Day 89. Tragedy for a Coachman

The gravestone of William Woodhouse in Preston cemetery. The inscription reads:

            In Memory of William Woodhouse,

            Late coachman at Alscot,

            Killed by a fall from a horse,

            November 9^th 1885

            Aged 40 Years.

William Woodhouse came to work at Alscot Park as a coachman around 1874. The coachman's position was one of the most lucrative for a career servant, and William would have been responsible for the care of all the carriage and riding horses, as well as overseeing the grooms and stable-boys. He also drove the coach, which made him a showcase of the family when they were out in public.

In November 1885, he delivered a carriage to the coach-builders' yard in Stratford, then stopped for a drink in a nearby pub before beginning the ride back to Alscot Park. On the Shipston Road, he met a coach belonging to surgeon Reginald Greene. William's mount was panicked by the lamps on the coach and began lunging about. Greene recognised William, knew he was an experienced horseman, and assumed he could handle his mount. A moment later his groom said William was down.

Greene turned back at once. William was on his hands and knees on the road and the horse was in a state of distress on the pavement.

'Where are you hurt?'

'In the stomach,' William managed to reply.

He was struggling to breathe and Greene tried to get him to drink some whiskey, but he was unable to swallow anything. A policeman arrived, summoned by Greene's groom, and they tried to lift William into the coach, but it was now obvious he was dying. He fell unconscious and a few moments later was dead.

A post mortem found that William had suffered severe internal injuries and probably brain damage, consistent with the horse falling on him. It was concluded the animal had tripped on the pavement when lunging about and fallen backwards.

William was not local – the 1881 census states that he was born in Richard's Castle, Shropshire – and nobody knew anything about his family, so he was buried in Preston cemetery.

His gravestone – a large and elaborate design – would have been far outside the scope of his wages, and was presumably paid for by his employers. This was commonly done for an esteemed servant. It bears the stark message, In the midst of life, we are in death.