Suicide of the Rev. H. Clere. THE INQUEST.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume IX, Issue 1663, 30 June 1887, Page 2

Suicide of the Rev. H. Clere. THE INQUEST.

An inquest touching the death of the Rev. Henry Clere, was held at the Courthou»e on Wednesday, before C. A. Wray, Esq., Coroner, and the following jury :—: — Messrs. Laisbley, W. G. White, Meikle, J. S. Adams, O'Den, and W. Clarke. The body having been viewed, the following evidence was taken :—: — William Alfred Parkinsou — I have known the deceased, Rev. Henry Clere, for the past four or five years, or perhaps a little longer ; he was a clergyman of the Church of Eugland, and held the living of Tickeuham, Somersetshire ; lately he has resided with his son-in-law, Mr. Willans on a farm at Pihama ; on Thursday last he was driven up to the Star Office, and when I went out to see him he said tbat he was very ill and wished to go into the cottage hospital ; it was a cold, wet d.iy, and I at once jumped into his carnage and had him diiven to the hospital; when we had driven there, I found, in answer to enquiries, that Mr. Clere was not Buffering from any specific disease, so far as he knew, but he stated that he was puttering from the " old thing." In Wellington and New Plymouth I had known him for years to be suffering from a nervous disorder; he spoke of his " poor he»d," and said thut he had felt his tniud going, and that he wanted to get into n quiet place, but did not want a doctor or medicine. I explained that the cottage hospital was pcircely the place for him, but though I thut as he was there lie had better staj the night, and next day oth r arrange ments could be made to get him a quiel place ; I promised him I would Ciinsull with Rev. Mr. lioot in reference to tht matter. I communicated with Mr. Root and next morning early deceased went tc the parsonage and remained there till his death. The last time I saw him was or Sunday evening about 8 at the parsonage, He then seemed better, nioie cheerful than when he had come down. He was peculiar in his manners, as he always hat been so fir as I knew him ; he was ofter. depressed, and frequently said he was going to die; he generally stayed at ms house when passing through Hawera. anc on one occasion he said he thought h< should have died during the night. Ht wns 69 years of age, and had a familj of five — three daughters, all n sidmg iv th( colony and married, and two sons, one o whom is now in England. To Sergeant Anderson — When he cairn to me he complained of the noise a his son-in-law's house; he seemed de pressed, but he never said anythiug to mi as to his finaucial position, and I kuovi nothing of it. Ishould not have imagiuec him likely to commit suicide while o sound mind. Saiah Hughes, nurse, said — I rernein ber deceased coming to the cottage hos pital ; he asked if he could stay there foi a short time ; he spoke of being lonely where he had been living, especially nov that his wife was dead ; he said he wai not badly ill, but that his head was bac and he needed quiet ; he was restless al night, and wandering, and saying h< wished he were with his wife and al trouble would be over; though there wai a cold wind and rain all night, he insisted on hiving the window open, for he com plained of being suffocated and unable tc breathe ; he ate well while iv the hospital but I do not think he slept well ; I saw him threo times during the night; Rev Mr. Root visited him on the evening o his arrival, and next day he went awaj with Mr. Root, and I saw him again nc more until he was dead. Rev. W- H. Root — I saw deceased al the cottage hospital on Thursday after noon, looking very fatigued, I thought he told me he had left Pihama, and did not know where to go ; we had a talk and I went away and returned to the hospital in the evening, when we discussed liis future movements ; he said he did nol know what he was going to do ; I sug> gested his going to various members ol his family, or to New Plymouth, where he would be near his doctor, Dr. Gibbes, bul he said he would not go to either ot those places, but would prefer coming to the parsonage, where he would be quiet. On Friday morning I told him he mighl come to the parsonage until I could communicate with his friends ; ho went ovet with me, and has been staying there evei since ; he was very restless and fidgety all day Friday, and on Saturday morning he said he had had a veiy restless night indeed, not having fallen asleep till day bieak. On Saturday I suggested that we should take a walk, and he did so ; he seemed cheerful and bright, and told me nil about his affairs ; I suggested that 1 should write to his friends, and he consented. I wrote to his son in Wellington, to his son-in-law, Mr. Freere, of Waverley, whom I asked to come up, and also to Dr. Gibbes, his old. medical attendant, but he would not allow mo to send the letter to doctor, as he wanted no medicine ; Mr. Freere came up on the Monday, but nothing was settled. On Tuesday morning very early I was aroused by a great knocking, and I found it came lrom Mr. Clere's room. I went to him, and found him excited aud looking very strange. He said he was goiug to die ; he wanted to add a codicil to his will, and he requested me to get a pen and paper. I wrote at his dictation. He seemed unable to comprehend, and I read the codicil two or three times before he understood it. He did unrlerstaud it, for he made several correc tions. Later in the day he got up aud ate well, and then re-wrote the "codicil and sigued it in proper form. In the eveniug we discussed his future, and it was arranged that he should stop

with us on his own terms ; he expressed himself satisfied, and said lie felt happier than he had done for months, that a great load was lifted off his mind ; about halfpast ten he went to bed ; I went in to see him comfortable for the niglit, and prayed with him at bis reqaest ; then I left him. On Wednesday morning about eight I went into his room with breakfast, and found that the bed was empty, and that he was lying at tbe foot of the bed ; I found, on further examination, that he was dead : that his scarf was tied to a bed-post at one end, and tbe other end encircled his neck. The left leg was lying parallel with tbe side of the bed, and the other leg was lying bent under him ; the weight of his body was on tbe scarf ; he was quite warm, and the bed on which he had laiu was war<n ; I cut the scarf, and sent for the doctor, and tried to restore animation, but it was useless ; Drs. Chilton and Alexander came, i but could do nothing. Deceased had i shown fits of abstraction, and seemed easily excited ; he had on Tuesday rei ceived a letter from bis son in -law, Mr. , Willans, about ordinary matters, which , made him excited, but there was uothiug , in it to justify the excitement ; he showed , me the letter ; (telegram was produced , from Dr. Gibbes to witness, stating that he had informed Mr. Willans that de1 ceased bad presented symptoms of softeni ing of tbe brain) ; I have no doubt that he was of unsound mind wben be committed the act ; I understand that be was io easy circumstances financially, but , farming operations bad not been successful ; he said tbat he did not wish to go to his cbildrens' houses because they all bad , young families, and tbe noise distracted ; him. Dr. Chilton gave evidencp, and stated , his opinion that death had been caused by , suffocation, probably accelerated by effui sion oi blood at the base of the brain \ owing to the tightness of the ligature i round the blood vessels in the neck. There was no fracture of the vertebrae. He believed that the act bad been committed an hour and a half or two hours before he saw the body. Sergeant Anderson gave formal evidence. i John Murray Gibbes, duly qualified medical practitioner, residing at New p Plymouth — I have been acquainted with . deceased for tbe last four or five years and have attended him professionally. He came from Welliugton to New Plymouth, suffering from utter nervous prostration ; he hud been unable to follow his clerical duties for 25 years I think, owing 'to symptoms of irritation of the brain ; I . attended him regularly for four or five , months, when he seemed for a tune to , have regained hi.-? ordinary health, but not sufficiently to undertake clerical duties ; he also suffered from affection of the spinal column, which caused him great agony at times, the least excitement causing great mental depression and irritability. He continued in good health until a short time back, when he returned from Wellington after a visit. On June , 4th he wrote me a letter stating that he was fearfully prostrated and suffered from great nervous depression; he stated that , he did not think he bad long to live, and requested me to make the necessary , arrangements for his funeral, stating , that if I did so I should confer a , favor on a dying man ; I considered bis , condition grave when I read th.it letter, ; and I requested him to come into New , Plymouth at once; he replied immediI ately that he felt better ; I considered, on . receiving his letter, that his mind was j unevenly balanced, owing to his nervous t depression. After the death of his wife, r who had waited on his every movement, he seemed unable to remain in any one t place for any length of time ; I told Mr. I Willans, his son-in law, a fortnight ago 3 that deceased should be removed from Pihama, and on Saturday last I told him ] I believed that softening of the brain was 3 iv progress ; I advised, on Saturday, that ! his son in Welliugton should be written to, so that arrangements might be made , fov his eire in future, btit as he was at 5 Mr. Hoot's I thought there was no hurry j for a day or two as he would oe quiet , there. I do not consider ho was 5 responsible for his action. He held j an English living, but did so not j for the sake of tbe stipeud, but be3 cause he had a clergyman, a friend, in 3 his place who liked the work, and who j was liked and who drew most of the 3 stipend ; whereas, if Mr. Clere had ref signed, this gentleman would have had to give place to a fresh nominee of the 3 Bishop of the Diocese. Witness stated in I further evidence that he had uo doubt the mind had suddenly become unhinged, and 3 the act, quite unpremeditated, had been 7 done. Naturally, deceased would have j recoiled from such an act. He was a f timid man, physically, and he was a sincere Chnstiau, not at all likely to con- . template such an act. The whole of his . history showed that it was the bruin that r was weak. He seems to have beeu ex- , tremely anxious lately about his financial affairs, though I am informed by his B family that there was not the slightest ] occasion for it. I understand he was in I comfortable circumstances. 3 The jury found that deceased commitI ted suicide while in a state of insanity.