The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1839-05-03 00:00:00

CORONER'S INQUEST.

On Wednesday morning, an inquest was held on the body
of a man named James M`Greavy, of No. 47, Back Portland-
street, before P. F. Curry, Esq., coroner, and the following
jury :—Peter Rawson, Nicholas Doran, William Redman,
John Bradshaw, Thomas Hewit, John Jones, Joseph Raw-
son, David Crompton, Edward Dewhurst, William AP Ghee,
James Clegg, and Thomas Rylands.
The deceased, it was supposed, had attempted to commit
suicide by drowning himself, but, as the evidence shows, his
death was occasioned by exposure to cold, the effect of im-
mersion in the water. The first witness examined was
James Smith, who, being sworn, deposed :—I am a black-
smith by trade, and live near Bond-street School. Last Sa-
turday, about eleven o'clock, I was on the North Shore, and
saw the deceased in the water. His clothes were lying on
the wall, near the water-side. About two minutes after I
first saw him, I observed him going down, and I instantly
rushed into the water, and rescued him. On bringing him
ashore, I turned him on his side, and water came out of his
mouth. The water was not more than two feet deep where
he sunk, and the mud was knee-deep. I can't say whether
he had been swimming. About 20 minutes before this, I
saw him walking along the wall. He could not tell how long
he was in the water. I helped to take him to Mr. Bullen's
public-house, and after that to his own house in Back Port-
land-street. He did not tell me his name.

Mr. George Sullen.—l keep the Mile End public-house,
on the North Shore. It is very often used as a receiving-
house. The deceased was brought to my house last Saturday
morning. When I first saw him he was sitting in a chair,
quite close to the fire ; he was shivering, and moaning very
much. I said to him, in a joking way, " What ! have you
been drowning yourself ?" but he did not make any answer.
I desired my wife to bring him a little drop of rum, as he
was foundering ; he drank a part of it ; he did not speak,
but turned up his eyes. I sent for the police-officers, and
he was taken from my house to the receiving-house in Re-
gent-street. _

- Thomas Denham,—l am a labourer. I live in Cumber-
land-street. I saw the deceased on last Saturday morning.
A gentleman on horseback told me a man was drowning—l
went to the place and saw the first witness go into the water ;
I followed him and helped to bring the deceased ashore. After
washing him and putting his clothes on, we took him to Mr.
Bullen's, and from there to his own house in Back Portland-
street. He said his name was James M`Greavy.
Mary M`Greavy,—l am widow of the deceased James
M`Greavy. He was a labourer. He left home on Saturday
between ten and eleven o'clock in the morning. He was 66
years of age. He was not in the habit of bathing, I never
knew him to bathe before this time. About three or four
o'clock the same afternoon a man came and told me that my
husband was bathing, and had got rather far into the water.
He was then at Mr. Tindall's in Regent-street. I saw him
there—and asked him what happened, he said he went into
the water to bathe his feet, and if it had not been for some
good christians who went in and saved him, I never would
have seen him, but, he added, I think I'm done. He was
brought home that night. A surgeon from the dispensary
saw him ; but the deceased got no better. He died on Mon-
day morning. All the words he spoke during the night before
his death was, that he was terribly crushed at his heart, and
could not recover.

The CORONER said, that as there was no evidence given to
shew how the deceased came by his death, it would be neces-
sary to adjourn the inquest until a post mortem examination
of the body was made.
The jury assented, and the examination having taken
place, they reassembled yesterday morning.
John Grant,—l am a surgeon ; I was called to the deceased
on Saturday evening, and found him recovering from ex-
haustion, brought on by exposure to cold, and did not then
consider him in danger. I was informed that he had been
immersed in the water. I have made a post mortem exa-
mination of the body, and am of opinion that the deceased
died of congestion of the lungs, brought on in all probability
by immersion in water or exposure to cold.
The Jury returned a verdict to that effect.

SUlClDE.—Yesterday morning, about eight o'clock, a
woman named Mrs. Brown, residing at No. 11, Clark-street,
Toxteth Park, put an end to her existence by hanging herself
in the cellar of the house.—The inqueston the body will take
place to-day.