Gassed in Their Beds- Catherine and Daniel Hingerty of Stafford

Black Walls (South) Stafford

In November 1922, Catherine Hingerty, the wife of Michael Richard Hingerty, and her son Daniel died in their beds from leaking gas. They lived at 30 Blackwalls Road, Stafford.

(A previous blogpost outlined the story of the Hingerty's of Stafford The Hingerty's of Stafford)

There were many newspaper reports of the tragic deaths. Two are documented below.

The Short Version
Dublin Evening Telegraph 9 November 1922

The Long Version
Staffordshire Advertiser 11 November 1922

Evidence at the Inquest

The inquest on the bodies of Mrs Hingerty and her son was held at the Guild Hall on Wednesday morning before Mr W.W. Morgan, deputy coroner and a jury, of whom Mr W. Sheldon was foreman.The Corporation was represented by Alderman R. J Young (Chairman of the Gas Committee), Mr H.H Battle, (town clerk), and Mr R Battle (deputy town clerk). Mr T. H Poulson (gas engineer) was also present. The jury, after viewing the bodies, paid a visit to the scene of the tragedy.

The first witness was Michael Hingerty, 141 Weston rd Stafford. He identified the bodies as those of his mother, who was widow of Michael Hingerty, general labourer, who dies 38 years ago and of his brother who lived with her at 31 Blackwalls North, and was a boot and shoe operative. Witness last saw them alive about dinnertime on Sunday. His mother complained of not feeling very well: her cough being troublesome. His brother did not complain. Witness detected no smell of gas in the house while he was there.

Florence Ellis, wife of John Ellis, living at 77 North Blackwalls, opposite to where the Hingerty's lived, said she had been in the habit of looking after Mrs Hingerty during the latter's illness. Witness was fetched about 6 O'Clock on Sunday by a little girl and found Mrs Hingerty lying on the floor downstairs. She picked up Mrs Hingerty, who was quite conscious, assisted her onto a sofa and went back home. The witness was fetched by the deceased's son an hour later. Mrs Hingerty was then lying on he floor at the bottom of the stairs, as if she had made an attempt to get upstairs. Witness stayed a few minutes and assisted her upstairs to bed. Witness latched the door, put out the gas, and left about 9.30 pm. Deceased's son was then downstairs.

Replying to the coroner, the witness said the bedroom windows were closed when she left. She paid three or visits to the Hingerty's on Sunday, and when she left between 8.30 and 8.45 pm she noticed a strong smell of gas at the front door but not upstairs. She saw a man doing something to the road.

Witness then described how she found the deceased, saying she was the first to enter the house on Monday morning, after Mr Spibey had lifted the drop latch. "I went straight upstairs to Mrs Hingerty." she said "and found she was dead, lying on her back, with her head on one side. I then went to the son's bed and found him lying in a similar position. The bedroom windows were closed and the smell of gas was very strong in the room".

WITNESS WHO TOOK PRECAUTIONS

Arthur Machin, living at 29 Blackwalls North, said that he noticed a smell of gas in his house between 11.30 and 12 O'Clock on Sunday morning, and he turned the gas off at the meter. The smell did not abate after they had dinner at 2pm; and when he went to feed the fowls between 2.30 and 3pm; he nearly fell in the ditch. "If it has not been for the line post" said witness, "I should have fallen. I threw the corn down and went back to the house and went to bed. When I woke up my wife said 'Is that your heart beating like that?' I said Yes it is and I feel rotten." A report was sent to the gas works about 5 or 5.30pm and about a quarter of an hour later, a man arrived who got the road up and cut off the supply of gas at the main, but the smell continued as bad as ever. The witness took the precaution of keeping all the doors and windows open back and font, open all the afternoon.

"If we had not kept the windows open all night" said the witness "there would have been an inquest on eight or nine of us, instead of two."

The Coroner- Was the smell of gas talked about by the neighbours? No, it was not because at the other two houses they said they never smelt gas until 4 O'Clock.

Thomas Jackson of 11 Bull Hill in the employ of the Corporation gas department, spoke to cutting off the supply fro the gas meter to Machin's house at about 6pm on to plugging the pipe at the main.

The Coroner- Did Machin make any complaint to you while you were there? - He was not in , but Mrs Machin said it was better and I came away then. Witness did not detect any escape of gas on the surface of the road, and he naturally thought the leakage was from Machin's house because he found a fracture of the service pipe there, and repaired it.

Robert Gask of 28 Blackwalls north, said he first noticed the smell of gas in his house between 5 and 5.30pm on Sunday, but his wife had detected it before then. He afterwards heard and saw a man poking with a crowbar near his door. The man told him he had plugged the pipe just outside his door. Standing at the door, the witness said the smell of gas seemed to be worse. He advised the man Jackson to plug the main, and he did so, but this did not improve matters. Witness told Jackson that the smell was as bad as ever, but he replied that he could not smell it.

Witness and his family went to bed about 9pm, and they were all more or less affected during the night.

The Town Clerk pointed out that people who worked amid unsavoury surroundings got so accustomed to the smell that they did not notice it, so Jackson might have been telling the truth when he said he did not notice the smell as much as the witness Gask did.

CAUSE OF THE LEAKAGE

Frederick William Spibey, distribution superintendant at the gasworks, said he was told by the fitter on Monday morning that there was a strong smell of gas outside some houses in Blackwalls North and that several of the neighbours were complaining of sickness. Witness went back at once with him to investigate, and the fact that the shutters and doors at No 30, where the Hingerty's lived, were not open made witness suspicious. As he could not get a reply from the inmates of the house, he opened the front door and found the house, though not exactly full of gas, dangerous for habitation.

Coroner- You recognised it was very serious? Yes; and I sent for further assistance from the works to expedite the excavation of the road, in order to get at the main. We afterwards found that the three inch cast iron main was fractured between houses No 29 and 30, and it appeared to have been broken only with the last 36 hours. It was a new fracture ad there was no flaw in the pipe.

Witness suggested, in reply to the Coroner, that the break was due to heavy traffic passing over the road. Witness advised the neighbours as to the precautions to be taken, and told Mr Gask to move his wife and family from where the smell of gas was.

In answer to the Foreman, witness said he considered the depth of the man, which was practically three feet was quite sufficient. As far as their examination had gone, no fracture in the pipe to Machin's house had been found.

Evidence given by George Tansley of Doxey road that he drove a steam roller along Blackwalls North on Saturday morning, and it had been his custom to do so for some time.

Thomas Henry Poulson, Corporation gas engineer and manager, stated that the main in question was laid in a spongy soil, and gas could easily percolate through it. The sewer pipe also ran under No 30, and escaping gas would follow the run of the pipe. The surface of the road being tar macadam, the gas would not rise, but would escape sideways.

Coroner- What, in your opinion, was the cause of the fracture in the main?- I put it down to heavy traffic, and the soft soil in which the main was laid.

Do you think it was due to the steam roller? No, heavy motor traffic would be more likely to cause the fracture, because the load is more distributed on steam roller wheels than on heavily laden motor lorry wheels.

Witness added that Machin's was the only complaint received at the gas works, and if others had been made they would have been investigated. He agreed that the main was laid at sufficient depth and the breakage was nine feet from where Machin's supply was cut off.

Coroner- What security is there that this occurrence will not happen again?- It we were re-laying the main there, we should probably put it in a steel one, instead of cast iron, owing to the nature of the sub-soil.

Are you satisfied that the man Jackson did all that was possible?- Oh, yes, absolutely.

Dr Herbert Marson said he was called to the Hingerty's house about 9 am on Monday, and on arrival noticed that the atmosphere in the vicinity was permeated with gas. The interior of the house also smelt very strongly of gas, although all the doors and windows were open.

He formed the opinion that Mrs Hingerty has been dead some hours. It took him some time to satisfy himself that the son was dead, as it appeared that he had only just passed away. Te cause of death in both cases was the inhalation of a noxious gas and he had since made a postmortem examination. Witness explained that carbon monoxide in gas formed a stable compound which fresh air would not dislodge. Witness advised the removal of Mrs Gask and her family to the Infirmary. They were discharged from the institution on Tuesday. Witness added that Mr Spibey did everything he possible could for the people affected by the gas.

Replying to the Town Clerk, Dr Marson said that Mrs Hingerty was delicate, and that was probably the reason why she died sooner than her son.

The coroner, in summing up, expressed deepest sympathy with the relatives of the deceased in this unfortunate occurrence, and was sure that the jury were thankful there had been no further deaths. The questions for them to decide were firstly, how was the fracture of the gas main caused,; secondly whether anyone was to blame; and thirdly, whether everything was done that could be reasonably expected to be done. The jury might also wish some recommendation be sent to the Corporation.

The jury, after a brief retirement, brought in a verdict in accordance with the medical evidence, and added that the two deaths were accidentally caused by the bursting of the gas main due to heavy traffic. The Foreman said that they wished to suggest to the Gas Committee that an inspection be made of the gas mains in other parts of the street.

Alderman Young, on behalf of the Gas Committee, undertook that this should be done, and said that if necessary further steps would be taken. He expressed the deep sympathy of the committe with the relatives and friends of the deceased, and said that arrangements would be made to meet the funeral expenses.

The coroner said he was very glad to hear this statement and he would convey it to the relatives of the deceased.

The inquiry which had lasted three hours then closed.

One hundred years later, a search of Google maps could not find Blackwalls Road in Stafford.

According to a Stafford Hingerty descendant (SH) the street was most likely located behind the Bear Hotel and is currently occupied by county buildings. So, we will never be able to visit the site of their tragic deaths, but in this centenary year, we will remember them.

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