On Tuesday, C Best Esq held an inquest at Badsey, on view of the body of William Harris, aged 47, a native of Totnes in Devonshire, who was found in a well on Monday morning. A witness named Richards, Beer-seller at Badsey, stated that he was drinking at his house on Sunday evening with several others, but that he was not at all intoxicated. He left to go home about ten o’clock, and when he did so he observed that the night was very dark. This was the last that was seen of him alive; and the next morning, about five o’clock, Elizabeth Saunders (the person with whom deceased lodged) had occasion to go to the well (which was at some little distance from her house), when she saw something in it, and observed that the water was discoloured, but she did not discover the cause till after dinner, when she saw a hat on the surface of the water, which proved to be Harris’s. The body was soon afterwards got out. The Jury returned a verdict of “Found drowned”.
William Harris was buried at Badsey on 25th August. He had probably not been living in Badsey for very long. He was not present in the village on the night of the census, 6th June 1841. It is likely that Elizabeth Saunders with whom he lodged, was 41-year-old Elizabeth Sanders, the wife of William Sanders, agricultural labourer. Richards the beer-seller is unknown.