EUREKA MOMENT
When Adrian Wander found a mysterious death, he thought he’d never know the truth, but help came from the WDYTYA Forum, he tells Claire Vaughan
Adrian Wander thought that he’d never solve his death certificate mystery, until the WDYTYA? forum came to his aid, Claire Vaughan learns
How long have you been doing your family history?
I started researching my family tree about eight years ago when my partner and I started thinking about a family. I thought it would be good to be able to tell our children where they had come from and what made them who they are. Our son came along in 2010. When he was young, the family history research got put on the back burner, but earlier last year I picked it up again.
What had you managed to uncover before hitting your brick wall?
I had progressed well on a number of lines of the family. The earliest records I have traced are from before the Civil War on my wife’s side of the family: Thomas Beare, son of Edward Beare, who was baptised in Lavenham in Suffolk on 16 July 1637. Of course, not all the family lines have progressed so well and I’ve hit several brick walls. One concerned John Ward, my wife’s 3x great grandfather. He was born in around 1826 and was a shoe maker by trade and spent most of his life in the Poulton-le-Fylde area of Lancashire. I have managed to trace him on the 1851, 1861 and 1871 census in Poulton, although by 1881 he was in Blackpool where, a few years later, I discovered he’d met his death. So far I have not found him on the 1841 census. He married Elizabeth Pearson in Marton, Lancashire, on 17 May 1848 and the couple went on to have at least five children.
John’s death certificate revealed that he’d died on 25 March 1885 from an accidental injury to the bowel. Clearly there was a story to uncover. Preliminary investigations didn’t turn up anything. I knew many coroners’ records hadn’t survived, so I wasn’t expecting to find much.
What was stopping you from progressing your research?
I knew from the death certificate that an inquest had been held. The problem was how to find coroners’ records or reports for Lancashire? When I started my family history research I lived in Cheshire, so would have visited the archives, but I am now in Hampshire so a speculative trip to the Lancashire Archives with no guarantee of success is a big investment of time.
How had you tried to solve it previously?
I have previously uncovered the results of inquests from local papers. For example, I discovered a lot about my great great grandmother Frances Roberts née Allen who died on 7 December 1915 after throwing herself into the river Trent, from the Nottingham Evening News and Nottingham Guardian. So, of course, my first port of call was the British Newspaper Archives. However a search showed nothing that looked relevant. I therefore put another request on the WDYTYA Forum having had so much help with a query I posted about another ancestor, Rose Eliza Brown.
What was your eureka moment?
The initial responses to location of Lancashire coroners’ records confirmed my feeling that very little survived. I was then contacted by Jon Bauckham from Who Do You Think You
Are? Magazine, who told me that a researcher had found a report of the inquest of John Ward in a local paper – and that he would be in touch with me when he had more information to share.
How did it solve your problem?
A few days later a scan of the paper was emailed to me! The last few lines were unreadable but the contributor had typed those lines out for me. This revealed that John had gone to the Albert Hotel in Blackpool at 7am on Monday morning. It appears that a great deal of drinking went on. When they left the hotel around 8: 30am, John fell over and several people fell on top of him. The inquest heard that he died of a rupture of the intestines caused by the crush. The fact that John was in the pub at 7am on a Monday morning paints an interesting picture of his character.
How did you feel when you discovered the solution?
I was delighted to have found out what happened and to have added the story to the family history. I was also amazed yet again at the time that other researchers are willing to devote to helping. Clearly the researcher had gone to the record office to pursue his own research but had taken time out to look for a solution to my problem, to scan the paper and even to type out sections which were unreadable. People are so generous!
Did you discover anything else interesting along the way?
Well, everything in family history is interesting! I think the biggest learning experience with the story of John Ward has been how much detail and interest local papers can add to your research. Of course, each discovery opens up more challenges. I still need to find Rose Eliza in 1881!
What would your advice be to other family historians who hit an obstacle on their family tree?
Try as many sources as possible. When you have tried everything you can think of, try asking. A fresh pair of eyes can often help and the contributors to the WDYTYA Forum are knowledgeable, helpful and often willing to help! It may help you break down that difficult brick wall as it has me.
The last few lines were unreadable, but the contributor had typed those out