At the close of the 19th century the Smallwood family were the oldest wine merchants in Birmingham having traded for at least six generations. Specialising in fine and expensive wines, their premises in Lower Priory off Old Square dated back to the mid-17th century. Beneath the grand old house ‘their subterranean premises were honeycombed with catacombs containing grand old spirits and big bins of choice vintage and wines.’

Moving from Handsworth, the family had a large house built about 1850 in Castle Bromwich just beyond the Fox & Goose which they named Stechford Hall. (The building was demolished before 1950 and the site later made into Stechford Hall Park).

Chooses Acting rather than the Family Business

Ernest, born in 1859, was the youngest of the family. His elder brother had followed his father and grandfather into the wine trade, his uncle and cousins who lived at Southfields (now The Remembrance Club) were in law and accountancy.

But Ernest became an actor with the stage name Ernest Wood and had some success. Aged 37, he had lodgings in Kilburn Square, Brondesbury, a decent enough district and less than half an hour by omnibus to central London.

Falls From An Omnibus

Three days before Christmas 1897 Smallwood boarded an omnibus in Oxford Street headed for his lodgings. He was not currently employed, although three weeks previously he had ended a run at the Princess’s Theatre in Oxford Street playing in Sutton Vane’s melodrama, ‘In Sight of St Paul’s’.

He climbed up beside the driver; fares were half-price on the open top and the weather was not particularly cold for the time of year.

Soon Smallwood began to feel faint and decided that he would get off the bus and take a cab the rest of the journey home. What caused him to fall is not known, but fall he did. He brushed against the driver and fell off the bus down to the road below.

Rushed to The Middlesex

The driver called the police and the unconscious Smallwood was taken to the Middlesex Hospital just half a mile away.

On regaining consciousness the following day, Ernest Smallwood found that he was paralysed from the waist down. His spine had been damaged in the fall from the top deck of the omnibus. His brother Joseph, the wine merchant was at his bedside having travelled down to London by train as soon as he was told of the accident.

The Inquest’s Verdict

Two days after Christmas Ernest Smallwood died. The inquest was held at Marylebone Coroner’s Court under Dr Danford Thomas. Death was the result of Ernest‘s fall from the bus, but what had caused the fall in the first place was never discovered. A verdict of ‘Accidental Death’ was returned.

Ernest’s body was brought back home and laid to rest in the family vault in Castle Bromwich graveyard.

Acknowledgements: This article has been developed from research by Terrie Knibb and the Castle Bromwich Youth & Community Partnership. For more information about the Castle Bromwich Graveyard Project go to http://castlebromwichgraveyard.co.uk/

John Joseph Bateman was the son of the noted Castle Bromwich architect John Jones Bateman. The Batemans were a wealthy family who lived in a very large house known as Hawkesford House on the Chester Road near Castle Bromwich Hall (A block of flats with the same name now stands on the site). The 1861 Census records him living there with his parents and five sisters; his one-year-old brother had died that same year and his youngest brother Charles Edward, who also became a noted architect, had not yet been born. The family lived very comfortably, having three servants and a governess living in.

John Joseph became a valuer and auctioneer working in Birmingham. On a personal level he was interested in religion and politics and was very active in the 1886 General Election campaign which resulted in a landslide victory for the Conservatives under William Gladstone and their allies, the Liberal Unionists led by Joseph Chamberlain.

Bateman suffered from depression after the election. It may be that he was a supporter of the Liberals which party suffered an acrimonious split over the Irish Question. His doctor recommended that he should go travelling to take his mind off home affairs and this he agreed to do.

Sketching Holiday

John Joseph hired one Charles Boston as a companion and attendant and set off on a sketching holiday. Like his younger architect brother, he was interested in the Middle Ages and wanted to visit historic sites and draw ancient ruins .In February 1886 the two of them went to Kenilworth presumably to make pictures of the castle there and then they made their way to Battle in Sussex, famous for the ruined abbey built on the site of the Battle of Hastings.

The pair stayed in lodgings on Whatlington Road at Battle for about a month and spent their days together sketching and their evenings discussing religion and politics over a glass of milk and soda, a popular drink at the time rather like a milkshake; Bateman was a teetotaller. The two got on well and Bateman seemed relaxed and cheerful

On 27 April 1886, the Tuesday after Easter, John Joseph and Charles went for a long walk in the afternoon. When they got back to their lodging, John complained of a severe headache and retired to his room. When he did not come down for the evening meal, Charles went up and found him missing. He immediately went in search of him and headed in the direction the two of them walked earlier in the day. Failing to find him, Charles Boston reported the matter to the stationmaster and to the police who came with him to help in the search. But to no avail.

A Body Is Found

However, at sunrise the next morning a body was discovered alongside the railway line by James Wilmhurst, a platelayer making his morning inspection of the track. A doctor was called and the stationmaster and the police were informed.

The deceased was identified as John Joseph Bateman.

The inquest was called that very Thursday and John Joseph’s younger brother Charles came down to Battle immediately. The hearing took place at the Railway Hotel at Battle with the Hastings coroner, Charles Sheppard presiding. .

Railwayman James Wilmhurst described how he had found the body lying face down, fully clothed but, strangely, not wearing boots. Odd too was the fact that the place where the deceased lay was not near any footpath, so John Joseph must have walked along the railway line for some distance.

The stationmaster, William Breach testified that, with the discovery of the body, he had gone to straight to Hastings to examine the locomotive that had last passed along the track. He found that the connection bar at the front of the engine bore traces of blood and hair.

The doctor who had been called to the scene described the position of the body. Footmarks between the rails, the position in which the body lay and the stance of the arms suggested that Bateman had been hit by the train while running down the track between the lines. The top of the deceased’s head had been sheered off by the impact and lay a metre away from the rest of his head, his brains spilt on the ground. He must have been killed in an instant.

The Inquest’s Verdict

Following a lengthy summing up by the Coroner, the jury returned a verdict of Accidental Death, the chairman declaring that in the opinion of all the jurors, no blame could be attached to Charles Boston.

John Joseph Bateman’s body was brought back to Castle Bromwich where he was buried in the family grave near the cemetery gate. He was laid to rest beside a brother and sister and his mother who had died when he was just 14. His father, John Jones would live to the ripe old age of 85, dying in 1903 and his younger brother Charles died in 1947 in his 85th year.

Acknowledgements: This article has been developed from research by Terrie Knibb and the Castle Bromwich Youth & Community Partnership. For more information about the Castle Bromwich Graveyard Project go to http://castlebromwichgraveyard.co.uk/.