Deadly Derbyshire: Tales of Murder and Manslaughter c.1700-1900 by Scott C. Lomax

Author:Scott C. Lomax
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: TRUE CRIME / Murder / General
ISBN: 9781844687008
Publisher: Remember When
Published: 2011-10-24T04:00:00+00:00

An article from the Derby Mercury on 23 April 1879 regarding the inquest into the death of an unidentified child found in the River Derwent. Author’s collection

When examined by Mr Copestake, Mr Cade and Mr Westwood, it was established that the boy was newly born and had been in the water for a period of between three weeks and a month. It had suffered bleeding to the scalp and there was a large amount of blood on the brain. There was no evidence that death was due to drowning or strangulation, despite the handkerchief. It was concluded that death had been the consequence of a fracture to the skull caused by great force. It may, the doctors believed, have been possible that such an injury was the result of a fall, although they felt this was unlikely. Even if a fall did take place it did not explain how the child came to be in the river and its death not reported and an effort made by some individual to present the false impression of death by strangulation (although the handkerchief may have had some role in the death even if it was not the murder weapon).

The inquest jury at the White Swan Inn in Spondon concluded that death was the consequence of a fracture but that there was no evidence of how it happened and so they could not conclude it was a case of murder despite the suspicious circumstances of the body’s deposition. The boy and his potential killer were never identified.

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