npedrazzini/19thc_murder_suicide_news huggingface dataset:
The Birkenhead News and Wirral General Advertiser. — 1881-09-10 (Birkenhead, Merseyside, England)

THE EFFECTS OF LOVE. In inquest has been held at Gerrard'scross, respecting the death of Henry James Spradbury, aged 19, a clerk, who committed suicide on Monday last. Mr. Robert Henry Spradbury, a gentleman visiting at Blenheim-terrace, Gerrard'scross, stated that the deceased was his son, and had been residing with him. He was a clerk, but lately he had been unable to attend to his business owing to illness. On Sunday he left home to visit a young lady to whom he was shortly to be married. When he returned in the evening about nine o'clock he seemed greatly depressed in spirits. In answer to witness he said he had had a quarrel with his young lady. Witness tried to cheer him up, but he became very melancholy, and shortly afterwards retired to his bedroom. Before leaving witness he shook hands with him, wishing him good night, and saying if his young lady called to see him to say that he was dead. Witness, however, never though that he would commit suicide. On the following morning he did not make his appearance as usual, and, in consequence, witness went upstairs to his room,but finding the dcor locked, and unable to gain any answer, he obtained assistance, and the room door was forced lying no.n theeficeooasredonwhiass thheeenh,fohneernd the eend of the bedstead, covered with blood, and his throat fearfully cut. Medical assistance was sent for and Dr. Murphy soon arrived, and pronounced life to be quite extinct. On the dressing table was a note, written by deceased, which was as follows :—" I have done this with the ruor you will find near  me. The cause is the quarrel with Elizabeth, whom I loved much. Tell her if you see her that I forgive her and hope to meet her above some day. Good-bye, darling father! Pray for me and forgive me for what I have done.— Yours, Henry James Strtylbury." Miss Elizabeth Johnstone, the young lady referred to, who was in court, was here called forward by the coroner. She was greatly affected, and was permitted to be ' seated during her evidence. She stated that on Sunday evening she met the deceased shortly before seven o'clock. He appeared very strange in his manner, and walking along Morgan's Farm he said, " I have heard you are not acting true to me, and that you are walking out with another young man." Witnesa told him it was untrue, and that if he believed what other people said he had better go to them at once. She then walked away , from him and wont home. She did not see him again alive. She never thought, however, that he would commit suicide. This has been called a " romantic suicide," but in what consists the romance?
The Birkenhead News and Wirral General Advertiser. — 1881-03-12 (Birkenhead, Merseyside, England)

DISTRESSING SUICIDE.  A painful feeling was caused throughout the town on Saturday morning last when it became known that an old an respected inhabitant had committed suicide by hanging himself. Early on Saturday morning Mr. Howell Pugh, coal merchant, Argyle-street, committed suicide by hanging himself in a shed at the rear of his house, the Dingle-road, Tranmere. The circumstances of the case are peculiarly distressing. The deceased was for many years in the employ of the Lancashire Coal Company, Argyle Street, which he quitted only about nine months ago in order to set up in business for himself, which he did under the style of the Cheshire Coal Company. His affairs were not prosperous, and he was a short time since obliged to place himself in .the liana- dr Ilia" creditors. Hi iiaibrehvoie•  7- : augmented by the serious illness of his wife, and the result was a state of depression which led to the painful result. As soon as the painful discovery was made the body was at once cut down and Dr. Kerr was sent for, who on immediately attending pronounced that life had been extinct for some time. An inquest was held on Monday, at the Trarunere Perk Hotel, before Mr, Chnrton, county coroner. The only witness called was the niece of the deceased, Miss Emily Griffiths, who deposed to the despondent state in which her uncle had for some time been, which she attributed to his failure in business, his wife's prostrated illness, and an affection of the foot which had for some time confined him to his house. On Saturday morning deceased got out (. f bed at an early hour, and shortly after eight o'clock witness found him hanging in a wooden shed in the yard attached to the house. The body was cold and life had been extinct for some time. The jury, without hesitation, returned a verdict to the effect that the deceased had committed suicide while in a state of temporary insanity.
The Birkenhead News and Wirral General Advertiser. — 1881-11-12 (Birkenhead, Merseyside, England)

THE SUICIDE AT OXTON.  Tea adjourned inquest on the body of Andrew Miller, of Shrewsbury-terrace,Clanghton Firs, who was found dead on Thursday week in aa out-house in the nursery of Mr. Samuel Johnston, Oxton, was resumed yesterday afternoon, before Mr. Coroner Churton, at the Talbot Ho el, Ozton, The following evidence was cared Jane Miller, wife of the deceased, stated that her husband's age was 35. He had been for twenty years in the employ of Meson. Bright and Co., cotton brokers, Manchester-buildings, Liverpool, and was their cashier rad bookkeeper. She last saw him at a quarter past seven on the morning of Monday, the 31st October, when he left the house, having taken his breakfast. He had for a few mornings been going to work very early and returning ve y late. He seemed very quiet and very low a-1 depressed. She said to him he dld nct seem in nay harry to go to the office that morn! in', and he replied that he was sick and tired 'of the office. She then left h'm and did not see him again alive. He had seemed lately to be troubled about getting any holiday. He had not told her of any other reason for being low in spirits. On Saturday night he was very restless and talking in his eleen about "a:...:ount sales for the 21r.h June." He had no trouble at home ii his domesre atfni-s. The deceased was ri.'; times unsteady, but had not been so ye .y lately, and never so much so as to neglect h's duties in Liverpool. She beard. him two yeari ago threaten to drown himself. At I that time he had been engaged in his half yearly balance, and Was talking much of business in his sleep; he jumped out of bed and said he would drown hhuself. She was not aware that he had a revolver in his posses. lion. For the last month she had noticed a difference in his manner. He had seemed vacint and indifferent about household matters. When he did not return on Monday she made private enquiry as to his whereabouts, but did not commnnicite with the police, thinking CIA he might have rambled away nd would retti.n when he c-,me to his right mind. Every inquiry was made in Liverpool through the police in othaz ways. Amoagst the elects on lhe deceased was a paper written in pencil, telling, her that his Efe was insured, and he corld not bear the agony any 10-ager. _ _ _  The juty, site: a brlef consultation, found that the detle :sad sho hnself •Nlilst in a state of tempo:a,-.7 insauity.
The Birkenhead News and Wirral General Advertiser. — 1881-09-03 (Birkenhead, Merseyside, England)

INFECTIOUS HOSPITAL FOR WALLASEY,  TO THE EDITOR OR THE BIRKENHEAD NEWS.  Sin, I beg in the name of others, as well as myself, to thank your correspondent, " Argus," for his letter of last week under the above heading, and I do not feel the slightest hesitation in saying that it expressed the feeling of fully seven-eighths of the dwellers in this district upon the subject. A more suicidal attempt upon the prosperity of the district was never made ; the sudden (perhaps unavoidable) increase of rates "pales before it ;" in fact, it is only excusable on the grounds through which coroners' juries mostly palliate suicide, viz., "temporary insanity." When a member of the Board finds an argument in favour of the proposed site in the fact that "it is so contiguous to the Tramways" it is. hardly too much to suppose that a mania has taken possession. But wily the sudden rage for pitching the "Tabernacle of Death" amidst the busy hum of a healthy population, when the Wallasey maboard presents such admirable sites for effectually isolating infectious diseases? Why not bring out the iron house, for which the ratepayers have already paid to the tune of some £6OO, and put it up where the glorious sea breezes may blow upon it, in place cf leaving it in its hiding-place rusting away? Why enact the farce of one committee sellin,y, land to themselves (under another name)? Do the perpetrators of that dodge imagine that the Local Government Board will be hoodwinked or that the ratepayers will ever let them have the money? No, no; the spirit of discontent is too general, the vigilance of the Ratepayers' Association is too active, and the influence of proprietors too strong to allow such a disastrous project to be carried out. If the Board wish to escape the humiliation inflicted, not so long ago, at the Concert Hall, let them listen to reason, go further and fare better. Reno.  We have been requested to publish the following : Beacombe Ratepayers' Association, August 31st, 1881. To the Chairman of the Wallasey Local Board.  Dear Sir,—At a meeting of the committee of the above association, held on the evening of the 3rd inst., I was instructed to inform you that a resolution to the following effect was thereat passed unanimously "That, inasmuch as a large majority of the ratepayers of the parish are unquestionably opposed to the erection of an infectious hospital in the immediate vicinity of the new cemetery, and a large proportion of are also inimical to the project, this committee, on behalf of the association, most respectfully suggest to the Board the desirability of it deferring the execution of the at present contemplated scheme,, in order that a less objectionable site may be made available."— I am, cte.,
The Birkenhead News and Wirral General Advertiser. — 1881-01-15 (Birkenhead, Merseyside, England)

SATURDAY, JANUARY 15, 1881. EVENTS OF THE WEEK.  ARE MEN BURIED ALIVE?  THIS is a query which has been more than once put by the romaucist. Occasionally it is discussed at firesides in the " creepy " tones appropriate to glibst stories. But hard-headed people do not appear to think it worthy of serious consideration. They have faith in the faculty and the precautions which are exercised prior to the interment of those who are supposed to be dead. It would seem, however, that there is really more ground for uneasiness than they imagine. A few days ago Charles Davies, iiged 29, of Worcester, 2.qempted to commit suicide by cutting his throat. He was found in a pool of blood, and two medical men said that he was dead. The coroner's officer, hearing of the matter, soon arrived, and sent two of' his assistants for a coffin and a barrow. The body was placed in the coffin and wheeled to the mortuary in the Worcester churchyard. It would have remained there to await the coroner's inquest, but the coroner's officer suddenly observed the supposed corpse move its eyelids. This startled him. After waiting a few seconds he heard the man heave a deep sigh, and saw him move one leg. Another doctor was then brought, and he pronounced the man to be alive. He ordered him to be taken out of the coffin, and he was hurried off to the infirmary, where he was seen by the doctors who had previously pronounced him dead. The wound in the man's throat was dressed, and afterwards he was able to communicate with the house surgeon. Nearly three hours elapsed from the time the poor fellow was discovered with his throat cat and his removal to the infirmary. It is terrible to think of what might have happened.  A
The Birkenhead News and Wirral General Advertiser. — 1881-06-04 (Birkenhead, Merseyside, England)

ATTEMPTED SUICIDE.  AT the Borough Police Court, on Tuesday, before Mr. Preston, Florence Ward, wife of Thomas Ward, a labourer, residing at 8, Priory-court, was charged with attempting fa commit suicide.  P.C. 11 stated that he was called to the house and informed that the woman had taken poison. He found her lying on the bed. He asked her what she had taken and she replied that she had taken threepenny.worth of rat poison. Drs. Willey and Jeannette, who were passing near by, were called to her, and they gave her something to drink, after which she was taken to the Borough Hospital, and attended by Dr. Willey. Dr. Willey, assistant house surgeon, said that on Saturday afternoon the prisoner was brought to the hospital. She appeared to be in pat distress, and was suffering from irritation of the stomach. He gave her an emetic and kept her in the hospital till morning. She was now all right. The prisoner's husband said he went home at dinner time on Saturday; there was me fire in, and nothing got for dinner. He went upstairs and found his wife on the bed, with her infant boy, about 14 months old, lying alongside of her. She was in a very low state and he thought, perhaps, she felt sick. The thought nothing of it and went out, returning again at four o'clock. She was stall on the bed and aaked him rid to leave her. He asked her what was the matter, when she replied that he would not have her to bother him long. She then told him she had takes eone stuff and thrown it up again. He asked her what she had taken, when she said nothing, and asked him to send for her mother. He fetched her mother, and thee went to look for a doccor, and while ha was away her mother went for the officer. There had been some trouble between her and himself in consequence of her pawning things. He gave her • deal of money, but she did not keep the house properly. Latterly he had kept all the money and provided for the house himself. He did not know of her being gives to drink, as he had never himself seen her under the influence of it.  Mr. Preston made the promise not to repeat the sot, and gave her up to her husband, who promised to take charge of her.  Ws make and mend alt sorts ot Baskets. We make and mend Ship Casks, Store Cub, and all kinds of household rebels in wood. We send in all directions for repairiag work, and return the articles with expedition. J. & Is Ksighin, Birkenhead Brush Mart, 14a, Chesteribeet. _ _  --The public can sae the trouble and expense Of going so Liverpool by buying their Tobaeocie, Cis" and Pipes, at Dicint's Wholesale and Itetail Stores, 29 and 31, Mairssr-rrazsr, Birkenhead. Shopkeepers and Public:ions served on the most advantageous terms. Wholesale agent for the noted re Brigade Cigars.
The Birkenhead News and Wirral General Advertiser. — 1901-05-18 (Birkenhead, Merseyside, England)

THE SUICIDE IN CORPOR4TION ROAD.  On Monday afternoon the Borough Coroner (Mr. Cecil Holden) held the first inquest on the body of a man named Geo. Heyman, who resided at 137, Corporation-road, and who committed suioide on Friday last by cutting hie throat. . .  lifa7s-ga;et Hayman stated that the was the widow of the deceased man. For the past twelve months he had suffered from bronchitis, and this caused him to lose a lot of work. The last illness be had was from the 25th March to the 20th April. He went to work on the latter date, and continued at his work until the 9th of May, being, however, very depressed in manner, and always talking of getting discharged. He made no threat to take his hfe. He went to bed at half-past nine on Thareda,y night, the 9th inst. He said it wee esinuig, and he might as well go to bed as he could not go for a walk. At ten o'clock witness went into hie room. He was then asleep, and she retired to another room. Next morning, on awakening at 5-15, she heard a peculiar moaning sound. She got up, and went into her husband'e room. It wee empty. She went downstairs , and called out, "-Where are you, George r He replied, "On the floor." She found him ' in the kitohen, lying in a pool of blood, and with a gash in hie throat. He said, very feebly "I've out my throat." He could not ENV anything more. Witness went out and procured assistance, and her husband was taken to the hospital. She had not seen him since than, alive. He died at eeven o'clock on Saturday morning. P.C. Fennell said that on the 10th inst. he was on duty at the Vittoriaotreet bridge when a man named George Henry Hughes asked him to go to 139, Corporation-road. Witness went there and saw the deceased man. He lay on his back and left side, and the floor was covered with blood. There wee a deep wound on the throat which had stopped bleeding. He could not speak, but seemed partly
The Birkenhead News and Wirral General Advertiser. — 1901-05-18 (Birkenhead, Merseyside, England)

ATTEMPTED SUICIDE FROM A FERRY-BOAT.  Archibald Wilson, who has been residing in a lodging-house in Bebington-street, _Liverpool, attempted to take his life on Wednesday morning, by jumping into the river. The boat was nearing the Woodside stage when tho man plunged in. The crew of the steamer Claughton threw lifebuoye to Wilson, but he failed to grasp one. The tide carried the drowning man towards the luggage stage, where the ferry steamer Cheshire was moored, and by the efforts of Captain Thomas Heaton and other members of the crew of the boat Wilson was rescued. He was in a very exhausted state, and was carried into theßeceiving-house, where first aid was rendered. The horse ambulance was summoned, and Wilson was taken to the Borough Hospital, where he was attended by Dr. Silvester. He was to have appeared in the dock at the Birkenhead Police Court on Wednesday, charged with attempting to commit suicide, but his condition would not permit him doing so. On Thursday. before Mr. P. McMahon, and Alderman Singleton, he was charged with the offence. One of the stagemen. at Woodeisle said he saw the prisoner by the aft cabin 6n the boat when it came alongside the stage. Be ent to pin the ropes to ma be the boats fast, sod immediately afterwards heard someone cal— ling that there was a man overboard. He was unable to explain how the man got into the water. The Captain of the Cheshire. which was lying at the time at the north feee of the stage, said that on receiving the alarm he went on deck and saw the prisoner floating in the direction of the paddle wheel of the boat. He had much difficulty in getting the prisoner, who was unconscious, out of the water. The accused, in his opinion, appeared to have had some drink. Prisoner stated that be had been drinking with two friends in Liverpool the previous : night, and that he did not remember what I happened afterwards. it was stated that the prisoner had not even a penny in Ills possession, and would not have been able to par his fare. was remanded to the workhouse for a week in order that he might be kept under observation.
The Birkenhead News and Wirral General Advertiser. — 1901-05-22 (Birkenhead, Merseyside, England)

SHOCKING SUICIDE AT OXTON.  A YICTIN TO INSOMNIA.  Yet another case of suicide has to be added to the already long list which has been published within the pad few days. The vice tim in this inatanbe is an elderly gentleman named John Maxwell, and he committed suicide by hanging himeelf at a home in Caroline-place, where he had gone the day previously to by and get rid of his insomnia, to which he had been subject all his life. The deceased gentleman, in order to relieve his insomnia, travelled on the continent for some time, leaving England in September last and remaining away for about five months, and then journeying to Llangollen, afterwards to Buxton. He remaiued at the latter place for about two weeks, but he did not like it very much, and expressed his intention of conning back to Birkenhead. Arrangements were therefore made by hie son here with the object of putting bins in a suitable home, where he could receive the attention he was in want of. With this-end in view, Mr. Maxwell, jour., approached the matron of St. Andrew's Home, Caroline-place, and explained what attention his fattier was desirous of receiving. It was eventually agreed that he was not to be allowed to go out alone, and one or two other arrangements were arrived at. This was on Saturday morning. On Saturday afternoon Mr. Maxwell took his father to the institute. 'Dlie old gentleman was in a very depressed °tate, as he had been for Kane time previously. The deceased man was entrusted to the care of the matron, Mrs. Croskary. She read to him during the evening, but he did nothing at all which wouli lead her to asppose that he was meditating suicide. In the evening Dr. Floyd had a long talk with him, and the deceased man described his ailments. At eleven o'clock on Saturday night Mrs. Croskary sew the deceased man safe in bed. He said he was very drowsy, and thought he would soon he asleep. The next morning a nurse in the next room awoke at six o'clock, but there was no sound from the direction of the deceased man's room. At seven o'clock all was quiet, but at eight o'clock she heard Mr. Maxwell moving about. Mrs. Croskery went to his room at (b./di-past eight with some refreehmeet. She found the door locked on the inside, and after calling and knocking, and receiving no response, became alarmed. She rang up Dr. Floyd on the telephone, and sent for a plumber who lived near by. They both arrived at the same time, and entered the room. They saw the deceased man hanging from a otrap attached to a hat peg at the back of the door. His face was turned from them, and he was in a kneeling position in the air. It was remarkable that the hat peg did not give way, because it was very insecurely fixed, and came away from the door when touched by some one else shortly afterwards. The doctor and the plumber tried artificial respiration for about half-anehour, hut without any result, The body was quite warm, and the deceased man had apparently only been- dead about three-quarters of an hour.