George Stanley Dawson

George Stanley Dawson was found in the River Dee at Chester on Saturday 11 June 1949. He was reported missing on 2 June 1949.

His body was found by three schoolboys who had been rowing up the river about 200 yards above the Red House Hotel in Chester.

The pathologist that examined his body said that his death was not due to drowning, but from shock, due to the sudden immersion in water of a person suffering from coronary trouble. He said that he was of the opinion that George Dawson probably fell into the water owing to dizziness.

A constable said that there were no marks of violence on George Dawson's body other than some scratches on his scalp which he said he thought were probably caused by passing boats.

His brother thought that he might have been attacked. He added that he would have expected him to have had more than the £2 12s that was found on him because he had drawn his salary the previous day and always carried a considerable amount of money.

George Dawson had lived at 11 Poyser Street in Wrexham where he had been for 25 years and was employed as an ironmonger's buyer and departmental manager.

After his body was pulled out of the river, he was identified by his brother, chiefly by his fountain pen which was marked 'G S Dawson' and his cigarette lighter.

His brother said that George Dawson had hardly missed a day's work through illness for nearly 30 years but noted that he had had suffered from a peptic ulcer and had had headaches and fits of dizziness during the last twelve months.

He said that he didn’t think that George Dawson would have taken his own life.

The inquest also heard that George Dawson had been in the Grenadier Guards and that he was a man of splendid physique and excellent health but that his illness of the previous twelve months had worried him, having caused him pains in the head and fits of staggering.

When the coroner summed up, he said that there were various possibilities:

1. That George Dawson might have been walking along the riverbank and had one of his staggering fits and fallen in.
2. That there might have been some altercation with someone and that he might have been pushed or thrown in.
3. He said that the third possibility, which he thought was a remote one, was that George Dawson had decided to take his own life.

The police said that following extensive inquiries, they had failed to find out what George Dawson had done after he had left Wrexham on 2 June 1949 and when he was found on 11 June 1949.

When the coroner returned an open verdict, he noted that George Dawson was a man of high character and integrity and was highly thought of by his employers.