Baby

The body of a newly-born child was found in a garden in Abbey Wood.

The body was found by a packer who lived in Grove Road, Abbey Wood in the garden of her neighbour at 1 Grove Road. She found it in the corner of the garden under a shrub on the Monday 7 November 1905 and then went to throw it in the gutter. However, a road sweeper saw her doing so. He said that he saw her throwing the parcel away at about 2pm on the Monday 7 November 1905 and said that it was his duty to prevent refuse being thrown in that way and went over to her.

The outer covering of the parcel was of brown paper and the road sweeper said that he offered to open it as the woman that he saw throwing it in the gutter would not open it herself. He said that he thought that it was probably someone having a joke and that it probably contained a dead cat, but said that when he opened it he saw that it was the body of a child.

After discovering the contents, the woman went for a policeman who then took the body away.

After the coroner heard the evidence of the road sweeper, he asked him what the rules were on such matters and the road sweeper said, ''Well, I suppose it would be their duty to keep it in the garden', to which the coroner replied, 'I should not do that. If people threw bodies into my garden I should throw them back again or tell the police about it'.

A policeman that was called out said that when he examined the package, he could find no writing on the paper which he described as being quite plain.

A doctor that examined the body said that he thought that the child had recently been born and that in his opinion had not had a separate existence.

Grove Road is now called Abbey Terrace.