Coroner's Inquests.
The Times, 1824-06-01T00:00:00

IlIYSTERIOus DEATIe._Yesterday- aftermoon an inquest.was held before CHARLES JE:siIETT, coroner for Surrey, at theiSwi public-house, Great Ddver.road,on view of the body of a male chiild. name unkiown Tlhejurv having been swotii, proceedeti to view the body, which was rn a shell at MIr. I nnis,s- thlt undertaker, in Grest'Dover-road- 'it prcssented-a slocking sptetaCle, beirng in~ such a state of pistrotbe. tion, as entirely to prc~lude all attempt at iccgnition1 by any per-. son: whletvitivwaszdrst fdpnd,: it t peazed: :h have been mantgled dreadfuillyabout the head,.which ie vas-separaied froit thebody; the flucers sppearcd to have been quite flattened, and it waS tied in a cloth; it sesemd as ifit bthad been ft over, and tlhen thtowvn into the puddle of uater where it was found. SlltThnniatHisHrdy,; surgeoni of XValworrlu, deposed, that about alf an hourbeforc thejary:Were empael led, he hnd seen the body. It was a male infant, apparently about a month old, and seemed to Ifave been dead-about the samne period-of tim; it was so cxtremely pntri&, that it was utterlviniptusible to discover the cause of its death, Itbough theB6fesof thehiead.wercsevered, and the head sepaatedi'ronthe body, still the tvjrtesscouldnotseUwhether -thesc occ,rrenceswerecaused bysiolenee:orby putefactionb indeed, hc never sa va humnan body in sucha drcadful state. Frabces 'Paket; Tesidiig in Swan's-terrace, near wh:ere the body was found, stated that betnginformed on Saturday rrniirg thata lody of an infant was fbund, she wernt to the spot, and saw the de- ceased lying near a kind of drain which ran from a dungt-heap ; the head wvas separ-ated frorni the body, and two p$eces of scull were lying close by; it was very muclu putrehie, and appe_red to' have been dead some time * -a piece of cloth ias found near where the bodylay. lcanor lVeatlherstone stated, that on Saturday morning -she saw fronihlle windOw t*o women lookingat something, and accordingly she went there, a0ti zaw the body just on tlte edgc of the water ; she could not say wheotie (he head Adhqe4be to the body or not; it was then tied in a w-ritpper. James XWarby, a street-keeper, stated, that his attention was caled to the soot-from seeing a number of persons tlkere, and saw the body on the water's edco, an'd threepiecesof skullbonecloseby; he brought them to the Swan, and' in two hours after he went back again, and found threemore pieces of skull, two wrappers, two half- bricks,' and a stone. A yellow garter was also found near the water's edge. Witness hadno occasion to suspect that any person had de. stroyed the decased. - JohnBurtenshai deposed,'that on Saturday morning, about eiRht o'clock, he was called to by two wonmen who oestain a liveli- hood by picking up bones; -and on gDing to them they. pointed to something in the water, which they desired biin to reach out, one of the feet was above the water; he pulled it out, anud'found it was a body, wvraped up in a cloth and snme straw; the head-was sepa: rated from the body, and several'pleces ef skul were lying in the water, which witness picked out; the water was very shalow, and it !ppeared as if sodne person had itainpedon it toburyitin the mud. e Coroner addlressed the jury, and observed, that there was iio evidence that the child hiad been-born alive.. The- Jujy-returned a verdict-" That the deceased was found dead, with his head severed from his body, but how it was oeca. sioned was unknown." - DREADFUL SUrCiDE.-Yesterdayafternoon, atthree o'clock, an inquest was held at the sign ot' the Coach aud Horses, Uppert street, Islington, before T. STIRLING, Esq,, Coroner for-Middle. sex, on the body of. Mrs. Rachd SIan, a lady of fortune, aged 65, widowofalateban4er; .yhocamc byherdeathunderthefollowing nelancholy clrennmtanices : iUr. Robert Dunell,-being sworn, deposed that he resides at No. 3, Barnsbury-street, IsIil5ig-oi ' -rdepedsed, who was a lady of' proptrty, occupied P suit of apartments iii his house, on the first floor, and- lived vwith' her daughter. They had -beett in witness's house dueingtbe last Ix.years, part of which timethe t lceo.rsed en. joyed the.hiost perfect healtb, hut latterlv her intellects seemed-to, be cdnsiderably impaired in consequence of the debilitated state of her constitution, an 'sbc - was ' frequently in theimost melancb'oly and desponding condition. On Satturday meoning last, about 20 minutesbliefre eight o'clock, witiseis was taking an'airingifi'the gataen 4tl6diane ofXi childi'tnI, when hisattebt6n: wa's attracted by something like gravel fatliog eas Iuis blackbiird's cage, whici was hanging.behind the dobr, andon'looking upwatds, he obaerved the d1eceased siting on the arapet of -the house, w'hich is three stories high,s apparently shufthng.- of_-H-leaexceesively alarmed, and r-an into the house screaming and caIlling for assistance, and. wasrun- nin up s'tairsfdr tbe p'urpose o? e ating? aer fro'm hef perilous- 6stuimtion, -when his itrogress V3as:arrested by a voice w'hich said the deceated had fallen. - He Itvcr:-awi -her lufterwards. -The &ccease& wvasgeneraily in the habit of'kFemaining in her own eparimems, asd had nothing to call her-attention-in theabove room, whieh was used to holdiumber. - She wasqxceediagly weak and nervous, and must have had son'e dihilul in tifIbrUin herself through the'window,from which sie gotpn-tbe parapet,it bein onlv. 15 inclhes by ;wo feetfive, and he ad nodoubt whatever upon his mind thai th'e deceaied pro- ce6ded-td that room with thefullIititehtTdn-op'r"ci'pitat'ing herseTf*rom thewindow,*nd thathermind attheniomenrtwasderanged. Hercircurn stances were affluent, >be wanted fornothing, and herconnexions&were of tle bighestrespectability; but of late thenervous disorderunder which'she labo'ured cause&her to beliei ihatshb'iins somuch al. teredin'appulrabce,;&e:; thatishe 6cdceWedheirself'to be-tinfit to re- ceive her friends,'and-therefore avoided tdtemnrud bad notscen any of thein, with the- exception of her daugltter, for a lengtih of time, and secluded hiers-elf. . ' - Aliss Dunela was sitting at the parlour_wi?dowv when the unfor- tunate deccaled f'ell, ind she came down with such extreme vio- lence that the tush of the deceased't fall very tusch alartmed her. She broke both her legs, knees, thighs,- antd arms, and -received a dreadful.cutpon her,foeellead. - Assistince swas immnediatelv called, and -shc ws2grticil mito tbc Ib'usc, wihen a surgeon was sent for, but- the wis qitledaa.- 'lHad no dbubt but-she comtaitted the act ib dstate oF teripofary ddrangemen ' ' ' - Mr. John. lunter, surgconi-of lslington4green, ;deposed,tlhat he had'beeh in the liabitot' attcding the deceased professionally for some years, and had -secn her a few days prior 'to the circumstance taking place, and, during his interview, something struck him -that her mind vas afflicied; !she- haLd';i ninpressiori-'n her mind, that she was to -be- sent to -the-hosoital, or sonic hnatic-asylumnj-;and seenied to bave an und6fined notion -of .beingsent somewhere; she had a continual fever on her fot several' m6nths'together, -and very debilitated. - Witnesi said.; th"it the deceased's eyes w6re bad, and she:had an imperfect visaion- she might have proceeded-to-the wivn- dow2 thinking it-was the door, and thus have fallen, without-having thi intention of self-destruction. ' - ?rhe 3ury,- after vidving thie body, wl.ich was in a dreadfully mu.. tilated statc,returne'd a verdicit, "' that the deccased destm'yocd her. scifi being at the time in a state ofteunporary derangement. "- -Mr. Dun:elllhinrmled the Coroner, thlaton seeing the unfortunate deceased -placed in so avsl a sltuafiori; hi. was nearly deprived of lhis reason- foYf so nc time.' '- ' - ' - '5Ir. STsrIyq remarked that it was' fortunate.for him that -thc ronsequencesw ere not worse.- A few- days agd his atteistion' was called io'ih escof a luddtI dedthoffa wonuin who'died in Seven- dials, Sr., Gills's. -On - ifcI'allindowfi, asurgeoh was sent for, vho attendled md-attenMptcdito bleed her, but sie -was. quite dead. The surgeon left the place, and in about five minutes afterwaras a woman ran from the same house afterim lo request Iiis attend- ance, statin,g tlat a woman lhad died muddely. The surgeon an- eweie'dlthathe bud jnst',aUteodedthe-woneian. ''Oh ! tlsre anothetr," i:eplied-rhe svonrn. -'eappearel;ihta--fiend ofthe svoman who Aied tirst, caliat the hopse, andimearink of the death of her friend Nhe *as aooiadrlcsome- that she 'instantly' fell basckwvards andl expired. So.thtat he-lad-toutteztd two inquseStS at thq samne timc~ on the ho_. dhies ouf the unforitmate women. - COJiONER'S IN.QUESTSC4,