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William Jones Ireland

Age: 46

Sex: male

Date: 26 Aug 1905

Place: Parkfield Cottage, Slyne, Lancaster

William Jones Ireland died from camphor poisoning.

He had taken the equivalent of 71 grains which was described as quite a lot.

His wife said that he had never talked about camphor or killing himself and that there was none if it around the house.

The coroner said that the evidence was very unsatisfactory and that the only trace of camphor was that inside of him and the only way he could have got it was by either taking it himself or by having someone else give it to him. He said that he didn't believe that he took the camphor with the intent of killing himself and that if he had got into the habit of taking it, as so many people did, his wife would have surely smelled it.

They searched the whole house and garden and could find no camphor.

William Ireland's gardener said that William Ireland did the fumigating but he had never seen him doing it and didn't think he had done it the night before his death although he said that he had seen William Ireland in the shed where the fumigator was kept when he left him at 5.30 o'clock.


*map pointers are rough estimates based on known location details as per Place field above.

see www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk

see Aberdeen Peoples Journal - Saturday 16 September 1905

see Lancashire Evening Post - Monday 11 September 1905