Printed and Published at the Dover Express Works. 1916.

TO BE FORMATTED

ANNALS OF DOVER.
SECTION SEVEN.
OFFICERS OF THE CORPORATION.
VI. THE CORONERS.

In the old Corporation the Mayor was the Coroner
ex-officio, taking the responsibilities of the post as part of
his ordinary duties, tlie Jurats usually sitting with the Mayor
at the inquests; but after the year 1464 there was a change,
when the Coronership devolved personally on the Mayor for
the time being, and he received fees for his services. The
Municipal Corporations Act of 1835 relieved the Mayor of
that duty, and required the Town Council to appoint a fit
person to be Coroner, who was not an Alderman nor a
Councillor of the Borough. The Coroner holds his office
during the pleasure of the Council, and vacancies in the
office have to be filled within ten days. The fees, according
to the Act of 1835, are twenty shillings for every inquest
held in the Borough, and for every mile that he has to
travel, not exceeding two miles from his usual place of
abode, ninepence. Since that time, however, there have been
alterations in the scale of fees and expenses. The following
Coroners have been appointed for Dover and its Liberties
since the passing of the Act of 1835.

1. George William Ledger, the Town Clerk, was
appointed Coroner for Dover and its Liberties at the first
meeting of the Town Council, ist January, 1836; but, soon
after, under the new Commission of the Peace, Mr. Ledger
was appointed Clerk of the Peace, and could not retain the
office of Coroner.

2. George T. Thompson was appointed Coroner by
the Town Council, 1st July, 1836, and, after holding the
office twenty-four years, Mr. Thompson was accidentally
killed by the bursting of a gun, during Volunteer Artillery
practice, at which he was on duty as a lieutenant of the
Corps. This was an incident without a parallel. The
Coroner and his fellow victim. Sergeant Monger, were lying
dead, and there was no one qualified to hold an inquest.
An application was made to the Lord Chief Justice of the
Queen's Bench, who is the Chief Coroner of the Realm, to
appoint someone to act in the emergency, but he replied



OFFICERS OF THE CORPORATION 35 1

that the only authority having power to appoint a Coroner
for Dover and its Liberties was the Dover Town Council,
and advised that that body should be convened for that
purpose as soon as possible.

3. William Henry Payn, who had been a member
of the old Common Council, and Mayor under the new Town
Council, was chosen Coroner in the room of Lieutenant G.
T. Thompson, on the 15th August, i860, six days after the
death of the previous Coroner, a lapse of six days having
been necessary to give the statutory notice convening the
Council. Owing to the urgency of rhe case, the Town
Council met at an early hour, and quickly came to a decision,
Mr. Payn being elected by fourteen votes, while another
candidate, Mr. Thomas Fox, who had been Deputy Coroner,
received four votes. Two or three hours later, the same
day, Mr. Payn opened the important inquest as to the gun
accident, at which, in addition to oidinary evidence,
military and scientific testimony was given, which proved that
the lamentable loss of two Volunteer officers arose from the
long use of a gun of which the metal v;as defective. Mr.
W. H. Payn held the office for twenty-two years — a long
period, considering that he had been an active member of
the Corporation before the Reform Act cf 1835. Mr. Payn
resigned his office owing to advancing years in 1882, but he
lived until 1887, when he died at the age of 85 years.

4. Sydenham Payn, solicitor, son of the previous
Coroner, was unanimously elected to succeed him in the
office on the i6th August, 1882. Mr. Sydenham Payn
filled the office for a longer time than any previous Coroner,
and the kindly consideration shown to all with whom his
office brought him into contact won for him the esteem of
the inhabitants of Dover.



352 ANNALS OF DOVER