Death Of Sir Henry Clemen...
The Times, 1824-05-25T00:00:00

Yesterdav all inou3est was held in the King's Bench grisont before PETErR L E . Bsq1., coroner for that prison and its rules, on the body of Sir Henry C. emcnt Thompson, Barr., confined therein. The Jury were composed of prisoners, among whom wqere Sir Ed- Win Sandys (a coUnty imagistrate), and Captain Richard Butler. They proceeded to the aparnents occupied by th: deceased,v/hose bodv wvas still in bed, as he was tbunil t *here appeared nothing re. markaboly 5o as to account for his deatb, and his countenance bore a very placid appearanec. He had lost anarm in the service of his country, it issupposed while serving under Lord Nelson, and he w as respected an.ong his fr iends as an entcrprislng offaccr, as well as an amniable man. In consequenec of in eresting hirknself too ardu. ously in the election contests of tug borough of Grauthsn and Barn. stapl,e, in which Sir :l.lnas.* Lnpez was also concerned, he became greatlv embarrassed in his circa,nrsanccs, and was obliged at length l to seek relief urder the Insolvent Debtors' Act. He was committed to this prison on the 11th of M arch, and had been once before the Insolvents' Court, but in cnnsequence of a want of some papers, he was remande(l, and ordered. to he brought up again on Saturday, the 29tb ins,ant, whlien it was expected he would havc been discharged out of custotly. Mr. Henry Miles Gou ding, a surgecn confined in the King's Bench prison, deposed, that on Saturdav morning, about seven o'clock, the deceased's servant calne to himn with a note, tequesting 20 drops otlaudanum, with which he supplied bimn knowing Sir !Uenr's st3tc: twvo hours afterrards witness was ino?rmed at the gate that SirHenry was gone, or going 0ut upon aday-rule; he heard no more of him until about nine o'clock in the evening, when he found Sir Henry sur?ounded by a nurnber of gentlemenr; be ex- amined hinm, but found he had been dead at least two hours, and all the efforts of the witness and the other medical gentlcmen to restore hi,n were ineffectual. Sir E. Sandys.-lfave you the letter ? Witness.-No; it was onlv on v smail piece of pIaper. and I did not preserve it. Sir E. Sandys.-It is a point which ought to be cleared up either the letter ought to be p-oduced, or evidence given that the de- ceased wrote it. I also beg to remark, that a medical genttleman ought to be appointel by the Government to reside in the prison; fnr where there are 6009 or 700 prisonerm, such an officer is very ne- cessary. Everv tting that the Mlarshal can do for the benefit of the priscners is done, but a mnedical gentleman ought always to be in readiness in case of an occurrencethatrequiresimmediate attendance. Another ot the Jury said, that there are generally some medical gentlemen in thAe prison as prisoners; and if a person wvas appointed bv Government, it would bercave those gentlemen from deriving a trifling emolument from their exertions while in the prison. .James Groomridge stated,. that he has been in the habit for the last three weeks of going into the deceased's room to clean his clothes, shoes, hat, &c., about seven o'clock in the morning; on Saturday morn'ing thedecessed called iim from anotler floor, about half-past six o'clock, and wrote a note to Mlir. Goulding, requesting to have 20 drops of laudanum ; witness took tite note, qnd a shilling to pay for it; 5r. Gouldineponred about halfa tea-spoon- full into the wine-glniss which he lhad with him, but he refused to take the money. Witness did not see him take the laudanum, and whenhelett theroom thedeceasedwas inbed ; heintendedtogooat on a day-rule ; he bad complained of being poorly. Witness never went for laudanum before; lie observed notbing in the deceased's cottduct to leatd to a belief that le was in an unsound statc of mind. Jn answer to a questibn from the jury, MIr. Goulding said twenty drops of laudanum was a very small dose. Rebecca Smits stated, that she waited on the deceased ever since he was in prison. On Saturday morning, about eight o'clock, she went to him. and he desired her to bring hins a dayrole; he was in bed, ad moaned as if he was in pain; she did not know whether he had taken any medicine, nor did she see a wine glass about the room; a few days before he had brought home a bottle of calcined magnesia and some medicine for the wind, witih which he was troubled; witness made him two basins of tea, which hedrank: she saw nothing to indicate a depression of the spirits, or to induce her to suppose he would have destroyed himself. -[t was here sug- gested that the zoom liad better bc searched, to endeavour to find the wine glass and magtiesia, which were soon produced.]-lVitness went backwards and forwards until four o'clock in the afternoon, which wa. the last time she saw hin; he was not in sucb pain then; he was not in the habit of bolting his door when witness went out, but he did it on this occasion. Sir E. Sandys said, that an unpleasant report had gone abroad, that the unfortanate deceased had died by poison, and he therefore thought, for the satisfaction of his friends, of the Marsbal, and of the Tublic jiustice, that the body ought to be opened and examined. Mr. Goulding, the surgeon, stated, that such a report had gone abroad, and in the present state he could nor give any opinion as to the cause of the death of the deceased; therefore he thougbt the body ought to be examined, which would be a satisfaction to his friends. A gentleman stepped forward, and said all the information Str f-enry C. Thompson's friends could obtain would be through him. LIt was supposed thatall Isis friends wereabroad.3 Sir E. Sandys._I had t'e pleasuTe of knowing the deceased, but the case is so mysterious that a further examination of the body ought to take place. Another medical gentleman expre,sed the samne opinion, and it was put to the vote whether an adjournment should take place, for the purpose of allowing time for the body to be opened, when there appeared, four for the examination, and eight against it; however, the Coroner thought somae f'urther evidence was necessarv and adjourned the Jury for two hours;-'and MIessrs. Heath aid Goulding, the two surgeons, were requested by the Coroner to open the body in the interim. At four o'clock theJury again met, and iUr. Goulding stated that he, Mr. Hurrill, and Mr. Heath, had examined the deceased's head, and found a great quantity of extrvivasated fluid or serum between the coverings of the brain, and in the ventricles of the brain an ef. fusion had taken place to the extent of halfa pine. The duram muer- war unusually thickened, and several portions of bone were found within it, and the t/iecn vertTibrlis was considerably inflametL: these prodnced apoplexy, witich caused instant death. Witness never knew a clearer case of apoplexy, for even if the deceased had bean discovered directly he was attacked, nll the pbysicians in London- could not have saved him. Mr. Thomac Hurrill, a surgeon, who also examined the deceased with Mr. Goulding, corrobDrated that gentlenman's statement. John El itichock, a carpenter, stated, that be was sent for to break the deccased's door -pen, about nine o'clock on Saturday night, as it was bolted inside X and on entering the room, saw the deceased lyvilg on the floor on his right side, as if he had falletu frofn the chair in a fit, and expired instantly. He hiad been reading the"i Hil tory of Europe." Sir 13. Sandys said, that he hoed all the Jury would, through the Coroner, reouest i\r. Jones, the Miarshal, tO apply to th'c Judgea of the King's Bench to have a medical gentleman appointed, with a sa- lary, to reside in the prison. Thi's was- agreed to, and, the Coroner said he w ouldl forward their wishes to the proper-quarter. A Juryrman said he believed such a thing was once before in agi- tastion, but the Mlarshlal could not get any person willing to reside within the walls. The Jury then returned a verdict, " That the deceased died in a fit of apoplexy." IDEA.T,I OF SIR HNRYR CI.EMfEN%T THOMPSON