May 30, 1903

A PAINFUL feeling was caused in Redditch on Tuesday afternoon on the rumour gaining currency that an employee of the Enfield Cycle Company had been killed in a motor accident.

Subsequent enquiries, however, led to the conclusion that the sad affair was not the result of accident but of heart disease, which proved to be correct.

The unfortunate man was William Smithson, a native of Coventry and 38 years of age, residing at Easemore Road.

On Tuesday afternoon, he took a motor bicycle to test it on the Birmingham Road and at a few minutes past four was found lying unconscious near a bend on the Birmingham Road about a mile from the town.

He was conveyed to Redditch as quickly as possible but was found to be extinct and he was removed to the mortuary.