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Nelson Read

Age: 49

Sex: male

Date: 15 Sep 1930

Place: East Hill Lift, Rock-a-Nore Road, Hastings

Nelson Read was found dead in a tank at the East Hill lift on Rock-a-Nore Road, Hastings on 15 September 1930.

The tank had had about four feet of water in it.

The tank was in the East Hill lift at the lower landing of the lift which is operated by water power.

Nelson Read worked at the lift as an attendant and his body was discovered by his colleague as the first car made its usual preliminary ascent.

His colleague had arrived at about 8.30am and found the outer gates unlocked and assumed that Nelson Read had arrived before him but could not find him anywhere. His body was found after the first car went up which had previously concealed visibility into the tank.

When the police and the police surgeon were called in they determined that he had been dead for over an hour.

His widow said that he had got up at on the Monday morning at 6am and gone into the garden as usual. She said that he got his breakfast at 7am and left for work just after 7.30am adding that he seemed quite cheerful.

His colleague said that Nelson Read had been working there for about two years and that he had been quite alright the previous evening and was always happy and cheerful.

An open verdict was returned with the cause of death being from asphyxia due to drowning.

It was a mystery as to how he had got in the water.

Nelson Read had lived in Victoria Road in Ore.


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

see www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk

see Hastings and St Leonards Observer - Saturday 20 September 1930

see Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer - Tuesday 16 September 1930

see Western Daily Press - Tuesday 16 September 1930

see Portsmouth Evening News - Wednesday 17 September 1930