Winifred Rose Pursey

Winifred Rose Pursey died after eating some oysters.

She had lived in Eastwood Road, South Woodford but had been staying in Margate with a man that she had been seeing at the time of her death.

Following her death her body was brought back to London for burial but her father stopped the funeral and asked for a post-mortem examination, suggesting that the man that she had been seeing, who was, he claimed, already married, might have poisoned her.

Her father said that Winifred Pursey had been ill on occasions and that she had been keeping company with a married man and that Winifred Pursey, her mother and the man's daughter had gone to Margate on 3 August 1911 at the invitation of the man.

Winifred Pursey had first met the man in February 1911.

Winifred Pursey’s father said that he later went down for the weekend and that whilst there that Winifred Pursey complained of pains and took some medicine to get rid of them.

He said that on 12 September 1911 that the man bought some oysters which were already opened and that Winifred Pursey and her mother had some of them.

However, he said that when he next went to Margate that he found Winifred Pursey to be seriously ill and that she died on 28 September 1911.

He said that Winifred Pursey's body was later brought to London for burial but that he stopped the funeral and asked for a post-mortem examination to be carried out on the grounds that he had suspicions that that as the man's wife was still alive that he would not have been able to marry Winifred Pursey and that he might have got the idea to get Winifred Pursey to live with him so that he could put her out of the way.

At the inquest the Coroner said, 'We have heard these suggestions, and possibly the evidence will clear them up'.

Winifred Pursey's mother noted that the man had not had any of the oysters but said that she had had some and had also been taken queer.

However, two doctors said that they were of the opinion that Winifred Pursey had been suffering from typhoid although it was noted that from the outset one of the doctors had said that Winifred Pursey had had poison.

She said that one of the doctors had advised the man to get some essence of veal and some patent foods and that the man had gone off to a chemists but had returned without the items, stating that the chemist had insulted him and that he could not get any of the food. She said that the man told the doctor the same thing the following day, however, she said that when the doctor returned later that evening that she heard him say that what the man had said was not true and that he had been to see the chemist and found that the man had not asked for the things.

She said that the doctor took some of Winifred Pursey's blood away and that three days later told her that Winifred Pursey had been poisoned.

When the Coroner asked Winifred Pursey's mother whether another doctor was then called in she said that the man stopped another doctor from being called in. However, she said that another doctor was however called in and that the man agreed with the doctor that Winifred Pursey had died from typhoid and the doctor gave a certificate.

However, a third doctor that examined Winifred Pursey's body said that her cause of death was enteritis and blood poisoning from enteritis and that her condition might very well have been diagnosed as typhoid fever.

When the Coroner asked about the oysters, the doctor that had carried out the post mortem said that he thought that they might have very well started the whole trouble. He said. 'If they were slightly decomposed, so slightly that you would not have tasted anything, it is likely that the whole trouble would have been set up by them'.

When the Coroner asked, 'If the oysters had been brought home and left in a pantry four or five hours open, would that have any effect?', to which the doctor replied, 'They would very likely be contaminated by the air'.

It was noted that the oysters had been brought in at about 3pm and eaten at about 10pm.

Winifred Pursey's mother noted that the oysters were in a pantry for some hours but that before she took them Winifred Pursey's temperature had already been burning.

When the Coroner asked the doctor whether she saw anything else to suggest that Winifred Pursey had taken anything else that she should not have taken, such as a drug, she replied, 'No, there was no evidence'.

The Coroner noted that the case was one in which Winifred Pursey’s parents had got it into their heads that Winifred Pursey had taken something that had upset her and that it seemed very likely that the oysters had had that effect, but that it had als entered into their heads that the oysters had been tampered with by the man who had been staying with them and who had promised to marry Winifred Pursey.

He also noted that the doctors at Margate had used the word poison in the sense that doctors use it but that Winifred Pursey's mother had taken that in the sense in which a layman used it.

The Coroner then addressed the jury, stating that if they had any doubt as to Winifred Pursey's death that it was their duty to say so and that the case would be adjourned in order that any person suspected could attend and defend themselves.

It was noted that the man had not attended the inquest and during their deliberation the jury asked the Coroner whether the man had been summoned to the inquest to which the Coroner said that he had. He said that he had informed the man that his presence would be required and had made an appointment to meet him at Liverpool Street Station, but said that although he remained there for about 50 minutes beyond the appointed time, that the man didn't arrive. He noted that he later got a letter from the man stating that he had not been able to find the officer at the station.

As such, the jury stated that they were not quite satisfied at the man's non-appearance, stating that they wanted to ask him some questions and to hear his version and the inquest was adjourned until the following Monday.

When the man appeared at the inquest and was accused of poisoning Winifred Pursey he indignantly refuted the charge and threatened to prosecute the accuser, Winifred Pursey's mother, for libel.

When he cross-examined Winifred Pursey's father he asked him whether or not it was a fact that Winifred Pursey had complained of pains some considerable time before she had gone to Margate to which Winifred Pursey's father replied, 'Yes'. However, when he asked Winifred Pursey's father whether it was not thought that it was generally believed in the family that that had been through Winifred Pursey taking pills in the morning instead of at night, Winifred Pursey's father replied, 'No'.

When the man asked Winifred Pursey's father, 'Did I not tell her she ought not go into the water, as it used to make her very chilly?', Winifred Pursey's father replied, 'No, she went into the water days before she died'.

When the man cross-examined Winifred Pursey's mother she said that she had not liked the look of the oysters from the first but the man asked whether or not he had stated that if they had not liked the look of the oysters that they ought not eat them. However, Winifred Pursey's mother said that the man had forced the oysters on Winifred Pursey and pressed her to drink the liquor even though she did not ordinarily do so. She further noted that she herself ate some of the oysters even though they looked, 'funny'.

When the Coroner asked, 'You say he 'forced' them on her?' Winifred Pursey's mother replied, 'Yes', but the man claimed that that was a fabrication.

When the man described his relationship with Winifred Pursey, he said he noted that he was in business at Union Court, EC and lived in Kensington Court. He said, 'I first met Miss Pursey in the hotel business as a barmaid at the Golden Cross Hotel, Charing Cross. Having got on friendly terms with her, she told me that she had been 'in the profession' and that she would like to get back again. She was not very well, and I persuaded her not to do so. After I had known her fairly well I persuaded her to go home, and I would pay all expenses and put her into 'the profession'. I purchased her songs and had some words written, and everything she wanted in the way of dress I bought for her.

I was very fond of her and did not mind what I spent on her. Her mother was not well, and I took her away. I took her and others to the Hotel Metropole at Brighton for a week sometime between Whitsuntide and Easter. During the time we were there Winifred met a friend of hers in the profession, and went with her to the back of the stage and got so disgusted that she asked me not to let her go any further with her stage studies.

When we came back I stayed more or less at the Pursey's house, where I found practically everything that was wanted. From there were went to Margate. I took a house for a month, and then a fortnight afterwards, and then another fortnight afterwards, because Winifred was ill. She was not very well when we went to Margate. She was not the bright brilliant girl she generally was. At Margate she was bright in the first week, but then began to fall off a great deal. I thought it was too much swimming, and also that she was continually taking pills, which I objected to, and so did her parents. They had told me that the pains were caused by the pills.

I might mention I did not bring the pills into the house as I did the oysters. With regards to the oysters, I was going to town, and asked Miss Pursey if there was anything she wanted. She said she would like some oysters and some nuts. I went to the place where I had bought oysters before. I got two dozen of the very best that they had got. They opened them and cleaned them as they always did, and put them into a bag as usual . I called a taxi, and in ten minutes was home and saw no more of the oysters after they were put in the pantry until they were eaten at ten o'clock that night. We always bought the oysters open, and always from the same shop'. He later noted that it was not the first time that they had had oysters.

He went on to say that the next day Winifred Pursey seemed worse in health and that he went for a doctor and that the doctor advised him to get some essence of veal for her breakfast but said that the chemist had not got any and that he got some the following day from his own provision merchant's.

He went on to say, 'It has been said or suggested that I neglected to provide her with things she wanted, and I have here a bill showing that between September 15 and September 30 I spent £8 1s 10d on nothing but medicines and patent food. I spared no time, trouble or expense to provide the girl with all that was necessary'.

When the Coroner asked whether he could throw any light on Winifred Pursey's death, the man said, 'Well, she gradually got worse, and a fortnight today I spoke to her parents about a specialist. When I got to London the next day I consulted a doctor of New cross and he mentioned another doctor of St Thomas's as the finest man for typhoid and other fevers'.

However, when the Coroner noted that there had been no question of typhoid, the man said, 'A doctor was called in and he told me that the treatment of the other doctor was all right. It was considered by Winifred Pursey's parents and also by myself and confirmed by the other doctor that Miss Pursey had taken the germs of typhoid from a stagnant overflowing tank in the house'. However, the Coroner noted again that there was no question of typhoid.

When the man was asked why he had not attended Winifred Pursey's funeral he said that Winifred Pursey's family had been asking him for money and that he had not seen them after the funeral because of the charges that they were making against him.

When he was asked whether he had put anything in the oysters, the man replied 'I did not, and I should never think of doing such a thing'.

When he was asked why he had not attended the inquest, he said that he didn't get a subpoena and that he didn't know where the inquest was held, adding that he would  have been down if he had known there would have been any allegations against him.

When he was asked whether he had eaten any of the oysters, he said that he had not eaten oysters in years. He noted that Winifred Pursey always had oysters when she dined with him at Frascati's or Gatti's.

Winifred Pursey's mother then told the inquest that she wanted everybody to know that the man had been afraid of his housekeeper and the Coroner said, 'You are a very foolish woman'.

Winifred Pursey's mother then said that she had been fighting to try to get the man away from Winifred Pursey to which the man replied, 'It is all lies. You have been asking me to marry her. It has been insinuated that I have a wife living. I can prove I have been a widower since April 21, 1909'.

When the Coroner summed up he said that there was no sign of poisoning by a drug and that Winifred Pursey had died from enteritis, probably through eating oysters, noting that it was a lamentable thing but that nobody was apparently to blame.

The jury then found that Winifred Pursey had been taken ill after eating oysters and had died from enteritis.