,
living with aperson named Webb, in L;_mdenhall-market,
was then sent for, to set the matter at rest, and on
arriving at the church, after viewing the body, she
at once declared that deceased was not her sister. The
other, however, persisted in her belief that it was, and
stated in corroboration that when she last saw her on
Sunday week, deceased bid her " good-by," and said,
" You will never see me again alive." '.rhe two sis-
ters were certainly very much alike, and not at all
unlike the corpse : but the nurse before alluded to
stated that the sister was much freckled about the
face, while the corpse was very fair. All doubt
was, however, set at rest, about half-past seven
o'clock last evening, by her recognition as the servant
of Mr. Rowbotham, residing at No. 9, Buttersland-
street, Hoxton. Her name is Jane Cooper, and
she had been missing from her situation since Thurs-
day morning, and Mr. Rowbotham having heard
of the accident, came down to view the body, and
immediately recognised her. An examination was
made last evening by Dr. Thomas Elliotson and Mr.
Croft, in the presence of several other gentlemen, by
direction of the Coroner, when it appeared that both
legs had sustained a compound fracture—and the feet
were also much dislocated—the left shoulder was al-
most torn from the body, and the back of the skull
presented a frightful fracture. The features were in
no way mutilated, and the deceased was a well-look-
ing young woman, somewhat inclined to corpulency.
She was about five feet high, and habited in the cus-
tomary manner of domestic servants It is the opinion
of Dr. Elliotson and several other medical men, that
she is not pregnant, though a difference on this point
exists, which will doubtless be cleared up before the
inquest is held. No cause is yet assigned for the rash act.
It is a melancholy reflection, that this is the third
time life has been sacrificed in the same dreadful
manner within three years. The utter uselessness of
appointing a sentinel in the gallery must now be ap-
parent to every person ; and if the Monument be not

whom he had great confidence, and his omission to
watch narrowly the movements of the deceased, creates
much surprise in the minds of all who knew him.
INQUEST •ON THE BODY.
On Saturday afternoon, at three o'clock, Mr. Payne,
the Civic Coroner, and a jury of respectable inha-
bitants of the garish of St. Magnus, Lower Thames-
street, assembled at the Swan Tavern, Fish-street-
hill, to inquire into the circumstances attendant on
the death of Jane Cooper, aged 17 years, who commit-
ted suicide on the morning before by jumping from
the top of the Monument.
The jury, on being sworn, proceeded to view the
shattered remains of the deceased, which were depo-
sited in a shell in St. Margaret's Church, and on their
return to the inquest-room the following evidence
was adduced before them :

The first witness called was Robert Fuller Rolfe, a
City constable, who deposed that while passing up
Fish-street-hill on the morning before, and on reach-
ing near the chapel, he saw a female in the act of
dropping from the top of the Monument. In her fall
she struck against a part of the Monument itself, and
thus caused her body to rebound and fall into near the
middle of the street. He hastened to her assistance,
nd raised her up, but found she was quite dead.
He then sent for a shell, into which the body was put,
and removed into St. Margaret's church. He exa-
mined her clothes, and found the initials upon them
to be " J. C.," but beyond this there was nothing else
about her person by which she could be identified.
George Pike, another City officer, corroborated the
evidence of the last witness.
Thomas Jenkins, the receiver of the fcei to view
the Monument, was next called and examined. He

stated that the deceased presented herself at the en-
trance to the Monument about half-past ten on the
day before, having paid sixpence for her admission.
He did not at the time perceive anything remarkable
in her appearance or manner to give him the slightest
suspicion that she meditated self-destruction, and on
her paying the money he merely told her to take
hold of the railing on the left hand side ; upon which
she replied, " Oh, yes, I know." She then proceeded
up the stairs and did not seem to be the least flurried

iii her manner, and he saw no more of her until he

observed her body in the street. There is a person
named Fletcher at the top of the Monument, whose
duty it is to conduct all visitors round, and not to
leave any person alone. If there are several persons
at the top he is required to walk round, but not to in-
. .

terfere Unless his suspicions are aroused. At the
time the unfortunate deceased had ascended there

was no other person on the top of the building, with
the exception of Fletcher. He (witness) did not see
the deceased, after giving her the warning to hold by
the left railing, until after she threw herself from the
building.
Nathaniel Fletcher, an inactive old man, said, that
on the morning before, he went on duty as usual at
nine o'clock, and about half-past ten deceased came
and asked to view the Monument. She then paid
the fee and went up, and he followed her to the top'.
When they had been there a few minutes, he heard a
noise as if a door closed, and went to see what was
the matter, leaving the deceased alone. He returned
in a few minutes, and not seeing the young woman,
he thought she had gone down stairs, but instead of
this she threw herself off. When he left, the de-
ceased was standing by the flag-staff, and this was the
last time he saw her. In reply to a question from a
juror, the witness denied having more than half a
pint of beer to drink on Friday morning.
The jurors almost unanimously expressed them-
selves perfectly astonished that a person so feeble and
incompetent should have been appointed to such a
situation.

Sarah Timmins, a fashionably-dressed young
woman, said she lived in the Walworth .road, and
had been acquainted with the deceased for some time
past. On Thursday last the deceased called upon
her and she then appeared perfectly happy. No par-
ticular conversation took place on that occasion, and
she never observed any thing in her manner or habit
to induce her to think she was disturbed in her mind,
Mr. W. Rowbotham, of Buttesland-street, Hoxton.
deposed that the deceased had been in his service for
about twelve months, and up to Thursday last, when
she went out for a holiday. lie was quite certain of
her identity, and that her name was Jane Cooper.
She always appeared to her mistress to be in good
health and spirits, and he knew of nothing that had
latterly occurred to prevent her being otherwise. He
understood she went out to spend the day with her
friends, and she was expected home on Thursday
night by eleven o'clock, but did not return. The wit-
ness was not aware that she went to Camberwell Fair
on the Thursday evening, nor did he know where
she had spent Thursday night.
Mrs. Sarah Rowbotham, wife to the last witness,
said that when the deceased left her house on Thurs-
day morning, she told her she was going to Vauxhall,
9.nd she then requested her to be home by eleven
o'clock, which she promised. I expected her back,
but she did not come; nor did she (witness) see her
alive after that morning. In answer to the questions
of the Coroner and Jury, the witness said that she
had paid the deceased one shilling on the Thursday
morning when she went, and that was all the wages
due to her. She said that the deceased had some
days before drawn the whole of her wages but the
shilling to purchase clothes, and the whole of those
she wore on the Thursday morning. This witness
also declared that she was not aware of any male ac-
quantanco which the deceased had, nor of her form-
ing an improper intimacy with any one, nor had
any of her friends or followers been to her (wit-
ness's) house the whole of the time she had been in

her service.
A number of letters which had been produced by,
and which were found in the box of the deceased, by
Mr. Rowbotham, were here examined by the Coroner
and Jury, and some extracts from them read by Mr.
Payne, but they contained nothing to give the slightest
clue as to the cause of the rash act. In one letter to
Miss Timmins she wrote thus :—" I wish I could find

every one so unchanging as you are." But when Miss
Timmins was called on to explain what it meant, she
declared she was quite ignorant of its import, and that
she did not know of any one to whom the deceased
had been in the slighest degree attached ; nor had she
ever heard her, she said, mention the name of any
young man whose company she kept.
Mrs. Sarah Cooper, step-mother to the deceased,
stated that the deceased had been to service about four
years, and that during that time two situations, in the
first of which she had been about three years, and in
the last twelve months. She was a young woman of a
very high spirit and very self-willed, and for some
time previous to her death she and witness had not
been on good terms. This was owing to her speaking
to her about keeping very irregular hours while at
her house, as she used to come home at one and two
o'clock in the morning while stopping with her.
CORONER—When was this ? Witness—When she
was out of a situation.
CORONER—Do you know of her forming any im-
proper intimacy with any young man ? Witness—
Not any one in particular. She was rather gaily
inclined.

CORONER—Can you form any opinion as to the
cause of her committing this deed ? Witness—None
whatever.
Juror—You have said the deceased was of a hasty
temper ? Witness—She was, Sir, very violent in her
temper indeed, and had once threatened my life.
CORONER—Has she ever threatened to take away
her own life ? 'Witness—No, Sir ; but I have fre-
quently spoken to her about self-destruction, and
what a shocking offence it was ; but she seemed to
treat it with indifference, and said she did not think
anything about it.
Juror—Do you reccllect having heard her say any-
thing about the young woman who had thrown her-
self off the Monument about two years ago ? Wit-
ness—No, Sir, but I have beard her say she should
wish to see the Monument.
Another Juror—Was she in the habit of reading
novels or religious books ? Witness—She used to
read both, Sir, and was as nice a young woman as
could be, but had lately become completely altered.
CORONER—You have said you were in the habit
of speaking to the deceased about self-destruction.
What were the causes that led you to do so ?
Witness—No causes ; but we used to read of such
things in books and in the newspapers, and that's all.
CORONER—Then you cannot assign any cause that
has come within your own knowledge for the de-
ceased's throwing herself from the top of the Monu-
ment ? Witness—l cannot, Sir.
Mr. William Fuller, surgeon, of King William-
street, was next called, and examined. He stated
that he saw the body of the deceased just after it had
been picked up, and on removing her bonnet he found
part of the skull fractured and forced in.
CORONER—There were, I believe, several injuries
on different parts of the body. There is no necessity
for a minute description ot them, but merely state
the material or principal injury which was the more
immediate cause of death. Illitness—The more im-
mediate cause of death was the fracture of the skull,
and the laceration and protrusion of the brain.
CORONER—By my directions, Mr. Fuller, you have
made an examination of the body of the deceased with
the view of ascertaining whether the deceased was
in a state of pregnancy. Is it your opinion, from that
examination, that she was in the family way or not ?
Mr. Fuller—lt is my opinion that she was not in a
state of pregnancy ; if she was so, it must be in its
early stage. In reply to another question from the
Coroner, the witness gave it as his decided opinion