East Kent Gazette, Saturday 28 May 1881.
A child drowned in a well.
On Monday, Mr. W. J. Harris coroner, held an inquest at the "Lord Nelson
Inn," (sic perhaps) Upchurch, touching the death of Henry William Boorman, aged 5 years,
stepson of George Weller, brick moulder, Sittingbourne, who was drowned by
falling down a well at the former place, on the previous day. Mr. E Cozens
was foreman of the jury. It appeared that the parents of the deceased were
on a visit to some friends at Upchurch, with the deceased and his brother,
age 7 years, who is deaf and dumb. The latter showed by motions and signs
how the accident occurred, though the coroner could not record his
explanation of the sad affair on the depositions. It seems that he and the
deceased, who was a fine, study little fellow, lifted the lid of the well to
look down, and the deceased pitched head foremost down; and when he was got
up he was quite dead. The well was much better protected than country wells
usually are, and the lid covering it was a substantial one.
The following evidence was taken:- Elisa Weller, wife of George Weller,
brickmoulder, Sittingbourne, deposed:- The deceased, Henry William Boorman,
is my son by former marriage. He was 5 years of age last December. On Sunday
last I came with him and his brother, Albert Richard, age 7, on a visit to
Windmill Hill, Upchurch. Between 3 and 4 o'clock on Sunday afternoon the two
boys went out at the back of Mr. Kitney's house. There is a draw well in the
yard, and they had been out there but a few minutes before Albert's, who is
deaf and dumb, came back to the window crying, and I understood from his
manner that there was something the matter and went outside immediately. The
lid of the well was down in its place. We heard it fall just as Albert ran
to the window. The deceased was brought in quite dead soon after.
Albert Kitney, brickmaker, Upchurch, said:- The deceased with his parents
came out to visit me on Sunday. I was called out in the afternoon and went
to the draw well. On raising the lid I saw the deceased in the water of the
well. I got a grab iron and lowered it down, and pulled him up. He was quite
dead, and beyond recovery. It must have been an accident. The deceased was
quite strong enough to lift the lid. The well is constantly closed and
opened only when water is drawn. I noticed it just before the children went
out, and it was all right then. The children had not been quarrelling.
The jury returned a verdict of "Accidentally Drowned."
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Whitstable Times and Herne Bay Herald, Saturday 19th July 1884.
Upchurch. A Boy Drouned.
On Monday evening, W. J. Harris, Esq., coroner, held an inquest at the "Lord
Stanley Inn," Otterham Quay, Upchurch, on the body of Charles Edward Barnes,
age 6, son of William Barnes, a labourer, who was accidentally drowned on
the previous day.
The jury returned a verdict of "Accidentally Drowned."
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