On Wednesday morning Mr. C.C. Becke borough coroner, held an inquiry at the Town Hall, into the cause of the death of Alice Cartwright, aged 16 – Mary Elizabeth Mackaness, who lives at Rushden, wife of a shoemaker, recognised the body of the deceased as that of her daughter. She was, she said, a domestic servant, and was rather weak-minded, which she attributed to trouble she had experienced since she was a child. Never, however, had she heard her threaten suicide; but sometimes she had run away from home. After a few questions from the Coroner, witness said she could not say that deceased was weak minded. John Wilcox, shoemaker, 51, Compton Street said on Tuesday morning he was fishing in Ambidge’s meadow about a quarter past four. While there he saw a woman’s hat and an umbrella on the bank. Fancying there was someone in the water, he walked backwards and forwards, but saw no-one nor did he see any footmarks. He then called a man named Moore, who has charge of the bathing place and, as they were walking together, he saw a dark shadow, which turned out to be the body of the deceased. Moore got it out and from what he saw of the girl’s clothes there did not seem to have been any struggle. Patrick Moore, of 25, Crane Street, shoe maker, who is the attendant at the new bathing place at the end of Crane Street, corroborated the last witness’s evidence so far as it concerned him, and added that when he recovered the body life was quite extinct. There were no footmarks on the bank, nor were there any traces of a struggle. Harriet Walker, wife of Joseph M. Walker, 1 Harding Street, stated that the deceased had lived with them as a servant for about two months. She last saw her about a quarter to nine on Monday night, when she sent her on an errand to (witness’s) mother in Lawrence Street, to take 1s 9d. It was then raining. She did not return and when witness closed the house at eleven o’clock, her husband went to look for her and continued his search until about two o’clock on the following morning. She was of a very lively disposition and she had never seen her inclined to despondency. She had never found any fault with her, nor had she had suspicion of her except on one occasion – last September – when some money was missing, but as there was no proof that she had taken it the matter was allowed to pass.
Eliza Walters, wife of James Walters, 25, Lawrence Street, mother of the last witness, said about nine o’clock on Monday night the deceased went to her house and gave her 1s 9d, which her daughter had sent. Soon afterwards she produced a small parcel which she had picked up. She opened it and seemed surprised when she drew out a scarf and collar. Her (witness’s) daughter, who saw them, said the scarf was shown them by Mrs. Harris in the afternoon. After some time she (witness) went to Mrs. Harris who told her that she had sold the deceased the articles about ten minutes before. She (witness) told Mrs. Harris that the girl had taken things home to her mistress before and knowing she was saving her money to pay for a dress she remarked that if the articles were bought the money could not have been come by honestly. When they went out of the shop together she observed to deceased “Alice how could you do such a thing?” and deceased asked her to promise not to tell her mistress and she said she would first ask her husband. Her mother recalled, stated that a week last Tuesday, when she last visited deceased, she left her with 2s 5d. It transpired that the articles cost 2s 2½d and that she tendered a half-crown in payment of them, and received change. Joseph M. Walker, stated that on Tuesday morning he went to Rushden to tell deceased's mother what had occurred and on his way thither he called on Mrs. Sanders, at Higham Ferrers, with whom deceased lived some time ago. From her he learned that while she was in her service she had threatened to drown herself. He had noticed that deceased was very hasty in temper and indeed she was more “master” of the house than he was. She had had access to the till, and had had liberty to everything in the house. In reviewing the evidence to the jury the coroner said, whatever conclusion they might arrive at they could not but feel that it was a painful case. Certainly they had very little evidence to lead them to an exact conclusion as to how the deceased came to her death. Had she acquired the money with which she bought the goods properly, it did, he though, seem strange that she did not tell Mrs. Walters directly she said anything about thieves but instead of that she said “Pray do not tell my mistress anything about it”; a statement from which it appeared that there was something of which she was ashamed or that she knew something, which, on enquiry, would turn out badly for her. It was for them to say whether these circumstances enabled them to obtain any clue to what subsequently happened. The next they knew of her was, that on the following morning a hat and umbrella were found on the river’s bank in Ambidge’s Meadow, apparently laid there deliberately and not thrown down without thought or care. When the body was found there were no marks of violence, or a struggle, on any part of the person, nor where the clothes disarranged. Of course there were three conclusions to which they could arrive. First of all that they had not sufficient evidence to show how the deceased got into the water; that was an open verdict, which he thought would be the safer one. Secondly they might say – although he did not think there was sufficient evidence to show it – that she was foully put in by someone else, but the manner in which the umbrella and hat were laid, where there was no pathway along the side of the river, would, he thought, show that she would not be walking along there with any person. Or they might be of opinion that she threw herself in the water, and was for them to judge whether the circumstances would lead them to that conclusion. The state of the girl’s mind was a subject which would deserve their grave consideration, because it did not do for a jury, simply because a girl however young, had committed suicide, to condemn her as being insane without evidence to support that conclusion. The evidence of the mistress and of the master too, with the exception of the hearsay evidence, to which however, they would know how much credit to attach, was that the girl was a cheerful disposition. If they believe the mother strictly, she tried to make out that she had money and that she bought these things with that money. If that were true, there was no reason why she should have committed such an act as this. Her mistress has always regarded her as a good tempered girl and had had no occasion to find fault with her, or to suspect her, but on the contrary, they seem to have been on very good terms. When she left Mrs. Walters she appeared cheerful although it was clear that she was under considerable apprehension lest she should tell her mistress what had occurred, which, to some extent, she seemed to fear. Supposing that they took the version that the girl was not very happy at home, that perhaps she had done something which was wrong, and was afraid of being found out, he thought it was perhaps true that she might have been seen outside her master’s house at twelve o’clock and was afraid to go in because an inquiry might be made on what had taken place, and would bring out circumstances which might lead to detection. She might have wandered about for some time, and then gone to the riverside and thrown herself in. The longer she thought about what had occurred, the greater her fear of the result would be because it was natural to the human mind to magnify the matters by thinking over them in the way that she probably had done. It was a question whether, not being strong in mind, this matter had temporarily upset her reason. If there were no grounds for her believing that she was suspected, then it seemed impossible to think that she could have deliberately thrown herself in the water, except that she was in a state of insanity and was prepared to carry out an act more strongly than they would expect from any sane person. The fact that she laid down her umbrella and hat on the bank show a certain degree of deliberation and thought, which would make them believe that she deliberately planned and determined to drown herself. If they thought she did so they could bring no other verdict than that she committed suicide while in a sad state of mind; if they thought there was not sufficient evidence to show how she got into the water, they would return a verdict of “Found drowned” and if they thought she was foully pushed or enticed in they would return a verdict which they thought the circumstances warranted. The jury retired and after the absence of a few minutes returned into Court with a verdict of “Found Drowned”.
