Death of Henry Carter

The strange death of Henry Carter

My great grandfather Henry Carter ran a bakery on the Mitcham Road, West Croydon.

Henry came from Purleigh, Essex, and by his late twenties (1861) was a journeyman baker in Aveley, Essex (on the way into London).

I haven't been able to fathom out why Henry ended up in Croydon - the only reason I can easily find is that the fast-growing town was viewed as a land of opportunity.

By 1871 he was running his bakery on the Mitcham Road. His future wife Lucy Pond (from the next village in Essex) was living there with him, recorded on the census as a servant.

12 children later and 24 years later, Henry, according to family lore, set out one January day to buy a horse or pony. He did not return. He was dead in a ditch off the Mitcham Road, very close to home.

"Accidentally drowned by falling into the brook - a dangerous spot which the council are asked to protect"; Thomas Jackson, Coroner for Croydon, concluded.

The family's view was that he was most likely the victim of a robbery as he had left the house/bakery with the money to buy a steed.

Read the report of the inquest from the local paper here.

Read Henry's potted Biography here.