5 OCTOBER

1838 At about two o'clock this afternoon, some inmates at the Greenwich workhouse were removing some oakum from in front of an understairs cupboard when they became aware of a sickening smell emanating from inside. On opening the cupboard doors, they discovered the body of Thomas Robinson, a pauper who had been missing for ten days. It was in an advanced state of decomposition. The head was lying on a coil of rope with a large pool of blood underneath, and was nearly severed from the body. Nearby was a six-inch razor with which the act had been committed. An inquest was later told that when Robinson, aged 63, had gone missing, he was assumed to have absconded — a common occurrence at the workhouse. He had been a well-liked man, who never quarrelled, though had appeared dejected in recent weeks. At his last meeting with his son, at the workhouse gate, Robinson had burst into tears saying, 'I shall never see you again.'