<Lying in the bath at his home, clad in his pyjamas, William Ward-Higgs, aged 70, a solicitor, of Highdown Road, Roehampton, was found shot dead, on Sunday, following an epileptic fit. There was a revolver underneath his shoulder.

An inquest was held at Battersea on Wednesday.

Mrs. Joan Bottard, a widow, of "Kelmscotte," Highdown Road Roehampton, said her father had been liable to epileptic fits for about five years. He had been having them every three or four weeks for the last two years. These fits practically always took place while he was asleep; then he was often entirely unconscious and knew nothing about them the next day.

The Coroner (Dr. Edwin Smith): Had he ever bitten his tongue?

Witness: Yes. My mother had a rubber thing put in his mouth.

After these fits, continued Mrs. Bottard, her father slept all day and appeared very exhausted. When awake, he was usually "very much himself." He had never threatened to take his own life as far as she knew; neither had he any troubles or worries. He was at his business as usual on Friday, June 19th.

"I saw him on Sunday morning," said Mrs. Bottard. "It was just before he had one of his usual attacks. It was a very bad one. He had spent a normal day on Saturday."

On Saturday, she went on, he went to bed at about 11 p.m., and had some sort of attack during the night. Her mother did not send for a doctor, as the doctor who had been attending him, had told them what to do. On Sunday morning he arose at about 10 o'clock, and she saw him just as he was coming back from the bathroom. He had a little breakfast. Then he went back to bed and slept.

The Coroner: Did you know he had two revolvers?

Witness: Yes, he kept them in a cupboard in his room.

The Coronet: Do you know how long he had had them?

Witness: I know he had had them for years.

Mrs. Bottard added that her mother had told her that, in an unconscious moment, her father had been to the cupboard and was shaking it and trying to open the door, which, however, was stuck.

The Coroner: When he was coming back from the bathroom, did he seem quite all right?

Witness: Yes.

He slept most of the Sunday, went on witness. He had a light lunch, and tea was taken up to him at about 4 p.m. Her sister was with him between 5 p.m. and 5.30 p.m. At 6 p.m her mother was with him, but at 6.30 p.m. he was found in the bathroom. The door was shut but not locked. The maid said she heard a sound, but thought it was a door banging. Her father was lying in an empty bath, clad in his pyjamas. He had left no notes or letters.

The Coroner: Was he worried about his health?

Witness: He never said whether he worried about his heath or not.

Continuing her evidence, Mrs. Bottard said she thought these attacks were worse than her father said they were, and that he realised this. He was rather abnormal a few hours after the fits. If they occurred late during the day, they carried on into the following morning. He was always very sad after them.

<Dr. John S. Burn, police surgeon, of Old Friars Green, Richmond, said he had attended Ward-Higgs since April of last year. His patient was subject to epileptic fits, which occurred every few weeks, usually at night.

The Coroner: Do you think these fits might have been a source of worry to him?

Witness: Yes.

The doctor added that he saw Ward-Higgs at about 7 p.m. on Sunday. He had not been removed from the bath.

The Coroner: How long had he been dead?

Witness: Less than an hour.

The doctor added that Ward-Higgs had a wound on the right side of his head, and a small bruise on the left thigh. There was a revolver lying under his right shoulder. Death was due to a bullet-wound in the head.

The Coroner: Have you seen him in a fit at night?

Witness: Yes. Then he was in a state of post-epileptic coma.

The Coroner: People, after a fit, have sometimes done things without knowing what they are doing?

Witness: Yes.

The Coroner remarked that the wound in the head was a typical suicide wound.

"What his state of mind was seems very difficult to get at," he said. "If he had just had a fit, he might be in a very muddled state. Yet he seemed to knew [sic] what he was doing."

Dr. Burn said, according to Ward-Higgs's wife, he was in a more muddled state than usual.

Yes," remarked the Coroner; "this might have become actute [sic]. The mental state after an epileptic fit is often completely abnormal. He could not have been responsible for what happened. He knew what he was doing, but he was not legally responsible for it."

Thomas Ward-Riggs, a nephew, said he was a member of the same firm of solicitors as his uncle, whose business affairs were in perfect order. He had no cause to worry about financial matters.

Inspector Bertram Hefford said he was called to the scene of the occurrence at about 7.24 p.m. on Sunday, and he saw Ward-Higgs, clad in his pyjamas, lying in the bath. He found a pair of Colt-Deringer [sic] .41 pistols on the premises. Ward-Higgs had a certificate for the weapons, which was taken out in 1921.

The Coroner said Ward-Higgs, judging by the medical evidence, had held the revolver in the usual position, close to the right side of his head, and fired in the way a self-inflicted injury was usually made by a person who intended taking his own life.