I wasn’t going to add another entry until next week, what with building work about to cease for the bank holiday, but I’ve received several requests for more details about the suicide of one of Nelson’s comrades referred to in an earlier posting.
Captain William Layman served with Admiral Nelson on several occasions but faced two court martials after running two of Nelson’s ships aground, effectively ending his career. Yet Nelson thought extremely highly of Layman, going so far as to write to the Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty that he was a greater loss to the nation than the loss of a ship. Unfortunately, Nelson was killed at Trafalgar soon afterwards and the Commissioner lost his position, so there was no second chance for Layman.
In 1825, Layman decided to rent a house in fashionable Cheltenham and it was here that he started to show signs of mental instability. He took to drinking rainwater and refused to return to London where he felt sure he would be poisoned if he ate anything. Some six months later, he apparently committed suicide by cutting his throat with a razor.
Where does The Playhouse possibly fit in? A report on Layman’s inquest carried in The Times on 27 May 1826 stated that the suicide took place in one of Cheltenham’s public baths. There were two public baths in Cheltenham at that time – Freeman’s Baths, at 61 High Street, and Thompson’s Montpellier Baths in Bath Road (now The Playhouse). Sadly, the inquest records, which should have specified at which baths the suicide took place, have been lost, but the case is certainly stronger for his death occurring here.
Firstly, Freeman’s Baths had been set up in 1788 but Thompson’s, opening in 1809, was the much more fashionable and popular premises, situated as it was on the edge of the Montpellier Estate and Gardens. It seems likely that someone of Captain Layman’s position would have frequented the grander establishment. Secondly, a parcel left by Layman at the scene of his death contained a book by the chemist Mr Accum, who was an authority on salts and spa waters. I have found references to Accum being connected in some way with Thompson’s Salts Laboratory, which was also based at the baths here.
More research is required and is ongoing!
Captain William Layman served with Admiral Nelson on several occasions but faced two court martials after running two of Nelson’s ships aground, effectively ending his career. Yet Nelson thought extremely highly of Layman, going so far as to write to the Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty that he was a greater loss to the nation than the loss of a ship. Unfortunately, Nelson was killed at Trafalgar soon afterwards and the Commissioner lost his position, so there was no second chance for Layman.
In 1825, Layman decided to rent a house in fashionable Cheltenham and it was here that he started to show signs of mental instability. He took to drinking rainwater and refused to return to London where he felt sure he would be poisoned if he ate anything. Some six months later, he apparently committed suicide by cutting his throat with a razor.
Where does The Playhouse possibly fit in? A report on Layman’s inquest carried in The Times on 27 May 1826 stated that the suicide took place in one of Cheltenham’s public baths. There were two public baths in Cheltenham at that time – Freeman’s Baths, at 61 High Street, and Thompson’s Montpellier Baths in Bath Road (now The Playhouse). Sadly, the inquest records, which should have specified at which baths the suicide took place, have been lost, but the case is certainly stronger for his death occurring here.Firstly, Freeman’s Baths had been set up in 1788 but Thompson’s, opening in 1809, was the much more fashionable and popular premises, situated as it was on the edge of the Montpellier Estate and Gardens. It seems likely that someone of Captain Layman’s position would have frequented the grander establishment. Secondly, a parcel left by Layman at the scene of his death contained a book by the chemist Mr Accum, who was an authority on salts and spa waters. I have found references to Accum being connected in some way with Thompson’s Salts Laboratory, which was also based at the baths here.
More research is required and is ongoing!
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