THE TAUNTON COURIER         NOVEMBER 21 1838

ILMINSTER, NOVEMBER 19TH, 1838.

FATAL COACH ACCIDENT ON BUCKLAND HILL

On Friday night, the 16th inst., as the Defiance London and Exeter coach was proceeding from Honiton to Ilminster, on its arrival at Buckland-hill, the fog being exceedingly dense, it is supposed that the coachman passed the usual place of putting on the drag, consequently the descent of the coach was rapid, and one of the horses falling the coach was precipitated from the carriage and literally broken to pieces:  the coach was heavily laden with luggage and 11 passengers, several of whom were injured:  the coachman, Charles BEVIS, a man of unimpeachable character, was killed on the spot:  and Mr. Richard BAWDWEN, assistant to Messrs. Wickham & Co. importers and dealers of Biddeford, was so severely injured that he died on Sunday evening last.  On the arrival of the messenger to Mr. LOARING at the George Inn, every means were resorted to by him and Messrs. MULES', surgeons, to proceed towards the fatal spot to render assistance to the various sufferers, who were removed to Ilminster by chaises, & c. and those who were enabled to proceed on their journey were forwarded the next morning.  An inquest was held by Mr. CAINES and a respectable jury on Sunday, the 18th inst. on the body of the unfortunate Charles BEVIS.

John ROBINSON sworn:  I live at this house, and am horsekeeper to Mr. LOARING, of Ilminster:  my business is to assist coaches, & c., up the Buckland and other hills betwixt this and Yarcombe:  I knew the deceased for years:  knew him to be a sober, careful man:  I helped him up the hill beyond Westhay the evening of Friday last.  I took off my horses at the usual place and followed the coach at a distance, and when I came up to it the accident had happened a few minutes;  I found the deceased lying in the drain on the road side;  the night was very dark from the fog;  the deceased told me when I put on my horses to the coach he was late in consequence of the fog.

Mary ROBINSON, wife of the last witness, sworn:  I came up to the coach after the accident happened;  found the deceased lying in the drain and quite dead.

Eliza RAYNER sworn._ Belongs to the Isle of Wight;  on Friday evening I came by the Defiance coach from Exeter, an outside passenger, sitting on the hinder part of the coach with my back towards the horses, the guard was sitting in the opposite direction;  I did not notice any conversation between the coachman and guard, the guard was perfectly sober and very attentive; I only noticed the coachman at Exeter, before I got on the coach;  the guard complained of the fog on the road, and repeatedly said, he hoped the fog would soon pass away.

Mr. C.R. Marwood MULES, surgeon, sworn._ At half-past nine on Friday night, I was called to attend where the Defiance coach had been upset on Buckland hill:  I proceeded thither:  I was there within twenty minutes of the time I was called, (a distance of four miles), found the coach upset and shattered, and the deceased lying in the house of John ROBINSON, horsekeeper, which is within three hundred yards where the accident happened;  the coachman BEVIS was dead, and his death appeared to have been recent:  I looked to ascertain the cause of death, and found an extensive fracture on the right side of the skull, which I consider a sufficient cause to produce death.  If I had been present at the time the accident happened, I could not have rendered the deceased any assistance from the extensiveness of the fracture;  I consider his death to have been instantaneous:  I asked the guard some questions as to the cause of the accident, who informed me he thinks the deceased went beyond his accustomed place of dragging, in consequence of the darkness of the night, occasioned by the intense fog.

The jury found a verdict of "'Accidental death,'" and that the accident originated from the dense fog.

THE TAUNTON COURIER                  NOVEMBER 21 1838

DREADFUL COACH ACCIDENT._ The particulars of the fatal accident which happened to the Defiance night coach, from Exeter to London, on Friday night last, will be found in our columns. Besides the coachman, whose death was instantaneous, Mr. BAWDWEN, one of the passengers, died from his severe injuries on Sunday night last.  Mrs. RAYNER, who was severely hurt in her back, will, it is expected, be able to resume her journey in a day or two.  One of the horses died the next morning, the others were but little hurt.

INQUEST by Mr. CAINES, on the Body of the late Mr. RICHARD BAWDWEN, aged 40 years, Nov. 19th, 1838, one of the unfortunate Sufferers on BUCKLAND HILL, who died Sunday Evening last, at the George Inn, ILMINSTER._

Mr. C.H.M. MULES sworn._ The deceased was one of the passengers on the Defiance coach, which was upset on Buckland hill on Friday night last:  I found him in a house near the accident, laid on some straw, perfectly sensible;  he appeared to have received a very serious injury of the lower extremity:  I found a quantity of blood on the floor which immediately led me to remove his boot and trousers:  on the removal I discovered a very extensive laceration of the right leg, to the extent of ten or twelve inches in length;  the knee joint was laid bare, the patella or knee-pan much injured;  the shock which the constitution had received was of a most dangerous character; I removed large pieces of gravel or flint, (assisted by the Rev. E. LANCE, of Buckland St. Mary, who on hearing the accident was at the house on my arrival), which had got into the wound, and applied the usual remedies necessary in such cases with all possible care and speed, and had the deceased conveyed in a coach to this house, (the George Inn, Ilminster), and I accompanied him, holding his leg, &c.  My father, who is a surgeon, was in attendance before the body was removed, and rendered me his assistance, and he continued to do so as long as the individual lived.  From the moment I discovered the extent of the injury, I considered the case a very dangerous one.  On the danger of the case being made known to the deceased, I suggested the propriety of amputation being performed;  he expressed himself in the strongest terms that the operation of amputation should never be performed:  under these circumstances no alternative remained but to endeavour to save the limb:  the deceased never rallied, nor did re- action take place after the accident occurred.  I am fully satisfied that the deceased had every care and attention paid him not only in a surgical point of view, but received the kindest attention and vigilance from the inmates of Mr. LOARING's establishment, and that his death was evidently caused by the accident of overturning of the coach:  I have no doubt that the wound was caused by a wheel of the coach passing over the limb:  the deceased imputed no blame to any one. The jury returned a verdict of "Accidental death."

Mr. Richard BAWDWEN was the son of a respectable Clergyman, and has other relations filling that sacred office.  On the firm to which he was an assistant, being written to on Saturday, one of the gentlemen arrived the following day from Biddeford, and the scene at meeting was beyond description. This gentleman states the deceased to have been in their establishment three years, and spoke highly of his integrity and good conduct.  The unfortunate Mrs. RAYNER is the widow of a coast-blockadesman who has recently died in Ireland;  she was with her two children on the coach journeying to the Isle of Wight, but is now detained at the George Inn by the late accident, where every comfort is bestowed, and attention paid her and the children by Mr. LOARING, until she can proceed on her journey:  happily the children, one nine, the other seven years of age, escaped unhurt._

Mr. CAINES, in his remarks to the jury, said, that he had filled the office of Coroner for twenty-two years, and during that period had never been called but twice to hold inquests on this line of road from coach accidents.  One of those accidents was occasioned by a person named John POOLE lying across the road on Broadway hill of a dark night, in a state of intoxication, and was unhappily killed.  Too much praise cannot be given to the cottagers on Buckland-hill for their humane and prompt attention to the unfortunate sufferers, on Friday night last.