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Source: Bell's Weekly Messenger (No.1831, Sunday, May 1, 1831.)

Caution to Ladies against
Tight Stay-lacing

On Tuesday evening an inquest was held before Mr. Baker, at the Rose-and-Crown, Stepney, on the body of Miss Betsey Harris, a fine young woman, about 22 years of age. It appeared that the deceased, who is the daughter of a respectable tradesman, ate a hearty dinner on Sunday, and was standing in the evening looking at the Moon, when she fell down, crying, "Oh, mamma." Assistance was immediately procured, but life was extinct. A surgeon opened the body, and was of opinion that her stays being extremely tightly laced, prevented the blood from flowing freely, and her food from digesting properly. It was proved by the sister that the stays of the deceased were very tightly laced, and that she was predisposed to apoplexy.— Verdict, "Died of apoplexy, caused by her stays being too tightly laced."

See also the following Stepney pages:

Stepney New Church (early 19th C.)

St. Dunstan at Stepney (1722)