Archibald Houston Taylor

Archibald Houston Taylor was found injured on the Penrith to Carlisle Road and died soon after.

He was found on the A6 near to the Astra Cafe on the night of Monday 2 September 1958 around midnight by a police patrol.

Archibald Taylor's brother was identified by his brother who lived at Killean Cottage in Tayinload, Tarbert, Argyllshire. He said that he last saw Archibald Taylor the year before. He said that he had been wandering around both in Scotland and England, but said that he was not a roadster but was just moving from job to job. He said that he had done some farming in the Cumbria area and had been at the Calthwaite Reception Centre on 23 August 1958.

The warden of Calthwaite reception centre said that Archibald Taylor had stayed there on three occasions and that on one of them he had obtained employment locally.

Archibald Taylor's brother said that Archibald Taylor had had good eyesight, hearing and full use of his limbs and had been an active man.

Archibald Taylor's inquest was held on Wednesday 24 September 1958 at Low Hesket where an open verdict was returned.

The constable that found him said that Archibald Taylor was alive at the time but that he died shortly after midnight.

He said that he found pieces of headlamp glass for a distance of 21 yards from where Archibald Taylor was found, which he said was the approximate distance that a vehicle travelling at 40mph would cover in one second and said that he thought that Archibald Taylor's body had been carried that far.

A detective that gave evidence at the inquest said that Archibald Taylor had been wearing very dark clothing and said that if the driver of the vehicle had been travelling with only his side-lights on that he would possibly have not seen him.

The pathologist that carried out the post mortem at Cumberland Infirmary said that there was a bruise in the small of Archibald Taylor's back and that his spine had been cut.

Additionally he said that investigations showed that at the time of his death Archibald Taylor had had the equivalent of seven fluid ounces of whisky or four and a half pints of beer in his body.

When the Coroner noted at the inquest that there were none of Archibald Taylor's relatives present at the hearing a police superintendent informed him that Archibald Taylor's father had been killed on his way home from Archibald Taylor's funeral.