1902

The East Kent Coroner (Mr. R. M. Mercer) held an inquest at the King’s Head, Elham, on Tuesday, touching the death of Mary Whitnall, aged 89—It appeared that on Tuesday the 15th inst. when Richard Whitnall, a son, got up to have his breakfast he found deceased lying on the door downstairs where she slept. The deceased died on Sunday the 23rd at 5 a.m. Mr. Percy Charles Burgess, surgeon at Elham, was called in to see the deceased on Tuesday the 18th and found her in bed in a collapsed condition. There was an abrasion on the side of both lags and on the side of the head. The deceased had been some hours on the floor, and it was a cold night. Death in the surgeon's opinion was due to shock from the fall and exposure and senile decay.—The jury returned a verdict of Accidental Death.