An inquest was held on 22nd April 1858, before the coroner T. Kipping and a jury, at the First and Last, Bower place, upon the body of Mrs Jane Hodges, the landlady of the house, whose death occurred that same morning, under somewhat singular circumstances.

It seemed that at about twelve o’clock on the previous night, the deceased went to bed with her niece in a room at the front of the house. From the evidence adduced, she was intoxicated, being addicted to habits of intemperance, but after talking to herself a little while, as she was accustomed to do, she apparently fell asleep. The only other person in the house, was an elderly man named Jones. At about one o’clock, Mrs Cooper, the wife of a gardener living next door, heard the window of the deceased’s bedroom open and immediately afterwards a fall, succeeded by cries for assistance. On looking out, Mrs Cooper saw the deceased lying on her back on the edge of the pavement. She at once, called her husband, and on other assistance arriving, the deceased was removed to the Cooper’s cottage, the door to her own house being fastened. During the whole time, the niece remained asleep and it was with great effort that she was at last awakened. The deceased was severely injured and thought she had fallen down the stairs and believed her back was broken. She was most surprised when informed she had fallen from the window, adding “I think I dozed off to sleep, and fancied all was not right and I got out to look.” She expressed a wish to be removed to her own bed, which was done and medical assistance was at once sent for. She however died at about six o’clock the same morning. The distance, she fell was about ten to twelve feet, and the sill of the window only about eighteen inches from the floor.

At the conclusion of the evidence, the coroner remarked that there was nothing to show that the deceased had thrown herself from the window, and from her own expressions, coupled with the face that the window was so near the floor, he thought the inference might very fairly be drawn that she had fallen out accidentally. It was true that she had said she wished the fall had killed her, but that might very reasonably be accounted for by the pain, she was in at the time. The jury returned a verdict of “That the deceased met with her death accidentally, while in a state of intoxication.”