Details from an inquest reported in a local newspaper.

Poisoning Caution to Parents

In this post I will show what information can be gathered from old newspaper reports that might not be easily available elsewhere.

02 April 2017

16:42

Birth, marriage and death announcements in newspapers are particularly helpful to the family 

historian. Not only do they support information on certificates they can also give details of

 family relationships and places of worship. Newspapers also contain details of inquests.  As

 can be seen here they can reveal a great deal of information about our ancestors which might

not be available elsewhere. The twins in this report are the children of my great great uncle 

William Toogood.  

The Isle of Wight Observer 28 February 1863 and Hampshire Telegraph 21 February 1863

"Poisoning Caution to Parents"  (Summary)

 Inquest into the deaths of five week old twins William and Edith Toogood at the George Inn. 

Both babies were small and sickly from birth. They were particularly restless at night. Their mother 

Edith Toogood told how she and her husband William were suffering from severe lack of sleep. 

Edith Snr spoke to her own mother about this. The twins' grandmother advised purchasing some

poppy syrup and giving each of the babies a small dose .As Edith Snr had often seen her mother give

 the syrup to her own children she felt confident about deciding on the dose to give. So Edith sent 

her brother, a boy aged nine or ten years, to the druggist to purchase a penny's worth in a cup. At 

eight in the evening she gave both babies half a teaspoon. Shortly afterwards baby William became 

ill. Edith sent her mother to fetch the parish surgeon, Mr Leach. This surgeon would not attend as 

it was so late. The grandmother then fetched another surgeon who attended. It seems this was 

the first time they had contacted a surgeon as they were normally cared for by a local woman, 

Mrs Denness,  during confinements. Dr Savage placed the little boy in a warm bath but he died 

at  10.30 pm. Shortly after little Edith became unwell. Despite Dr Savage's efforts she died at 5am.

 Information collected from the article

Evidence was given regarding the dose the babies had received. The druggist had not given any 

advice. Edith Snr said that judging by the amount she had seen her mother give to her siblings she

felt half a teaspoon was safe for the weak twins. Dr Savage said that he thought the dose 

administered was too strong for such weak babies and this was the reason for their deaths. It was 

decided that the druggist's syrup must have been a much stronger mixture. A verdict of accidental 

death was recorded.  The Coroner said the it was sad that mothers were not more careful when 

administering opiates. A great number of children had been lost in this way. 

The newspaper articles show that the inquest was held at an inn. This was the usual practice at the

 time. It also gives details of the twins' general health as well as the effect the poppy syrup had on

them. In giving her evidence the twins' grandmother, Susan/Susannah Honeybunn, shows the way

 in which the family usually dealt with their health issues. It appears that they only consulted 

someone else for help during confinements. The article gives the names of both the local surgeons

 as well as that of the local woman who acted as midwife. I wonder how many Newport babies she

 delivered over the years? . Perhaps alarmingly for us is the fact that such a young child was sent to

 collect the syrup  in a cup. This child was probably Charles Honeybunn. Dr Savage stated why he

 thought the twins died  but post-mortems are not mentioned. 

Hint😉 Old newspapers can give an insight into the day to day lives of our ancestors.