Brighouse & Rastrick Gazette. — 1880-10-30 (Brighouse, West Yorkshire, England)

THE INQUEST.  Yesterday afternoon, an inquest was held on the body at the Woodland Hotel, Birds Royd, Rastrick, before Mr. Wm. Barstow, and a jury composed of the following persons :—Messrs. Thomas Smith (foreman), Thomas Bottomley, John Shaw, William Naylor, John Brook Booth, David Smithies, Thos. Rayner, James Brook, John Tetlow, Alfred Helliwell, J. Brewer, and James Jagger. The jury having been sworn, proceeded to view the body : the first witness examined was haw Peel, residing at Westgate, Elland, who said that on Thursday he saw the body of deceased and identified it as his son, Robert Peel, aged 18 years, and a piecer at Elland. He identified him by a mark of an old burn on his left foot, and also by his shirt. He last saw deceased alive on the night of the 2nd inst., and he was then in bed by himself in the same room in which he and his wife slept! About two o'clock the next morning (Sunday) his wife awoke him and said that she had heard the house door opened by some one. He then arose, and then looking into the deceased's bed he saw he was not there, upon which he went down stairs and found the house door shut, but not locked as he left it the night before. He then partly dressed himself as fast as he could, going in the direction of the river and canal bridges in search of him. Not seeing any trace of him he went over the canal bridge on to the hauling path, under the railway arches, but could see nothing of him. He continued searching for Eipme time, but could see nothing of him, and he returned home, and he had not seen nor heard anything of him until he saw his body at Birds Royd on Thursday. The deceased had been for fifteen weeks in the South Yorkshire County Asylum at Wadsley, near Sheffield, but was brought home about six weeks ago. In the asylum the deceased had not spoken or opened his eyes for eleven weeks, and he did not do so until a day or two after he was brought home. For a period of three days before he was taken to the asylum, he neither spoke nor opened his eyes, and was very violent, striking anyone who came near him. The medical gentleman in attendance at Elland had ordered the deceaspi to be sent to the asylum. The deceased was very fond of reading, and did not mix amongst other youths. He was very quiet and steady, and had lately been confirmed. He had to take deceased home in a cab from his work a few days before he went to the asylum, as be had acted very strangely. The daceased had been treated very kindly while he was sick,  Henry Mellor, waterman, of Brighouse, said that about ten o'clock on Thursday morning he heard people saying there was the body of a man in the river Calder, and he, along with his two sons, took one of their boats, and saw the body of the deceased floating down the river. The body came clown the middle of the etream, and they got it out on the hauling bank, near to 043400 r Dye  Works. They kept the boly on the bank till a policeman was sent for, ad then had it conveyed to the Woodland Hotel. •  John IValiam, Fleteior, greengrocer, of Sowarby Bridge, stated that he AZIW ti bob, of deceasad about ten o'clock oa Thurs•lay morning in the river Calder, at Brookfoot, and it was then floating very rapidly down the stream. He followed the body to Brighouse, and when he arrived at Calder Dye Works he assisted, along with others, to get the body out of the water! The deceased had only his shirt on.  Mary Ann Sykes, wife of Titus Sykes, cart driver, Birds Boyd, said that she had assisted to wash and lay out the body of deceased, which bore the appearance of a young man about 18 or 19 years of age. The body had no marks of violence on it, but was in a very decomposed state, and must have been in the water a very long time. The deceased had on a striped cotton shirt and a white flannel singlet. This was all the evidence tendered, an I after a short consultation the jury returned a verdict to the effect "That the deceased was found drowned without marks of violence, and that he had probably committed suicide by drowning himself whilst in an unsound state of mind."