Newspaper Clipping of the Day

"Jackson's Oxford Journal," March 27, 1858, via Newspapers.com

The following is a remarkably clue-free poisoning mystery. "Jackson's Oxford Journal," April 3, 1858:

We last week recorded the death of Elizabeth, wife of Mr. John James, of Brize-Norton, and to-day our obituary contains a record of the death of the latter named person.

These two events, having taken place under very suspicious circumstances, have been the cause of much consternation and surmise. We will endeavour to give an outline of the case, as far as we are enabled to do so, from the materials within our reach.

Mr. and Mrs. James were well-to-do industrious people, the husband occasionally working as an agricultural labourer, and his wife conducted the business of a general shop. On the 13th of March Mrs. James complained of being unwell, and she took a small quantity of gin, a spirit she occasionally used when feeling unwell; on the next day she became worse, and on the 16th medical aid was called in, but it did not avail, and on the 24th she died. Previous to her death her husband became unwell, and vomited several times; he, too, it was found, had partaken of gin from the same jar. On the night of the 25th he became much worse, and a person, named Preston, was sent to Bampton for Mr. Madden, surgeon; but as the hour was early and the morning cold, he (Preston) had a glass of the gin, and before he had proceeded far on the way he became ill, and vomited; however, he reached Bampton, and summoned the medical gentleman; when he reached home he found himself worse, and complained of the gin.

In the meanwhile Mr. Taylor and his man (J. Long) had taken home the coffin for the wife, and they both partook of gin, and both suffered considerably, as did several other persons who had also tasted of the deleterious compound. Suspicions were now directed towards the gin, which was taken possession of and secured.

At eleven o'clock Mr. James died. Next day an inquest was held at the Chequers Inn, before Mr. F. Westell, deputy coroner, when evidence corroborating the above statement was given on oath, and tho following is an outline of it:

Mrs. Broadis, a nurse, said that Mr. James was taken with fits and vomiting at three o'clock on the morning of his death; at six she sent for Mr. Madden; deceased had been subject to fits; several persons had partaken of the gin, and they all suffered.

One witness said she had one "quilt " out of the bottle, and was ill.

The inquest was then adjourned till Monday to enable Mr. Madden to make a post mortem examination of the bodies, having received instructions to that effect from the coroner.

On Monday, on the re-assembling of the Jury, the following witnesses were heard.

John Long said he went with his master to assist in taking Mrs. James's coffin home; he had three glasses of gin; went home to supper; felt very sick, and vomited, and was unable to work the next day.

W. James, son of the deceased, said that he had some of the gin on the 25th, and felt ill.

Dr. A. Batt, of Witney, said he first saw Mrs. James on the 16th; she was sitting in a chair, and complained of cold; her countenance was tinged with bile, and she had pain in the shoulder blade. Saw her again on the 18th; found she had vomited and been much purged on the previous day; attended her in consequence of the illness of Mr.. Madden, of Bampton; that gentleman having got better, witness lost sight of the case.

Mr. Madden said that he made up the prescriptions of Dr. Batt, and afterwards prescribed himself, from reports; saw Mrs. James on the 21st, and found her in bed, unable to lie down; looked upon her as suffering from influenza and double bronchitis; the air tubes were loaded with mucus; hrr nervous system was very much excited, and she said she must die;. she vomited, and was purged a good deal, but saw no remains of either; the vomiting ceased for two days, but the purging continued; on examination of the stool, saw nothing unusual; her breathing was much oppressed; if no relief could be afforded, saw she must die; on the next day she died. From the fact that ten or twelve persons had all suffered after having partaken of the gin, he had no doubt poison had been mixed with it.

On making the post mortem examination of Mr. James, he saw that the state of the lungs was sufficient to cause death; could not undertake to say how far the deleterious compound had contributed to the fatal termination. Mr. Madden further said that he was called in to see Mr. James on the morning of the day on which he died ; found him suffering from epilepsy, which had attacked him at three o'clock, a.m.; several fits followed at short intervals, till eleven o'clock a.m., when he died; had previously attended him for epilepsy; was unable to state whether the attack of epilepsy was sua sponte [of its own accord], or had been induced by partaking of the gin.

On Sunday, assisted by Dr. Batt, ho made a post mortem examination of the bodies, but owing to the pressure of professional duties, declined to make an analysis of the portions which he had carefully sealed up for that purpose, but he advised that Prof. Taylor should be employed in that duty.

W. Taylor said he had some gin at James's house, and had been very ill in consequence.

John Preston Is a tailor, and resides at Brize-Norton. He had some gin at five o'clock in the morning, having been called by the son of deceased to go to Bampton to fetch Mr. Madden; felt very ill all that day and part of the next.

Mary Ann James Is the wife of deceased's son, William James; Mrs. James, her mother-in-law, was taken ill on the 13th; went to Mr. James's on an errand, and E. Broadist told her Mrs. James was ill; complained of a pain in her bowels and chest, but did not name any ground for her complaint; saw her again on the 14th; she was no better, but was up; visited her on the 15th and 16th, but she got no better; had some of the gin on tho 24th, but had not had any for two months previously; thought the gin looked very queer, and after she had tasted it observed it looked thick, and found her throat very hot; her husband was taken ill on the same day that Mrs. Railway came, which was the 17th; he vomited very much, and went to bed; did not see him take any gin, nor did ho express any suspicion of it; Taylor was the first person who complained that the gin had made him ill; the gin came on the 12th, which was the day before Mrs. James was taken ill.

William James, son of deceased, and husband of last witness, said he first saw his mother on the 16th, and called Dr. Batt to see her; did not see her vomit, but distinctly recollects seeing his father vomit on the 24th, as well as on the day of his death.

William Cantivell, shopman to Mr. Warrington, of Witney, spirit merchant, said the deceased, Mr. James, was in the habit of buying spirits from their house; the last lot (a gallon) was delivered on the 12th of March; on that day he put up several other quantities tor various individuals; he carefully washed each jar; the whole of them were filled from the standard cask in the shop, which holds 150 gallons; each jar was carefully corked and sealed, and then handed over to their carman tor delivery in the usual manner.

It is but justice to this witness to state that he gave his evidence in the most satisfactory manner. We may also state that not the slightest suspicion is entertained that the gin was adulterated before it reached the house of the deceased; but how, when, or by whom the deleterious substance was added, is at present a mystery.

After hearing several other witnesses, the inquest was adjourned to the 16th of April, in order to procure the authority of the Secretary of State to enable the Coroner to send the various matters to Professor Taylor for analysis.

So, what happened next, you ask? As far as I've been able to tell, not a damned thing. For whatever inexplicable reason, the gin was never analyzed, and the investigation dropped.  The story simply disappeared from the newspapers after this, leaving the answer to all these deaths and illnesses forever unknown to history.