Firearm Accident At Brampton-le-Morthen

The Rising Deer Inn, Brampton-le-Morthen

In 1852 a curious incident was reported in the village of Brampton-Le-Morthen

. A man named John Webster, who was 38 at the time, a Sickle Grinder from Hackenthorpe, went with two fellow workmen, Alexander Barker and George Staniforth of The New Inn to the Brampton-le-Morthen Feast. They entered the Rising Deer Inn where the Sheffield Harriers were meeting and it was discovered the party had a loaded gun with them. Alexander Barker pulled the gun into pieces and put the stock into his jacket John Webster sat in a chair observing the situation. Barker then bent down into the fireplace to light his pipe when the barrels fell from his pocket. One of the barrels exploded, with shrapnel being lodged into John Webster's abdomen and thigh. He died within 20 minutes. An accidental verdict was given at the Inquest.