THE MANY SUICIDES OF REGINALD HOOKES
Bow Street Police Court London APRIL 1937.
By way of background to the article, it is worth mentioning that prior to 1961, suicide (defined as the act of intentionally ending one's own life) was a crime and anyone who attempted and failed could be prosecuted and imprisoned. In part, that reflected religious and moral objections to suicide as self-murder, albeit that suicide was a common practice among many early cultures and martyrdom was practised by early Christians. Augustine and Thomas Aquinas later came to the view that whoever deliberately took away the life given to them by their Creator showed the utmost disregard for the will and authority of God and jeopardised their salvation, encouraging the Church to treat suicide as a sin.
Some commentators maintain that this law was never enforced rigorously, but it appears that Reginald was the exception to the rule. His sentence at Bow Street was the third he received for attempting to commit suicide. This is the report from The Times dated 27th April 1937.
The only other information I have been able to find is in the 1911 Census
Name Reginald H Hookes
Relationship to Head of Household Son
Gender Male
Age 9 Months
Estimated Year of Birth 1911
Occupation Juvenile
Employed No
Working at Home No
Place of Birth Kent
Enumerator Information
Address 10 Richmond St Sheerness Parish Sheerness Town Sheerness
Type of Building Private House Number of Rooms 4 Rooms House Inhabited Yes
Reference RG14PN4461 RG78PN182 RD62 SD1 ED11 SN140
Administrative County Kent Registration District Sheppey Registration Sub
District Minster Enumeration District 11
This page was last updated on 06/06/11 12:54