Of Tragedy and Valor
Harvey Rumbelow UK

MELANCHOLY AND MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF A YOUNG MAN

Bury Free Press, Saturday 13th July 1861

About six o'clock on Friday morning, the 5th inst., the body of young man maned Harvey Rumbelow (16), in the employ of Mr. Scott, milkman, Castle Street, and the son of a labourer living upon the Madingley Road, was discovered in an upright position in the pit near to the Sluce Gate, Midsummer Common. The    having become known, rumour was soon afloat, and reports of various kinds were circulated. By some it was supposed that the young man committed suicide, he having become acquainted with some woman of ill-fame, and seeing his folly, terminated his life by drowning ; but by others it was said that death was caused by violence, inflicted by some persons of questionable character. No reliance, however, can be placed upon such reports, and in the absence of proof they remain without foundation.

At the same time, great mystery as to how deceased came into the water still remains; and, therefore, to set aside all rumours an inquest was held at the Spade and Picket, Thompson's lane, on Friday afternoon, at two o'clock, before the Borough coroner (E. Foster, Esq.) and a respectable jury. The greatest excitement prevailed in the neighbourhood, and in front of the stable: (where the body was lying.) adjoining the house where the inquiry took place, a large number of persons had assembled, anxiously waiting to know the particulars.

The body was said by those who viewed it to be an awful spectacle - it being decomposed, features distorted, and bruises on the head, supposed to have been inflicted just prior to, or immediately after, death. The parents of the deceased were in attendance, and their distress of mind was most affecting. The Jury not being able to come to a decision, adjourned til Tuesday, when they returned a verdict - "That the deceased came to his end by violence used by some persons of  whom no evidence was given."