Fifty-two year old Henry Thwaites lived with his forty-eight year old wife and five children at a house in Brook Street, near to St. Georges Church, Sheffield. For eighteen years he had been employed as an engine tenter at the Turkish Baths in Norfolk Street, Sheffield, but in the spring of 1879 he was discharged. Probably in view of his age, Henry had difficulty in securing another job and did what he could to bring money into the house. At one time he had intended to become a medical botanist and for some years had collected herbs and things in which to treat people with. People would come to his house and he would supply them with ‘medicines’ of his own concoction to take.

However, eventually he became too poor to even re-stock his supply of herbs and had to give that up also. Instead Henry ran errands, undertook household tasks and finally was reduced to chopping up wood to sell, in order to try to feed his large family. Despite his enthusiasm however, he was constantly knocked back and eventually this began to prey on his mind. The situation was exacerbated on Sunday 26 October 1879 when his youngest son died and he had been forced to go to the workhouse and ask the guardians for money to bury him. They gave him an order for 1s 9d to cover the funeral costs.

By now, it was evident that Henry had lost all hope and several times had threatened his wife that he intended to drown himself. To make things worse his health started to fail, and he found difficulty in carrying out even the easiest of chores. On Friday 31 October, Henry brought home some wood that he intended to chop up and sell, but his back ached so much that even this small task was beyond him. Even his wife noted this despondent state of mind as she did what she could to cheer him up. Sadly he told her that he could not see any way forward for them as a family.

In his stock of herbs was an 8 oz bottle containing a vegetable poison called colchicum which was used as an irritant. As she watched, Henry opened the bottle labelled ‘tincture of colchicum’ and poured some into a spoon and swallowed it. His wife had also not been very well and he tried to encourage her to take some as well. She took a little spoonful, but refused to take any more. Afterwards she was alarmed to say the least when he told her ‘as we can’t live, we may as well die together.’ Nevertheless it would appear that on the following day, Henry had taken some more colchicum as on Sunday morning when she awoke, she found him dead beside her. Picking up the bottle his wife found that there was just 3 ozs left.

Surgeon Mr Skinner of Brookhill, Sheffield was sent for and he declared that Henry’s death had taken place some four or five hours earlier. An inquest was arranged to be held at the Bay Horse Inn on Upper St. Phillips Road, Sheffield on Tuesday 4 November 1879 by Coroner Mr D Wightman. As was usual practice, the jury went to see the body in situ before the inquest started. It was still lying on the bed at the family home. However when the jury arrived back at the inquest room, the first witness was Mrs Thwaites. She explained that she had been unable to remove the body as it was the only bedroom that the house possessed. Therefore until his body was removed she was unable to go to bed to sleep.

Mrs Thwaites told the coroner that she was sure that when her husband took the poison, he had not been in his right mind. She said that she was aware that he had been depressed for some time and just a week earlier he had left the house saying that he was going to drown himself. Thankfully he came back later and told her that although he had been determined, he had thought of leaving her and in the end could not do it. The bottle of colchicum was produced, which the witness identified and told the coroner that after they had both taken some, they were retching and purging for most of the night. In spite of this the following day Henry must have taken another dose.

One of the sons, George Henry Thwaites was the next witness and he stated that he was now married and had not lived at home for the last three years. He said that his father had gone to his house the previous Thursday and that he had been talking wildly and seemed to be ‘bothered in his mind.’ The next to give evidence was the surgeon Mr Skinner. He stated that he had been treating the deceased man for some time and confirmed that he had been found dead in bed on Saturday 1 November. He said he had also treated his wife who had been dangerously ill from poisoning. The surgeon told the jury that for some time he suspected that she would die, but thankfully had made a full recovery.

Mr Skinner identified the contents of the bottle as colchicum and said that around 5 ounces had been taken out. When the coroner asked him how many persons would such an amount kill, he answered around three or four men. Mr Wightman summed up for the jury and told them they had to make a decision based on just two questions. Did the deceased take the contents of the bottle for good or for harm? Had he taken it to ease the pain in his back or had he intended to kill himself? After a short discussion between themselves, the jury returned a verdict that Henry Thwaites had committed suicide whilst in a state of temporary insanity.