10 March 1909 – Phyllis Beatrice Wood

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From the Western Daily Press on Wednesday the 10th of March 1909

On Saturday, at the Y.M.C.A. Hall, Mr Coroner A. L. Forrester held an inquest on the body of Phyllis Beatrice Wood, aged 3 years and 10 months, who died at the Cottage Hospital from fire burns, on Saturday morning.

A photograph taken on Silver Street in Malmesbury, featuring the YMCA Hall in the foreground on the right side. The YMCA Hall is a stone building with large windows and a white door, which has a cross design on it. A sign for "King's Nursery" is posted on the wall next to the door. The street is narrow with a slight incline, leading up to a small intersection where a few cars are parked. The buildings along the street are constructed from traditional stone, typical of the area, and a lamppost is visible further up the road. The scene captures a quiet moment on a historic street in Malmesbury.
A view of Silver Street in Malmesbury, looking towards the Cross Hayes. In the foreground is the YMCA Hall, nowadays used by King’s Day Nursery. Monday 26th of August 2024.

The evidence of the parents showed that the father got up at 6 o’clock on Wednesday and lit the kitchen fire, and on going to work at 6.30 he left the wife and three children asleep in bed.

About 7.30 two little children were allowed to run downstairs before the mother got up, and a boy of six opened the stair door and let his baby sister into the kitchen. In some way her clothes came in contact with the fire (there being no guard), and she was soon in flames.

The boy’s screams reached the mother upstairs, and she ran down and put the flames out. The child was taken to the Cottage Hospital, where she lingered until Saturday and then died. The jury found that “Death resulted from shock from fire burns accidentally caused through want of a fireguard.”

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