FOUND DEAD.
Shortly before 6 o'clock on Saturday morning a man named Samuel Marsh, 60 years of age was found dead in a room at the back of one of Mr Russell's houses in Castle street. About 9 o'clock in the morning Marsh was seen through the open door of his room by two little girls named Annie Davies and Mary Hart. He was then kneeling at his bed in a praying attitude, and the girls, thinking he was engaged in devotional exercises, took no notice and went on their way. On passing the house again in the evening they noticed that the man was still in the same position, so the little girl Hart went and told her mother, and a man named Taylor was informed of the fact. Taylor at once went into the room and saw that the man was quite dead. The police were then called in, but did not touch the body until the arrival of Dr Copland. At the first glance it would seem as if the deceased had poisoned himself, for on a table beside him there were two phials marked "laudanum," both nearly empty, and another peculiarly shaped bottle containing some other soporific drug. The supposition that death had been caused by an over-dose of some of these liquids was strengthened on looking at the position in which the body lay. Dr Copland, however, gave it as his opinion that the immediate cause of death was not due to an over-dose of laudanum, though he stated that to all appearance the man had for some time past been slowly poisoning himself. This is no doubt the proper inference, for it has been ascertained that Marsh, who was in bad health for some time past, has been in the habit of doctoring himself. The room he occupied was at the rear of a house in which two families resided. His room presented a most disordered appearance, for besides the bottles above-mentioned, there was on the table a miscellaneous collection of domestic utensils, in several of which was a quantity of decaying food. On the table there were a number of letters. The deceased was, according to Mr Russell, in the habit of leaving letters about the room. The following is a copy of one of the letters found: —
Dear Mr Russell, — I wish that my body may not have a Christian service read over it. I wish my body to be cast into the ocean, and not covered with "thick calico." The above is my wish. -Samuel Marsh.
In another note was the following: — "Please write of my death to Mrs Fowler, Roe Cottage, Beeston, near Nottingham." The former note Mr Russell states he saw a few days before the deceased died. He was last seen on Friday at noon by Mr Russell, and during the night a woman named Woodroe, living in the same house, heard him coughing. So far as is known Marsh, who has been living in Dunedin for about three months, has no relatives here. He was by profession a mining engineer, and some time ago had a son working in Sparrow's foundry. He came to Dunedin from the Bay of Islands, and had letters of introduction to one of the leading members of the Freethought Association of this city. An inquest will probably be held in a day or two. -Otago Daily Times, 6/3/1882.
Brief Notes. — No inquest was held on the body of Samuel Marsh. It was deemed unnecessary. -Tuapeka Times, 15/3/1882.
Samuel Marsh lies in Dunedin's Northern Cemetery.
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