Evelyn Greig

Evelyn Greig died following an abortion.

An illegal operation was suspected but there was no evidence against anyone and an open verdict was returned.

She died at the home of a nurse on Colville Terrace, Portobello Road, Kensington where she had been staying since 1 April after complaining of not being well. The nurse whose home she had gone to stay in said that Evelyn Greig had come to her as a boarder and not a patient. The Coroner stated that it appeared that her illness had come about before she had gone to stay with the nurse. The nurse had been a certified midwife and had been in practice since 1920.

The nurse said that Evelyn Greig had told her nothing about her condition and added that on the day she died she seemed alright and was taking her food well. She said that at 10.30 she had appeared quite normal but at 11.00 she sent for a doctor and when he arrived at 11.45 she was dead.

She had first said that she was not well in March 1929 when she was living with her lover in Redcliffe Gardens. Her lover said that she had not told him that she had had an abortion or that she had done anything to herself. The nurse said that Evelyn Greig had called her a week before she had come to live with her saying that she was ill but that at the time she was ill herself and not able to see her.

When she had first gone to Colville Terrace she had given her first payment in advance.

The post-mortem stated that she had died from syncope and heart failure due to an abortion, with septic infection and acute general peritonitis. It stated that there was no evidence of any instrumental injury to her. She also had swelling and discolouration on her right ankle and knee.

She had been a young film actress. Her stage name had been Nita Avalez and she had previously been known as Evelyn Taylor. She had been married but at the time living with another man at Redcliffe Gardens in South Kensington.

She had been due to have appeared in the Divorce Court on 11 April 1929 but after hearing of her death her case was struck out. She and her husband had not lived together for about three years.