(Vol. vii., p. 14.)
The following account of the whole of the proceedings at the inquest which
was held at the Three Crows, Brook Street, Holborn, on Friday, Aug. 27,
1770, before Swinson Carter, Esq., and ten jurymen, whose names are
mentioned, is from a MS. copy in my possession.
I am not acquainted with any printed work which contains a report of the
inquest. It is not in the large collection of Chatterton's _Works_ and
_Lives_, and the innumerable newspaper and magazine cuttings, which fill
several volumes, and which belonged to Mr. Haslewood; nor is it in
Barrett's _Bristol_, or Herbert Croft's _Love and Madness_.
"Account of the Inquest held on the body of THOMAS CHATTERTON,
deceased, at the Three Crows, Brook Street, Holborn, on Friday, the
27th August, 1770, before Swinson Carter, Esq., and the following
jury:--Charles Skinner, ---- Meres, John Hollier, John Park, S. G.
Doran, Henry Dugdale, G. J. Hillsley, C. Sheen, E. Manley, C. Moore,
---- Nevett.
"MARY ANGELL, sack maker, of No. 17. Brook Street, Holborn, deposed, that
the deceased came to lodge at her house about nine or ten weeks ago; he
took the room below the garret; he always slept in the same room; he was
always very exact in his payments to her; and at one time, when she knew
that he had paid her all the money he had in the world, she offered him
sixpence back, which he refused to take, saying: 'I have that here
(pointing to his forehead) which will get me more.' He used to sit up
nearly all night, and she frequently found his bed untouched in the
morning, when she went to make it. She knew that he always bought his
loaves--one of which lasted him for a week--as stale as possible, that they
might last the longer: and, two days before his death, he came home in a
great passion with the baker's wife, who had refused to let him have
another loaf until he paid her 3s. 6d. which he owed her previously. He,
the deceased, appeared unusually grave on the 28th of August; and, on her
asking him what ailed him, he answered pettishly: 'Nothing, nothing--why do
you ask?' On the morning of the 24th August, he lay in bed longer than
usual; got up about ten o'clock, and went out with a bundle of paper under
his arm, which he said 'was a treasure to any one, but there were so many
fools in the world that he would put them in a place of safety, lest they
should meet with accident.' He returned about seven in the evening, looking
very pale and dejected; and would not eat anything, but sat moping by the
fire with his chin on his knees, and muttering rhymes in some old language
to her. Witness saw him for the last time when {139} he got up to go to
bed; he then kissed her (a thing he had never done in his life before), and
then went upstairs, stamping on every stair as he went slowly up, as if he
would break it. Witness stated that he did not come down next morning, but
she was not alarmed, as he had lain longer than usual on the day before;
but at eleven o'clock, Mrs. Wolfe, a neighbour's wife, coming in, they went
and listened at the door, and tried to open it, but it was locked. At last,
they got a man who was near to break it open; and they found him lying on
the bed with his legs hanging over, quite dead: the bed had not been lain
on. The floor was covered all over with little bits of paper; and on one
piece the man read, in deceased's handwriting, 'I leave my soul to its
Maker, my body to my mother and sister, and my curse to Bristol. If Mr.
Ca....' The rest was torn off. The man then said he must have killed
himself, which we did not think till then, not having seen the poison till
an hour after. Deceased was very proud, but never unkind to any one. I do
not think he was quite right in his mind lately. The man took away the
paper, and I have not been able to find him out.
"FREDERICK ANGELL deposed to the fact of deceased lodging at their house;
was from home when deceased was found. Always considered him something
wonderful, and was sometimes afraid he would go out of his mind. Deceased
often came home very melancholy; and, on his once asking him the reason, he
said, 'Hamilton has deceived me;' but could get no more from him. Deceased
was always writing to his mother or sister, of whom he appeared to be very
fond. I never knew him in liquor, and never saw him drink anything but
water.
"EDWIN CROSS, apothecary, Brook Street, Holborn. Knew the deceased well,
from the time he came to live with Mrs. Angell in the same street. Deceased
used generally to call on him every time he went by his door, which was
usually two or three times in a day. Deceased used to talk a great deal
about physic, and was very inquisitive about the nature of different
poisons. I often asked him to take a meal with us, but he was so proud that
I could never but once prevail on him, though I knew he was half-starving.
One evening he did stay, when I unusually pressed him. He talked a great
deal, but all at once became silent, and looked quite vacant. He used to go
very often to Falcon Court, Fleet Street, to a Mr. Hamilton, who printed a
magazine; but who, he said, was using him very badly. I once recommended
him to return to Bristol, but he only heaved a deep sigh; and begged me,
with tears in his eyes, never to mention the hated name again. He called on
me on the 24th August about half-past eleven in the morning, and bought
some arsenic, which he said was for an experiment. About the same time next
day, Mrs. Wolfe ran in for me, saying deceased had killed himself. I went
to his room, and found him quite dead. On his window was a bottle
containing arsenic and water; some of the little bits of arsenic were
between his teeth. I believe if he had not killed himself, he would soon
have died of starvation; for he was too proud to ask of any one. Witness
always considered deceased as an astonishing genius.
"ANNE WOLFE, of Brook Street. Witness lived three doors from Mrs. Angell's;
knew the deceased well; always thought him very proud and haughty. She
sometimes thought him crazed. She saw him one night walking up and down the
street at twelve o'clock, talking loud, and occasionally stopping, as if to
think on something. One day he came in to buy some curls, which he said he
wanted to send to his sister; but he could not pay the price, and went away
seemingly much mortified. On the 25th August, Mrs. Angell asked her to go
upstairs with her to Thomas's room: they could make no one hear. And, at
last, being frightened, they got a man who was going by to break open the
door, when they found him dead on the bed. The floor was covered with
little bits of paper, and the man who was with them picked up several and
took away with him.
"_Verdict._--Felo de se."