SAVER OF LIVES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21396, 20 October 1934, Page 2 (Supplement)

SAVER OF LIVES

CORONER'S GOOD WORK PREVENTION OF SUICIDES RETIRING AFTER 35 YEARS The man who has saved more lives than any other person in Britain, and who has also probably solved more mysteries regarding the manner In v which hlssex people met their deaths, is giving up his life work after 35 years. But ho will not cease to save lives. He will continue that great work which has gained for him a reputation as n miracle man. He is Dr. Alexander Ambrose, coroner for Essex County. During nearly half his life —he is 75 years of ago—Dr. Ambrose has investigated tragedies in the great district comprising C'hingford, llford, Barking, East Ham, "Woodford, Leytonstone, Walthamstov, Wnnstead, Buckhurst Hill and a score of other towns and villages between Wbitechapol and Epping Forest. Ho recently described to the Sunday Graphic his reactions in some of the most notable mysteries he has been called upon to solve. Foremost among these was the notorious Thompson Bvwaters murder. Bywators and Mrs. Thompson were condemned to death and executed for the murder of the woman's husband.

, " Woman Without Scruple " " I never had the slightest doubt from the moment I began to study the evidence that Mrs. Thompson was guilty of having instigated the murder of her husband," said Dr. Ambrose. " She was a scheming woman without scruple and would have stopped at nothing had she had the moral courage to carry out her plans. I would have liked to have had her before me for questioning at the inquest, but here again her courage failed and she did not testify. As it turned out, this did her no good. I had all tho letters that had passed between her and Bywaters in my possession at the inquest, so that my conviction of her guilt was based on tho best of grounds " Some years ago Dr. Ambrose, impressed by the increase in the number of suicides and attempts at suicide throughout the country, formed what was described as a " Suicide Club." Ho invited everyone who felt the inclination to end their lives to write to him. Then he invited them to call and have a chat. In other cases, where such visits were impracticable, he wrote them long letters. Results of Good Advice " At these interviews and in these letters I pointed out to them," said Dr. Ambrose, " that no matter how black life seemed there were many good things left. Sometimes I pointed out to them the way out of their troubles. Sometimes I went to pains to set them on the right path. " Never once did I have occasion to regret my action, and I do not know of any case in which my advice was deliberately ignored. I think a good many suicides are the result of people not having a friend in whom they can confide and who can advise therri." By this means Dr. Ambrose was able to save actually many hundreds of lives, winning for himself the title of " Britain's Most Human Coroner." " All my experiences were not grim," he told the Sunday Graphic correspondent. " Some had their lighter side. One that stands out most clearly in my memory concerns the widow of a man who had hanged himself with a piece of wire rope. After the inquest, at which the rope was an exhibit, the widow asked if she could have it. I was naturally curious to know what she wanted such a gruesome souvenir for. Imagine my amazement when she replied that it was a fine strong piece of rope and would make splendid harness for the donkey. Unsolved Mysteries

" The case that worried me most of all were those like the case of little Gracie Golledge, the nine-year-old schoolgirl, near Aldershot. " I encountered many such cases. One was the mystery of the fate of Bertha Russ, a seven-year-old girl who disappeared after leaving Sunday school. Despite -the efforts of the police, no trace was found of her until six weeks later, when a man entered a house which had been standing empty, in order to do it up for a new tenant. " He noticed a blue ribbon bow lying on the floor. It had fallen out of the child's hair. Further investigation resulted in the discovery of the child's body in a cupboard. It had been badly mutilated. I held the inquest and we left no stone unturned to bring to justice the fiend who had committed the crime, but he was never caught, and the murderer of Bertha Russ is unknown to this day. " A similar case was that of a child whose body was found under Loxford Bridge, between Ilford and Barking. .She had vanished after goin&from her home to buy some sweets. Her murderer had stabbed her to death with a pair of scissors, which were found near the body. " This was only a comparatively short time after the Bertha Russ case and 1 have sometimes felt that the same fiend was responsible for both crimes."