I contacted the Pontefract libary via email and within a few days they got back to me with the newspaper article transcript for the inquest into the death of my great uncle.
The article transcript is as follows:
"Pontefract Angler Drowned - Fishing in River Went at Sykehouse. A Pontefract family was bereaved on Saturday when William Parish (30) miner, of 179 Willow Park, was discovered drowned in the River Went at Sykehouse, where he had been fishing with his father-in-law.At the inquest, on Tuesday, conducted by the Doncaster District Coroner (Mr WH Carlile), Thomas Tasker, of Pontefract, said he and his son-in-law cycled to Sykehouse, where they fished all day. At 4.45 pm when he asked Parish about going home, Parish said "Let's wait a bit dad, the fish are just beginning to bite." They remained for another hour, when Tasker said he went along to see Parish about packing up and going home. He found his son-in-law lying on his right side in about two and a half feet of water.The witness said he pulled Parish out of the water and left him on the bank, and sent a motorcyclist six miles to fetch the police. Tasker added that he was unable to apply artificial respiration. Parish had fits but the witness had only once seen him in one. Parish had not complained of any illness, but his hands were clenched when he was pulled out.Janet Parish, the widow, said it was 13 months since her husband had had a fit, and she remembered him having only one previous to that occasion. They had been married for seven years, and he had never had a doctor during that time. He had no troubles, was working regularly, and was perfectly happy.Police Constable England said he and PC Goodman found Parish with his head on the river bank, and his feet in the water. They tried artificial respiration for an hour and a half without avail. Meantime Dr Waters, of Stainforth, was summoned, and he applied artificial respiration, but the man was dead. There were no marks of violence, and no signs of a struggle. The side of the bank was greasy, and it could be seen that the man had slipped down. the watch in his possession had stopped at 6.10 pm, and started again when it was pulled out of his pocket.Dr Waters said there was nothing to indicate that the man had had a fit. The police constables had done everything they possibly could in the way of artificial respiration.In reply to the coroner, who asked whether it would have been possible to save the man's life if artificial respiration had been tried earlier, Dr Waters said there might have been a chance in a properly equipped hospital ward, where there were stimulants, but not on a cold river bank.The coroner highly commended the constables for their endeavours to bring the man round. He recorded a verdict of "Found drowned" and said there was nothing to show how the man came to be in the river."
So sad
.
