Frederick Fisher

Frederick Fisher was run over by a horse drawn cab on the Easter Monday.

The coroners officer said that there was no doubt that the police had found the cab driver but said the only problem was that he would not admit that he was the man that had run Frederick Fisher over.

Frederick Fisher was from Northamptonshire and had come to Sheffield four years earlier. Two years before he was killed he had gone to live in Coleridge Road in Attercliffe. On the Easter morning he went out and later at 11.10pm that night he was seen descending the steps leading from Victoria Station to Wicker. He had tried to get on the Attercliffe tramcar but the car was full and so he proceeded across the road towards the Wicker Arches when a hansom cab travelling towards Pitsmoor dashed up and knocked him down. The cabman drove on as though nothing had happened. Frederick Fisher died shortly after.

A man who saw the incident said that he heard the cabman shout to Frederick Fisher when he was about 10 yards distant but that Frederick Fisher seemed to stand still apparently thinking that the cab would go round him. However, the cab swerved his wheel to go up Spital Hill and his near-side wheel caught Frederick Fisher and knocked him down. Frederick Fisher fell back and sustained a bad cut on his head.

The witness said that the cab driver drove at a much faster rate after the accident and that it was his opinion that he knew he had knocked a man down. However, he could not identify the cab driver again.

Another witness said that she saw the cabman and said that she called for him to stop but said that he whipped up his horse and galloped away.

The Police had found two cabmen who were known to have been in Pitsmoor district that night but none of the witnesses could swear to the identity of any.

The Coroner said that he was surprised that the cabman didn't show up at the hearing saying that no blame would be attached to him.

The Coroner's jury returned a verdict that Frederick Fisher had been killed but didn't specify whether his death was accidental or otherwise.