The Express. — 1864-11-25 (London, England)

THE EXPRESS, FRIDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 25, 1864.  SINGULAR SUICIDE.  Last evening Mr. C. J. Cartier, coroner for West Kent, held a lengthened Milan at the Primer of Wales Tavern, Blackheath, into the circumstances attend' tag the death of Emma Ann Bannister, aged 25, the wife ci a Mabee merchant, carrying on bushier at Stretford, Dear Manchester, whose body was found drowned in a peed on Blackheath on Moseley morning last, under the following extraordinary circutostaaosa From the evidence adduced it appeared that the deceased, who had been mar ried six years, was the mother of four children, three of whom are living. On Friday morning last, between eight and nine o'clock, her husband left home for the transaction of his usual daily business, leaving the deceased aid two of his children Ohs other being away), at bona with • servant, bat on returning in the evening he ascertained from the servant that soon after he left home in the morning the deceased also left. Concluding that she had gone on • visit to her father and mother, who reside at Longeide, in the neighbourhood of Manchester, and at whose house she was occasionally in the habit of staying aadidesping, no notice was lakes, but as she neither returned ea the Saturday, nor soot soy endue. tion of her absence, inquiries were made aka* parade' residence, and it was thea ascertained that she had not been seen there. On the Sunday inquiries were made in the locality, and from • description gins by the officials at the Manchester station of the Great Norther' llailway of • young lady who had booked herself as • first-class passenger by the 3 p.m. express train to Loadea, it was concluded that the person alluded to was the decissaad. Advertisements; were accordingly inserted in the Tina of Tuesday sod Wednesday, giving a description of the deceased, and gateman her to communicate with her friends, and this led to her ideotiacatson and the extraordinary finding of her body, as above described; and from the evidence taken oe this point it appeared that • man in Ma service of Mr. Anglicans, M.P. for Greenwich, was return. tag to Charlton with his wife and nephew, after attending • place of worship, and in paeans through • secluded leas something was observed lying in a dry ditch, which proved to be the deceased, in an inasosible state. She had a bottle in , her hand which contained • small quantity of brandy, and which she was holding to her mouth. Oa base aroused she slated that she bad been taken to the spot where she was found by a gentleman dressed is dark clothes, sad had dark whiskers, and who had given her the bottle she held in her hand, having left her after robbing btu of her gold watch sad chain and 235. in money. It was proposed that the police authorities be communicated with, but this the deceased objected to, at the cams time producing the half of a return ticket tram Blackheath to Woolwich by the North Beat Railway, sad saying that she should see the gentleman again. This was some distance from the Blackheath Railway station, and the nephew is young man 22 years of age) and another man were left to see deceased to the station. The other man, who lived in • contrary direetion, after proceeding some distance on the road, left the deceased with the young man referred to, and, according to his statement, the deceased then refused to go by the train, bat canted to go to Woolwich by road if lie would en her on the road. This he agreed to do, and remained in her company or watched her movements for some four or five hours, the deceased eventually bidding him " good night," and he returning to his house. The same morning, on • young men driving • bone and cart into the pond, the lifeless body of the dimmed was found. Dr. Barnett, who had performed the autopsy, gave it as hie opinion that the death of the dot ceased had resulted entirely from suffocation by drowns', there being neither external marks of violasce on the body nor internal traces of poison. The father of the deceased was 'remised, and described the married life of deeeseed as one of great unhappier' ; but it was also admitted that :there was • hereditary tendency to insanity in the family of ' the deceased, two of the mambas of which bad committed suicide, one by drowning and the other by cutting his I throat. The learned cocoon having remarked upon the distressing nature of the cue, the jury returned • verdict, " That the deceased smannitted suicide while labouring under temporary inanity," it being seated by the father that there was no truth in the assertion that the unfortunate young woman had been robbed as described, as she had left her gold watch at his house some three or four wake since.