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Kentish Chronicle, 24 November, 1829.
Attempted at Robbery.
Wednesday evening an inquest was held at the London Hospital, on the
body of Henry White, a
mechanic aged 26. It appeared that on the first instance the
deceased, and a shopmate of his, of the
name of Gill, had been spending the evening at the "Cherry Tree"
public house at Bromley; and on
his return home at night along the Bromley New-cut, he was met by
ruffian, whose object no doubt
was to rob him, and who strike him a violent blow on the forehead
with a bludgeon, which so
stunned him, that he instantly fell into the water. He almost
directly, from the coldness of the water,
recovered from the stunning effects of the blow; but perceiving his
assailants standing on the bank, he
apparently waited for his return, he swam to the opposite side of
the canal, and thus evaded further
violence. He found a deep wound on his forehead, which gave him
great pain, and on the 11th
instance he went into the Hospital. The wound was not mortal, but it
produced lockjaw and death.
The jury, after some deliberation, returned a verdict "That the
deceased's death was caused by a
lockjaw produced by a wound on the forehead, but by whom it was
inflicted there is no evidence to
show.
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Kentish Gazette, 26 March 1850.
BROMLEY. Suspicious Death.
Mr. W. Baker, held an inquest on Friday se’nnight, at the "Cherry-tree"
public-house, Bromley, touching the death of a respectably
dressed female, name unknown, apparently about 30 years of age, who was
drowned in the new cut of the river Lea, under the
following circumstances:—
It appeared from the evidence of two witnesses, that between seven and
eight o’clock on Wednesday evening, they were
proceeding from Limehouse to Stratford, along the towing-path of the new
cut of the Lea river. When near the Bromley Bridge the
deceased passed them, going in the opposite direction, and walking
quickly, they had not proceeded more than a dozen yards when
their attention was arrested by the loud screams of a female, and on
their looking round they observed the deceased deposit her
bonnet on the ground and deliberately plunge into the water. They did
not attempt to assist her, and on reaching the above house
they gave an alarm. The drags were obtained, and after searching for
some time they round the body, life being quite extinct. The
deceased wore a gold wedding ring, and two of her front teeth are gone.
The jury returned a verdict, "That the deceased destroyed
herself by drowning; but as to the state of her mind at the time they
had not sufficient evidence to say."
Shortly after the jury had
been dismissed, a youth residing in the neighbourhood came forward and
stated that on the evening in question he was passing the
spot, and saw one of the men deliberately throw the deceased into the
water, and, fearing they might serve him in the same way,
he ran away, and was the first to give the alarm at the above house,
which fact was established by the landlord of the house, who
was from home during the above inquiry. The coroner has been made
acquainted with the statement, and the occurrence has
caused a great sensation in the locality. |
