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James Skipper

Age: unknown

Sex: male

Date: 2 Feb 1942

Place: Kettering to Geddington Road, Geddington

James Skipper was found injured on the Kettering to Geddington Road and taken to hospital where he died a few days later.

James Skipper had lived in Newton Road in Geddington.

He was found lying in the road by the side of his bicycle. Green and white paint marks were found on his bicycle and it was heard at his inquest that similar green and white paint marks were also found on a Corby man's car. The man from Corby was 71-years-old and had lived on the High Street there. The police said that when they examined his car they found marks on the left-hand side bumper suggesting that it had collided with some object and that there was a smearing of green paint on the bumper.

However, the man said that he had not collided with anything. He said that he owned a 12hp car that he used for business, driving into Kettering every morning for papers. He said that on 30 January 1942 he had travelled via Geddington and had been driving alone and in no hurry., and that he had later returned to Corby. He said that during his journey nothing out of the ordinary occurred. He said that it would have been about 6.10am when he had passed through Geddington.

He said that the damage to his car had been caused when his car had come into contact with some yard gates and that the green paint on his bumper had been caused in the same way.

He said, 'If I have collided with any vehicle it is without my knowledge'.

The police said that when James Skipper was found, a lamp on his bicycle was still burning, but said that James Skipper had been unable to tell them what had happened. The police also said that there were marks in the road that they said were caused by brakes and that there were also ice patches.

At his inquest the coroner said that he was satisfied that James Skipper had died from injuries caused by coming into collision with something heavy and that it was evident that his injuries were not caused by him falling off his bicycle. The coroner then said, 'I am content to leave it at that'.


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

see www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk

see Northampton Mercury - Friday 13 February 1942