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- DROWNED IN THE GREY RESERVOIR
It is with much regret that we have to report that the body of Mr. Roger SHAW, who was missed from his home some days back, has been found in the Grey Reservoir. How the sad accident occurred there is of course nothing to show; but it is known that he was at the time in a very weak state and more or less wandering in mind.
Thursday 8 September 1887
THE LATE DROWNING CASE – INQUEST
An inquest on the body of the late Roger SHAW was held on the 6th inst before the Resident Magistrate.
William MOORE, the Waterman, deposed that on the 2nd he was informed by a small boy that a body was floating in the reservoir. He at once went to the spot and found that it was the body of Mr. Roger SHAW. He got the body to the bank and left it there until the coroner arrived. He also knew the deceased to be eccentric in his habits.
Albert FARREL, a boy of ten, deposed that he was at the Grey Reservoir on Friday gathering flowers, and saw a dead body in the water. This he reported to Mr. MOORE and at the gaol.
Wm. ARNOTT deposed: The deceased was my father-in-law, and boarded in my house. He disappeared about three weeks ago, about 15th August. From that time I did not see him again till I saw his body in the gaol hospital. For some time he had been a little out of his mind, at some times worse than others, but harmless. He had been in that condition for 12 or 15 months. I believe that being weak. He had fallen into the water and was drowned. He used to wander about. I know the Grey Reservoir to be a dangerous place. The water is very deep. A man falling in would have to be a good swimmer to get out, as he would have to swim from one end to the other.
Dr. FIGG, acting District Surgeon, produced his certificate of the post mortem examination, which was to the effect that death was caused by drowning, and that there was nothing to lead him to suppose that any violence had been used or that deceased had met his death from any other cause. The witness had attended him in his lifetime, and knew him to be of weak mind.
The verdict of the Coroner was as follows: I find that the deceased, Roger SHAW, was accidentally drowned in the Grey Reservoir. The Grey Reservoir when full is, in my opinion, a most dangerous place, and should be fenced in with a close and high paling. Its vicinity is a great place of resort for the citizens on account of the plantations surrounding it, and some precaution should be taken by the authorities to prevent accidents.
(Signed) John HEMMING, Coroner.
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