Saturday 24 May 1845 (p. 3, col. 1) MYSTERIOUS DEATH-INQUEST AT GRINSDALE. ----- We this week record, in our obituary, the death of Mr. GRAHAM, of Grinsdale, which occurred under circumstances which have given rise to much public talk, and which are now being investigated by Mr. CARRICK, the coroner for the eastern division of the county. The inquest was held at the house of Mr. GRAHAM, on Thursday afternoon, before a jury composed as follows:- Wm. MOSS, Carlisle, Foreman | John WILKIN, Caldewgate Richd. MARK, tanner, Carlisle | John STORY, Caldewgate Thomas WHEATLEY, Newtown | John PATTINSON, Caldewgate David WRIGHT, Knockupworth | Thomas SPROAT, Lowther-st. Robert COWEN, Newtown | Wm. GILKERSON, Beaumont John SIBBALD, Caldewgate | Wm. ARMSTRONG, Beaumont Joseph LOWRY, Raffles | Rd. PATTINSON, Caldewgate The inquiry was opened between one and two o'clock. Some of the friends and relatives of the deceased were present, as were also the incumbent of Grinsdale, the Rev. J. WILSON, and the Rev. J. LOWRY, of Burgh. After the jury had been sworn, they proceeded to view the body of the deceased; and on their return, Dr. JAMES and Mr. ELLIOT, surgeon, both of Carlisle, retired under the direction of the coroner, to make a post mortem examination. The following witnesses were then called and examined in the order in which we enumerate them:-Ruth GRAHAM, wife of the deceased; Mr. ANDERSON, surgeon; Sibson GRAHAM, younger son of the deceased; Mary ANDREWS; Edward NIXON; Jane THOMPSON; Elizabeth NIXON; Mary NIXON; Esther STEWART; Esther HOWNAM; Sarah NIXON; and Jane LITTLE. The examination of the last witness was concluded about six o'clock, when the Coroner intimated his intention of adjourning the inquiry to Carlisle. All the witnesses residing in Grinsdale had been examined, and as the evidence of those who were yet to be called might occupy a good deal of time, and as he found that the medical men would not conclude their labours for two or three days, he thought it advisable to adjourn the proceedings till the 30th inst. The jurors were then bound over to appear on that day. The Coroner and the jury having intimated to the reporters that it would be desirable, for the ends of justice, to suppress the evidence in minute detail, and give only the leading facts that were elicited, an arrangement to that effect was, after some conversation, agreed to. We now, therefore, proceed to state the circumstances deposed to by the various witnesses. The deceased, John GRAHAM, was a yeoman, residing at Grinsdale, a village lying about two miles and a half north-west of Carlisle, and was a man highly respected by a numerous circle of friends and acquaintances. He completed his seventy-sixth year a short time previous to his death. He and his wife have, for some months past, lived alone in the village we have mentioned, and their family consists of two sons-Mr. John GRAHAM, the eldest, a farmer, residing at Kirkandrews, a neighbouring village, and Mr. Sibson GRAHAM, a farmer at Grinsdale-and two daughters, one of whom is the wife of Mr. CANNELL, saddler, of this city, and the other wife of Mr. John HIND, of Abbey Holme. Mrs. GRAHAM is sixty-nine years old. Mr. GRAHAM has been a man of strong constitution, and until the illness which caused his death continued to work upon his son's farm. It appeared, however, that lately he has been exhibiting the usual symptoms of declining years, his clothes, as one witness expressed it, appearing to "hang about him." He was, however, subject to no acute pain, and never complained of any thing but gradual weakness, by which he was differently affected on diferent [sic] days. He took his breakfast, dinner, and tea, as usual on Thursday week, and made no complaint after any of those meals. He was not accustomed to drink much spirit, but used generally to take a glass of ale after dinner. On Thursday afternoon he came in, and, complaining of thirst, his wife supplied him with a glass of his usual beverage; but this was a circumstance of ordinary occurrence. At tea the only bread used was girdle cake, made and baked by Mrs. GRAHAM, and composed of flour, milk, butter, and salt, but without yeast. Neither she nor her husband felt any inconvenience from what they had partaken of. About nine o'clock they had supper, which consisted of bread and milk. The bread used on this occasion was "yeasted cake," made by Mrs. GRAHAM, of flour, yeast, and salt butter, the flour being taken from the same barrel as the flour of which the girdle cake was made. Mr. GRAHAM went to bed soon after supper; his wife following about half an hour afterwards. He did not complain of being ill till about ten minutes after he had gone to bed, when he remarked that he had not, for a long time before that night, taken any thing after tea, and was afraid his supper had made him sick. He then retched frequently, and continued to vomit at intervals till eight or nine o'clock next morning, complaining of thirst sometimes. He was purged, but his skin was cool, and he seemed in no way heated. Mrs. GRAHAM, soon after retiring to rest, was similarly affected. On Friday morning they both rose; Mr. GRAHAM was not better but he went to his son Sibson's, and there milked a cow of his own which stood in his son's byer. He was attacked with fits of sickness occasionally, and was sometimes up and sometimes in bed. On Monday he took his dinner down stairs; he went to bed between five and six o'clock in the evening, and continued gradually to sink until twelve o'clock on Tuesday last, when he died. Mrs. GRAHAM recovered from her sickness, and is now perfectly well. No doctor had been sent for, but Mr. ANDERSON, surgeon, hearing that Mr. GRAHAM, who is a friend of his, was ill, called on Sunday night. He found him labouring under great debility, but presenting no symptoms of having been poisoned; he, therefore, merely ordered him some brandy and water as a stimulant, and prescribed means for evacuating the stomach and bowels. He did not call again until sent for on Tuesday morning. There were, it appears, six yeasted cakes, made by Mrs. GRAHAM on the Thursday. She "set" them in the morning in a "dibler" or dish which she covered up and placed in a set-pot in the kitchen, out of the sight of any one not aware of its being put there. Mr. John GRAHAM was the only person who called that morning; he called about ten o'clock, and entered by the back door. Mrs. GRAHAM was in the kitchen; he looked in as he passed, and went into a room in the front part of the house. She went to him, and after staying nearly an hour, he went to his brother Sibson's. After he left Mrs. GRAHAM went to the bottom of the garden to seek water from the well and to look after some clothes which were drying there; she left the door open and was absent from the house some time. Deceased was out in the fields and did not come in before dinner. He had settled his affairs, but this circumstance was kept from the knowledge of every body but his wife. The cakes were baked by Mrs. NIXON, a neighbour, who does not keep a public oven, but, having her oven heated, had obliged Mrs. GRAHAM by baking them, and had sent them home by her daughter, who delivered them into Mrs. GRAHAM's own hands. Several other parties, besides Mr. and Mrs. GRAHAM, partook of the cakes at different times, and have been ill in consequence. Mrs. CANNELL, Mary ANDREW, Esther HOWNAM, Mr. Sibson GRAHAM and his two servants, (Esther STEWARD and Jane THOMPSON) and two daughters of Mrs. LITTLE, all ate portions of the yeasted cake between Thursday and Tuesday, and were all similarly affected, though in different degrees. Mr. Sibson GRAHAM and his two servants had simply taken it in BRAVADO; he had heard some rumours as to the cakes containing poison, and, disbelieving it, had sent for one and eaten nearly the half of it, whilst his servants ate each a small portion. He was but slightly sick; they violently so. The cake taken by the LITTLES had been taken without the knowledge of their mother, who had received two from Mrs. GRAHAM and hidden them in the clock case, telling the children that they must not eat them, and also some pieces which had been put in a box within their reach: they were both ill afterwards. The others had partaken of the cake unsuspectingly at their meals, while in attendance on Mr. and Mrs. GRAHAM. They have all recovered. Mr. GRAHAM, it seems, had eaten about half a cake, which was described as being like a penny cake in size, but rather thicker. The symptoms described by the witnesses were a burning sensation in the stomach, sickness, and purging. It came out in the course of the inquiry that the deceased, his wife, and their son John had all been ill one day in February last, after eating potato-pot, made of salted goose, at dinner. Mr. ANDERSON was sent for, and emetics were administered by him,-John suffering the most: but the remains of the potato-pot were thrown into the dung-hill without being analysed. This circumstance gave rise to the report on Friday last, as soon as it was known that Mr. GRAHAM was ill, that he had been poisoned. A woman named Mary NIXON, who now lives at Burgh, and who was examined at the inquest, lived at that time near Mr. GRAHAM. She had used arsenic for poisoning rats on two occasions: she mixed it with porridge, and placed it on a sink in the back kitchen: on one occasion the rats never touched it, and in the morning she threw it into the fire; the next time it was all carried away, and the rats never more troubled her. She used all the arsenic she had on these occasions, and it had been in her house two years. Such are the leading facts deposed to on Thursday; and all we have to state in addition is, that nothing is yet elicited which implicates any party. On Friday next the enquiry will be resumed, and the result of the post mortem examination submitted to the jury. Until then the public would do well to withhold their belief in many as yet groundless reports which have got abroad, in reference to the melancholy circumstances we have detailed.