Mexborough & Swinton Times — Saturday, 28 March 1914
Sad Suicide at Conisboro’
Tragedy of Ill-Health
A Family’s Ordeal
A pathetic story was told to Mr. F. Allen and a Conisboro’ jury on Wednesday afternoon, at an inquest held on George Rhodes Hartley, aged 61, a glassblower, of Glasshouse Row, Conisboro’. The inquest was held at Messrs. Kilner’s Glassworks’ Reading Room.
The Coroner said his information was that deceased had been unable to work for some nine years in consequence of a nervous breakdown, and in addition he feared that he was losing his sight. These circumstances apparently produced depression, and he had made several attempts to commit suicide recently. On Tuesday he left home and was missed at the expiration of five minutes. The alarm was raised, but deceased had by that time got to the river, which was near, and had drowned himself.
The widow said her husband had a nervous breakdown nine years ago, and had never been able to work since. His ill-health had affected his eyes, which were daily growing weaker, and he feared he was going to be blind. He had become very depressed during the last six months, and attempted suicide on Saturday and on Sunday.
The Coroner: How did he try?—He went off down the garden to the river. We have all had to be awake night and day this last six months looking after him.
Witness broke down, and, sobbing, said: “I watched him like a cat, and then he took me down.”
The Coroner: You say that last Sunday he tried to get into the river?—Yes. My son sprained his wrist trying to pull him back, and all his father said was “Let me go! let me go!”
Witness, continuing, said that on Tuesday deceased went out of the house, and took his pipe of tobacco. That was the last she saw of him alive. He had only been gone five minutes before she set up an alarm, and her son went to look for him.
Wm. Thos. Hartley, also a glassworker, and son of the deceased, said his father had wanted to commit suicide several times during the last six months. He had been “on the gate” all the time. Witness was on night work, and was in bed on Monday morning, but as soon as he heard the cry that his father was lost he jumped out of bed, and, dressing hastily, went down the field in search of him. If he had gone in another direction he would have cut him off before he reached the water, but when he eventually got to the water some men had got the body out, and they would not let witness see it. They told him his father was dead.
Michael John Rodgers, 18, Blyth Street, Denaby Main, fitter, said he found deceased in the water about 11 o’clock on Tuesday morning. He was in that part of the water opposite Glasshouse Row. He got him out and used artificial respiration, without result.
The Coroner, addressing the jury, said it was a very simple case, and a very sad one. The poor man had evidently believed that he was going to lose his sight and power, and that life was not worth living. According to his son, he had expressed a wish to commit suicide. No doubt all the members of the family had done their best to keep a watch on him, and he had only been out of sight five minutes, but that was sufficient to enable him to destroy himself.
The jury would be quite justified in saying that deceased was not in his right mind when he did it. He was evidently very depressed because of his infirmities.
A verdict of “Suicide during temporary insanity” was returned.