Fred Turner

Fred Turner was found drowned in the Bridgewater Canal in Astley.

He was last seen kissing another man’s wife.

Fred Turner had lived in Robinson Street, Tyldesley and had been a club president and a haulage hand.

A club steward said that he had been stoking the boiler fire at the club they worked at one night at about 11pm and that when he had returned to the bar he had caught Fred Turner kissing his wife.

It was said that later that night Fred Turner disappeared. His body was found nine days later in the Bridgewater Canal at Astley.

At the inquest, the club steward said, 'Mr Turner visited the club daily and my wife and I were friendly with him for a great number of years'. He went on to say that on the night Fred Turner disappeared, they had come back to the club together after having a drink outside, noting that his wife was serving at the bar. He said that the other members left by 10pm, leaving him, Fred Turner and his wife there alone. He said, 'It was a regular habit of his to stay behind to assist me lifting barrels and doing other heavy work', and said that after he came back from the boiler and saw Fred Turner kissing his wife he told him what he had seen and said, 'He offered no explanation. He never spoke one word. He went out of the club without even saying goodnight. He was very much distressed. I have never had any occasion to doubt his conduct, and I would not doubt him today'.

The doctor that examined Fred Turner's body said that he could give no definite opinion as to the cause of Fred Turner's death due to the advanced state of putrefaction of the body. However, he noted that a number of injuries that he did find, including a fractured skull, had been caused after his death.