SARAH HENLEY - SHE
JUMPED FROM
Extracts From Local Newspapers Referring To The Incident
Evening World
Jumped From Suspension Bridge - Lived
The True
Story of Mary Ann
All Bristol
is today recalling a story that outstrips fiction - a story too good to be
true, but one that really happened - the miraculous escape from death over 60
years ago of a young woman who jumped from the Suspension Bridge - and lived!
She jumped,
the story goes, after a lovers quarrel, but, her skirts acting as a
‘parachute’, she landed in the mud.
Sarah Ann
Henley was the girl who jumped. She was
22. It happened on
Yesterday
they buried Sarah Ann at
She married
too, and
She lived
at
Sarah Ann’s
jump has become legend. It is recorded
in the official history of the Suspension Bridge. What really happened? There are many still alive who may recall
reading about it at the time.
The
“Magpie’s” Story
Into the
“Evening World” office today came a copy of the old
“Bristol Magpie”, dated
There, in
the fourth paragraph of the City Notes, is a reference to the classic jump.
Says the
Magpie: “The young woman, Sarah Ann
Henley, who jumped off the Suspension Bridge and marvellously escaped instant
death, is, strange to say, still alive in the Infirmary, and may possibly
recover. We believe that out of the 16
or 17 persons who have jumped off the bridge, only one, on being approached,
exhibited any signs of life; death in every case have
been apparently instantaneous.”
“There
being a slight breeze blowing on Friday the young woman’s clothes were inflated
and her descent was thereby considerably checked and the wind also prevented
her falling straight into the water, and she was carried into the mud on the Gloucestershire
side.”
“The rash
act” says the Magpie, “was the result of a lovers
quarrel. A young man, a porter on the
Great Western Railway, determined to break off the engagement, and wrote a
letter to the young woman announcing his attention. This preyed on the girl’s mind, and she, is a
state of despair, rushed to end her life by the fearful leap from the
Suspension Bridge.”
The story
appealed to the Magpie sufficiently for them to publish an artist’s impression
of the jump.
Sarah Ann
never went back to the Rising Sun in Ashton where she was working as a
barmaid. The young porter disappeared
and some years late she married the late
With the
passing of time
“She
remembered it all right. She didn’t make
any bones about it, and didn’t mind talking about it.” A relative told the
“Evening World” reporter today.
“She kept
the souvenirs of the fall, but they were destroyed when she left her home in
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Tales From History
(Brian
Gearing recalls the story of a heartbroken girl and a callous cabby)
She was 22,
lived in
He had written , breaking off their engagement after she had
stormed into his workplace and harangued his foreman about what a rogue he was
and how she had dozens of suitors, all of a higher standing than a mere porter.
This had
been the last straw in a stormy relationship, during which they argued
constantly. Even so, when Sarah’s father
learned of the letter, he punched the young man on the nose.
But Sarah,
it seems, was unprepared for the end of the relationship.
Thomas
Stevens, resident inspector of
She was
blown by the wind across the Bristol side and then turned a complete somersault
so that she was now falling feet first to the ground 250 feet below. But the wind blew under her wide skirt and
her clothes acted like a parachute, gently slowing down the rate of her fall. That saved her life.
The tide
below was receding, and Sarah landed in thick mud. John Williams, of Ashton Gate, and George
Drew, who had seen her fall, rushed to her aid, dragged her out and into a
railway station refreshment room.
Sarah was
alive and conscious and able to answer questions but a Dr. Griffith, who was
passing at the time, advised that she should be rushed to Bristol Infirmary.
A detective
called Robertson requested a local cabman to rush Sarah to the hospital but he
refused, saying that she would make his cab dirty.
Robertson argued
with him and even offered him payment, saying Sarah would die if she wasn’t
treated urgently. The cabbie replied: “I
don’t care - let her die.”
He wouldn’t
budge, so men were sent were sent to Clifton Police Station to fetch a
stretcher and carry her to the infirmary.
It was over
an hour before she reached the infirmary where she found to be suffering from
shock and severe internal injuries.
Sarah recovered slowly but her fame spread rapidly as the girl who had
fallen from the Suspension Bridge and lived.
She
received several offers of marriage while in hospital, and one wealthy suitor
bribed a hospital official to ensure that Sarah received his offer of a life of
luxury as his wife.
Showmen also showed interest in her
- one offered her a contract to tour, with £400 down and a share of the
profits; another approached her father with an offer of £1,000.
The callous cabby was widely
vilified and wrote to the Bristol Times
and Mirror to justify his refusal to help.
His reason was that he had only just
had his cab cleaned and repaired, during which it was off the road and he was
unable to earn a living.
He called for a fund to be set up to
assist cabbies in these circumstances and pointed out, reasonably enough, that
the corporation should have had an ambulance available for incidents like this.
Sarah survived her injuries and all
the publicity and went on to marry, becoming in later years
Penning A
Few Lines For An Unusual Descent
Reading the
story of Sarah Ann Henley and her unsuccessful attempt at suicide by jumping
from the Suspension Bridge reminded David Elliott of Hanham of a short poem
about the event.
You may
recall Sara Ann was saved by her voluminous skirts acting like a parachute,
plus the fact that the tide was out and the mud was soft.
The whole
episode was serenaded in verse by a William E. Heasell, who called it An Early Parachute Descent in
Its
rather a jolly little piece, highly reminiscent of comedian Cyril Fletcher’s
much loved Odd Odes.
Once
in
When
crinolines were all the rage
A
dame in fashionable attire
Would
change her life for one up higher
So
up to
And
made a parachute descent
But
though, ‘twas not the lady’s wish
A
boatman hooked her like a fish
And
thus a slave to fashion’s jaws
Was
snatched from out of Death’s hungry jaws
This
story’s true I’d have you know
And
thus it only goes to show
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The stories
gave rise to an interest by myself in trying to claim Sarah into the Henly clan
that I am part off but to date have failed miserably.
However I
feel it only right to share my research findings and must thank Clive Henly of
Chippenham, Wiltshire and Chris Buss of
Sarah Ann
Henley was born on
Sarah’s
father Thomas Henley was born circa 1838 and had a sister Sarah Henley who was
born circa 1840 from whom Chris Buss is descended.
Sarah Ann
Henley married
According
to the
According
to the 1881 Census Sarah Ann’s family were in
Thomas
Henley; age 43; born in
Caroline
Henley; age 35; born in
Thomas
Henley; age 16; born in
Sarah
Henley; age 18; born in
However according
to the 1891 Census the family make up has changed to the following:-
Thomas
Henley head
Elsie G.
Henley daughter born 1891 born in Bristol
Emily L.
Henley wife born 1868 born in
Emily M. daughter born 1890 born in
Sarah A. Henley daughter born 1863 born
in
Thomas E.
Henley son born 1865 born
in
Checking
the 1861 Census it lists Thomas Henley (born 1838) as a lodger in
From the
above we can assume that Caroline Henley died sometime between 1881 and 1890
although I am unable to find a death registered for her and that Thomas married
for the second time during that period again I am unable to find any formal
record of this.