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The death of Ensign Alexander Jackson Clark, of the 55th Regt. now quartered in the Clarence Barracks, Portsmouth, occurred on Tuesday evening, after a few hours illness. An inquest was held on the following evening, before J. W. Cooper, Esq. to inquire into the circumstances, which were as follows. The deceased, who was 23 years of age, on the morning of Tuesday walked with a friend to Stubbington Lodge, near Hilsea, to be present at the meet of a pack of beagles, which belong to the officers of the 20th Regiment, at Portsea Barracks. Hunting commenced, and deceased was seen running, with others, across several fields until the hounds came to a check, when he was observed to be resting against a fence. The running was resumed until another pause occurred, when the deceased sat down on a bank by the roadside, the witness who detailed the evidence supposing he was tired. Deceased appears to have gone to the Coach and Horses, at Hilsea Green, where he was found by Staff Assistant-Surgeon Carson, who, whilst at Cosham, learnt the condition in which the deceased was, and immediately hurried to the house, where he found him labouring under every symptom of apoplexy. The usual remedies were applied, and the deceased was bled, and having rallied a little, was conveyed in a cab to his quarters, where Dr. Carson attended to him, with the regimental surgeon, until his death, which took place at seven in the evening. The Coroner, in summing up the evidence, remarked that it was seldom that a person so young, and in previous good health, was attacked with apoplexy, from which it was evident that death had resulted in this case. A verdict was returned accordingly.
— Hampshire Chronicle, Saturday 14 February 1863 source