No Death certs found for the Woolley Brothers

[kellysmith1976]

Hi, Im hoping you can help me with a Family Tragedy, I've been researching my family tree for years, and have only just discovered this incident.

I was looking for death certificates, and i discovered 2 brothers were buried on the same day.
OSBORNE WOOLLEY aged 12, and his brother WILLIAM WOOLLEY aged 9.. ( My 2 X Great Uncles)

No death certs have been found, there is none listed.. then after further trawling through online burial records, I have found WILLIAM WOOLLEY aged 44, their father was buried 2 days later..
 (of course i could have the williams mixed up and the father could have been buried first).

I found they all drowned.. this was the only information on the Kent Burials.

So all the Information i have is.. On the 30th MAY 1858, In The Parish of Milton, Next Sittingbourne, Kent, OSBORNE WOOLLEY & WILLIAM WOOLLEY are buried.. Then on 2nd JUNE 1858 WILLIAM WOOLLEY was buried.. Same church

There are no death certs for any of them. ( of course wooley has many different spellings) There are no newspaper articles, well nothing i can find..

The saddest part for me is my 2 X Great Grandad was born in Feb 1858.. His poor mother, having a 3month old baby, losing 2 sons and a husband... its awful..

Ive contacted local archives, and am awaiting their reply.. I was wondering if any of you lovely people could help in the meantime!

Thanks for reading x

[Milliepede]

I wonder where they drowned 

Thinking if they were out at sea maybe the deaths would be under the "deaths at sea" register?
Worth a look if that hasn't been checked already 

[kellysmith1976]

Nothing on Deaths at sea register..
They must have died fairly local, to have been buried.. they must have found the bodies.. which is why i think it very odd, that there are no death certs...

[cemetery friends]

The death of a William Wolley was recorded in the June Q 1858 in the Dartford civil registration district. Possibly the death would be registered in the area where the body was found or coroner's inquest held and the family then had the burial in their local parish? This was possibly the father and this does not supply the answer for the boys. Although coroner's records are very patchy and often weeded down before going to record offices but have you tried a search of coroner's inquests?

[kellysmith1976]

Thats interesting.. but where are the boys death records?...
I have searched online the newspapers.. for inquest.. i have contacted kent archives to ask if they have the coroners reports for the year..

[Megran]

Just found the William WOLLEY on Free BMD, the page number is down as 1[5_] more or less illegible on the scan. Maybe the registry office would check this time frame one for you. Are you able to phone them? Have you been in touch with the KENT Family History Society or if you are a member a help wanted in their Journal may bring a response.
Regards,
Megran.

[cemetery friends]

I think that the answer may be that the two boys were unidentified when the bodies were discovered. On the Dartford registrations on freeBMD [JuneQ 1858] there are two Unknown Males recorded. This suggests the father William may have been discovered a few days later and was identified as such. It was possibly at the inquest that it was established that they were a family and taking into account the very advanced pregnancy of the widow the substitution of their names on the "Unknown" registrations was overlooked at the time.

It would be fair to point out that coastal counties do get bodies washed ashore so there is no certainty that the ones recorded were Osborne or William but it appears likely. In particular the bodies were described as Male and the alternative Infant or Child would have been more useful to you.

[kellysmith1976]

arr ok that makes sense..
wish i could find something in the newspapers ... ive looked and nothing fits...
Thank you though...

[kellysmith1976]

I ordered the death cert for William wolley in dartford 1858... and its not my man...
so all i know is

William Woolley aged 42, was buried with his 2 sons, Osborne aged 12, and William aged 9..on 30th May 1858... All 3 drowned..

I can find nothing... no trace in newspaper archive... no trace on death registers... what next?.. help!