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Macdonald's District: North East Middlesex

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  • #91
    Now they move on to the unidentified suicide from the park. The witnesses found since the 4th are produced. The widow is there and she produces the suicide note.
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    • #92
      William James [Bencley or Bendey], chemist, A.P.S. High Road, Tottenham, from the description given me of the deceased, I do not recollect having served him with laudanum at any time. I may have done so as it is a very common occurrence as many people buy laudanum for toothache and other complaints and the only restriction on the sale is that it should be labeled poison. I sell two pennyworths of Laudanum to people when they state what they want it for. This is generally a poisonous dose.

      Thos. Smith, a police officer at the Alexandra Palace. I saw deceased coming through the grove between 7 + 8 P.M. on Tuesday. I saw him later the same evening [illegible] out the shrubbery. I sent him to the Central Hall about 7.45 P.M. where I left him.
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      • #93
        Coroners Officers of course weren't necessarily police officers then, but yes it appears they could be...(compare against Baxter's jurisdiction)...do you think this could explain why Macdonald could be so impressively quick off the mark?

        Cheers

        Dave

        Comment


        • #94
          Anna Hawley of 29 Scales Road. I am the landlady of the house in which deceased lived. They have been with me over six months. He was never [illegible] absent from his home till this Tuesday night. His wife was called out to a person who was ill. They lived on fairly good terms. I told his wife next morning that he had not come home all night. His wife and I went looking for him on Wednesday. The wife came round on Thursday morning. She went on Thursday to look for him.
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          • #95
            The inquest closes and the jury finds a verdict of suicide (presumably while Charles Beall was of unsound mind).

            These two inquests open quicker than any other I've come across. I think it must be unusual circumstances that I put down to Macdonald just happening to be around with a jury when the bodies were discovered.

            Dave
            Attached Files

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            • #96
              Hi Dave,

              I know very little about the officers' backgrounds and really need to do some work on them. Some may have been former constables, others may have been parochial. Macdonald's other officers don't appear to have been serving in the police. One appears to have been associated with a mortuary (his address is in the same street as a mortuary). Thomas Hammond I believe was close to Macdonald--he's serving as some sort of clerk in their headquarters before he began operating as an officer. Chivers is around for the first month of Macdonald's tenure, and so far as I know he wasn't police. In 1891, another officer, Benjamin Beavis, was described as the courthouse keeper in Norton Folgate though I don't know if he had that position in 1888 when he was active as another of Macdonald's officers.

              Hagen and Dorey (and later a third sergeant) are the only ones clearly serving police and give their addresses as their respective police stations. They're in place when Macdonald comes in and so would've been working with Baxter too before the district was divided. Later on in the file (and here my own record is incomplete), but it looks like Hagen and Dorey are gone and there's some other fellow acting as officer, unaffiliated with the police. I don't know if the Met's pulled them or what. Later on, you see Wynn Westcott working with the Commissioner to provide him with officers from the police.

              These two cases open quickly because of circumstance and not who the officers were, I think. Macdonald just happens to be there with a jury holding this previously scheduled bronchitis case so he's in a position to open these two unexpected cases that come along. It's similar to Alice Mackenzie. Baxter opens an inquest on her the same day her body's found--he must already have another inquest scheduled with a jury in place and they just slot Alice in. Macdonald's done the same, it's just a shorter period of time due to circumstances.

              Cheers,
              Dave
              Last edited by Dave O; 09-14-2012, 08:42 PM.

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              • #97
                Thanks Dave

                That puts paid to my hasty assumptions anyway...amazing research...thank you.

                All the best

                Dave

                Comment


                • #98
                  Hi Dave

                  Thanks, I'm on a learning curve myself.

                  Comment


                  • #99
                    Spitalfields inquests

                    Inquests in the North East District, 14 June-15 November 1888.

                    99
                    inquests in Hackney.
                    89 in Shoreditch.
                    81 in Bethnal Green.
                    44 in Tottenham.
                    25 in Saint Luke.
                    21 in Bow.
                    15 in Spitalfields.
                    9 in Stoke Newington

                    Taking a closer look at Spitalfields, here's a little break-down of the 15 sudden deaths there that led to inquests being held during this period.

                    Five cases at a time:

                    1. Alice Lilian Currie, 11 weeks old.
                    Died: 17 June 1888.
                    Place of death: 1 Church Passage, Spitalfields. Residence.
                    Place and date of Inquest: The Black Swan, Hanbury Street, 20 June 1888.
                    Medical Witness: John Noble Bredan, L.K.Q.C.P. & Registered, 1 Norton Folgate. Called to place of death. Report of coroner’s officer cites attendance of George Bagster Phillips, Spital Square (not present at inquest).
                    Postmortem: No.
                    Occupation: Daughter of James Currie, [occupation illegible]
                    Verdict: “suffocation while in bed but how caused there is no definite evidence to show and that such death was accidental.”

                    2. Female Child of John Wood, 4 days old.
                    Died: 22 June 1888.
                    Place of Death: 35 Fashion Street, Spitalfields. Residence.
                    Occupation: Daughter of John Wood, a porter.
                    Place and date of Inquest: The Norton Folgate Courthouse, 26 June 1888.
                    Medical Witness: George Cornelius William Wright, resident accoucheur at London Hospital. Had attended at birth.
                    Postmortem: No.
                    Verdict: “was found dead in bed with its mother do further say that such death was due to suffocation.”

                    3. Caroline Jukes, 22 years old.
                    Died: 5 July 1888.
                    Place of Death: 6 Paternoster Row, Brushfield Street, Spitalfields. Common lodging house. Residence.
                    Occupation: Domestic servant.
                    Place and date of Inquest: The Black Swan, 7 July 1888.
                    Medical Witness: Septimus Swyer, M.R.C.S. & Registered, 68 Brick Lane. Attended at place of death, arriving about five minutes prior to death.
                    Postmortem: No.
                    Verdict: “Caroline Jukes was found dying and did die of syncope accelerated by an epileptic seizure.”

                    4. Mary Ann Hobbs, 35 years old.
                    Died: 8 July 1888.
                    Place of Death: 18 George Street, Spitalfields. Common lodging house. Residence.
                    Occupation: Needlewoman
                    Place and date of Inquest: Laurel Tree, 69 Brick Lane, 10 July 1888.
                    Medical Witness: Septimus Swyer, M.R.C.S. & Registered, 68 Brick Lane. Called to place of death.
                    Postmortem: No. Externally, no marks of violence. Swyer cited “a quantity of arterial blood on the floor which I was told [Hobbs] had thrown up.”
                    Verdict: “Mary Ann Hobbs was found dying and did suddenly die of the mortal effects of [following taken from medical evidence] exhaustion from the rupture of blood vessel in the lung.”

                    5. John Sanderson, 7 months old.
                    Died: 8 July 1888
                    Place of Death: 5 John Court, Spitalfields. Residence.
                    Occupation: Son of Joseph Sanderson, a Boot Maker
                    Place and date of Inquest: The Laurel Tree, 69 Brick Lane, Spitalfields
                    Medical Witness: William Profit Dukes, M.R.C.S. & Registered, 75 Brick Lane. Called to place of death.
                    Postmortem: No. Externally, no marks of violence “except marks of hypostatic congestion. The cause of death was asphyxia, but cannot say positively how this took place. There was froth + mucus oozing from the mouth the hands were clenched.”
                    Verdict: [record incomplete] John Sanderson was found dead in his bed.

                    Comment


                    • 6. George Cheverell, 50 years old.
                      Died: 13 July 1888
                      Place of Death: 32 Crispin Street
                      Occupation: Fish Porter
                      Place and date of Inquest: Paul’s Head, Crispin Street, 16 July 1888
                      Medical Witness: David Hume, L.R.C.P. Registered, 139 Hanbury Street. Was the parish doctor, and attended deceased a few hours before death.
                      Postmortem: No. Clinical evidence. Deceased was delirious and in a dying condition.
                      Verdict: Cerebral Hemorrhage, natural causes.

                      7. Amelia Levy, 49 years old.
                      Died: 14 July 1888
                      Place of Death: 2 Tilley Street, Tenter Ground, Spitalfields
                      Occupation: Wife of Benjamin Levy, hawker.
                      Place and date of Inquest: Paul’s Head, Crispin Street, Spitalfields, 16 July 1888
                      Medical Witness: Edward [Croffon], M.D., 158 Brick Lane. Attended deceased final two hours of her life.
                      Postmortem: No. “Contusion under the right eye and a slight scratch on the left side of the nose.”
                      Verdict: Cerebral Hemorrhage, natural causes.

                      8. Mary Ann Elliott, 10 months old.
                      Died: 16 August 1888
                      Place of Death: 15 Pearl Street, a common lodging house, Spitalfields.
                      Occupation: Illegitimate daughter of Mary Ann Elliott.
                      Place and date of Inquest: Black Swan, Hanbury Street, Spitalfields, 18 August 1888.
                      Medical Witness: Timothy Robert Killeen, M.R.C.S. & Registered, 68 Brick Lane. Attended deceased when she was brought to surgery in a dying condition on 16 August.
                      Postmortem: Clinical evidence. The child “looked emaciated. Was comatose. It was very dirty. It did not seem to be kept clean enough. The skin seems as if it had not been washed for days. I am informed the child was in a bad state for days.”
                      Verdict: Exhaustion consequence of diarrhea, natural.

                      9. Jacob Meckleberg, 4 months old.
                      Died: 5 September 1888.
                      Place of Death: 2 Butler Street
                      Occupation: Son of Isaac Meckleberg.
                      Place and date of Inquest: Paul’s Head, Crispin Street, Spitalfields, 7 September 1888.
                      Medical Witness: David Hume, M.R.C.S. & Registered, 139 Hanbury Street.
                      Postmortem: No. Externally, no marks of violence.
                      Verdict: Suffocation, accidental.

                      10. Ellen Margaret Chapman, 7 years old.
                      Died: 23 September 1888.
                      Place of Death: 35 Great Pearl Street, Spitalfields.
                      Occupation: Daughter of John Chapman, dyer’s labourer/potman
                      Place and date of Inquest: The Ship, Spitalfields, 25 September 1888.
                      Medical Witness: William John Darby, M.R.C.S. & Registered, 158 Brick Lane. Called to place of death about 30 minutes after death.
                      Postmortem: Post-mortem requested but not granted. External. No marks on body, which was well-nourished. Cause of death syncope.
                      Verdict: Sudden, syncope, natural. [Seems under-investigated].

                      Comment


                      • 11. Mary Herman, 6 years old.
                        Died: 27 September 1888.
                        Place of Death: 50 Hanbury Street, Spitalfields.
                        Occupaton: Daughter of Michael Herman, cabinet maker.
                        Place and date of Inquest: Black Swan, Hanbury Street, Spitalfields, 29 September.
                        Medical Witness: John Wilson Moore [L.R.C.S. Registered], 158 Brick Lane, Spitalfields. Called to home and attended deceased an hour prior to death (deceased had also been taken to London Hospital but wasn’t seen by a doctor).
                        Postmortem: No. Deceased was “suffering from extensive burns front of chest + face + back +neck + legs, abdomen. . . I think she was so badly burnt that nothing could have saved her.”
                        Verdict: Shock to system caused by burns, accidental.

                        12. Mary Tolley, 76 years old.
                        Died: 4 October 1888.
                        Place of Death: 19 Booth Street, Spitalfields.
                        Occupation: Wife of James Tolley.
                        Place and date of Inquest: The Laurel Tree, 69 Brick Lane, Spitalfields, 6 October 1888.
                        Medical Witness: William Profit Dukes, M.R.C.S. & Registered, 75 Brick Lane. Called to scene after death. Had previously attended deceased.
                        Postmortem: No.
                        Verdict: Shock from a burn from falling into the file while in an apoplectic fit, accidental.

                        13. Elizabeth Jessie Sodo, 50 years old.
                        Died: 10 October 1888.
                        Place of Death: 65 Hanbury Street, Spitalfields.
                        Occupation: Wife of John Sodo.
                        Place and date of Inquest: 12 October 1888.
                        Medical Witness: None.
                        Postmortem: No.
                        Verdict: Suicide by hanging, violent.

                        14. A female child, newly born.
                        Died: 10 October 1888.
                        Place of Death: 16 Church Street, Spitalfields.
                        Occupation: Illegitimate daughter of Dinah Israel.
                        Place and date of Inquest: Norton Folgate Court House, 12 and 29 October 1888.
                        Medical Witness: Timothy Robert Killeen, L.R.C.S.I. and Registered, 68 Brick Lane. Called to scene after death.
                        Postmortem: Yes. Determined live, healthy birth. External examination at the scene found evidence of neglect, “want of proper attendance at birth.”
                        Verdict: Manslaughter against Dinah Israel.

                        15. Marie Jeanette Kelly, about 25 years old.
                        Died: 9 November 1888.
                        Place of Death: 1 Miller’s Court, Spitalfields [sic]
                        Occupation: Prostitute.
                        Place and date of Inquest: Shoreditch Town Hall, 12 November 1888.
                        Medical Witness: George Bagster Phillips, M.R.C.S. Registered, Spital Square. Called to scene after death.
                        Postmortem: Yes.
                        Verdict: Severance of right carotid artery, violent. Willful murder against some person or persons unknown.

                        Comment


                        • A few preliminary impressions:


                          1. The above cases are all alike in that these deaths occurred indoors, where the deceased resided.

                          2. The lack of a mortuary in Spitalfields likely caused cases of sudden death occurring out of doors to shed off into the South East coroner's district, where bodies were being moved to the mortuary there. The necessity of the view left Macdonald unable to investigate these deaths occurring in his district. The number of such cases is unknown.

                          3. In twelve cases, bodies likely remained at the residence awaiting inquest. I'm not completely confident about this, but the reports of the coroner's officer suggest that it was so in Spitalfields, there being no mortuary to remove them to. I hesitate because I've found that while the reports from other parishes generally indicate whether or not a body had been taken away, I did come across an exception elsewhere that makes me reluctant to completely take the reports at face value. It's also possible that bodies were taken to nearby taverns where inquests were held, which was also a practice.

                          4. Those twelve cases were tavern inquests.

                          5. Two bodies were clearly moved (Case 2, female child of John Wood and Case 15, Mary Kelly). A third was likely moved for the purpose of a postmortem (Case 14, illegitimate child of Dinah Israel). The children went to Folton Nolgate (like Spitalfields, part of the Whitechapel Sanitary District), while Mary Kelly went to Shoreditch.

                          6. Fourteen inquests featured medical evidence of some type. Two featured post-mortems.

                          7. One had no medical witness whatsoever. This was the hanging death of Elizabeth Sodo.

                          8. Eight inquests were for children, seven for adults.

                          9. Three deaths occurred at common lodging houses.

                          10. Case 10, Ellen Margaret Chapman, seems under-investigated to me.

                          Dave

                          Typos: Mary Tolley fell into the fire, not "file". The inquest for Elizabeth Sodo was held at the Black Lion, 63 Hanbury street.
                          Last edited by Dave O; 11-18-2012, 06:28 PM.

                          Comment


                          • Thanks Dave...I wondered how long it would take to get to MJK...but oddly it's poor little Mary Herman that initially gets me most (apart from the fact she died on my birthday, it's such a poignant thing).

                            All the best

                            Dave

                            Comment


                            • Hi Dave,

                              Yes, they're all sad cases, but the children are different, even sadder. Mary suffered for three hours, and that's a particularly terrible death for anybody, much less a little girl. Besides that, she was moved from the house to London Hospital, and then back again, which must have been pain on top of pain.

                              It was a candle that did that. According to Mary, her little sister Myra (2 yrs old) pulled it down on her. The father had left them alone while he went to get his wife from the synagogue. The fire was seen from the street. I can't imagine how people carried on after something like that.

                              Dave

                              Comment


                              • inquests

                                my gt gt grandmother Mary Ann Jane Ellett died suddenly (suicide) in Vernon Road Bow on July 2 1888.The inquest was held by Macdonald on the 5th july 1888. Can anyone tell me if this is archived anywhere or has anybody transcribed it for any reason. I live about as far away from Londons east end as it is possible to get

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