Found tied to a boat

On Thursday, the 2d inst. the body of a woman was found tied to a boat near the landing-place of the Royal Hospital at Greenwich, on which an inquest was held on the following Saturday, before Joseph Carttar, Esq. one of the coroners for Kent. The evidence being very vague, the coroner said he should not then close the inquest, but adjourn till the Tuesday following, in order that every exertion might be made to procure better information, as there was much suspicion in the case, and it was but seldom that a woman was found dead without somebody being able to give an account of her death. He also directed, that the body should be examined by a surgeon, that his opinion might be given on certain external marks which appeared on it.

The jury accordingly met again on Tuesday, when several persons came forward to identify the deceased, and among the rest an old man, who swore that the deceased was his daughter, and that she was the wife of Israel Friday, an out-pensioner of Greenwich College. He then went into a long account of a quarrel which took place between Friday and his wife, on Wednesday the 1st of January, and of their fighting in his house with a knife and a hatchet, which fight he with difficulty suppressed; and that soon afterwards both parties left his house, and he had not been able to hear of either of them since, except that he now believed the deceased to be his daughter, and that she had been murdered by somebody, and laid on the spot where the body was found. Other witnesses also swore to the deceased being the daughter of the old man.

The surgeons proved that there were marks of violence on the head, &c. of the deceased, but not sufficient to be deemed mortal. This evidence, however, induced the coroner to adjourn a second time; and he directed the constables to make diligent search after Friday, the husband, and bring him before the jury on the 10th instant, to account for his wife's death, if possible.

The jury accordingly met again on the 10th. instant, when the constables reported that they had not been able to find Friday, but that they had found his wife alive and hearty; whereupon the father was sent for, and the other witnesses, all of whom were greatly but agreeably surprised at the sight of the woman, and acknowledged their error in having sworn to the deceased.

The coroner reprimanded the witnesses severely for their want of discrimination; but every one allowed, that the great likeness there was between the living woman and the deceased might have deceived better judges than the witnesses seemed to be, particularly as both the women had similar private marks on each arm.

Under these circumstances further proclamation was made for evidence to identify the deceased, and discover how she came by her death; but none appearing, the jury returned a verdict of "Found dead, under suspicious circumstances, and with strong marks of violence on her person; but whether inflicted by accident or by design, they could not ascertain."