I have happily, stumbled across these postings about the Dreadnought.
My husband's GGGGrandfather, Thomas Rutherford, was "DD" from this hulk on October 21st 1832. I had puzzled about the very flowery DD, but' discharged dead' does make sense, as he was buried in a local church almost immediately. He was admitted from his ship, 'Resolution', which had sailed out of South Shields, and died, it says of rheumatism. More like, cholera, as there was an outbreak at the time. He had a wife and family in South Shields, and had been a ship's carpenter in the mercantile service for 16 years.
I wonder if there would be any information about :-
a) The Resolution
b) How did his wife discover he was dead and how was it she was able to describe herself as 'ind' - independent. Would there have been any sort of regular support for her and her children?
c) To which court would Mrs R apply for probate?
