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The Inquest
as reported in The Wolverton Express - Friday July 26th, 1912 |
A joint inquest was opened on Monday at the village inn in Hanslope. The body of Mr Watts was identified by his nephew, who said that Mrs Watts was in such a state of prostration that she could no account of the affair. Mrs Farrow, widow of the dead gamekeeper, wept bitterly at first, but after a few kindly words from the Coroner, recovered herself and gave her evidence clearly. She said that her husband would have been 46 years of age on the morrow. On Sunday he left home between 10 and 10.30 a.m., stating he wanted some cartridges for Mr. Whitbread, a tenant of Mr. Watts. He took the cartridges with him, but no gun. Prior to leaving home her husband took his game-book from the drawer and made an entry in it. The Coroner produced the game-book, and asked the witness if she identified the handwriting? The widow looked at it for a moment, and then, with a sob, admitted the writing to be that of her husband. She did not suppose that he would write very steadily in the state he was in at the time, she added. The Coroner: Had he been drinking then? - Witness: He had a jug full of primrose wine before he went out. I remonstrated with him. He had had nothing to eat the day before, and I thought he did not want the wine. The Coroner: You knew your husband was under notice? - Witness: No, I had no idea he was under notice to leave until the constable told me last night. The Coroner: Have you ever heard your husband say anything against Mr. Watts? - Witness: No; he always spoke well of the Squire. Mrs Lily Green, wife of Mr. Watts' coachman, spoke to hearing the report of a gun, and looking through the window, seeing the squire lying on the ground, and Mrs Watts in a state of collapse, ran to the assistance of Mrs. Watts, who said, "Fetch a doctor. Someone has shot my husband." She was going to fetch one of the tenants who lived nearby, when she heard a second report from a gun. There was a third shot about five minutes afterwards, and this came from the wood. George Green, the lodge keeper and coachman, said when he heard of the occurrence he went into the north spinney, where he saw the undergrowth had been trampled down. He followed the tracks and came upon the body of Farrow lying on the ground with a gun pointing to his face. He saw the man had been shot through the head. He had never heard Farrow threaten to kill Mr. Watts. Mrs Mary Beasley, of Manor Farm, Hanslope, said her husband was a tenant of Mr. Watts. On Sunday morning, Farrow called at her house and said: "Will you give me a glass of beer to quench my thirst, for I am parched?" She did not reply, but went and fetched the beer, about half a pint. I was horrified by the look of the man, added the witness; his eyes were glassy, and he did not seem natural. Inside the door there was my husband's gun. He fiddled about with it, and having drunk his beer he said he wanted to borrow a razor before they came out of church. Witness said 'What!' The man horrified her. He said his own razor had gone to be ground. Farrow then turned away from her house, and she saw no more of him. Henry Martin, a gamekeeper, spoke to seeing Farrow on Saturday night, when he appeared to be all right and quite rational. Replying to the Coroner, witness said Farrow complained last December that lies were being told about him. "Mr. Watts was not brought into that, I suppose?" said the Coroner. "No" replied witness, emphatically. P.C. Cooper spoke to being called to the scene of the occurrence, and to finding the body of Mr. Watts. Simultaneously he heard a voice from the spinney saying: "I've found him." He went into the wood and found Farrow lying on his back dead, with the barrel of his gun pointing in the direction of his face. In the pockets he found four cartridges. One spent cartridge was lying at the dead man's feet, while the second barrel of the gun was loaded. Farrow had a stick under his arm, and it was evident that he was leaning on this when he shot himself. Two guns were produced by Supt. Pearce, and Mrs. Farrow, recalled, identified one as belonging to her husband. The police said that the other gun was borrowed from a neighbouring farmer, and was undoubtedly the one that killed Mr. Watts. Dr. Rutherford gave evidence as to being called to the scene and finding Mr. Watts and his gamekeeper dead. Replying to the Coroner he said the keeper sustained a sunstroke last summer, and that might induce a sudden apoplectic seizure. The jury returned a verdict of wilful murder against Farrow in respect to the death of Mr. Watts, and felo de se in regard to his own death. |