Genealogy Chat

great news lyla, it feels great doesn't it? ...MOE!

GOOD NEWS. I have been to Colindale today and found the story. It was in the local paper a few days after his death. The coroner must have had a bit of a backlog if he didnt get round to registering it for 5 months. YIPPEEE. Just goes to show you should NEVER give up!

Hi Gwyneth Yes, it's on my 'to do' list if I can ever get to Buckinghamshire. He supposedly died in Soulbury but I have already had that one checked and he is also not on the NBI. His family lived in Stoke Hammond so I'm hoping he might be buried there or in Aylesbury where the coroners inquest was held. I have recently been looking through some London burial registers and it always makes me very sad to see so many entries such as 'man unknown'. I wonder if that's why there is such a big gap before the coroners report? Maybe he too is an unknown who was identified at a later date? Lyla

Have you found his burial record in the parish registers? Living near the coast, I have seen many burials recorded of people who have drowned. Sometimes there is additional information, eg.name of ship which ran aground, suggested nationality if identity is unknown. I remember seeing a burial record of an unknown man and then some months later a margin note was added saying that he was ( name ) and had been identified by his watch and chain and clothing, at a later date. It might be worth a look.

Hi Brenda Yes I wondered that too. Perhaps she was able to support herself with the dressmaking? In 1861 Mary Ann is living next door to her parents and in 1871 aged 40 she is living with her widowed mother and her widowed brother who is only 39. What a tragic family? Her only child (my great grandmother) aged 15 is by this time living with another of Mary Ann's brothers and his family in London. Lyla

Thanks everyone. All the newspapers that I have had checked were by various records offices in Bucks/Beds/Herts - he lived on the border. I will check them all myself when I go to the National Library as I just can't believe there is no mention of it. I have another 'Found Drowned' who had a whole page dedicated to his story in 1849. His father was a lock keeper all his life but in 1851 Abednego was down as a potato dealer so perhaps he just helped his father out on the lock? I was wondering if his widow would have claimed some kind of parish relief if she was left with a young child. I just don't know what sort of records if any this would be recorded in. Lyla

as i have exhausted all records at my Local library for my family, i have started going through the newspapers, (starting 1840) week by week and there are hundreds of reports of drownings in them, i would be highly suprised that there was no reports of this in the local papers, i would have another look, iam sure there will be somthing there some ware, i have on occasion missed somthing and gone back looked again and found it , a relative of mine was drowned at Warrington in the River Mersey, in 1878 i went to Warrington Library from Derbyshire and found 2 articles on him one reporting the drowning and the other covering the inquest, there was nothing about it in the paper local to Alfreton, Derbyshire were he came from, the coroner issued his death certificate.

LYLA< found him. didn't notice you said the coroner had written the death cert, anyway he is down as jan/feb/mar 1858, so the one you have is right, can't think of anymore places you could go for info....<good luck>MOE!

Lyla, do you have his death cert?this would help you with dates and who found him ect, i have looked on 1837online and can't find him on OCT 1857, will have alook at the other images, these are all free if you want to look yourself... MOE!

Lyla What a fantastic name! I have to say that if you have found nothing in the local papers, there probably isn't much else to find. Presumably he was found dead with no indication of whether he killed himself or fell accidentally, or was pushed. The date of his death could be a mistake,but I suppose if he'd been missing for 5 months there might be a mention of it somewhere. Apart from anything else, they would have had to find someone else to act as lock-keeper. Without a newspaper report its hard to know how they would have identified him - maybe by his clothes? nell

Any ideas on what else I could look at would be greatly appreciated. Lyla

My 2xgreat grandfather Abednego Seabrook was “Found Drowned” in Buckinghamshire and I’m at a loss where to look to find out more information. There are no surviving coroners reports and I have had all the area newspapers searched around the date of the coroners inquest. (Going to the National Library in a few weeks time to check them myself). His death cert states he was a lock-keeper so last time I was at Kew I looked through the minutes of the canal company and although there were lots of drownings reported, mine wasn’t there. The odd thing is that the coroner signed the death cert in Feb 1858 but put the date of death as Oct 1857. Does that mean the body wasn’t found for 5 months? If so how would they identify him or where/when would he have been reported missing? Would the parish hold any record of it? He was only 27 and left a wife and daughter.