Prisoner X16663 -
Arthur William Everett was born on the 9th January 1857 in St Ives, Huntingdonshire, to Arthur William and Mary Ann Everett and was baptized at St Mary the Great in Cambridge aged 4 on the 21 April 1861, the year after the death of his father.
Arthur lived with his mother, sister and step siblings in Falcon Yard. Cambridge. This was one of the yards off Petty Cury which is where the Lion Yard is today. Falcon Yard would have housed up to 300 people. In 1903, on the order of the Medical Officer of Health, it was declared one of the worst slums in Cambridge and was demolished. In the 1871 census, aged just 14, Arthur was listed as working as an errand boy, and in 1881 he was working as a grocer's warehouseman. On the 15th April 1884 Arthur (now a cellarman) married Mary Watts in Bottisham, Cambridgeshire, and the following year they had a son Arthur.
It was reported in the Cambridge Independent Press on 9th April 1887 that on the 25th March his lodger Robert Grant had stolen a pipe, a cigar holder, case and a wood pipe to the value of five shillings from Arthur. The articles were recovered, and Robert was sentenced to 14 days’ imprisonment with hard labour.
On the 24th September the Cambridge Independent Press reported that Arthur had been charged with assaulting his then lodger Robert Forgmant, a painter. After coming home drunk one-
Less than two weeks later he was in court again this time for stealing whisky. While in custody he smashed up his cell breaking several panes of glass and pulling down the iron work from the window frame, he scratched paint off the walls and pulled up the wooden frame used as a pillow rest. It was for this offence he was convicted and ordered to pay 10 shillings damages, a 10 shilling fine and 4 shillings 1 penny costs. In default he was sentenced to one month’s imprisonment with hard labour. On the 17th October a jury found him to be insane and he was transferred to the Three Counties Asylum on 28th October 1887.
His medical condition was described as 'mania caused through drink'. He was excitable, talkative and used extravagant language' He had inconsistent and very exalted ideas of himself. He had a general tremor of the muscles of expression and hesitation in his speech. He did not sleep well but had a voracious appetite and would become violent. His habits were filthy and his language lewd. It was noted that upon admission he was shaky in his movements and there were small bruises to his chest. Heart sounds were OK, but the patient was "restless and talkative he says he is the King of England and possesses two million of money". The next day it was written that he was sleepless, noisy and dangerous. He said he had killed two people that day, dirty in his habits, speech is very thick and hesitating.
On the 3rd November, he was described as destructive and noisy and in a state of nudity at night. Nothing much changed in his behaviour except that he was becoming a little shakier until the 10th December, when its reported that he was now pulling off his clothes, tearing up his bedding and being generally violent with extravagant delusions.
The first entry for 1888 on the 12th of January reads that he started writing irrational letters ordering his wife to send him thousands of cakes. By 20th February he had started to strip himself naked and was still noisy and indecent. There was no change until 18th May when the doctor reported that he was becoming better behaved. He worked a little bit in the ward, but was still getting delusions of an extravagant kind and his build was getting stout. For the rest of the year little changed. He was still dangerous, threatening and was striking others saying he was King of the World.
By August 1889 he was suffering from epileptic convulsions, leaving him feeble. The last note in the case book reads, "He has left hemiplegia and is in a semi-
On 5th September 1889, aged just 32, Arthur William Everett died of general paralysis (syphilis).