Body Found in Myrtle House Back Garden Well – Suicide

By Angela Gooch on September 7th, 2009

1940

Wriggled himself into cistern
Sad end to well-know Skegness man
Stone slab removed to recover body.

The tragic story of how one of the most familiar figures in Skegness rose early in the morning, made his wife a cup of tea, advised her to have a lie-in while he enjoyed a pipe of tobacco, then drowned himself in the back garden well unfolded in the local Coroner’s Court in April of 1940.

The victim of the sad occurrence was William Bradnam, 68, who lived in Myrtle House on the corner of Grosvenor Road and Roman Bank, Skegness. The couple had lived in the house for 33 years.

Mr Bradnam “Brad” had worked for Messers George Dunkley for the 20 years prior to his death, and also did casual work for other auctioneers in Skegness.

Mrs Bradnam said that her husband had got up at 7.30 that fateful morning, and got dressed. He went to the living room and lit the fire. He then took his wife a cup of tea in bed, and as he’d been rather unwell of late, she asked him how he felt. Mr Bradnam said he felt much better that morning. She suggested he came back to bed but he said he was going to enjoy a pipe of tobacco by the fire. Those were his last words to his wife.

As Mrs Bradnam was feeling off colour, she stayed in bed for a while until a neighbour, Mr Wholey, came in to ask how they both were. But at this time, Mr Bradnam couldn’t be found.

Mr Alec Bell was working in his boot repair shop which was at the rear of Myrtle House, when Mr and Mrs Wholey came in and told him that Mr Bradnam was missing.
As the back gate was opened for him to go through, Mrs Wholey pointed to the cistern (a type of well) in the back garden and said “Look, the lid’s off!”

Mr Bell looked into the cistern and saw the body of the deceased in the water. The shoulders were up and his cardigan had washed back over his head. His head was touching the crown of the well. Mr Bell felt the body, and being satisfied that life was extinct, went and fetched the police.

The body was three-parts covered with water, and to recover it a crowbar had to be used to remove the stone flag from the top of the cistern, as the body could not be pulled through the iron opening.
The diameter of the iron hole was 14ins and the deceased measured 17ins across the shoulders. It was supposed he wriggled himself into the well as it was much too small for him to have accidentally fallen in.

The Coroner came to the conclusion that, althogh the deceased did not appear to have been in a depressed state of mind immediately before his death, it must be presumed that Mr Bradnam had taken his own life, adding that it was a common condition of society that the person implicated put on the best and most cheerful face in such circumstances.

Top picture: Present-day photograph of the frontage of Myrtle House on the corner of Grosvenor Road and Roman Bank, Skegness.

Bottom picture: Present-day photograph of the rear of the house showing the back garden where the well used to be.