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Edward Thompson, 19th Hussars - certified insane, June 1900 4 years 2 months ago #67640

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Bristol Police Court.

Saturday
Before Messrs J. W. Arrowsmith and J.Pembery.

A SURPRISE FOR THE ENGINE DRIVER.
Edward L. Thompson, 27, was charged with being of unsound mind. William Bridges, a Great Western engine driver, deposed that on the previous day he was in charge of the 10.35 a.m. train from Paddington through to Bristol. When passing Tilehurst the defendant appeared upon the footplate of the engine from behind. When asked what he wanted he said he had walked along the footboards of the coaches, and so on to the engine. Witness told him he ought not to have done such a thing, and that he was liable to be sent to prison. The guard pulled the communication cord, and witness stopped the train, the guard taking charge of the defendant. At the time the defendant got on the engine the train was going at the rate of about 25 miles an hour, as it had to be slowed down at Reading. That train did the journey of 118 miles in 2ΒΌ hours. The defendant, in answer to the Assistant Clerk (Mr Braithwaite) said it was quite true that he got on the engine. If Mr Armstrong was present he could set him right. Chief Inspector Forrester stated that Mr Armstrong was the locomotive traffic manager. It appeared that the defendant applied to Mr Armstrong at Paddington on the previous day for a permit to ride on the engine and was referred to Mr Deane at Swindon, the only official who could give such a pass. George William Needs, travelling ticket collector, said he saw the defendant enter the dining saloon at Paddington. When the train was stopped he saw the defendant get off the tender. A dining car waiter told him that during the journey the defendant put on a suit of clothes like those of a fireman, taking off the black suit and silk hat now in his possession. He had had two drinks of brandy and soda, but did not pay for them. He filled up two telegraph forms, and asked the waiter to throw them out at Swindon, but the attendant did not do so, as they were not paid for. One of these was addressed to the Archbishop of Canterbury and the other to a lady in Bristol, saying he had applied to the Archbishop for a special marriage licence. The defendant had a first class ticket from Paddington to Bristol. In reply to questions, the defendant told the court he engaged a carriage for himself at Paddington. The night before he ordered a special train, but was kept waiting three hours, and then, getting angry, he told the conductor, "If you don't get it in two minutes, I shall cancel it." He was "in the right" over that - he meant he cancelled the train. The next day he thought that as he was going to be married, and had always had an ambition to drive an engine, he should like to drive one. He had done so in America, and was used to it, and thought that on such a special occasion he should like to do so again. Mr Forrester said that the defendant had served in the 19th Hussars in South Africa, and that he was invalided home from Ladysmith. The medical officer certified that the defendant was insane, and an order was made for him to be sent to an institution.

Bristol Mercury, Monday 18th June 1900

Edit - Possibly Edward Langhorne Thompson, born at Bridgnorth, Shropshire, 2nd quarter of 1873. Mother's maiden name was Monckton.

The National Archives holds papers of the Monckton-Arundel family, including a character reference for "Edward Langhorne Thompson of the 19th Hussars" from Colonel 7th Viscount Galway, from a date between 1900-1903.
discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/detail...18-a585-c78423b2a586
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