Suicide among the clergy is not unknown, but in Great Casterton it’s astonishing and noteworthy, judging by the length of this article. Here is some up-to-date advice designed to prevent the desperation the clergy sometimes feel, that can ultimately lead to suicide.
“DISTRESSING SUICIDE OF A RUTLAND CLERGYMAN
A painful sensation was caused in the district around Stamford on Thursday morning by the circulation of a report, which unfortunately only proved too true, that the Rev. Edwd. George Sellman, for many years Rector of Great Casterton-with-Pickworth, had shot himself with a revolver on the previous night. It transpired that about 11 p.m. the occupants of the Rectory were alarmed by the report of firearms, and subsequently Mr. Sellman was discovered by his son Edgar lying on the library floor in a pool of blood. In the right hand was clutched a revolver from which three shots had been fired, and two of these had entered the body, one penetrating the heart and causing immediate death. In the jacket pocket a six-chambered revolver, fully loaded, was afterwards found, proving that the sad act had been deliberately planned. Deceased was addicted to taking morphia in large quantities, and he had been rather eccentric in his manner of late. He was educated at Cambridge, ordained in 1875, Curate at Holy Trinity, Taunton, from that year to 1877, Curate at Clyst St. George, Devon, 1879-81, and Curate at Chalfont St. Giles, Bucks, up to 1883, when he was appointed to the living at Great Casterton. He was nearly 50 years of age, and leaves a wife, two sons, and a daughter.
Mr. E.W. Phillips, county coroner, held an inquest at the Crown inn on Thursday night, Mr. J. Clark being foreman of the jury. Lieut.-Col. White, agent to the Marquis of Exeter, who is patron of the living, was present. The Coroner having remarked upon the very unpleasant duty they had been called together to perform, said it was most unfortunate the presence of Mrs. Sellman would be required at that inquiry, but as she was the last person to see the deceased alive her evidence could not be dispensed with.–Mrs. Ellen Elizabeth Sellman was then called. She said she last saw her husband alive at 10.30 on the previous night, when he said “Good night” to her. He then appeared as usual, and she saw nothing strange in his manner.–Edgar Neville Newmarch Sellman, student, son of the deceased, stated that he was lying on his bed, fully dressed, at about 11 o’clock, when he heard a noise which sounded like a revolver shot. He went down to Mrs. Sellman’s boudoir and spoke to her about the matter, and then went downstairs to see what was going on . The library door was shut, and he entered the dining-room adjoining and looked through the key hole. He saw there was a light in the room and he went out of doors round to the library window, which he found wide open. He then discovered his father lying just inside the room with a pool of blood near his head. He felt the pulse and, having satisfied himself that life was extinct, went and saw his mother and roused Mr. Dexter, who came to the house. Witness then cycled to Stamford and called for Dr. Middlemist.–The Foreman : Was deceased in the habit of sitting up longer at night than the other member of the family? Witness : Yes ; he was occasionally in the habit of going into the church in the evening and playing the organ, and at such times he went to bed fairly late–later than the rest. He would go out after dinner and supper and come back at any hour of the evening, frequently late.–He did not give you any cause for suspicion last evening? No ; I did not think he was any different yesterday form usual.–A juryman : Had you any particular reason for not taking your clothes off last night ? Yes, simply because I was not going to bed just then.– P.c. Plant asked what made the witness feel his father’s pulse to satisfy himself that he was dead.–The Coroner : That is an absurd question ; I shall not allow that.–Mr LeBoeuf (a juror) : was it known that your father had a revolver and was in the habit of practising with it ? Witness : It was known that he had a revolver, but he was not in the habit of practising with it.–You say you did not see the revolver at the time ? Yes, the right hand was under the body, and I thought I should be doing wrong in moving it.–Has he fired the revolver before in the house ? Yes.–William Dexter, farmer, Great Casterton, spoke to the last witness calling him up. When he saw deceased he was lying with his head just on the edge of the window-sill, face downwards, and his arms were underneath him. He pulled out the right arm and found a revolver underneath him.–By the Coroner : I am sure both arms were underneath him.–The son was then recalled and asked by the Coroner which hand he took to feel the pulse ? He replied that it was the left. As far as he could remember the hand underneath deceased was the right in which the revolver was subsequently found.–P.c. Plant, stationed at Ryhall, deposed to a bloodstained revolver, from which three shots had been fired, being handed to him. It was a central-fire weapon, and contained two loaded cartridges. In the deceased’s jacket pocket witness subsequently found a pin-fire revolver loaded in all six chambers.–Mr. R. C. Middlemist, surgeon, Stamford, stated that he had been deceased’s medical attendant nearly three years. He usually attended him when suffering from some eccentricity which he should say was of a temporary nature. He had not been organically ill, but generally suffered from depression.–By the Coroner : To my knowledge deceased had taken narcotic drugs for some time. I have known it for the last six months. He took them without my orders and in excessive amounts–sufficient to kill two or three people who were not used to taking drugs. I have proof of that in a bill in my pocket.–The Coroner : And was he when under the influence of these drugs as rational as at other times ? No, he took morphia to such an extent that natural depression followed. Continuing, witness said he saw deceased on the previous afternoon speaking to his (witness’s) coachman. He observed to his coachman that he thought deceased looked very strange indeed, and he considered he was under the influence of morphia. He was not quite compos mentis, and the pupils of his eyes appeared to be very contracted. Mr. Middlemist then described the result of his examination of the body. The waistcoat was open and the shirt was covered with gunpowder–proof of the shots having been fired at close quarters. There were two bullet wiounds–one under the sixth rib and the other under the fourth. The lower bullet penetrated the lung and the upper one the heart. The latter would cause instantaneous death.–In reply to the Coroner witness said when the first effect of a drug worked off very great depression, almost amounting to melancholia, supervened. He had not doubt the wounds were self-inflicted.–The Coroner having reviewed the evidence, the jury deliberated in private about 20 minutes, when the Foreman said their verdict was that deceased comitted suicide when under the influence of morphia.–Mr. Le Boeuf said that was not a unanimous decision. For his own part he thought deceased was temporarily insane at the time.–The Foreman observed that he would also have liked the jury to have come to that conclusion, but the majority seemed in favour of the verdict. Dr. Middlemist said there was not the least doubt the man was temporarily insane. At the time he was not under the influence of morphia, but was suffering from the effects of that drug. The jury, however, did not alter their decision. In answer to Mr. Le Boeuf, the Coroner said the verdict amounted to practically the same thing as temporary insanity. In thanking the jury for so patiently listening to the evidence, Mr. Phillips remarked that the regretted there had been some little friction amongst them and that they had not come to a unanimous decision. He thought it was a case in which there was very little doubt according to the medical evidence as to what the verdict should have been, and he considered their verdict rather a remarkable one.
The funeral of the deceased took place at Great Casterton on Monday, and was attended by a large concourse. The Revs. Canon Williams and G. Steer (Vicar of Ryhall) officiated.”
The Stamford Mercury, 20th April, 1900.