Mrs. Hinchcliffe, who was the wife of Mr. Percy Hinchcliffe, a member of a Sheffield steel firm, was a member of the Sitwell Park Golf Club, where two years ago she was captain of the women's section. On Wednesday, between 4 and 6 o'clock, after having played on the course, she left the club house, the entrance to which is about 400 yards from where her body was found. The police yesterday found no clues, and at first suspected foul play, since there was no sign of a smash on the road and an entire absence of blood. The body was crouched up in the ditch.
The discovery of Mrs. Hinchcliffe's handbag on Wednesday night proved the first clue to her identification
yesterday. A woman picked up the bag as she was walking in Bawtry Road and found in it a letter addressed to
Mrs. Hinchcliffe. She called on two occasions at her home yesterday morning, and as she got no reply handed
the bag to the police, who at once began investigations.
The inquest on the body of Mrs. Sybil Stephenson Hinchcliffe, aged 46, of Bawtry Road, Wickersley, near Rotherham, which was found in a ditch near her home early on Thursday, was opened at Dalton yesterday and adjourned until February 22.
Mr. W. I. Mitchell, of Sheffield, appeared for the Sheffield motorist who on Thursday night reported that he had bumped into something near where Mrs. Hinchcliffe's body was found.
Percy Wilkes Hinchcliffe, the husband, said that he left home on Wednesday morning at about 7.30 to go to business in Sheffield. His wife was then in bed, and he had taken her up a cup of tea. She did not say what her plans were for the day, but that was not unusual. He was in Sheffield until about 9 p.m., and returned home at 10. His wife was not in the house. Lovebirds in a cage had been covered up with a cloth and his supper had been laid out in one of the rooms. It was not unusual for the house to be unoccupied at 10 o'clock.
He went to bed at 10.30, and was not unduly alarmed because she had not come home. At a quarter to 2 in the morning he woke up, and as she was not in the room he looked for her in the house and then returned to bed. His wife had never stayed out all night before without his knowledge or without some pre-arrangement. When he left for work at 7.30 he was alarmed at the non-appearance, but did not report the matter to the police. It was not unusual for her to visit her sister at Parkhill, where her son had been staying for a fortnight.
The Coroner (Mr. J. Kenyon Parker) expressed sympathy with Mr. Hinchcliffe. He said that he had known nothing about the matter except from telephone messages from the police, which suggested at first that her death might have been due to foul play. When he read the report in the evening papers, however, it did not seem to him, and to a good many other people, that the most likely explanation was that Mrs. Hinchcliffe had been struck by a motor-car. He gathered that that was rather the opinion that the police now had.
The adjourned inquest on the body of Mrs. Sybil Stephenson Hinchcliffe, 46, of Bawtry Road, Wickersley, near Rotherham, which was found in a ditch near her home on February 15, was resumed at Rotherham yesterday.
A Sheffield motorist, Mr. F. W. Briggs, who had reported that his car bumped into something near where the body was found, was represented by Mr. W. I. Mitchell. Mr. K. M. Roddis appeared for relatives of Mrs. Hinchcliffe.
The Coroner Mr. J. Kenyon Parker, addressing the jury, said that at first there was a certain amount of suspicion that the death might have been due to murder. He believed that had entirely disappeared and that it was now generally believed that death was due to injuries received by her being struck by a motor-car. Since he opened the inquest further developments had taken place, and he heard formally that day that the driver of a certain car had been charged with manslaughter. He understood that the driver had not yet been brought before the magistrates.
Mr. Hinchcliffe, the husband, said his wife was a motorist. She was under medical attention for a weak heart. When his wife did not return home on the Thursday morning he was convinced she had spent the night with relatives.
Ernest Walker, a Rotherham locomotive fireman, said that at 7 a.m. on February 15, while walking to work, he saw the body of a woman lying in an open ditch.
Police constable Knight, who was fetched by Walker, said the woman was lying on her side with her knees drawn up. The left side of the face was battered and there was blood under the head. The body was covered with hoar frost. The hat was laid on her face. He could find no trace of any accident near the body. The woman's watch had stopped at 8.43. Near the body he found a woman's hair slide and halves of a broken pair of spectacles.
Dr. P. L. Sutherland, the West Riding county pathologist, said that there was nothing in the condition of the body or clothing to indicate robbery. The cause of death was a fracture of the base of the skull and other head injuries. Apart from those on the head and shoulder, other injuries were superficial. The injuries to the head were consistent with her having been struck by the lamp or windscreen of a motor-car.
Mr. C. N. Roberts, for the West Riding police, said that the summons against Briggs was returnable on March 6 at Rotherham, when the police would be prepared to go on with their case. The CORONER then formally adjourned the inquest until July 31.