Alexander Ironsides

Alexander Ironsides was found dead by the side of the road.

He was from Ashover and was found in the road between Woolley Moor and Ashover on the Tuesday morning 24 December 1912.

He was last seen by a farmer at Woolley Moor when Alexander Ironsides, who was a head gardener at Stubben Edge, went to see him on business at 8pm on the Monday night, 23 December 1912. The farmer said that after the meeting they adjourned to an inn, Napoleon's Home, where they had some refreshments, after which, the farmer said that Alexander Ironsides was perfectly sober. The farmer added that it was a fine moonlight night and that Alexander Ironsides should have been able to see his way home easily.

The landlord of the Napoleon's Home said that Alexander Ironsides left the inn at 10pm and seemed all right.

Alexander Ironsides was found unconscious the following morning at about 8pm on the roadway about 130 yards from the inn at a place known as White Horse Hill. His head was close up to the wall and it appeared as though he had fallen there. He was taken by a man to the Napoleon's Home where he later died. When the doctor arrived, he was dead and his body was cooling.

The coroner said that Alexander Ironsides might have fallen and knocked his head against the rough stone wall, or he might have been knocked down by a horse and trap, as there were marks on his trousers as from a trap wheel.

When the doctor carried out a post-mortem, he found that Alexander Ironsides's death was due to exposure. However, he said that he found no injuries on his legs consistent with the marks that were found on his trousers.

The doctor said that he had no idea how Alexander Ironsides came to fall and become unconscious.

The coroner said that if it had been a bitterly cold night then he would have understood it.

He concluded by saying that there was no evidence to show how Alexander Ironsides came by his death and an open verdict was returned.