An inquest was held on Thursday at the Guildhall, Rochester… on the body of John William Arthur Chaplin (28)… who hanged himself in the lavatory on Tuesday. Deceased was a demobilised soldier and had served in France and Egypt during the war.
Mrs Sarah Jane Chaplin stated that lately her son had complained of pains in the back of his head. Usually he was of a cheerful temperament. Since leaving the Army he had spent his grstuity and being without money and our of employment he became depressed.
George William Lewis Paterson, deceased’s cousin who occupied the same bedroom with deceased, stated that at 10.40pm on Monday, deceased was reading a paper in the kitchen. Witness when to bed and awoke at 5.30am to find deceased had not been to bed. The light downstairs was still burning. In the lavatory he found deceased handing by the neck…
A verdict of “Suicide whilst of unsound mind” was returned.
[Chatham, Rochester and Brompton Observer: Saturday 14th February 1920]
The life of John William Arthur Chaplin remains frustratingly elusive. He does not recognisably appear on any census return, and, while it is clear that he served in the Army Service Corps as a Corporal, his military records are no longer available.
The body of Corporal Chaplin, the former solder with nowhere to turn, was laid to rest in St Margaret’s Cemetery, Rochester, Kent.
