Historicaleigh: An Incredulous Jury

September 11, 2016 by Carole Mulroney

AN INCREDULOUS JURY

At an inquest in Leigh in 1878,  a doubt was raised by the jury as to whether the subject of the inquiry was actually really dead! A brief adjournment had to be made for a post mortem examination. The deceased was James William Osborne, 58, fisherman. He was shrimping aboard a smack on the Thames, off Grays, when he appeared to become giddy, and fell down twice, the first time into the hold of the vessel. After the second fall he didn’t move again, and two or three surgeons who saw him declared him to be dead. 

His usual medical attendant, Mr Jones of Leigh, gave evidence at the inquest. The foreman of the jury, Mr W Foster, said that he and other members of the jury were not at all certain that Osborne was dead, and they thought Mr Jones had better ascertain definitely. Mr Jones went and examined the body and on returning into the room, said that as far as he could see, life was extinct. There was but one other way of proving that the man was dead, and that was by post mortem examination.

The foreman, and other members of the jury said they would like to be certain. The inquest was then adjourned for an hour, and in the meantime Mr Jones made a post mortem examination. He stated, as a result, that he found the man to be quite dead, and the probable cause of death was congestion and inflammation of the brain. A verdict was returned in accordance with this evidence.