Inquest, 6th October 1852
DESBOROUGH
An event has just occurred in this village which has caused
considerable excitement, owing to the alleged neglect of Mr. Carpenter,
surgeon, in a case which had terminated fatally. So violent was the
feeling manifested by the populace on Monday last, that if they had not
been somewhat pacified by the coroner, Mr. Carpenter would, probably,
have been sacrificed to their fury. A posse of policemen were sent to
keep the peace. In the month of August, Wm. Salmon, carpenter, of
Desborough, got his leg broken while larking at the Talbot Inn, with a
man named Marlow, who, he engaged to throw for a quart of ale. Salmon
was, however, reckoned a respectable steady man, and was quite sober at
the time. Mr. Carpenter was sent for to reset the fracture, but his
assistant attended, and it appears that the limb was never properly set,
if at all; and although Mr. Carpenter paid his patient many visits
during his illness, little or nothing was done for him. After eight
weeks of great suffering deceased was seized with tetanus or lock'd jaw,
and died on the 1st instant. Almost his last words were "I am a murdered
man." From the report received by Mr. W. Marshall, the coroner, he
thought it his duty to summon a jury from the four different parishes,
that the investigation might be impartial and complete. They met at ten
a.m., on Monday last, and after a most patient investigation, which
lasted until the evening, found it necessary to adjourn the inquest for
a post-mortem examination of the limb, which was made by Mr. Francis of
Market Harborough. On Wednesday last they again met, and returned a
verdict that "Deceased died in consequence of lock'd jaw."
Northampton Mercury,
Saturday 09 October 1852