The death of Joanna Elizabeth Timme
Report in the Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette Thursday, 8 January, 1852
DISCOVERY OF THE BODY OF THE MISSING YOUNG LADY. – The painful surmises and apprehensions respecting the fate of the young lady whose mysterious disappearance was noticed last week, have, we regret to say, been realized, in the discovery of her body in the Avon, nearly opposite the Twerton tunnel. The attempts to find it had been pursued for several days without avail; but on Friday were renewed at the instigation of Mr. Weston, a young gentleman residing in the Royal Crescent, who, having procured a boat from Mr. Chapman, the lock-keeper, employed some men to accompany him in it with drags, and, under his directions, they at last succeeded in finding the body, jammed between some stones so closely that portions of the dress were torn off by the hooking apparatus, before it could be extricated. The body was conveyed to the Dolphin Inn, where it was identified to be that of the missing lady, Miss Joanna Elizabeth Timme, who was about thirty years of age. An inquest was held on it Saturday by R. Uphill, Esq., but no facts were deposed to tending to throw any additional light on the melancholy occurrence, further than it was stated that the deceased had been recently suffering from ill health, which had debilitated her system. The deceased, it appears, was near-sighted, and it was conjectured that she might have accidentally fallen into the river by going too near the edge unawares. As there was no positive evidence given, as to how the deceased came to be in the river, the Jury returned a verdict of “Found Drowned.”
The death of Johanna Timme
Report in the London Daily News Tuesday 6thJanuary, 1852
SUPPOSED SUICIDE BY A YOUNG LADY. – R. Uphill, Esq., coroner for the eastern division of the county of Somerset, held an inquest on Saturday afternoon at the Dolphin Inn, Weston, near Bath, on the body of a young lady, named Johanna Timme, under the following distressing circumstances. The deceased, who was about 30 years of age, and very respectably connected, has for some time past resided in the family of Mr. A. Duncan, of Hatfield House, Widcome, Bath, as governess, and, on the morning of Christmas Day, she accompanied Miss Duncan to church. During the service, however, she complained of illness and quitted her seat. The pew opener, noticing her strange and excited manner, invited her into the vestry to take a glass of water, but this she declined, and quitted the church. After this time no trace of her could be found by her friends, excepting that it was ascertained that on Christmas-day, between 12 and 1 o’clock, the landlord of the Dolphin Inn saw a young lady, answering to the description of Mr. Duncan’s governess, walking hurriedly along the towing-path on the bank of the river Avon, about two miles from the city; and that soon after he had lost sight of her another person saw a female struggling in the water. He hastened to procure the assistance of a person living near; but on his return, no trace of the drowning person could be found. The river was dragged unsuccessfully for several days; and as there was no absolute certainty that the person seen in the water was Miss Timme, her friends were kept in a state of great uncertainty as well as painful anxiety as to her fate. On Friday afternoon, however, Mr. Weston, of the Royal-crescent, whilst out in a boat discovered the body of the unfortunate lady, which was at once conveyed to the inn, where the inquest was held. The unfortunate deceased, whose death has caused much painful excitement to her relations, and the family with whom she resided, was, we understand, for some time previous to her disappearance, suffering from depression of spirits to which she was constitutionally disposed, but beyond this there was no known cause which could lead to the commission of so deplorable an act as that to which there is too much reason to fear her death is to be attributed. The jury returned an open verdict of “Found drowned.”