THROUGH THE ARCHIVES: Inquest intro drowning accident near Larne harbour

From the News Letter, September 5, 1889
Larne Harbour from the air. Picture: Larne TimesLarne Harbour from the air. Picture: Larne Times
Larne Harbour from the air. Picture: Larne Times

On this day in 1889 the News Letter reported that an inquest had been held in the Olderfleet Hotel in the Co Antrim port of Larne by the coroner into the death of a boy named William John Armour who had tragically drowned in a pond near the harbour the previous day.

George Maculay deposed to the inquest that he had known the dead boy.

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He said that he had been passing down Bay Road when he had seen the boy in the water in Pottery Hole as the pond was known.

He had quickly called for help seeing that the boy was in trouble and two Royal Naval Reserves men had come, one of whom jumped into the pond in an attempt to save the boy but was unable to do so.

John Armour deposed that the deceased boy, who was nine years of age, was his son.

He told the inquest that he had last saw his son alive in Curran Street at five o’clock that Wednesday evening.

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The next that he heard of his son was at about six o’clock when news had been brought to him that his son had been drowned in the pond.

The boy’s body was consequentially returned to the family home shortly afterwards.

The boy’s father said that he did not wish to apportion blame on anyone as it had been an accident, but he was of the opinion that the “pond or hole” in which his boy had drowned should be filled up “or properly fenced” to prevent anybody losing their lives.

The jury returned a verdict of accidental drowning and issued a statement strongly urging that the hole should be properly fenced to prevent further accident as per the dead boy’s father’s request.

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