Sarah
Hawkins Genealogy Site
Newspaper
Articles
Taunton Courier. Bristol and Exeter Journal, and Western Advertiser. Wednesday 10 Apr 1907
Page 5 Column 6
STOKE ST. MARY.
SAD DEATH OF STOKE ST. MARY MAN.
INQUEST: YESTERDAY.
An inquest was held at the Half Moon, Stoke St. Mary, by Mr. T. Foster BARHAM, concerning the death of Walter PESTER, found drowned in a pond near Broughton Farm, Stoke St. Mary, on the previous Friday afternoon. - The evidence given was to the effect that the deceased, whose age was 73, had lived in the parish for the last 30 years, but had been unable to follow his employment as a labourer during the past few years through rheumatism, which had quite crippled him up. The old man had called at Broughton Farm in the afternoon, where he received a cup of cider from James HUNT, the farmer. He left at 4.30, presumably to return home, but half-an-hour later his body was pulled out of a pond near by George BAKER, carter. Fifteen minutes beforehand he had been seen in a fit of coughing near the edge of the pond. - The medical evidence given by Dr. MacDONALD, of Taunton, showed that the deceased had suffered from a weak heart, and that it was possible that he had an attack of syncope, which caused him to fall into the water. - The jury returned a verdict of “Death from misadventure.”