Folios 5- 7: Philip Beaver, South End. He has had as letters from John Dyer and Mr...

Folios 5- 7: Philip Beaver, South End. He has had as letters from John Dyer and Mr Wood about the death of Mr Ibbetson, stating that there is a degree of criminality attached to Lieutenant Norman's behaviour of the Signal Station on South Cliff. He is sending a statement of facts to counteract such insinuations. On Sunday 9th September an unknown gentleman questioned Parry the Signal man at the sation about a recent signal. Lieutenant Norman, seeing this, reminded Parry that he was forbidden to talk to anyone. Parry returned to his post whereupon the stranger said that he was an old Naval man and he would report Norman to the Admiralty for having too few men at the station. Norman asked him how he knew there were too few and when the stranger refused to tell him he said he would pull the stranger's nose. Lieutenant Hillier said that he must be a spy. The stranger went off down the path, dropped his stick and when he went to pick it up, he fell down. Beaver was walking towards the Signal station with a clergyman and saw the stranger who was called Mr Ibbetson, being lifted up by eight men and women put on a chair and his temples rubbed with vinegar. He felt that too many people were crowding round so he sent them out whereupon Ibbetson fell out of his chair and hit his head. The Surgeon arrived and put him in a sedan chair. He died at 1.00 o'clock. The evidence given to the Coroner's is wrong as reports have been circulating about Lieutenant Norman to prejudice opinion.

Folios 7-16: Enclosed in folios 5-7: Philip Beaver. Summary of reports being circulated predjudicial to Lieutenant Norman. Two women immediately ran to the town that evening to say that Lieutenant Norman had pulled a gentleman's nose who was now dying from a fit. The next day it was reported that Norman had knocked him down and by evening it was reported that he had pulled his nose, knocked him down and jumped up and down on him. A Magistrate came to see Beaver with the report and later the Coroner called Parry but not Norman or Hillier or other witnesses, only people too far off to see, like the two women, had been called. He had heard that Mr Rennison who keeps the library where Ibbotson lived, was trying to form a jury prejudicial to Norman. At the inquest, he asked to see the list for jury selection but was told Mr Rennison had summoned all 13 already. Beaver spoke to the jury and questioned the Coroner about the illegality of jury selection and a new jury was summoned. The witnesses were Parry, Mrs Wake, the Surgeon and Beaver and the Jury returned that he died by Act of God. However, John Dyer, an Admiralty clerk has sent in his own investigation of the events. These contradict what witnesses said on oath and contains lies such as Norman hitting the stranger in the face. Mrs Wake, the baker's wife, was told by the Jury at the inquest that she could not have known about some of her evidence but Dyer repeats it in his accusations. She accused Norman of inhumanity but you cannot expect a baker's wife to have sensibilty to understand that the langauge was forced from him after Ibbetson made an accusation against his honour. John Dyer's so called impartial investigation is untrue. If he sought the truth he should have interviewed the respectable and intelligent people present at the incident. He accuses Beaver of acting illegally too although it is Dyer that has acted illegally.