In August of 1855 a woman called Matilda Jane Naylor acted as housekeeper to her brother William Henry. He was a local auctioneer of Sheffield and the pair lived together at his house in Hanover Street. Sadly Matilda suffered from chronic and painful facial tics which she described as ‘periodic stabbing pains.’ Eventually she found that these were only relieved by an inhalation of chloroform. On Wednesday 22 August 1855, Matilda had been suffering badly throughout the day and around 11 pm had gone to bed. She had been in the custom of locking her bedroom door when she retired for the night, so when one of the servants went to rouse her the following morning, she could not gain entrance.
The servant, Fanny Barber shouted through the door for almost an hour, but could not rouse the girl. Finally she spoke to her master William, who also shouted to his sister to come to open the door. Eventually fearing the worst, he was force to break down the door and was horrified to find his sister dead in bed. A handkerchief smelling of chloroform lay beside her on the pillow and an uncorked empty bottle also lay within the bedclothes. A surgeon, Dr Bartoleme was called who confirmed that the deceased had been dead for some hours. He surmised that the young girl had used a moderate dose in order to fall asleep, but having left the bottle uncorked, the chloroform had continued to work.
On the evening of Friday 24 August, the Coroner Mr T Badger Esq., held an inquest on the deceased girl at the house on Hanover Street. The first witness was the maid servant Fanny who told the jury that Miss Naylor had asked her to make sure she was called up around 7 am. She wanted to see her brother who was due to return home in the early hours of the following morning. Fanny stated that Miss Naylor had returned home around 8 pm and complained that she had the ‘tic’ so bad that she ‘scarcely knew what to do with herself.’ Finally she had taken some brandy and water hoping to relieve the pain, but it returned just after supper.
When the witness was asked by Mr Badger if she was aware that her mistress took chloroform to ease her pain, the servant admitted that she had known. Fanny stated that she was aware that Miss Naylor had taken as many as forty drops at a time, sometimes as often as two or three times a week. One of the jury asked her if she had known that there was chloroform in the house that night, but the servant girl shook her head. When asked if she could give any reason why her mistress would wish to take her own life, Fanny referred to knowing about a previous relationship with a young man, who had been paying his addresses to Miss Naylor.
However, she admitted that she could not think that was any reason for her mistress to end her life as, although the intimacy had ceased at some time around Christmas, Miss Naylor appeared not to care about it very much. The coroner forced the servant to repeat her statement, and asked her once again, if she thought that the deceased had intended to end her life, but Fanny again shook her head. She stated most confidently that she was convinced that Miss Naylor had only taken the chloroform to relieve the tic, and not with the intention of destroying herself. She also added that Mr Naylor and his sister had lived very comfortably together and they had always treated her most kindly.
William Naylor was the next witness, and told Mr Badger that he had got home around 1 am on the Thursday morning. He had been awakened a few hours later by Fanny Barber shouting through his sister’s bedroom door. He described finding Matilda lying on her left side in bed, quite dead and cold. William described how the bed clothes had covered her head and the handkerchief which had been soaked in chloroform, lay on the pillow beside her. The coroner asked him if he had been aware that his sister was in the habit of taking chloroform, but the witness denied it. He said he knew nothing about it until the servant informed him on the Thursday morning.
The witness stated that some years ago when the ‘tic’ first started, he was aware that Matilda had taken laudanum. However he did not for a moment believe that his sister took as much as forty drops of chloroform at a time. William admitted to knowing that there had been some tension about her relationship with the young man spoken of by the servant. However, he told the jury that he had spoken to her about it and shortly afterwards ‘the intimacy was terminated at her wish.’ Therefore he did not see that having anything to do with causing his sisters death.
Dr Bartoleme was the next to appear and the surgeon told the inquest that he had known the deceased professionally for around three years. He stated that earlier that morning he had undertaken a post mortem along with Mr Tinsley, the house surgeon at the Infirmary. Dr Bartoleme said that he had discovered that no stomach contents had been removed after death. Without those, it was impossible to pinpoint the cause of death accurately, However, having examined the remains, he had no doubt that it was caused by the inhalation of chloroform. Nevertheless the surgeon stated that he too thought death was accidental and that Miss Naylor had no intention of ending her own life.
The doctor illustrated this by saying that he had last seen Miss Naylor the previous Wednesday when she had been a great good humour. They had both joked about an amusing book that she had been reading and she had been in high spirits. However the witness said that when he went into the bedroom to see the deceased, the smell of chloroform was still very powerful. Dr Bartoleme said that if he had remained in the room for any length of time, it would have affected him. The surgeon stated clearly that he truly believed that the deceased had taken the proper dose of chloroform in the first instance. However having left the bottle uncorked it had continued to ooze out, filling the bedroom and causing her death.
Dr Bartoleme stated that just a few weeks previously, he had been informed by the servant that her mistress was in the habit of taking chloroform for the relief of the tic. He had strictly advised Miss Naylor that the practice was a very dangerous one. Consequently, the last time he saw his patient, she had told him that she had stopped inhaling the chloroform. Having recently been told by the servant, Fanny that her mistress had resumed doing so, he had intended again to speak to her on the subject. After hearing all the evidence and the coroners summing up, the jury retired to consider their verdict. They returned a verdict that Miss Naylor’s death had been accidental, as a result of an inhalation of an excess of chloroform.