William James Clark

William James Clark was found dead in the River Thames near the Anglo-American Oil Company's works at Purfleet.

He was a wealthy Manor Park estate agent and had gone missing on 8 December 1922.

However, doctors agreed that there was no evidence that he had drowned, nor could they find any signs of poison or of violence.

A woman who had known William Clark by sight said that she had seen him three days after he had disappeared sitting in a two seater car with another man. She said that she was struck by his cold, miserable and preoccupied aspect. She also described the man that she had seen sitting in the car with him.

The only suggestion offered to account for his death at his inquest was that he had been chloroformed, robbed, and then thrown unconscious into the river.

He had lived in clarendon House in Forest Drive, Manor Park and his fortune was described as having been considerable.

He had an excellent business and owned one hundred houses and was described as having lived on the happiest possible terms with his wife and family of four children.

He had left home at 7.20pm on the night of 8 December 1922, telling his wife that he meant to make a local call, and to also go to North Woolwich on business where he had been negotiating for the purchase of a property in Milk Street where a public house was to be enlarged and that, with an eye to business, he wished to purchase the houses, which would later be required for the extension.

It was noted that it was his habit to always carry a good sum of money, usually between £20 and £30, and it was thought that he had had such an amount on him when he vanished.

However, he was never seen alive again by his family or friends from the moment that he left his house and there was no trace of him having gone to the houses in Milk Street.

It was reported that his family had not gone to bed for a week, thinking that he might return at any moment.

It was noted that he was a man in good health and spirits and had been looking forward to his future and making many arrangements ahead.

It was noted that his business at North Woolwich would not have taken him to any place where he could accidently have fallen in the river, although it was noted that on the night of 8 December 1922 had been black with fog.

When his body was found, his pockets contained only a 10s Treasury note and silver amounting together to £1 4s. He also had a cheque book, two pocket diaries, a bunch of keys, cards and a typewritten letter. The letter had been from a firm of building contractors complaining that he had only sent them a cheque for £50 on an account, and had withheld an amount of £700, which it was said was owing.

At his inquest, William Clark's brother said that William Clark had had a dispute with the building firm over work that had been carried out, and had intended to dispute the contract.

It was noted that about a week before he vanished, that William Clark had helped a friend, a fishmonger, redeem his wife's jewellery from a pawnbroker's in Canning Town, the cost being £29 3s 4d and that the fishmonger had agreed to pay him back £1 a week. He said that he had pawned the jewellery, worth about £140, to help with his business and that he had gone to the bank with William Clark on 6 December 1922 to discuss selling his business.

However, at the inquest he said that he understood that the rings had been kept in William Clark's safe and that after his death he understood that they were not there.

Two doctors that examined his body said that his body had been in the water for about six weeks but that he had been dead before he reached the water and that there was no trace of water in his lungs.

However, neither of them could give any definite cause of death, although one of them stated that there was nothing to show that William Clark had not been dead for some time, even for some days, before his body entered the water.

William Clark's brother said that it was inconceivable to him that William Clark would not have been carrying more than one pound and a few shillings when he left home. He said, 'He always had money with him because he was always alive for a business deal when he might need a substantial amount to put down as a deposit on property'.

It was said that every member of William Clark's family were convinced that he had met his death by foul play on the night of 8 December 1922. It was also said that they would not even admit the fact that his body went into the river at Woolwich and was carried down by the stream to Purfleet.

It was noted that he was found dead in the river at about the same time as Edith Bowring and that in each case, death was not due to drowning. They were both found in the River Thames at Purfleet within half-a-mile of each other on succeeding days. However, it was additionally noted that no further connection between them could be made.