Wing, George 1906 Sep 21st Harnham
Story of an Eccentric Life and Solitary Death
A sad event, which has since aroused a great deal of interest, occurred at West Harnham, on Tuesday.
For many years an old gentleman named George Wing had occupied Oakfield Cottage. He lived here alone with a faithful dog as his only companion, and had done so for many years. He was of eccentric habits and was reputed to be very wealthy, and when it became known on Wednesday morning that he had been found dead in his retreat the previous night there was some commotion in the village. He had reached the advanced age of 77 years and had suffered from a distressing malady for some time, but not having been recently attended by a doctor an inquest was considered necessary. This was conducted by Mr Coroner Wilson on Wednesday evening. In order to view the body the jurors paid a visit to the house which they found in a strangely disordered and neglected condition.
The Inquest
The foreman of the jury was Mr Hills. The first witness was,
George Frederick Henbest, accountant, of Salisbury, who identified the deceased. He was of independent means, and witness had known him for ten years, for five of which he had acted as his agent. He collected the deceased’s rents, and acted for him generally in business matters, and he last saw the old gentleman at his house about three weeks ago. He then seemed to be much the same as usual. He was seventy-seven years of age, and lived by himself on his own freehold. He was very eccentric in his mode of life, but was perfectly clear on matters of business. He had been suffering from kidney trouble for the past two and a half years, and was seen by Dr Luckham at that time.
Arthur Sidney Rowe, carpenter, of West Harnham, said he lived near to the deceased’s house, and had known the old man for some years. He last saw him alive at 7.30 the previous (Tuesday) evening.
The Coroner : Where was he? At his house.
What made you go there? He wanted me to go for a doctor. He sent to my wife to tell me to go and get some medicine for his old complaint. Continuing, the witness said he called at Dr Luckham’s house when he left work, but the doctor was out, and so he returned to Wing and told him. The old man was then sitting in a chair.
Did he seem bad? Yes, but not worse than usual. He explained his symptoms to me and I went to Dr Luckham’s again and he came afterwards. Dr Luckham called on me and I went to the house with him. That was just after nine o’clock.
On going in what did he find? We found him lying on the floor.
Was there any light there? No light, sir.
You found him lying on the floor as the jury have seen him? Yes.
Were you in the habit of seeing him frequently? Oh yes sir, almost every day he used to come over to my house.
Had he been out in the morning? He had been over to call me half-an-hour before I got home.
Mr Henbest remarked that when he asked Rowe to get the medicine deceased did not realize how ill he was .
The witness agreed.
The Coroner : He did not want a doctor to come unless it was necessary. He was not very fond of paying fees, apparently.
Dr Luckham stated that he had previously attended the deceased, his last attendance being May, 1904. Wing was then suffering from urinary trouble. At eight o’clock on Tuesday evening the last witness came to his house and said that Mr Wing wanted the same medicine that he had had before. He (the doctor) did not think the old man ought to be left for the night without being seen, and so he went over about nine o’clock, called for Rowe, and went to the house. They found deceased lying on his face on the floor, quite dead, but the body was till warm. He reported the matter to the constable at Harnham.
What is your opinion as to the cause of death? He died from syncope, caused by the trouble from which he suffered.
The Coroner, in summing up, said that if the deceased had not been so unlike other men or persons in his position, he would probably have had the doctor to see him before. It was a very extraordinary life for a man of means to lead. Perhaps the people of West Harnham, however, knew more about him than he did.
A juror remarked that the deceased’s sister lived with him until ten years ago, when she died, and since then the old man seemed to take no care of anything.
The jury returned a verdict of “Death from Natural Causes.”
Interviewed yesterday, a relative of the deceased told the Times that Mr Wing was born in Salisbury, and for some time lived with his mother and sister. “They died however,” said the relative, “and after the death of is sister Mr Wing led a very retired life, seeing but few friends.” In his early days he saw a great deal of the excitement of life. Sixty-two years ago he was in the United States farming and clearing his land. The hard life of the early colonists had a great deal to recommend it to the romantic spirits of that time. Mr Wing also went to California, when the gold fever was at its height, and many were the exciting narratives he told of the hardships endured when searching for the precious metal. Those were the days of washing in the gullies, for the modern methods of extracting gold were not in use. Mr Wing also went to New South Wales “in his search for adventure, said our informant, but as the immortal Goldsmith says in ‘The Traveller,’ “His first best country ever is at home,” so doubtless Mr Wing, satisfied with the excitement of his early life, returned to Salisbury, there in its neighbourhood to pass the remainder of his days in that solitude for which his solitary travels had so well adapted him. I visited him so recently as Wednesday in last week and found him in his usual health. He had several relatives who would gladly have rendered him assistance, but he preferred his lonely method of living. Mr Wing was a philanthropist and endowed a charity at Whiteparish a few years since.
In the course of further conversation this gentleman told our representative that the late Mr Wing was a comparatively wealthy man, but he believed that the whole of his money had been left to charities. He never married.
Wiltshire Coroner's Inquests 1801-1920 