Boy Burnt to Death

A CHILD BURNT TO DEATH.

Yesterday Mr. G. Collier held an inquiry at the London hospital respecting the death of William James Banks, aged three years, the son of a waterman, of 586, Rotherhithe-street. On Tuesday the mother left the boy in the living room with her other children, while she went downstairs for some wood; but, hearing screams almost immediately afterwards, she ascended the stairs, and found her child in flame, and a lodger putting them out. She summoned her husband, and they conveyed the boy to the hospital, where he came under the care of Mr. Rees, being terribly burnt about the abdomen, chest, and face. He died on Thursday of peritonitis, the result of the injuries to his abdomen. It was stated that the fire was protected by a guard, but the boy set fire to a newspaper, and so caused the accident. Verdict, "Accidental death."

Source: Lloyd's Weekly London Newspaper, February 15, 1885, Page 12