Walter Williams, drowned aged 12 Llanelly (c.1881/2), reappeared 9 years later?

[kob3203]

There's an intriguing story about my great grandfather Walter Williams, from Llanelly (Edit: just to be clear - the big town in Carmarthenshire, officially respelt as Llanelli in 1974, not one of the villages of the same name).

"When he was around 12 years old he went to the beach for the day and never returned. Everyone thought he had drowned. Apparently they had a memorial for him, but since his body was never found there was no burial.
Around nine years later (aged 21) he apparently knocked on his parents door and said he was home! It turns out that he had actually jumped ship, worked as a cabin boy, and travelled around the world."

My first thought was that this was rather a fanciful story, but my father says the 'running away from home" bit actually rings a bell. The nine year period in question would also fit between the 1881 census (where he's in Llanelly with his parents) and the 1891 census (where he's in Llanelly again, recently married with a new-born son).

Any suggestions for records that might prove the truth of this story?

Pete

P.S. I can't find any likely match for a death in the BMD records. But would a death have been officially recorded if there was no body? And what would happen when the person showed up again?

[kob3203]

Update to the story, from one of Walter's grandchildren:

"...apparently he stayed on the ship for a while then ended up in Portugal where he worked squeezing grapes..."

Unfortunately no 1880s Portugueuse Grape-Squeezers directory to look at to check this!   

[Morganllan]

Hello

It's great when you get family stories to flesh out the bare bones we have from BMD and census info! 

I'm not sure whether a death would be recorded if no body was found 
You could check with the local register office but on freebmd the only 12 year old death of a Walter Williams in Llanelly was over a decade later.

Apparently Llanelli Library has a very detailed card index to "Llanelly Guardian" newspaper so it may be worth contacting them to see if they can help.

Best wishes
Morgan

[Redroger]

In the absence of other information a news story is the only realistic hope. Shades of Reginald perrin etc.

[kob3203]

Thanks Morgan, redroger,

Llanelly library looks like a good place for a little bit of research into any newspaper stories then. I'll include that in my next trip to the UK mid/late 2011.

Pete

[toni*]

if a person is missing for 7 years they can be officially declared dead
and i think a certificate issued from a coroner for monetary / insurance  purposes after all a death certificate acts as a licence for the undertake to dispose of a body if there was no body to dispose off then they wouldn't require a certificate but if he had money in trust funds for example these wouldn't be able to be accessed without proof he had died hence the need for the certificate from the coroner which would state no body was found

[toni*]

here is a copy of the death certificate for John Darwin aka Canoe man' who went 'missing' at sea in his canoe in order to be declared dead and for his wife to claim the insurance and so they could live in Panama
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/12/06/quote-reacting-to-a-breathtaking-betrayal/

[kob3203]

I managed a short visit to Llanelli Library when I was in the UK earlier this year.

I had a look through the card index, as morganllan suggested, for anything relating to a Walter Williams between around 1880 and 1890. No luck.

So it looks like this story is going to remain just that - a story, which may or may not have a basis in truth.

[Bilge]

Have you done a trawl through the Welsh mariners site?

http://www.welshmariners.org.uk/index.php