The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — 1841-11-12 (Liverpool, Merseyside, England)

SUICIDES IN LIVERPOOL.-011 Tuesday three inquests were held before Mr. Curry, on view of the bodies of two women and one man, who had put a period to their existence. The first was on Agnes Kerr, a female of the age of 22. It appeared from the evidence that the deceased had been living with her sister for about a fortnight, who keeps a lodginghouse at No. 4, Suffolk-street. On Monday morning she took her breakfast and appeared quite well. She then went up stairs to dress for the purpose of going out, and came down again in her shawl and bonnet, but on learning what time it was, immediately proceeded again up stairs. In about half an hour one of the lodgers having occasion to go into his room, found the door locked, when he immediately told the sister of the deceased, who on knocking at the door and receiving no answer, broke it open, and found the deceased lying on the floor with a great quantity of blood about her. A razor was lying close beside her, and her throat was cut in a most frightful manner. She was quite dead. Nothing peculiar had ever been observed about the manner of the deceased. The jury returned a verdict of temporary insanity. —The second inquest was on the body of Elizabeth New, a widow, aged 31. The deceased was in the habit of drinking to excess, and on Saturday afternoon, in a very melancholy mood, asked for a bottle to get some rhubarb, as she complained of being ill in her bowels. She returned in a few minutes, arid poured something out of thebottle into a tea-cup, and drank it off, and then went out. She returned in the evening, and went to bed with a female whom she desired to sleep with her. About one o'clock on Sunday morning the deceased was heard to moan, when her bedfellow got up and went down stairs for a light, and discovered the bottle on the chimney-piece, marked " Laudanum—poison." She then went up stairs, and tried to awaken the deceased, but without effect ; and about eight o'clock she died. The surgeon gave it as his opinion that the deceased had died from the effects of some narcotic, which he believed to be laudanum• In this case, also, the jury returned a verdict of temporary insanity.—The remaining inquest was on the body of Thos. Yates, a druggist, aged 27. The wife of the deceased deposed, that her husband had been laboring for a few days under a cold, with slight fever. At four o'clock on Monday afternoon, he was sitting up stairs with witness, and was then much the same as usual. He had no pain, but was very weak in his body, and low in his spirits. He walked into the next room, and got into bed, and in about five minutes she followed, and found him lying on his face in bed. She spoke to him several times' but received no answer, and she then shook him, thinking he was asleep. She subsequently rang the bell for the servant to come up. The servant turned him over on his back to see if he was asleep, and it was then found that he was dead. The deceased kept a shop attached to the house. Mr. James Marshall, surgeon, deposed, that he had been attending the deceased for the last three or four days. He had a cold, accompanied with fever, which prostrated his strength. On smelling at the mouth of the deceased after his death, he perceived a slight odour of prussic acid, such as is generally present in cases of death arising from that poison. lie was of opinion that the death of the deceased had been occasioned by prussic acid. John Thompson deposed that he was an assistant in the shop of the deceased. He wal called up to him on Monday afternoon, and found him dead in bed. He had all his clothes on. Witness examine halt the, deceased's pockets, and found a bottle containing a a drachm of prussic acid. The bottle was one which ,rwits, used in the shop, and always contained prussic acid. -. last time Ile observed the bottle in the shop, about thin ago, it was nearly full of russic acid, and 'he did not till there had been any disposed The vet. et. re ,Jury returned a diet of temporary insanity. a month