Deaths and Inquests 1847 -1849

Deaths and Inquests

Deaths and Inquests 1847 - 1849

From the Carlisle Patriot (CP) and Carlisle Journal newspapersJanuary 29th 1847CPInquest at the Longtown Union Workhouse on Thursday 21st inst on the body of Thomas Errington, agricultural labourer, aged 78. Deceased had been an out door pauper, receiving 2s 6d weekly relief, from the parish of Scaleby, up till the 18th, three days prior to his decease. He inhabited a miserable sod house in that parish, residing alone for upwards of two years. On the last-named day, Mr Mulcaster, one of the overseers, visited him at the suggestion of several neighbours, for the purpose of prevailing upon him to go into the workhouse, for his better accommodation, which he consented to do. Mr Mulcaster took him there in a cart, covering him up in straw, and placing a woollen rug over him. On being received at the workhouse, he was washed in warm water and placed near a fire, and had tea and bread given him, which he took. He was visited shortly after his arrival by Mr Graham, surgeon, who found him suffering from paralysis and extreme debility. He had every attention paid him in the workhouse, until the following morning when he died. Verdict ? natural death.May 28th 1847CPInquest on the 24th inst at Longtown on the body of John Nichol late of Gowkhall, Dumfriesshire, cattle drover, aged 50. Deceased was one of the party who were lost in the flood at Langholm Races on the 29th July last. The body was found sanded up near the bed of the river Esk at Scarbank, and was much decomposed. The sister of the deceased was however able to identify the remains, partly by the features, and particularly by the shoes; the coat was not upon the body. Deceased was last soon alive on the race-course at Langholm in an insensible state of intoxication, and had then little or no money upon him. It is supposed he laid down there and had been carried away by the waters of the river Ewse, which on that evening suddenly rose to an immense height and overflowed all the race course. Verdict ? found dead.October 1st 1847CPAn inquest was held at the Longtown Union Workhouse on the 25th September on the body of William Gaddes. The deceased became an inmate of the workhouse on the 14th June last. Although treated with every kindness by Mr Routledge, the master, and allowed every indulgence that the rules of the board would permit, the old man was much distressed with his new abode, and often told his fellow paupers, about three weeks or a month ago, ?that he did not mind if he was drowned or had his throat cut, rather than stay there?. According to the evidence of the other paupers, he was very unsettled and uneasy in his mind, and wished to be at liberty to ramble about the country. He left the house on the Tuesday morning previously. A diligent search was immediately made, but he was not found until Friday morning, when a woman, living at Hallburn, found his body lying in the Hallburn rivulet, his face downwards and his walking stick below him, and his face in the stream, not more than four inches deep. He had been visited by one or two sick fits before. He was a very old man, and exceedingly infirm, and the jury, considering that the probabilities were in favour of the conclusion that he had accidentally fallen whilst in a fit, and had accidentally suffocated before sensibility returned, found a verdict accordingly. The deceased was a renowned horse-jockey in his day, and well-known to our local readers by the cognomen of ?Humpy?.October 15th 1847CPInquest at Longtown on Thursday on the body of James Ferguson, quarryman, aged 62 years. The deceased had a deep sore on his right leg. On Tuesday last he was working on a crane in Laws Hall Quarry, when the chain gave way. His companion, by name Blaylock, was widening one of the links by the insertion of the shanks of a blacksmith?s tongs, when they slipped out of Blaylock?s hands and fell to the ground, striking the sore upon deceased?s leg. This caused a rupture of the large blood vessels, from which the blood ran in a stream till he ceased to live, in less than ten minutes. Verdict- accidental deathDecember 10th 1847CPConsiderable excitement has recently been created in Longtown and the neighbourhood, owing to a report that a pauper named James Scott, who was receiving out-door relief from the Longtown Union, had died from want of food and medical attendance ? the result of neglect of duty on the part of the relieving officer. Information to this effect having been sent to Mr Carrick, the coroner, on 27th November last, he appointed an inquest to be held at the house of the deceased at Browhead, in the parish of Kirkandrews on Esk, on the same evening. The house in which the poor man died was a miserable hovel, and its appearance indicated in every respect the utmost poverty and destitution, there being scarcely an article of furniture in it. After the jury had viewed the body, which presented a most skeleton-like appearance, it was deemed desirable to adjourn to the 6th inst, in order to obtain the attendance of witnesses who resided at some distance, and also in order that the body might undergo a post-mortem examination. The substance of the evidence is contained in the following statement made by the widow of the deceased, herself and four children, the eldest aged fifteen years. Her husband had been employed on the Caledonian Railway a short time prior to the 27th September. On that day his health failed him, and he was unable afterwards to follow any employment. He was then due to him £2 19s, but after paying off some debts he was owing, he had no more than 4s left. Some of the children who were at service, contributed about eight or nine shillings, they received in charity about 5s 6d, and from the union they received about 13s 6d, making altogether 31s 6d, which was all they had to live upon for eight weeks, during which the deceased was labouring under severe illness. She applied to Mr Graham, medical officer of the Union, ten days after her husband became ill, requesting him to visit her husband, but Mr Graham did not attend until the Thursday week following. On the 8th day of deceased?s illness, witness called on the relieving officer but did not get any relief. Witness then requested that the doctor might be sent to him, but he did not come?The medical evidence given by Mr Graham and Dr Rome proved that the body was much emaciated internally. The lungs on both sides of the chest were found to be extensively diseased, and the viscera totally destitute of fatty matter. Consumption was the cause of death, but it was impossible to say whether want of sufficient sustenance had not contributed thereto?The jury returned a verdict that deceased had died a natural death from consumption, but were of the opinion that the medical and relieving officers were culpable in not attending so soon and as often as their duties required them.February 5th 1848CPInquest on the 31st inst on the body of James Forster, of Boggburn, Kirkandrews on Esk, labourer, who on Saturday night was knocked down between Stanwix and Goslinsyke by a cart and horse which were being driven furiously along the road. The inquest was adjourned and will be resumed at the Coffee House on Monday.February 19th 1848CPAdjourned Inquest on James ForsterThe adjourned inquest on the body of James Forster was resumed at the Coffee House on Monday last, before Mr Carrick. The following is the substance given by several witnesses. Thomas Baty, servant with Mr Carruthers of Sark Bridge, had been to Carlisle market on the 29th ult, with a horse and cart belonging to his master, and left the city on his return between three and four in the afternoon. When he began to descend the hill between Stanwix and Knowfield Schoolhouse, the horse was observed to be in a gallop. When halfway down the brow, he drew up and invited Andrew Jardine, a blacksmith from Cannobie and John Armstrong, a farmer?s son from Chapplehills, to take a seat. The horse again started up at a rapid pace? it proceeded at a most furious rate till it passed the school house and crossed a small bridge, when the horse ran against the deceased, who was walking home, the stang struck his back and forced him to the ground and the wheel passed over him and caused the cart to upset and the passengers to be thrown to the ground. He was taken up by Mr E Robinson, schoolmaster, and carried into the schoolroom. As soon as Mr Robinson had seen the poor man safely into the room, he hastened to get the name of the parties; they had, however, in the interval, raised the cart and galloped off without taking the least heed of the unfortunate deceased who was in a state of insensibility. After a cup of tea had been given to him, he rallied sufficiently to give his name. He then relapsed into unconsciousness, in which condition he was removed to the infirmary, where he died the same evening, from effusion of blood into the chest, caused by extensive fractures of the ribs. Inquest verdict- accidental death. The jury added that they considered Baty highly culpable, and that his master was not free from blame in trusting him with a mare which had before run off.February 26th 1848CPOn Wednesday afternoon, Mr Andrew Armstrong, late farmer of Millersbrowhead, and for upwards of thirty years assistant Overseer of Kirkandrews Middle Quarter, was killed by a fall from a horse, the property of Mr John Atkin of Beck, in the parish of Kirkandrews on Esk. It appears the deceased had to meet his two sons, William and James Armstrong (the latter of which is the Carlisle and Langholm carrier) at Longtown, respecting a farm which he, the deceased, was about to take, and had not proceeded above five hundred yards from Beck until he was found upon the road, and life nearly extinct. He was dead before they could get him into the house. The body awaits the coroner?s inquest. Armstrong was a particularly temperate man, and his death is very much lamented in Longtown and the neighbourhood.March 25th 1848CPAn inquest was held on Wednesday evening last at Moat in the parish of Kirkandrews on Esk, on the body of William Morton, farmer aged 51, who was drowned on Monday evening in the river Esk. The deceased had crossed the river into Scotland on a pair of stilts. On his return about eight o?clock, the waters were swollen and it is supposed he was washed away by the current. His stilts were found a quarter of a mile below on the stone bed, and his body half a mile further in the water adjoining Mr Reid?s farm.Verdict ? accidental death.June 17th 1848CPInquest before Mr Lee, Deputy Coroner on the 13th inst at Longtown on the body of Mary Reed, widow aged 87, who was found dead in her bed on the previous morning. About four months ago, she vomited a large quantity of blood, since when she frequently complained of pains in her heart and stomach.Verdict ? found dead ? natural death.September 9th 1848CPInquest at Bolton Fell End on Tuesday last on the body of Mr Christopher Little, aged 64 years. The unfortunate deceased was landlord of the inn at Haithwaite Gate in Nicholforest, and on Monday last attended the annual licensing meeting at Brampton for the renewal of his license. He left that town early in the afternoon, quite sober, but on his way he called at a public house where he drank pretty freely. He proceeded but a short distance when he fell from his pony and was assisted into the Three Horse Shoes, beer house at Flosh House. After remaining about a quarter of an hour, he felt himself sufficiently recovered to resume his journey and he again mounted his horse, accompanied by one William Telford of Pepper Moss. Telford having occasion to make a call upon the road, parted from deceased who rode forward. Telford followed closely after him. When he reached the entrance to Mount Pleasant farm near Hethersgill, he saw deceased?s pony grazing by the side of the road without its rider; he next discovered deceased lying face downwards in a pool of water adjoining the road, used as a watering place for cattle? the deceased, it is supposed, had allowed the pony to go into the water to drink, had lost his balance when it put his head down and had been suffocated before he could render himself any assistance.The jury returned a verdict of accidental death from drowning. Mr Little was much esteemed by a large circle of friends.May 18th 1849CPInquest on the 12th inst at the Cumberland Infirmary in view of the body of John Bulman, wagon driver aged 24 years. Deceased was in the employ of Mr Richardson, timber merchant. On the previous Wednesday he and John Campbell, another driver, went to Netherby for wood. On the way home deceased, being very intoxicated, laid himself across the fore part of the wagon, Campbell following him with his wagon at the distance of about 100 yards. When near Kingston, Campbell saw deceased upon the road in the act of rolling himself out of the way of the hind wheel of the wagon.Deceased was taken to Goslingsyke and it was found he had received a compound fracture of the right leg and other injuries upon his body. He lost a considerable amount of blood. He was taken to the infirmary without delay, where he died in about three hours. The fore wheel of the wagon had passed over his leg and grazed his body.Verdict ? accidental death.May 26th 1849 CPInquest on the 18th inst at Flattheads in the parish of Bewcastle on the body of Jane Forster, aged 71. Deceased lodged with Jane Storey, another old woman, who lived rent free in a small thatched cottage belonging to Mr Routledge of Crook. On that morning, Mrs Storey rose about seven o?clock, leaving deceased in bed asleep, and went out for a short time. On her return into the house, she heard a loud crack proceeding from the roof, but before she reached it the roof fell in and covered her up to her breast. She called loudly for assistance, which was promptly rendered, and she and the deceased were extricated in the course of half an hour. Deceased was quite dead but Mrs Storey suffered little or no injury. The beams of the roof were completely rotted.Verdict ? accidental deathSeptember 22nd 1849CPInquest at the Boathouse, Rockliff Cross on Saturday last on the body of George Snowden of Caldewgate, Carlisle, husbandman, aged 51 years. The unfortunate man was in the service of his brother-in-law Jacob Thomlinson of Newtown, farmer, where he lived during the week ? returning to his own house on the Saturday night. He left his master?s house on Thursday without stating to anyone his intentions. He passed from Sandsfield into Scotland by the ferryboat on the same afternoon. On Friday he was seen on the Guards Marsh by Mr Birrel?s herd, about 11 o?clock in the forenoon.John Glover, an intelligent little boy, a herd in the service of Mr Robert Wilkin of Mossband Hall, stated that he was upon Mossband Hall Marsh about 12 o?clock, when he saw a man in the river Esk up to his shoulders. He was going round and ?proddling? with his stick. In two minutes, he sank down and disappeared. Witness immediately ran to an adjoining field and told the shearers, who lost no time in going to the place but nothing was to be seen on the surface of the water. The tide was then flowing very rapidly, and was nearly full; deceased had no chance of being saved without the aid of a boatman.When the water receded, the body of deceased was found about 100 yards up the sands from the place where he disappeared, his bundle and stick were gone? there were found in his pockets 5s 21/2d, a knife and other articles, including a lemonade bottle which had contained spirits. At the inquest the deceased?s mother and son attended and identified the body. Verdict ? accidentally drowned.November 10th 1849CPPoacher Drowned - An inquest was held before Mr Lee, deputy coroner, on the 29th ult at Shankbridge End in the parish of Stapleton, on the body of Henry Telford aged 30 years. Deceased was drowned on the previous Saturday night in crossing the river Lyne in his attempting to escape from Wm Newby, a forester and watcher under Sir James Graham. Deceased was servant at Shankbridge-end, and it is supposed on the day of his death whilst working in the fields, he had seen on the opposite side of the water some pheasants, for on that day it appeared, he had borrowed a gun under the pretence of shooting wood pigeons. About 11 o?clock at night, Wm Newby, who resides at a short distance, heard the report of a gun and proceeded in the direction of the report? he made a rush at the man who ran direct for the water at a place called Spirling Holme, where there is a deep pool. Newby pursued and when he got to the top of the bank he saw deceased about to enter the water, and called to him to keep out. Deceased however went in with his gin in his hand, and shortly got out of his depth and disappeared. Assistance was immediately procured and unavailing search was made until the following morning, when deceased was found about 50 yards down the water, with one arm extended above his head?Verdict ? accidental death.