There were many mysteries and dark tales that surrounded the River Thames in the Victorian period.
London’s River was not only a major highway through the metropolis, but it also provided the main water supply, and was the main sewer as well.
This latter point had become appallingly evident in 1858, when an exceptionally hot summer had caused the Thames to dry up, leaving behind a horrific green, born slime, the stench of which was so bad that 1858 became known as the year of the “Great Stink.”
In consequence, Parliament made available unlimited funds to solve the problem of the disposal of the Capital’s waste, and Sir Joseph Bazalgette, the Chief Engineer of the Ministry of Works, began laying out a state of the art system of sewers, part of which entailed the construction of what is now the Victoria Embankment.
The works were going great guns when, in January, 1866, a mysterious discovery was made in the mud of the River.
The Holborn Journal, on Saturday the 13th of January 1866, picked up on the breaking story:-
SKELETON DISCOVERED IN THE RIVER
On Tuesday afternoon last, while the men at work on the Thames Embankment were excavating in one of the caissons opposite the dry arch of Somerset House, they found an almost complete skeleton buried many feet in the mud.
The skull bore marks of fracture.
FALSE TEETH AND CLOTHING
There was also a complete set of false teeth set in gold, with spring sides, and also double gold eyeglasses, proving the body to be that of some one well to do.
The clothes were almost entirely destroyed, with the exception of one Wellington boot, of fashionable military make, and part of apparently a top-coat, there being halfpenny pieces in the side pocket, but no papers are discoverable.
The make of the teeth is of recent fashion, and the body, such as it is, with the other things found, are in the safe custody of Mr. Bell, the officer to the coroner of the Duchy of Lancaster, J. W. Payne, Esq., by whom an inquest will be held should it be deemed necessary.
THE INQUEST HELD
The Weekly Dispatch, in its edition of Sunday the 21st of January, 1866, gave details of the inquest:-
On Thursday, Mr. W. J. Payne, as coroner for the Duchy of Lancaster, held an inquest at the Essex Head, Essex-street, Strand, on the skeleton found in the river, some days since, in one of the caissons being used for the Thames Embankment works.
Evidence as to the finding of the remains having been given, Mr. Bell, the coroner’s officer, produced a double set of teeth mounted in gold, the upper row being perfect, and room left in the lower jaw for eight teeth; a double tortoiseshell eyeglass with gold junction; a patent key marked “Chubb, St. Paul’s-churchyard, No. 29;” and a silver pencil-case with letter weight, marked “John Sheldon, 1184, April 8, 1842.”
JOHN CHUBB’S EVIDENCE
Mr. John Chubb stated that 30 keys had been supplied with five locks, and he believed that they were for one of the Government offices; and, if so, they would be able to trace the key, as the numbered keys were recorded, and inquiry would settle who was the possessor of No. 29.
WILLIAM WATTS’S TESTIMONY
William Watts, the pierman at Waterloo-bridge, and Inspector Dell, of the Thames Police, gave evidence as to the dredging of the river in the immediate vicinity where the deceased was found, and the body, it is supposed, became “sand bound” some years ago.
The part of the boots and clothing found show the wearer to have been in a superior position in life.
The inquest was adjourned for inquiry as to the key.
THE SKELETON FOUND AT WATERLOO BRIDGE
TRYING TO SOLVE A MYSTERY
The Grantham Journal, on Saturday the 3rd of February 1866, gave details of the resumption of the inquest:-
Some days ago, as already stated, the body of a man was found near the site of an old steamboat pier, at Waterloo Bridge, London.
It was five feet below the surface, “sanded up” in the bed of the river, where some excavators were digging the foundation of the Thames Embankment.
THE FEW POSSESSIONS
A gold eyeglass, pencil-case, the remnant of some articles of military make, and other articles were dug up at the same time.
A key which was found was identified by Mr. Chubb, of St. Paul’s Churchyard, as one of a set of 30 which he made in 1839 for one of the offices of the War Department, and the inquest was adjourned in order that inquiries might be instituted at the government offices with a view to the identification of the deceased.
THE ROYAL ENGINEERS OFFICE
Upon the re-assembling of the jury the coroner said that he had communicated with the Royal Engineers office at Buckingham Gate, for which department Mr. Chubb had made the key, and he had received an answer stating that a search of the books etc. had led to a negative result.
THE LETTER FROM LEMAN STREET
He had received a letter from a person, whose name was undecipherable, FROM Leman-street, Whitechapel, stating that a person had disappeared about 25 years ago who was in the habit of frequenting gambling houses.
His brother, a man in poor circumstances, was always of the opinion that he had been murdered after a successful night’s gambling.
He was on terms of intimacy with people of rank, and he used to boast of his fashionable associates.
The writer, however, thought that the supposed age (50 or 60 years) of the skeleton was much greater than that of the person referred to.
WHO MADE THE TEETH?
Mr. Bell, coroner’s-officer, said that he had made inquiries, and he found that Messrs. Ash, of Broad-street Golden Square, had made the teeth found with the remains, but they did not know who had put them in the gold case.
He proposed that at the next meeting of the Dentists Society the case of teeth should be exhibited, and, as every dentist knew his own work, it would be most probably identified.
The coroner then adjourned the inquest to await the result of further inquiries.
REMARKABLE NARRATIVE OF A WIFE’S LOSS
The inquest was resumed and concluded on the afternoon of Thursday the 8th of February, 1866, and The Morning Advertiser published a summary of the proceedings in its next day’s edition:-
Yesterday afternoon, Mr. J. Payne, coroner, resumed the inquiry, at the Essex Head Tavern, Essex-street, Strand, relative to the discovery of the skeleton of a gentleman in the bed of the river near Waterloo-bridge.
A Chubb’s key, found with the skeleton, had been identified by Mr, Chubb as having been made by him in 1839 for one of the offices of the War Department, and the Dentological Society had photographed the artificial teeth of the skeleton, and were about to publish a photograph and particulars in their Journal.
Inquiries at the War Office and at the various barracks had been made, but no one missing corresponded with the skeleton.
THE TALL MIDDLE AGED LADY
At this stage of the proceedings a tall lady, of middle age, dressed in deep mourning, and whose features were much careworn, entered the court and expressed a wish to make a statement.
Having been sworn, she stated that her name was Harriet Elizabeth Clephan, that she resided at No. 160, Goswell-street, and that in the year 1851 her husband, whom she had been married to but 13 months, suddenly disappeared, and from that time down to the present she had never received any tidings of him.
He was an architect and surveyor, and he had chambers in Duke-street, St. James’s.
HER HUSBAND, THE ARCHITECT
He was last seen in Blackfriars-road, and consequently he would have had to cross one of the bridges to get to his chambers.
He was in good health, but very desponding.
He was architect to Earl Grey, and when he disappeared she communicated with his lordship, and he was of the opinion that her husband had committed suicide.
WAS IT HER HUSBAND?
At the time of his disappearance she had a baby that was only a fortnight old.
During their marriage she did not see him very often – sometimes once in a month – for she resided in the country principally.
He used to carry a pencil-case with a letter-weight.
SOME DOUBTS
The witness, however, could not swear to the pencil-case, nor to the artificial teeth. She did not know, she said, whether her husband wore artificial teeth or not.
The glasses produced were not such as he used to wear.
He had a high Roman nose, corresponding with the skeleton.
PROPERTY SHE COULD NOT GET
During the examination of the witness she was very much affected, and it was incidentally mentioned by her that property had been left to her on two or three occasions since her husband’s disappearance, but that she could not get it, owing to the fact that no tidings had ever been obtained as to whether he was dead or alive.
THE CORONER’S SUMMING UP
The Coroner, in summing up, said that of the thousands of cases which had come before him he had never had a case which excited so much general interest as the present one.
He had received a great number of letters from all parts of the country.
The Government departments and the Commissioners of Police had given him every aid, and done all that possibly could be done to clear up the mystery.
With respect to Mrs. Clephan, it would be observed that the unfortunate lady had not clearly identified any of the things, and that she knew nothing about the teeth.
THE VERDICT RETURNED
The Jury, after some discussion, returned a verdict:-
“That the remains in question were found in the bed of the river Thames, but how they came there, how death had been caused, there was no evidence to show, and appended their thanks to the Government departments and the Dentological Society for the aid given to the jury in the endeavour to elucidate the mystery attaching to the case.