16 OCTOBER

1882 An inquest took place today at the Sunderland workhouse concerning the death two days earlier of James Reay, aged eleven, an inmate of the workhouse industrial school. On the morning before his demise, Reay had complained of feeling unwell. He was suffering from a headache and was sick. He was put to bed but did not remain there and his condition was not considered serious enough to send for the doctor. That evening, he went to bed in the usual way and a light was left burning. He was heard to cough during the night but not visited. At around 5.45a.m. he was found dead in his bed. A post-mortem indicated that the boy had a defective development of the left lung from birth which caused a strain on his heart and he might have died suddenly at any time. The jury recommended that a medical officer should be consulted at once under similar circumstances in the future.