The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1836-03-04 00:00:00

THE INQUEST.

On Wednesday morning an inquest was taken before John
Reyes, Esq., the county coroner and a respectable jury, at the
Police Court, High-street, upon the bodies of the six unfortunate
persons, named Thomas Summerfield, and Mary his wife,
Owen Carlin, Patrick Healey, Thomas Bullen, and Anthony
Carlin, who came by their deaths from the falling of the house
in Thomas-street.

Patrick Naughton examined.—He lived in the cellar of the
house which had fallen. On Monday evenino. he retired to
bed with his family, consisting of his wife and three children,
and was awoke earl• in the morning by his boy screaming that
the house was tumbling down. He instantly sprung up, and
dragged both his wife and the tiny .into a cellar adjoining the
one in which they slept, where they remained in safety for some
time, and were ultimately released by some of the police. None
of them received any serious injury. OLe little boy was slightly
contused. _ _

James Carlin examined.—He was the occupier of the house
in Thomas-street, in which he had resided about eight vears.
The low room to the front of the street he occupied as a shop,
and the room at the hack and four upper rooms were let for
lodgings. On Monday evening there were 21 persons in the
house, including himself and family, together with five persons
in the cellar. About six o'clock (in the following morning he
was alarmed by a loud noise in the house, and by the dies of
some of the lodger's. Had no recollection how he got out of the
house. Had not received much injury. Witness had repeat-
edly been warned by the landlord and the persons who were
excavating the foundation of the adjoining building, ihatthe
house was in danger. He had been served with a notice to that
effect nearly a month ago.
A copy of the notice was here lead by the coroner, and was as
follows :
"Mr. P. CA RUN.
SIII,—The house you now live in is in great danger of fall-
ing ; you must therefore leave it immediateis...
(Signed) WALkEIt,
Solicitor to Mr. Warrington, your landlord.
Liverpool, 13th February, IRlti."

The Coroner asked witness if he had made his lodgers ac-
quainted with the contents of the notice, to which he replied,
he had. The reason %shy he did not leave the house was, that
he could not get another which suited him so well ; and that he
had paid a sum of money to the former tenant for the good will
of the house, which he wished to get repaid beture he left it.
Upon being again asked whether be had told all the lodgers of
the danger in which the building was, he said, that he could not
recollect telling any one in particular, but it had been made
the subject of conversation in the house. Two of the deceased
had only been a few days with him.
About four or lire years ago the house adjoining to that in
which he lived was ti;ken down, and a few weeks ago an exca-
vation was continence(' upon the site of that house for the
at length, Ann Bull
foun-
dation of another building. But he was not able to say how
much the house he lived in was endangered by the excavation.
He could not see very well, and had not been much out of the
sent for. She said she en'
house. ConsideraWe difficulty arose in procuring Persons to
,i,dieten identify 0 tnhee
of bodies
e,t,hseed,sti.lffyaesrers;
had
hat morning seen five of the bodies, I ; t. 1
tliedeocf:
udic,, sof, ree •
oginzed as
those of Thomas Summerfield, and Mary his wit•
e, Owen Can_
Stn, Patrick Healey, and her (witnesses) husband,
Sullen. The boy Carlin was identified by his Thomas
father.
Mr. Samuel Rowland, surveyor, said that during the last
week he had examined the excavation which
was going on in
Thomas-street. The foundation is vat`,
sandy , and the exca-
vation
was very near to the foundation
bad fallen. lie had been called
of the building which
upon, together with Mr.
Stewart, the surveyor, to •
ascertain whe • thei the wall of the
house was a party wall, which
they
decided it
by itself, without support, and I the beams of the house next to it
were fixed in it, and the.: roof of the house rested upon it. He
thought the accident was caused by the rain, which had been
the
very heavy during evening 01 Monday, beating
.I'mm the
east upon the foundation, and which had no doubt earned away
a considerable portion (4. the sand upon which the me '
ho built. The sand that was left to support the w:illshelveddt:‘.saml
between three and four feet into the new foundation, end several
yards of the wall of an old holise, which had been taken down
some years ago, were left standing, iu order to support the gable
,end of the building which had fallen. He had called upon MG-