Dorothy Rose Rushton

Dorothy Rose Rushton was found dead on the LNER railway line near Brentwood.

A doctor said that it was not clear as to whether she had fallen from a train or been knocked down, but noted that she had certainly been run over.

She had gone out from her home at 111 Brownhill Road, Catford on 12 January 1927 at 10am to visit her sister in Lewisham and a few hours later her body was found mutilated on the line about three-quarters of a mile from Wickford Station.

She had been due to luncheon with her brother-in-law later in the day but never kept her appointment.

A bag that she had been carrying with £2 in it had entirely disappeared although it was later sent anonymously to the police at Brentwood who said that they thought that its return discounted the theory of robbery. The bag had also contained a railway ticket to Southend.

The identity of the person that returned it was later revealed to the police and it was reported that it was a lady who had found it when entering a train at Rayleigh Station which it was said proved that Dorothy Rushton must have travelled on the slow portion of the midday train from Liverpool Street to Southend and disposed of the theory that she had been on the fast portion which did not stop at Rayleigh.

It was said that the lady had been interviewed by the police and had given a frank statement and that it was thought unlikely that any further action would be taken in that direction.

She had only just been married on 26 December 1926 and on 12 January 1927 she had gone to visit her sister in Lewisham. Her husband advanced the theory that Dorothy Rushton had been a little depressed because she had not been away on a honeymoon. He said that it was possible that she had been to Southend, which she knew, to fix up rooms.

Her husband said that they had known each other for seven years and that she had always been jolly and happy.

Dorothy Rushton's sister, who lived in Bolton Terrace, Lewisham, said that she had advised Dorothy Rushton to see her doctor because she had kept complaining of feeling cold and had looked pale. She said, 'I told the doctor that she seemed depressed and a little low-spirited. I did not say that she had been miserable since she was married. I told him she was miserable. I said she had only been married a fortnight. She seemed worried over her shopping'.

She noted that Dorothy Rushton had said nothing recently of friends at Southend but noted that before her marriage that she used to visit Southend a lot.

The doctor said that in his opinion that Dorothy Rushton had been in the early stages of melancholia.

The railway police said that they found no evidence of any struggle in any of the carriages and that none of the train doors had been found open after the train left Billericay. However, they noted that they had made tests at the spot where her body was found and discovered that an open door at that place would come back with a slam.

An open verdict was returned at her inquest. The inquest was held at the Castle Hotel in Wickford.