Charles Whitehall (buried 1908)

Worthing Gazette 7th October 1908

"Dangers of Window Cleaning"

Shocking Death. Practice Condemned by the Coroner.

The danger of attending the cleaning of windows of upper storeys without proper appliances was forcibly illustrated by a shocking accident which occurred on the Marine Parade about mid-day on Monday. Mr Charles Henry Whitehall, a lodging house keeper of "Umtata" Prince's Terrace, was engaged in cleaning one of the top windows of his house, when he apparently lost his hold and fell into the front garden, sustaining injuries which resulted in his death three quarters of an hour later. An inquiry into the circumstances was conducted at the deceased's residence by the West Sussex Coroner (Mr F W Butler) yesterday afternoon. Mr W Paine being chosen foreman of the jury. William Charles Whitehall, an invalided pensioner from the Royal Marine Artillery, now living at "Umtata" stated that his father was 57 years of age. On the previous day, about a quarter to one, witness was sitting on the balcony of the second floor, reading, when he heard a thud on the verandah overhead, and immediately afterwards saw his father's body bounce off onto the coping of the balcony. Before he could rise from his seat, he heard another thud in the garden beneath. Witness at once ran downstairs but a Coastguardman was already there, and witness saw them take his father into the house. His father always cleaned the windows himself and in cleaning those of the top two storeys, he used to get out of the smaller or dressing-room window and climb along to the outside of the other window. He usually wore India-rubber shoes for work but on this occasion, he was wearing leather shoes. Witness had often spoken to him about cleaning the windows in this way and told him it was rather dangerous but deceased always ridiculed and pooh-poohed the idea.

James Edward Barber, a coastguardman, deposed that he was on duty when he heard a cry of "Oh" and on looking up he saw Mr Whitehall falling from one of the upper windows. His body hit the hood of the verandah, then came on to the stonework of the balcony, and for a moment witness thought his body was going to roll inside, but he seemed to turn a somersault over into the flower garden beneath. Witness at once ran to his assistance and helped to carry him indoors. The deceased was unconscious when picked up. Witness had not seen Mr Whitehall cleaning windows before, but he had seen other people doing it, and only last week he had remarked to himself what a stupid thing to do.

Nature of the Injuries

Mr Hugh Roker Evans deposed that he saw the deceased at his residence shortly after one o'clock. He was still living when he arrived at the house but was deeply unconscious and died about three quarters of an hour afterwards. He had a large scalp wound and signs of a fracture at the base of the skull. There were also signs of a haemorrhage occurring within the skull and witness thought it was the gradual increase of the pressure of the blood on the brain that led first to the unconsciousness and then to his death. The deceased's son said that his own impression was that his father had finished cleaning the window and was climbing back when he missed his hold and fell straight down onto the verandah beneath.

The Coroner remarked that the practice of cleaning windows in the way the deceased had done certainly seemed to be a very dangerous practice, but he did not know they could do anything beyond a recommendation. The jury returned a verdict of "accidental death" and added a rider expressing the opinion that the practice of cleaning windows in the way the deceased had been in the habit of doing was a very dangerous one.