Croydon – Death On My Doorstep

1/ Upper Norwood, January 1887 (Starved Woman in Cupboard)

The body of Selina Ruth Matthias, a 45-year-old married woman, was found in a closet in a disused house in Cintra Park, Upper Norwood. She had been dead three or four days was nude and dreadfully skinny, and also covered in filth. Death was due to pleurisy and inflammation of the lungs which was made worse due to starvation. Selina had left her husband six years ago for another man, but the whereabouts of either of them is unknown.

2/ Fatality at Russell Hill, Purley, July 1889

3/ Croydon Churchyard Suicide, June 1878 (What church?)

19-year-old bricklayer, William Constable, who lived in Church Road in Croydon, left his lodgings on Saturday morning to go to work, but the young lad did not come back as usual. On Monday morning a boy by the name of Evans was walking through the churchyard at Croydon when he saw a body suspended from a tree. Constable was cut down, and it was estimated that he had been dead for several hours. The poor lad’s father had killed himself a month ago and this had put him in a depressed state. The jury’s verdict was that he had “committed suicide by hanging whilst labouring under mental derangement”.

4/ Canehill Asylum Suicide, near Croydon, November 1888

An inquest was held regarding the death of an inmate of Canehill Asylum near Croydon, by the name of William Brook. He was picking stones as part of the asylum work program when he ran off and escaped the attendant who was meant to be looking after him. He first ran on to the road and lay under a two-ton waggon as it moved along, but it failed and he got up and said “That has not killed me”, then scurried away to the train tracks. An express was on the line at the time and Brook calmly let the engine run into him and slicing him into shreds. The clear verdict was “suicide while insane” and the jury recommended that there should be another attendant to help to keep an eye on the inmates.

5/ Free Christian Church, Wellesley Road, Croydon, April 21st, 1885 (Vanishing Vicar )

Free Christian Church, Wellesley Road, Croydon April 25th, 1885 (Vicar Vanishes)

6/ No.29, Chatfield Road, July 1908 (Double Murder/Suicide)

Thomas Manser, in his mid-twenties, deliberately shot his mother and his sister in the head with a handgun then turned it on himself. A son-in-law of Mrs Manser, Mr Jennings, who also resides at Chatfield Road, found the bodies just after 5 o’clock when coming in from work. At first, he couldn’t get in and called the police who helped him gain entry, and when he went upstairs it was there he saw the horrific bloodbath created by Thomas. 65-year-old Mrs Manser and her 25-year-old daughter, lay dead on the bed in the front bedroom with large bullet holes in their craniums. Between two beds, on the floor, lay the corpse of the murderer, Thomas, also with a bullet wound to the head, but he was just clinging to life. He was rushed to Croydon Hospital in the hope they could save him and make him face justice but he died in the night-time. Apparently, he was a crack shot with a revolver, and from the position of his body, it is thought he stood in front of the mirror when he did the vicious deed. Also strange in this case, was the two dogs were also shot dead maybe because they were barking? Manser had left his job a few months ago after a bout of influenza laid him out and after this, he began to suffer mentally. (Can influenza affect you mentally?) Police believe it to be a fit of madness brought on by religious mania.

7/ Riddlesdown Rifle Range Fatality, July 1885

8/ Croydon, July 1885 (Fatal Accident at Cricket Match)

A cricket match was about to be played at Croydon on Saturday afternoon between the Gas Company and Mechanic’s Cricket Club’s when a player named Barnett was struck behind the ear with a ball, and after staggering a few yards fell dead.

9/ Croydon General Post Office Suicide, December 1876

An arrangement was made recently that every night the premises were to be left in charge of a sorting clerk who would start work at 9-30 p.m. then finish at 5 a.m. the next morning. This week it was Richard Stuart’s turn to perform the duty bequeathed to him by the postal authorities. The 21-year-old came in on Friday night in a fairly jocular mood according to work colleagues who were about to leave the building, and they let him get on with his job. At around ten o’clock a mail messenger named Wise knocked on the door several times but got no reply, so he went off for a while. Then at midnight he came back with a mail-bag and again tried to get in, but this time when no-one answered he got the help of a watchman who helped him get in through a fanlight above the doorway. He dropped the bags off, then spotted Stuart in a standing position. He slapped him on the shoulder but he never moved an inch, then he noticed that he was suspended by the neck with some pieces of cord. The body was stone-cold and time of death would have been straight after his colleagues had left for home.

10/ Croydon/Reigate, May 1885

11/ No.32, Churchill Road, South Croydon, April 1907 (Poisoning)

An awful tragedy occurred at 32, Churchill Road early on Sunday morning. The residents are Mr and Mrs Beck and their two daughters- Daisy aged 21, and Hilda aged 19. On Saturday night they had a glass of stout each with their supper, which was given to them by the lodger. Soon after drinking it the parents were grabbing their stomachs in excruciating pain and Daisy also felt the effects. Mr Beck tried to leave the house to get help but couldn’t make the doorway. Hilda, the youngest, was a tee-totaller, so never even drank the stout, so she was OK, it was she who got the neighbours to call a doctor. When help arrived everything was done to revive them, but the Becks died shortly after. A strange sediment was discovered in one of the two bottles, and it is suspected of being weed-killer which Mr Beck used at his gardening job. Daisy recovered from the effects and she is now out of danger. (Was it the lodger?/Was it an accident?)

12/ Croydon, July 1885 (Missing Daughter)

13/ West Croydon, September 1885 (Attempted Murder)

14/ Croydon Shooting, January 24th, 1885

Croydon, January 30th, 1885

The young man Hodgson, charged with attempting to murder Miss Allan at Croydon, was again brought before the Croydon magistrates yesterday morning. It will be remembered that the prisoner who had been writing love letters to the girl, of which no notice was taken, followed her, and shot at, and slightly wounded her. The prisoner, who looked dejected, was committed for trial.

15/ Croydon Shooting, April 25th, 1885

16/ Croydon Manslaughter, March 1892

17/ Norwood Junction Death, August 1905

18/ Croydon Murderer Reprieve, September 1870

19/ Norwood Railway Station Fatality, December 1870

20/ Croydon Murder, December 1903. (Caroline Randelsome)

21/ Poisoning Mystery at Croydon. May 11th, 1907.

22/ Solicitor’s Suicide in his Office. August 1907

Mr A.T.Hodges, of the firm of Hodges and Pyke, solicitors, of Croydon and Mark Lane, London, was found shot in his office at Croydon, on Monday afternoon. He sent his chief clerk out, and during his absence, three shots were heard. A junior clerk, being alarmed, ran into the room and found Mr Hodges lying on the floor in a pool of blood with a wound in his head. He was removed to Croydon Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.