The Bee-Hive : — 1869-03-20 (London, England)

SAD DEATH OF A. CLERGYMAN.  An inquest was held at the Fox inn, Pirbright, Snrrey, on Tuesday, before Mr. G. 11. Hull, coroner for the county, touching the death of the Rev. John Tighe Well, clerk in holy orders. The deceased was 60 years of age, and although a clergyman of the Church of England had officiated for years past at the wellknown Irvingite cathedral of Albury, built by the father ! of the present Duchess of Northumberland. Of late, however, Mr. Wells had shown symptoms of insanity which greatly alarmed his family, and they sought the advice of Dr. Stedman, of Guildford, He found him sufftring from mental depression and delusions, harmless hut painful. His impression was that persons he could not d'ifine were seeking to do him injury, to rob or murder him, more es; ecially by night. On Dr. Stcdman's recommendation a keeper was appointed to look after Mr. Wells, and subsequently he was removed tor change of air to Worsplesdon. It may be mentioned that Dr. Stedman stated distinctly that the deceased had no suicidal tendencies and depended like a child on his keeper to keep him from invisible enemies. On Saturday evening, however, during the temporary absence of his keeper for five minutes, he left his lodgings and wandered away on the dreary common. He was seen about eight o'clock, by a person named Rivell, splashing about in a pond; and he taking him to be a drunken man tried to persuade him to go home. He f?llowod him for some time, when he saw him deliberately get over a hedge and get in another pond. Corning out he asked Revell where he could find clean water, and Revell then went to a house near for assistance. Before he came back the deceased had again disappeared ; and now comes the very sad and extraordinary circumstance of the case. A labouier, named Richard Gunner, are his evidence as forows :—On Saturday night, ahout half-past ten, some one rapped at my door. I slep on a bed near the door and asked the person whet he was at. Ile said, "Let me in." I refused, and he entreated me again to allow him to come in. I told him to go on. I thourht he was a drunken man, as I have been served the same way before. He left, but came back in a minute or two. He asked me three times to let him come in, but I still refused. He said he was " lost, ' and I asked him who he was and where he wanted to He said lie was a clergyman but did not say where he wanted to go to. I thought it was a strange place for a clergyman to be and I lay in rni bed and told him to be off. About a quarter to seven the next morning, when I opened ,my door, I saw the deceased a little distance from my door, on the road. I went up to him and found he was dead and cold. In answer to the Rev. Mr. Hawkins, the foreman of the jury, the witness said he heard the deceased say. 'lshall die," but it was only a fortnight before that someone wanted to come into hs cottage in the night and he served him the same. It was a lonely place and no one knew who might be about. The co7stable who was in attendance on the coroner said it was snowing fast all Saturday night and the deceased died in the snow. The, coroner, in summing up, said that he coul I not attribute much blame to Gunner, considering the lonliness of the place and that he thought he was speaking to a drunken man. One Of the jurymen faintly remarked that he thought Gunner ought to have shown more feeling when the man told him he was dying. The jury almost immediately returned a verdict to the effect that the deceased had died from exposure to cold.