A Cerebral Haemorrhage - The Death of William Bewes 1934

On the 28^th of April 1934 William Bewes died in Newcastle Hospital from a “cerebral haemorrhage, the effects of injuries accidently received through being knocked down by a bicycle.”  He was 77 years old.

On the afternoon of April 19^th William was returning home to his house in Bruce Street, where he had lived since the age of two.  As he went to cross the road at the intersection of Porcher (now National Park Street) and Parry streets, he was knocked down by a cyclist.  He was taken to Newcastle Hospital straight away, with a cut above one eye. Nine days later William died.

On April 30 his family buried him alongside his wife, who had predeceased him 29 years before, at Sandgate cemetery.  All of his seven children were there, along with his 18 grandchildren, and extended family.

On May 9^th at the Newcastle Courthouse the District Coroner, Mr. A.G. Chiplin, held an Inquest into the death.  A number of witnesses were called, along with members of William’s family.

Sergeant W.A. Stubbs was the first to give evidence, where he stated that on the afternoon of April 19^th,  Aubrey Bowie had approached him and told him that he (Mr. Bowie) had just knocked a man over in Parry street as he was riding his bicycle home, and that the man had been taking to hospital.

The next to present evidence was Arthur Brown, who had been riding alongside Mr. Bowie when the incident happened.  Mr. Brown stated that they had been riding east along Parry Street and came to a stop at the intersection of Porcher and Parry.  They were on the left hand side of the street and had slowed to allow them to see any traffic coming from Porcher Street.  They had proceeded to cross Porcher when only about 8 feet across Bowie had collided William Bewes. 

Mr. Bowie, who actually lived only three doors up from William Bewes in Bruce Street, told the Coroner that he had not seen Bewes, before he had walked in front of him.  That as soon as he had collided Bewes had fallen to the ground and had hit the roadway.  The traffic that day on Parry street was considered only medium.

The Coroner then heard that while in hospital William Bewes had made no reference to being hit by a bicycle.  Dr. J.L. Leslie, the Government Medical Officer, stated that William Bewes had died from a Cerebral Haemorrhage.

The Coroner took a full day to review the evidence, and the next day he made his judgment.  It was an accident.  William Bewes while crossing Parry Street at the Porcher Street intersection had walked in front of Mr. Bowie, as he was riding.  Mr. Bewes had fallen over and had hit his head above the eye.  This had resulted in the cerebral haemorrhage that took Mr. Bewes’s life 9 days later.

William Bewes 1857 – 1934

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Bessie Bewes 1896 – 1983

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Lorna Bessie Powell 1922 – 2009

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Kevin Reginald Brady 1961 –

References: Newcastle Morning Herald - May 9, 1935 and May 10, 1934