Edith Elizabeth Emms

Edith Emms died suddenly from an unknown cause.

She was found dead on the floor of her bedroom around midnight on Thursday 22 November 1923 at her coffee shop at 104 Hackney Road in Shoreditch.

It was thought she had died from fright after a burglar entered her bedroom during her husband's absence. She had retired to bed in apparently good health.

Edith Emms and her husband had been running the small restaurant in Shoreditch for about two months.

Edith Emms's husband said that their premises had been burgled and that he thought that her death was due to shock.

She was found in her nightdress and the room had been in a state of disorder. A big gate at the rear of the premises had been smashed in.

Edith Emms's husband said that money was found to be missing.

Edith Emms's mother said that she last saw Edith Emms on 14 November 1913, at which time she had been all right, but said that she had complained that she was going mad with worry. She said that Edith Emms told her that she had been worried about the business and that either she was going to leave her husband or he was going to leave her, but didn't say why. She added that she thought that Edith Emms and her husband had had some words as she had had a black eye which at the time was just getting all right. She said that Edith Emms told her that her husband had thrown an egg at her.

The pathologist that carried out her post mortem said that he found no evidence of violence. He said that her heart showed signs of fatty degeneration of the muscles and that there was no evidence of poison in her stomach or organs.

He added that Edith Emms had not had the condition known as lymphaticus.

He said that he found nothing to indicate the cause of death, but said that it might have been one of two things:

1. Fright or shock.
2. A blow to the abdomen that might have caused death by stopping the beating of the heart.

A lodger in the house said that Edith Emms's husband had returned home sober just before midnight and had gone upstairs and that almost immediately afterwards he had called out that Edith Emms was dead and asked him to go for the police. He said that when he went out for that purpose that he noticed that the door to the rear of the premises had been smashed.

Another lodger said that when he entered the bedroom that he noticed that the room was in disorder and that there were copper coins lying on the floor.

A kitchen maid said that she had seen Edith Emms's husband strike Edith Emms twice in the face and that Edith Emms had once told her that she was afraid of her husband and that she would sometimes go to bed whilst he was out, but that when he returned home he would go upstairs and frighten her.

Edith Emms's husband said that he had been on friendly terms with his wife, but admitted that they had had words occasionally and that he had thrown gramophone records at her, but he denied having ever struck her. He said that their quarrels had bene over cooking.

He said that Edith Emms was not a sober woman and that he himself liked a drink.

A police constable that arrived soon after Edith Emms was found dead said that when he entered the room he had found Edith Emms's husband crying.

Edith Emms’s inquest took place in Bethnal Green. An open verdict was returned, the jury noting that they were of the opinion that there was insufficient evidence to show the cause of death.