Baby

The mummified body of a newly-born child was found at an empty house in Ovington Gardens, Kensington.

The body had been wrapped up in a newspaper from 1870 and when it was exposed to the air it crumbled to dust.

It was found by a carpenter that had lived in Bolton Gardens, Kensal Rise whilst he was relaying the floorboards of the bathroom in the house. He found it lying between the joists.

The newspaper that the child's body had been wrapped up in had contained an account of an event that was about to happen in 1870.

The inquest heard that the child's features had been quite clear before the remains crumbled to dust.

The pathologist confirmed that the remains were those of a newly-born child but that he was unable to determine its sex. He said that it had probably been deposited where it was found over sixty years earlier.

An open verdict was returned.