npedrazzini/19thc_murder_suicide_news huggingface dataset:
The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle. — 1882-12-30 (Stourbridge, West Midlands, England)

SUICIDE THROUGH MENTAL DISTRESS.  The Coroner for Central Middlesex, Dr. Danford Thomas, has held an investigation at the Coroner's Court for St. Pancras, London on view of the body of Mr. Ernest Freeland, aged 28, an organist, who had killed himself by the administration of poison. Miss Winifred Freeland deposed that elle was deceased's sister, and was at present staying at his late residence,l7s,Euston-road. Her brother was an organist. On Friday, the 15th inst., she arrived in London on a. visit, and found, to her astonishment, a marked alteration in his manner, and that he seemed dreadfully depressed and dejected, and most reserved, but admitted he had been expecting some letters which bad not arrived. She understood they related to a love affair in which be was engaged. He continued in his depressed condition, but on Tuesday evening seemed much more dejected and melancholy than before, and she elicited from him it was caffiied by disappointment that the letter § he had expected had not arrived. He went to bed shortly before twelve in a most dejected state, and she did not see him on the following morning, because she left early. On her return shortly after twelve o'clock her mother informed her that her brother had had his breakfast in bed, and had stated he should not get up just yet. Some time after she went up to deceased's bedroom to see if he was getting up, and to take him some hot water. Her mother called to witness, saying she had spoken to deceased, but could get no answer, and on her going up they looked into the room and thought he was crying. Witness went into the room and up to the bed, and then noticed that deceased's eyes appeared very strange, and that he breathed with great difficulty. She at once fetched Dr. Ridsdale, who, on seeing deceased, said he was sinking fast. He died in a few minutes after. No poison was at that time found, but on the following morning, while looking for some keys, witness found a bottle which had contained hydrocyanic acid of Scheele's strength, which she gave to Dr. Ridsdale. Deceased had not been in good health, and was believed to have suffered from heart disease, caused by being unable to obtain a Civil Service appointment he had expected. Mr. John Freeland, brother of deceased, deposed that be was aware of the fact that deceased was engaged to be married to a young lady who had gone to Paris, and his receiving no letters from her caused his despondency. It was known deceased suffered from heart disease. H had also a thorough knowledge of drug. - - .  After some further evidence Dr. George Ridsdale stated he was called to see deceased and found him dying. He expired soon after. He had since, in conjunction with Dr. Myers, made a post mortem examination, and found that death had, without doubt, arisen from poisoning by prussic acid. Dr. Henry Myers, gave corroborative evidence, and the coroner having summed up, the jury returned a verdict "that the deceased committed suicide while of unsound mind, produced by mental distress,"
The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle. — 1882-04-01 (Stourbridge, West Midlands, England)

CUTTIGS FROM AMERICAN PAPERS.  It is said that a worm cannot dig more than one inch per hour, but he is always an inch beyond the shovel when you want fish bait. A lady who was a brunette happened to show her maid one of those little sticking-plaster profiles which they call silhouettes. It was the portrait of the lady's aunt, whom the girl had never seen, and she said, quite innocently, La, ma'am, I always thought as how you had some black relations, you are so darklike yourself, you know." " Yessir," said the marketman, " plenty of game on hand. What'll you have ? " And the gentleman replied: " Oh, I don't wish to purchase any now. I expect to go out hunting this afternoon, and I just thought I'd make sure there was some in the market, in case I didn't kill any,"  Bacon says: "Reading makes a full man." That must be the Reading in Pennsylvania where the brewery is located. - - _  A printer should always marry a good type of girl. A Massachussetts man committed suicide by drinking a pint of ink. If he had used the pale economical watery fluid that is such a passion with some of our contributors, he might have drunk a gallon of it and lived for fifty years. He sat at her feet in quiet peace. He looked into her face and said softly: " Ah, dear, I could sit here for ever." "Could you, love ? " answered she. "Yes, sweet." "You are right sure you could, darling?" "I know it, my own." "Very well, then, you sit there, for I have an engagement to go out with young Mr. Fitzpooner and won't be back this evening. Turn down the gas and fasten the night-latch when you go away. la, ta, dear." And she went out, leaving him in the awful solitude of her goneness and his bitter disappointment. A New York clergyman, in a sermon on courtship and marriage, said he believed that "there is a mate for everyone if they will but wait till the right one comes along." The female portion of his congregation who have passed two score years said they never heard such nonsense, and that the man didn't know what he was talking about. If the right one doesn't come along before a woman reaches forty the chances are nine in ten that he is snowed under, or dead, or, worse still, has married the wrong woman. "1 tell you," said the canvasser, "you have no idea of the hard work there is in this business. It is either talking or walking, from morning till night." "Beg pardon," replied tho victim, "I have a pretty distinct idea of the talking part of your programme. Yow please favour nle with an exhibition of the walking part." The canvasser exhibited
The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle. — 1882-02-18 (Stourbridge, West Midlands, England)

BEIERLEY HILL.  DRUNKENNESS —At the Police Court, on Monday, before Messrs. F. Evers and H. Hall, William Barnbrook, Gieet's Lane, Westbromwieh, on the evidence of Pulice-coustablcs Hicklin Wynn was fined 2s 6d and costs, for being drunk at PensnAt.—Maria Sutton, a married woman, of Coalbourubrook, was also fined 2s fici and costs for being drunk and disorderly on the 29th ult. —Thomas iiillingham, of Quarry Bank, for being drunk and disorderly on the sth inst, was fined 2s 6d and costs. Police constable Hyman proved the case.—George Powell, ironworker, Waliheath, was charged with being drunk and disorderly on the 4th inst. Police-constable Hawkins proved the case anl defendant was tined 2s 6d and ct.sts.  OnsTaucTiox.—llerbert Higgs, -1--)r-icidar, and Jane Cowell, both of Park Street, lirierley Hill, were charged with obstructing the free pa,sage of t.e highway. on the 6th inst.—Tne defendants were quarrelling together in:High Street, for about hatf• an-hour, ‘,lzll a crowd of ueopld found hem Passengers had to leave the footpath. Cowell was ordered to pay costs, and Iliggs "as fined 2s 6d and costs, ,Aith the alternative of 7 days' imprisonment.  DRUNK AND REFUSING TO QUlT.—George Davies, underhand puddler, and a sergeant in the militia, was charged wah b.,ing drunk and refusing to quit the Old Bell Inn, Brierley Hill, on the 28th ult.— Defendant was further charged with being drunk and disorderly, on the 6th inst.—There was a third charge against the defendant of attempting to commit suicide, on the same date.—To the two first charges he pleaded gußc,y.—On the night of the 6th inst., the defendant was drunk and disorderly in the highway and was taken to the police station and locked up by Police-constable Wetton. About one o'ckck in the morning he was found hanging in the cell, with a handkerchief round his neck.—The charge of attempting to commit suicide was withdrawn, Mr. Evers hoping that the defendant had no intention to commit suicide when he was sobcr.—There was no fine inflicted in the charge for being drunk and refusiog to quit, but for being drunk and disorderly defendant was fined 5s and costs; in default 14 days.—Antrinias Bate, miner, of Common Side ioc being disorderly and refu-ing to quit the Crown Inn, Pensnett, on the 10th December layt, was fined 5s and costs. The case was proved by Samuel Porter, the landlord.
The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle. — 1882-11-11 (Stourbridge, West Midlands, England)

SAD STORY.  The Daily News of Wednesday gives the following, sent by its Vienna Correspondent ;  Among the thousands who on All Saints' Day visited the graves of the poor victims of the Ring Theatre catastrophe, a lady in deep mourning was remarked, who for hours knelt beside a grave which she had decked with wreaths of flowers. This poor lady was found dead in her room in an hotel on the day following, and papers found in her desk proved that she had committed suicide, and explained the reason why she had done so. About a year and a half ago the widowed mother sent her only son, a lad of eighteen, to Vienna to study medicine. He wrote home 80 regularly that when the newe of the Ring Theatre fire reached laotha, the city where the mother lived, and no letter panic to reassure her, she immediately travelled to Vienna, and all her worst fears were confirmed, for she found her boy among the dead whom it was poseible to identify. Her companion daring thie melancholy journey was a daughter of seventeen, her only child after the death of her son. This girl's affection for her brother was so strong that she fell into a decline after his death, and two months ago the mother knelt at a fresh grave which had closed over her daughter. It is not probable that the bereaved mother came here with the intention of committing suicide, fur she bought several articles immediately after her arrival, which she would not have felt the want of bad she meditated death. But on returning from the churchyard at night she gave the chambermaid five florins, and, when the latter refused to accept them, said she should not want the money any more, and pressed it upon the reluctant girl. An open letter to the Mayor of Vienna explained that she did not think life worth living without her children, and that the money found in her bag should be devoted to the expenses of her but ml. She begged that she might be interred beside her son. The Mayor yesterday gave orders that she should be buried in the same grave as her son. The deceased was not quite fifty years old, and was the widow of a merchant. By order of the Mayor of Vienna e, gigantic wreath of palm-branches and rare flowers was deposited on All Souls' Day upon the large coramon grave of the victims of the Ring Theatre fire who could not be identified by relations or friends. A catafalque was erected upon the grave, surrounded by shrubs and flowers, and by a hundrei large wax lights in chandeliers. The catafalque bore the inscription, "Bth December, 1881," which was read by thousands who surrounded the grave on the Ist and 2nd of November. In the evening of both those days it is the custom for the Viennese to visit the theatres, which one and all give the same piece, "The Miller and his Child," a tale of love, superstition, and death, during which tears flow abundantly, and the audience dpceives itself into the belief that by crying on this partieular day it honours is dead.
The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle. — 1886-05-22 (Stourbridge, West Midlands, England)

SHOCKING MURDER AND SUICIDE IN NEWINGTON.  At an early hour on Monday morning a murder and suicide of a most determined character occurred in South London. It appears that at about twenty minutes past twelve o'clock Police-constable Slough, 260, division L, was on duty in Newington-butts, when he was informed by a man named Charles Reynolds, living at 38, Holyoak-road, Newingtonbutts, that a murder and suicide had been committed at that house. The constable proceeded to the place, and met a brother officer, Walter Coombs, 122 L, who had in the meantime also been informed of something having happened. The officers went upstairs to the first floor, and on entering a ghastly sight met their view. Lying on the floor was a young woman with her head nearly severed from her body, and by her side was a man face downwards, with his head resting on the woman's face, he also having a fearful gash in his throat, the blood from his wound having run over the face of the woman, who presented a horrible spectacle. Dr. Farr, the surgeon of the L division of police, was immediately sent for, but, on examining the bodies he pronounced life extinct, expressing an opinion that death in both cases must have been instantaneous. Two common table knives were subsequently found covered with blond on the floor close to the bodies. It appears that the man's name is James Clark, a butcher, aged about 50 years, whose address is at present unknown; and the woman's name Annie Ultham, aged 27 years, who for the past six months has occupied the room at the house in question. Clark was formerly in a good position, but failed in business, and for some time past he had worked as a journeyman butcher. The woman was in his service, and they had cohabited together, but of late he had been in the habit of visiting Ulthatu on Saturday night and staying with her until Monday morning. The only person able to throw any light on the tragedy is a young woman named Susan Armes, a servant in the house, who states that she was in the room when Clark asked Ultham to go out with him. The latter refused and seat( d herself upon a chair. whereupnn Clark, who was the worse for drink, took up a krife and drew it across Ultharn's throat, the latter falling to the floor. Clark next picked up another knife from the table, and before she (the girl Armes) could prevent him, cut his own throat and fell upon Ultham. She then rushed out of the room and informed the lodger Reynolds.
The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle. — 1886-03-27 (Stourbridge, West Midlands, England)

RIOT IN WARWICKSHIRE.  The picturesque villsge of Castle Bromwich, neat Birmingham, was on Sunday the scene of a disgraceful riot, attended by considerable destruction of property and some slight injuries to person. For several days past the neighbourhood has been in a state of great excitement in consequence of the revelations made at an inquest held upon the body of a young woman named Mary Ann Turner, vvho had committed suicide, in consequence, as it was alleged, of the refusal of a man who had seduced her to redeem a promise to marry her. The indignation excited sgainst the young man, whose natne is William Bagnall, jun., the son of a local brick and tile manufacturer, found expression in threats, which caused him a few days since to seek safety elsewhere. Since then his family have been practically boycotted by the neighbours, and groups of angry girls and lads have assembled about the house with hostile demonstrations, which were only prevented from assuming a snore serious character by the presence of the police. On Sunday a great number of people flocked into the village by road and rail from the surrounding aistrict, and, as it was evident that a serious attack upon its inmates was contemplated, the protecting police force was increased to 18 men. This number sufficed to keep the mob at bay for some time, but at length the fence gave way at one point under the pressure of numbers, and the police had to draw the protecting cordon closer to the house. This left the back premises practically at the mercy of the mob, who then began to pelt both the house and the police with bricks and tiles taken from the brick yard. The windows were soon demolished, and the crowd, which must have numbered nearly 10,000 persons, proceeded to unroof and sack the sheds and outhouses. A horse and several fowls were let loose, brickmaking machinery was destroyed, and a cart and trap were broken up, a bonfire being made of the wreckage. The mob for a time got access to the house itself, where they did considerable damage before they were expelled, but the police ultimately became masters of the situation, and the crowd dispersed at dusk. One of the inmates and several of the policemen were struck by missiles, but no one was seriously hurt.
The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle. — 1886-08-14 (Stourbridge, West Midlands, England)

SINGULAR SUICIDE OF A BOY.  Dr. G. Danford Thomas, coroner for Central Middlesex, has held an inquest at the Islington Coroner's Court, Holloway-road, touching the 'death of Frank Thomas Squire, 11 years old, son of Blackmore Squire, mathematical instrument maker, 39, Matilda-street, Caledonian-road, who was found drowned in the Regent's Canal. The father of the deceased said his son wasa good,well-behaved boy and a clever scholar. He mostly resided with his grandfather, but was home for his holidays. When witness returned one night from his work he learned from his wife—who was the deceased's stepmother—that his boy was missing; that he and his younger brothers had been away playing at the Cattle Market in the Caledonianroad and had returned home about half-past four in the afternoon without one of the brothers named Teddy. The deceased was then told by his stepmother to search for " Teddy," and not to come back without him. Teddy found his way home by himself soon afterwards, and the deceased failing to return the witness searched all night for him, and then informed the police of his disappearance. A little boy named Purdy stated that on Friday night about nine o'clock he saw the deceased seated on the canal bank, near the Caledonian-road-bridge, and joined him. He had not known him previously. The deceased told him he had lost his little brother, and dared not go home, and as be could not find him he meant to drown himself. Purdy said, "You are a silly fool to do that," but deceased repeated that he could not 'go home without his brother, and he took a run down the embankment of the canal, but did not then go into the water. Immediately afterwards he took another run, and threw himself into the canal. No one was near but the witness. The deceased rose near the opposite bank. Purdy raised an alarm, and went to a furniture dealer close by, who looked into the water, but could see nothing there. Mrs. Purdy said her boy was playing truant on Friday, and he only told her —as he had already described—what had happened after the police inquired for him on Saturday afternoon. His description of the occur rence to her agreed with that given in his evidence. Alfred Coomber, watch jeweller, deposed to taking the !body out of the canal on 'Tuesday evening last; and Dr. John Slater, 1, Thornhillcrescent, Barnsbury, said its appearance was indicative of its having been in the water several days. Death was due to suffocation by drowning. The coroner remarked that suicide among boys was not uncommon, but he never remembered a lad so young as the deceased destroying himself. There was no doubt the deceased deliberately threw himself into the water in a fit of desperation, and the jury returned a verdict of suicide while of unsound mind.
The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle. — 1886-08-28 (Stourbridge, West Midlands, England)

STR ANGE SUICIDE OF A SERVANT GIRL.  On Saturday afternoon Dr. Diplock held an inquiry at the Rifle Tavern, Fulham Palace-road, respecting the death of a young woman named Minnie Bodfield Morse, a domestic servant, aged 21. Jchn Morse, the father, stated that he lived at 2, Oakleyplace, Camberwell, and was-a French polisher. On Wednesday fortnight deceased visited him, when she appeared very happy and comfortable, but said she was going to leave her situation' became there was too much work for her. Mrs. Margaret Scott, the wife of a journalist, living at 24, Glazbury-road, Fulham, fulfil the deceased, who had been unwell for three weeks, had been in her service for ten months. A doctor saw her on Tuesday, and gave a certificate for the deceased's removal. The coroner read a medical certificate, signed by Mr. R. P. Cieave, Pall-mall, stating that deceased was suffering from the eymptorns of the earlier stages of typhoid fever, and recommending her removal to a feve- hospital. In answer to the coroner, Mrs. Scott stated that the purport of the certificate was communicated to the deceased on Wednesday. At 11 o'clock that night witness saw her. Deceased was not then delirious. On Thursday morning witness went to the room and found her dead in bed. A medical gentleman was at once sent for. Mr. E. W. B. Garlike, surgeon, stated that he was called by Mr. Scott on Thunday morning, and found the young woman had it en dead about six or seven hours. She was lying diagonally across the bed, her left hand grasping the rail at the top of the bed, and her fingers stiff. Close to her hand was a knotted rope, and this rope, which witness cut, was tied once round the neck—tightly, but not very tightly. The other end of the rope was under the deceased's body, and turned round twice. The face was congested and swelled, and some mucous was running down the chin. There was a deep mark round the neck where the cord had been. Witness's opinion was that the deceased died from strangulation. The Coroner: Do you think the circumstances are such that she could have done it herself? Witness: Yes; I think so. A Juror: Was there any difficulty for the deceased to tie it? ' Witness: No; but the most extraordinary thing is that she could have destroyed her life in such a way as she tied it. When she tied the rope round 'tier neck—as far as I can imagine, to satisfy myself— siie must have thrown the weight of her whole body upon it, because the bed was little away from the wall, and the arm was hanging down between the bed and the wall. The coroner having pointed out that in some eases suicides showed a strange ferocity in ending their lives, the jury returned a verdict of "Suicide whilst mentally deranged.'