CORONER’S INQUEST.
On Thursday J. B. Davies, Esq., coroner, was engaged many hours investigating the circumstances connected with the death of a boy named William Bowater, said to have died from the blow of a stone thrown at him by Mr. Thomas Wallis, of Upper Windsor Street. The case, owing to Mr. Wallis’s respectability, excited considerable interest in the neighbourhood were [sic] it occurred. The inquest was held at the Grand Turk, Ludgate Hill, when the following gentlemen were sworn on the jury:- Mr. William Davis, Mr. Herbert Room, Mr. Charles Dollman, Mr. George Davis, Mr. Henry Thomas Parks, Mr. Charles Leonard Thompson, Mr. Edward Taylor Webb, Mr. J. C. Greaves, Mr. Thomas Ryland, Mr. Frederick Hands, Mr. John Webb, Mr. J. Alexander Reynolds, Mr. Josiah Webb, Mr. John Bagnall, and Mr. John Pritchard.
The first witness examined was Mrs. Bowater, mother of deceased, who stated that she lived in New Canal Street. The deceased, who was ten years of age, lived with her, and worked for Mr. Pearson, Heneage Street. On the morning of the 16th instant he went to work, about seven o’clock in the morning, and about ten o’clock he was carried home by a young man who worked at Mr. Pearson’s. Benjamin Sergeant was the name of the boy. Deceased had not then any wound upon him at all, only a lump. He was taken sick when he was brought into the house, and vomited twice in her presence. Mr. Wallis sent for a doctor immediately, and deceased was carried upstairs to bed. She had been induced to go to Mr. Wallis’s house in consequence of what the deceased told her. He said he had been playing on bricks in a brickyard of Mr. Wallis’s, Upper Windsor Street; that Mr. Wallis dogged him round the bricks, on which he jumped off and ran out of the gate, and as he was going out a piece of brick or stone caught him on the back of the ear, but he could not see where it came from as his back was turned. There was no one present when she asked him the questions to which he so replied. She then went to Mr. Wallis, and spoke to him in the yard. She mentioned to Mr. Wallis what the boy had said, and he said he did not throw. Mr. Wallis directly after sent a surgeon, and the next day Dr. Blakiston, a physician, also came by his orders. Mr. Butt, the surgeon, said he had been sent by Mr. Wallis. The next day she went to let Mr. Wallis know how the boy was, and she told him he was much the same, and in three quarters of an hour after Dr. Blakiston arrived, and he also told her that he came by Mr. Wallis’s orders. Deceased had medicine prescribed for him by Mr. Butt, who, with Dr. Blakiston, saw him twice every day until he died. One day Mr. Butt called three times. Deceased got better some days, and then relapsed, but on the whole he continued getting worse. On Saturday last he complained that he was ill all over him; on Monday he was worse; and on Tuesday he died. Mrs. Wallis came several times to see deceased, and gave him every thing he wished to eat or drink.
Mr. Suckling, solicitor for Mr. Wallis: Did not Mr. Wallis pay for his coffin? – Witness: Yes.
Mr. Suckling: And were not Mr. and Mrs. Wallis very kind to him? – Witness: Yes, very kind. I have nothing to say against them – no fault to find.
Mr. Suckling: I think she has made a mistake about the day Dr. Blakiston first visited him. He did not see deceased for a week after his illness.
Witness: It may be so, my memory is bad.
Dr. Blakiston: It was on the following Thursday I was called on.
Mr. Suckling said it was not material, only the fact had better be stated.
Benjamin Sergeant examined. He lived in Portland Street, in a front house. He was a warehouse boy, and worked for Mr. Pearson, in Heneage Street. On Thursday week he was at work, when Mrs. Pearson ordered him to take home deceased, who was then sitting on a stone at the bottom of the warehouse. Deceased was throwing up, and he had a bruise behind the ear. There was a stack of bricks in the yard belonging to Mr. Wallis, close to Mr. Pearson’s yard.
Juror: How did you carry him home? – Witness: In my arms.
Juror: What did deceased say to you? – Witness: He told me that Mr. Wallis took up a stone and threw it at him, and that he then came and hit him with a whip, and that then he fell off the bricks.
Juror: Did he say where Mr. Wallis hit him? – Witness: No.
Did he say anything about hurting himself in his fall off the bricks? – Witness: No.
Did the boy say how he was hurt? – Witness: No.
How did you carry him? – Witness: Across my arms.
Did you let him fall, or hit his head against anything? – Witness: No.
Mr. Suckling: How high was the stack of bricks? – Witness: about nine feet high.
What distance was deceased from the stack of bricks when you saw him? – Witness: About twenty yards.
Mr. Suckling: What height are you? – Witness: Four feet and a half.
Mr. Suckling: And could you reach the top of the stack? – Witness: Yes, by stretching up.
Mrs. Pearson, wife of Mr. Pearson, nail manufacturer, Heneage Street, examined. On the 6th instant she saw deceased lying rather on his side, on the ground close to the brick yard, and about six or seven yards from the stack. She went up to him and asked him why he did not get up. He said he could not get up. She did not see any bruises upon him. Mr. Wallis was then standing a short distance, ten or fourteen yards off, with a whip in his hand. She said to Mr. Wallis, why did you flog him? you have children of your own. She knew that Mr. Wallis had flogged him, because she saw another boy walking away, crying as he went along. After she had seen deceased lying on the ground, she went to the other boy and asked him what they had been doing; he replied that they had been playing on the bricks. She did not go up to Mr. Wallis, but inquired of him why he flogged the boy, (meaning deceased by whom she was standing). Mr. Wallis made no answer. Her (Mrs. Pearson’s) warehouse girl then took charge of deceased by her orders, and she had reason to believe that she sent Sergeant home with deceased. The stack of bricks was very high; there was a gate near it, by which a boy could easily get up on it. She should say it was a dangerous and mischievous thing, if one of her children got up to the stack. If one of her children fell off, she should expect he would hurt himself seriously.
Juror: Could you reach the top of the stack? – Witness: I could not.
Juror: Was the boy found lying near the end from whence they had been carting bricks? – Witness: No; from the other end.
Juror: Were there any loose bricks on the ground, or on the stack where deceased was? – Witness: Not that I saw.
Juror: Were boys in the habit of playing on the stack? – Witness: Yes.
Juror: Have you seen deceased on the stack? – Witness: Several times I have seen him on the stack, and several times Mr. Pearson and myself forbade him playing on the stack, in consequence of the danger, and because it was an annoyance to Mr. Wallis.
Mr. Suckling: How many boys have you? – Witness: between twenty and thirty.
Mr. Suckling: Were they all in the habit of playing on the stack? – Witness: No; only deceased and the two other little boys.
Wm. Webb, a little boy ten years of age, was next examined: He lived in Wainwright Street with his father, who is an awl blade maker. That day fortnight he was on Mr. Wallis’s bricks, in Heneage Street, opposite the shop window belonging to Mr. Pearson. Wm. Parker, deceased, and he were on the bricks, and while they were all three up, Mr. Wallis came, and got up on the top of the bricks, and went first, and lashed Parker with a whip, which was then on the table. He saw Mr. Wallis kick Parker on his thigh, and Parker then went to the end of the stack, and fell between the stack and the gate. Parker walked along the bricks slowly after he was kicked, and in trying to get down by means of the gate, he fell down; he did not seem to hurt himself; and then went into Mr. Pearson’s yard. Wm. Parker and deceased were making a bird trap on the bricks. Mr. Wallis picked up a stone on the bricks, very near the bird trap, and he threw it at deceased as he was jumping off the bricks. He meant to say jumping off, not getting off, because he jumped on to his knees. The stone hit deceased under his ear; he did not notice which ear it was. He was in the act of jumping when the stone struck him; he did not see how deceased came to the ground. He (witness) was in the lane when deceased got down. He (witness) went up to Mr. Pearson’s shop, and looked through the window, and then he saw Mr. Wallis still on the bricks. He stopped about four or five minutes looking through the window. He then went down stairs to the gate leading to the brickyard, and then Mr. Wallis was on the ground. He then saw the warehouse girl carry deceased into Mr. Pearson’s yard; she carried him in her arms. He did not see any bricks fall when deceased jumped; he was in the lane, and should not have seen them if they had fallen. He did not know whether Mr. Wallis threw the stone to hit deceased, but he was sure he did hit him, and he thought with a stone. He thought it was a stone, because they saw a stone after, and it had got a spot of blood on it. He saw a stone fall from him. He was not quite sure whether it was a brick or a stone.
Where were you when Mr. Wallis picked up a stone? – Witness: In the lane.
Juror: Did deceased hoot out? – Witness: Yes, as soon as he fell on the ground he began to kick and squeal out. I heard him say to the warehouse girl, that Mr. Wallis threw a stone at him, and hit him, pointing to his ear.
Cross-examined by Mr. Suckling; He saw deceased was bleeding when he was at the bottom of the steps. They were all three making a bird-trap. He was sure Mr. Wallis lashed Parker with the whip. He was quite sure the stone struck deceased under the ear. Supposing he had not heard deceased say he he [sic] had been struck, he should have known it, because he saw the stone strike him. He saw it fall from his ear. He was in the lane, under the shop window, when he saw the stone thrown.
This witness, who is a very sharp lad, persisted in swearing most positively that he saw Mr. Wallis throw the stone.
William Parker, ten years of age, examined:- He lives with his father, at 10 Court, Dartmouth Street. Last Thursday week, about half past nine o’clock in the morning, he and two other boys were on Mr. Wallis’s bricks Deceased and Webb were the two boys. He was making a bird-trap on the bricks, when Mr. Wallis came behind him, and gave him three lashes across the face with a whip. He also kicked him on the thigh. Mr. Wallis then picked up a stone, and he (witness) ran away, and tumbled down between the gate and the wall. He then went up to the shop. He was sure it was a stone which Mr. Wallis picked up, because there were many stones on the bricks. He did not see deceased tumble down, or get off the bricks. He walked past the bricks the day after deceased was injured, but he did not go near them. He picked up a small stone, which he threw away. He did not remark anything particular on it, nor did he tell any one that he found any remarkable stone.
Juror: Are you quite sure you did not see Mr. Wallis throw the stone? – Witness: I did not see him throw it.
Ann Ashford, warehouse girl to Mr. Pearson, examined: She recollected that day fortnight hearing a noise in the brick yard, and she went out. The boys were crying out. Deceased was lying on the ground by the gate, close to the bricks. She asked him what was the matter with him. He said he was hurt on the back of his right ear, and that he fell down off the bricks. She asked him if he could stand, and he said, “No.” She picked him up and carried him into her master’s yard, and sat him down on a step. She was quite sure he said he had fallen down. She spoke to him again, and he said he was hurt here, putting his hand to his ear, and that Mr. Wallis had thrown at him, and that he had fallen off the bricks. She then ordered Sergeant to take deceased home. Deceased did not say anything that would imply that he had been hit with the stone.
Juror: Was he lying near the place where he fell? – Witness: Not far from it. I picked him up in the gate way; he was lying on his right side, and kicking in a bad way.
Juror: Did he say the stone hit him? – Witness: He did not.
- Burton, police constable, deposed that he apprehended Mr. Wallis on Tuesday night, on a charge of having caused the death of Wm. Bowater. He told him what it was for. Mr. Wallis said it was a bad job, and he was sorry for it, but he was protecting his own property.
Mr. Suckling: Had you any difficulty in finding Mr. Wallis? – Witness: Not the least.
Mr. T. F. Butt, surgeon, was examined, and said, he was called on by Mrs. Wallis and by the mother of deceased. He went to deceased, and found him sitting on a stool, resting his head on a chair. He had before learned that he had been injured. He noticed a slight discolouration behind the right ear, with a small abrasion of the cuticle in about the centre of the discolouration. The part was […] elevated, not depressed at all. If he had not heard of any injury, or seen any symptoms, he should have deemed the injury unimportant. There were appearances on the floor of his having vomited, and also of having bled at the nose. The pulse was small and frequent, the face pale, skin cold, and he had a tendency to sleep. He answered […] questions rationally. He asked him how it happened? when he replied, that Mr. Wallis had thrown a brick and at him. He had him conveyed to bed, and he continued to attend him till his death. About the second day, complete reaction ensued. There was a great heat in the scalp, noises in the head, as he termed it, with pain in the head. On the 13th, Dr. Blakiston joined him in consultation, by desire of Mr. Wallis. The case went on badly. Deceased was seized with convulsions and delirium on Sunday, and followed by coma. He found, upon a post mortem examination, a small patch of ecchymosis on the right temple, and round the left eyebrow he found a small patch of ecchymosis; another patch behind and under the right ear. On removing the skull cap, the brain was accidentally wounded, and three ounces of whitish serum escaped from the left lobe of the brain, on the right side. He found the whole of the base of the brain covered with parlent lymph. The dura maler was thickened. There was a transverse fracture through the petrous portion of the temporal bone. The other organs of deceased were perfectly healthy. He considered the cause of death to have been inflammation and suppuration of the brain, caused by fracture. That fracture might have been caused by a fall upon a hard substance, or a blow from any instrument or weapon of some kind. He should say a stone might cause it; but judging from the external appearances, he should say a brick end would not cause it. Mr. Wallis felt very much for deceased, and directed him to take every care, and procure, at his expense, all necessary skill for him.
Dr. Blakiston stated, that he concurred in the description given by Mr. Butt. Deceased’s death, in his opinion, was caused by external violence – a fracture of his brain. That fracture might have been caused – first, by a blow; secondly, by a fall under certain limitations. He did not consider an ordinary fall would produce the fracture. He considered that portion of the head near the right ear must have come into contact with some hard substance, if he fell. A stone would have produced such a fracture. He would say, in connection with Mr. Butt’s evidence, a brick would not, in all probability, have produced the fracture; but he would not shut out a brick.
Mr. Stinton said he had no further evidence to offer.
Mr. Suckling said he would examine one witness, and called
James Turner, a labourer in the employ of Mr. Wallis, who stated, that he was in his master’s yard on the 6th instant, about nine o’clock in the morning. Mr. Wallis was there. He (witness) said to him, “Look you there, sir, they are on those bricks again.” There were then three of Mr. Pearson’s boys on the stack, containing between four and five thousand bricks. Mr. Wallis asked him (witness) if he had a whip. He said he had not, but he could find one in Mr. Alsop’s stable. He then went and got the whip then produced, and Mr. Wallis walked towards the boys. He could not say what he did, as he (witness) went in another direction. He had seen deceased on the bricks before that day, and ordered him down, and he came down. The yard in which the bricks were belonged to Mr. Wallis, and the boys had no right there without Mr. Wallis’s permission.
Mr. Suckling said, he should call no more witnesses, nor say more than that, under whatever circumstances deceased came by his death, they deeply deplored it.
The Coroner then proceeded to sum up; and, after adverting briefly to the statements of the witnesses and of deceased, directed the attention of the jury to four forms – wilful murder, manslaughter, homicide by misadventure, or accidental death – in either of which it was competent for them to return a verdict according to their view of the facts proved. If they believed the death to proceed from the fracture – to which the medical witnesses spoke very distinctly – and believed that the fracture came from a missile thrown by Mr. Wallis, they would adopt one of the three first verdicts named, and they would be guided in election from those three by their judgment of the deliberateness or haste of the act, by the intent with which they believed it thrown, and the nature of the missile, proper or improper, regard being had to relative size and the proximity of the parties. If they were of opinion that a large stone, thrown in haste by Mr. Wallis, caused the fracture, he did not see how they could return any other than a verdict of manslaughter. But, if, after taking all the facts and circumstances carefully into account, they should be of opinion that the evidence did not show the death to have been caused by something thrown by Mr. Wallis; if they saw grounds to believe that the fatal event was caused by the fall, or any other injury sustained by deceased in getting off the bricks; and considered that Mr. Wallis had no direct or immediate share in producing the injury; in that case their verdict might very properly be one of accidental death. But it was for the jury to consider the facts.
The jury retired, and in a quarter of an hour returned a verdict – That the deceased came by his death by accidentally falling from the stack of bricks.
(Birmingham Journal, 22nd July 1843)
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