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General => The Common Room => Topic started by: GRACELAND on Friday 17 December 04 17:33 GMT (UK)
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A sad Tale ,,
A Young girl born in Essex Works as a nurse ,Before meeting a man some how from the little village of Leintwardine in Herefordshire .
They Marry and move to Gloucester and settle down in the poor westend of the city a very poor slum type area then late 1870s ,
Well they settled down and had a family of five children then another but he dies after just five days .
Well a few years passes by then the husband gets ill
He dies in 1895 of enteric fever ,,
So a a little while passes by and she remarries and settles
down again a stones throw from where she lived before still in same bad conditions but she take on four more children another on of these dies a bit latter !
The sons from firs husband go to war another one dies !
Then later she becomes ill and is in bed for a while when the Dr is called to see her an appointment is made to see a Dr at the hosp ,
She is told of a growth in her stomach ,And would need an operation . This put her in a panic thinking i suppose of her first husband !
So she went home ,,
Then on the 17 night of October She Wrote a short note
And put it on the mantle piece and walked down the garden into
the river ......
She was found next morning !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That lady was my Great Granmother ,,,,,,,,
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Worried by need for operation,
The city coroner Mr G Trevor Wellington held an inquest at the Royal infirmary on Friday on Elizabeth Jane Jones Age 56 The wife of Charles James Jones ,
Of 1 Foresters yard Westgate Glos
Deceased husband a gen laborer said he and his wife had always lived on happy terms .
During the past month she had been attended by Dr Graham For a growth in the stomach she had also been seen by Dr Terry at THE hospital.
Who advised an Op !
This greatly worried the deceased but she had never made any threat too take her life .
On the eve of Oct 17th He went to bed at 9pm,
Leaving deceased down stairs to wait for their son ,at midnight he missed her from the bed room .
So went to look for her but could not find her .
So went to police station .
At 6.30 the following morning he found her in the river Severn near to Westgate bridge ..
The police recovered the body the family were badly off as witness had been out of work for soom time Stanley Jones (son 18) corroborated his fathers story .
Dr G ,Stated the deceased had been in his care for a month .
She had signs of abdominal tumour probably of malignant nature .
He last seen her on 25 th Sept
She was evidently worried and depressed and generally in a low state of health .
The coroner recorded a verdict of Found drowned .............
The Gloucester Citizen Oct 21 1922 .............................
News paper clip poor pic sorry !
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A very sad story indeed Mr. G.
Jill
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The note she left read,
don't get any black for me,
bury me in a paupers grave ...
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Oh Graceland - what can I say? Poor woman.
Jill
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That is truly tragic Graceland. We all feel for her.
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Oh, how sad.
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You must feel terribly sad G, as she was your great grandmother, and therefore part of you, and she must had been in awful torment and pain to take her own life. I shall say a little prayer for her and ask the Angels to look after her and care for her.
Su
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Sorry for the sad story at this time of year but i thought it was very interesting .
Thank all ! Su thanks for the little prayer !
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very sad, graceland, and how clever of you to have found out all the information, and paper work, it cant have been easy, but it was worth it i am sure, even though it is so tragic, best regards. nora
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Graceland,
It was a very heart touching story, your sadness is shared by all who have a sincere feeling for those tragedies present and past. Dont worry about the story in this holiday season as I feel that this celebration of this season is what your story is all about, caring for oneanother.
Tallted
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Thanks for that reply tallted ! :)
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Hi Graceland
very sad, but very interesting also. :-\
May I ask? where did they bury her?
jax
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Don't be sad Mr. G :'( , we ALL love you, and Elvis of course! You make our day when we read your and Hack etc. comments to cheer us up. :)
I think all of us in the West should be thankful for our higher standard of living, and healthcare, than our ancestors a hundred years ago. Especially at Xmas we should remember those elsewhere (and close to home too) who are not so fortunate. :o
Buy a goat for the Sudan, do that charity work, give an Xmas box, put a few coins in a collection box......we can, and do, make a difference.
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Yes Jax , she was buried in a unmarked grave in Tredworth Gloucester !!
Also Thanks Geoff for your kind comments !!
As its Christmas and we all take time to visit are living rellies :D When i told them of the above story i have not long uncovered no-one new any thing about it .
Do you think its because ,
Things like this are not talked about ?
Brushed under the carpet hushed up etc ?
So the information never carried on down the family ??
What do you think ?
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All it needs is one generation to "hush up" some incident whether its an untimely death or an unwanted birth and the generations that follow after that have no inkling at all.
We have to remember that for certain generations "class" and social position counted for a great deal no matter at which end of the social spectrum you found yourself.
Unfortunately the only person who could tell us more is not with us .... perhaps both the story and MORE importantly the person herself should now be remembered and her life celebrated.
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Graceland,
I think it has to be a combination of different reasons. There are those who would not wish to talk about such things because it would stir sad emotions, others would feel shame, some might just regard it as another death and there would be those who didn't think anyone would be interested. Whatever their reasons you now have the knowledge to pass to your son and it will hopefully never be forgotten again.
Jill
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:) Good point there Jill,
I think things should be talked about more then we may learn more from our past mistakes !
OK so the motto of this story is always look up a corners report if you can as they are very interesting !
But remember there a closure date on them !
Further to this also found out that she was insured !!! :-X :-X
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How on earth did you manage to find that out Mr. G? I'm just curious!
Jill
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:o
Yes i missed this bit,
on the first page of the corners report it say
Was the life of the deceased insured and in what office,
answer : YES PRUDENTIAL.
:-X
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:( Unfortunately it was unlikely that the insurance company ever paid out .... suicides are usually excluded.
Although that could be an interesting sideline to follow .... you could "Do a Clarkson" and hunt for the money. :-\ :-X
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yea ;D Thanks ;D
To Finish this story
Thought i would show you all the old Westgate Bridge (now replaced by a modern one a long side it )
And the area of the River Severn Where the Lady lived ,
Houses now long gone !!
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Hi Graceland,
I can truly understand how you feel. I have just discovered that my grandfather committed suicide also. My grandmother only told my mother just before she died, and my mother only told me when I started to seach the family history.
We all thought he died of a brain tumour when he was 26. but he cut his wrists. Whether he had the tumour too I don't know, but I am desperate to find out. I am trying to get the inquest papers for this but don't know if 1937 is allowed.
He was a pharmaceutical chemist, and as my daughter is doing chemistry at university I said - "you are taking after your great-grandfather". Not in everything I hope !
It is so sad to find this in your history - I had no idea at all.
I hope this will be the only sad thing we find.
Mary
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that is so sad, we should all be grate :'(ful fo what we have nowadys. :'(
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<Snipped>
He was a pharmaceutical chemist, <snipped>
Pharmaceutical chemist - Do you mean he became a Pharmacist?
If so there is a useful fact sheet on tracing Pharmacists
http://www.rpsgb.org.uk/pdfs/tracing.pdf
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain - http://www.rpsgb.org.uk did
not fom until about 1840. The Society's archives may well have some details, but
you will need to provide more information, and they charge approx £25.00 for
research.
Also you might be able find him in some Directories
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Hi Graceland,
I can truly understand how you feel. I have just discovered that my grandfather committed suicide also. My grandmother only told my mother just before she died, and my mother only told me when I started to search the family history.
YES its strange how the relatives try to cover things up hide it away so it will fade from history
Yes it is a sad story but interesting and it gives us now a picture to look back on ,and be thankfull for what we now have nowadays :)
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:D
Just Bumping this up as someone had job finding :D
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Hi Graceland
Not sure as to why although taking your our life was frowned upon hence being buried in an un-marked grave usually at the corner of the Churchyard.
I have 2 suicides in my family that I have details of.
One relative drowned himself in the River Nene near Irthlingborough after being married only 6 weeks.
The other relative went into the woods and slit his throat and his inquest says that they thought he had Religious Mania.
The reports are informative but as you say the fact that is our own relative(s) means that we may know more about them because of the detailed newspaper report or so sadly in your case the note left by your gt grand-mother broadens the picture of how the times were in their day.
Sandy
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Hi Graceland
Not sure as to why although taking your our life was frowned upon hence being buried in an un-marked grave usually at the corner of the Churchyard.
I have 2 suicides in my family that I have details of.
One relative drowned himself in the River Nene near Irthlingborough after being married only 6 weeks.
The other relative went into the woods and slit his throat and his inquest says that they thought he had Religious Mania.
The reports are informative but as you say the fact that is our own relative(s) means that we may know more about them because of the detailed newspaper report or so sadly in your case the note left by your gt grand-mother broadens the picture of how the times were in their day.
Sandy
Did you find all the info about It???
In papers Etc ,, And No Note left ??
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Mine were in the late 1880's.
No notes left that any of us are aware of.
Have the Inquest report of the 2nd and Newspaper report of the 1st one.
Sandy
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How times change! I remember my Mum and my Nan talking about the death of a neighbour when I was very young. The lady died of cancer, the "Cword" being whispered as if it was something to be ashamed of!
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Hello Graceland,
I have just found this post, so sad but so interesting, glad that you managed to research her life and that you found her burial. I found a suicide in my husbands family, he was hospitalised with depression as out of work, jumped from the window (30ft) of the hospital at night, walked to the river in his bare feet (fulham to barnes)and struck himself in the throat with an iron spike. He was found the next morning, I couldn't find the coroners report but found a newspaper report of the inquest, he died in hospital.
Headline -STRANGE TOWING PATH TRAGEDY
Three Attempts at Suicide
Remarkable escape from an Infirmary
The jury returned a verdict of "Suicide whilst temporarily insane".
Which is important as it meant he could be buried in consecrated ground (this info from Valda)
Newbie
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Newbie. a interesting story , he must have really wanted to go, so sad .. :'(
thanks for sharing :)
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Life was not easy Years ago for the poor :'(
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It has been very moving to read this thread. Some years ago one of the villagers where I live commit suicide. He did not leave a note, he was not ill, he did not appear to have any depression etc. I actually saw him two hours before he went missing and he seemed perfectly normal. His death absolutely devastated his family, his wife , son and daughter and the son eventually had a mental breakdown. I think it would have helped if he had left a note - the 'not knowing why' has haunted all of us who knew him.
Cathy
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How very sad. How in the world did you get the note?
Kath
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:D
All the Info above was found in The Gloucester Records Office With the note !
So Keep Visiting theses Places Well worth it
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a very sad story, but, maybe it's me, isn't this one reason we do what we do? to find out these family tales and preserve them. i find them almost as satisfying as knocking down a wall.
stephen
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I agree Stephen. I also find some satisfaction in thinking that they would be happy when one of their descendants has gotten out of bad situations and done better than they themselves did. I feel like in doing my research I am letting my illegitmate gr gr grandmother, who went from total poverty to a possibility of happiness, only to die at 24 in childbirth, know that we care and have achieved what she would have wanted for us, and more.
Kath
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couldn't have said it better myself, kath
well put
steve
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;)
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I believe we all have a thirst for finding out our own past that of our Ancestors and it makes it even better when we know its our relations were finding and knowing what they got up to.
Robbers ,Thieves ,Murders, Rich ,Poor Suicide victim ETC
All the above make the story even more interesting to us the researcher .
So if we do find one of the above we research it in more detail .
And although it was sad or nasty or you were a shamed of that person it was still a Joy to find all the info ..
We are all Detectives searching for or Ancestors ;)
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hi all ive been watching this sad thread with interest
and thought id add mine :'(
my grandmother told me that her grandfather had hung himself
in the kitchen ,she was told by her mother , a friend of my gg grandfather asked him to put down a dog ,a bull dog
to which he did with an axe (cruel yes, but in the context of a small hard mining village in 1926 )
this then played on his mind so much he couldnt sleep and had constent pain all over his body he then threatened to throw himself under a train ,then tried to kill himself in the outside toilet
but was found , his wife by all accounts was not a nice person ,
they had 7 daughters to which he constantly told them as soon as your old enough get married and get away from her
then one night had had got up and gone downs stairs my gg grand mother went down and bought him back to bed
again he went down stairs this time she left him
in the morning she woke her eldest daughter (my great grandmother aged 18) and sent her downstairs , she found her father hanging by a hook on the kitchen door ,she suffered with nerves for the rest of her life and a sad twist is at the time she was about 2 months preganant with my grandmother
a few years ago i found a newspaper article on it and was amazed how accurate the account my grandmother had told me
,apart from the dog bit
gig
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Gig,
Very sad story. And your poor great-grandmother. It almost seems as if gg granny knew and didn't want to be the one to find him.
Kath
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hi kath
yes it seems she did know, my grandmother always refers to her as the evil witch :o and told me in later life she moved in with a widower ,when he died she got the house his money and even forced his son to pay for the new roof they were having at the time :o
my great grand mother was a loverly woman always had a smile a hug and a sweet for me , she passed when i was 13
gig
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that is interesting. My husband has one of those in his family too. His great-grandmother was supposedly a nasty piece of work. When my husband's grandfather was in the service, he sent home money to be put in a bank account that he had set up. She spent every last dime of her son's money and never looked back. I never met my husband's grandfather, but Rob says he was a sweet man, and everyone who knew the shrew's husband says he was wonderful. ???
Kath
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Hello everyone, my very beginning on the family tree obsession began because of a suicide, about 5 years ago my partner came home from work, he is an electrician, in a empty house that he had been working in that day, under the floorboards he found a newspaper , in the memorandoms was a double death a husband and wife,he brought the paper home because the surname was the same as mine. this was the start of my interest, I found that the wife had committed suicide by going into the river at Washingbourgh, a few days earlier her husband had died of suspected poisoning. from that small notice , that had been hidden under floorboards to this moment in time, I have learnt alot and met a lot of nice people , and of course all you lot as well. Eilleen.
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Were the people in the newspaper relations?
Kath
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Yes Kath, the gentleman was Bertie Exton, and he and my granddad Tom were brothers. his line died out because he and his wife had no children. Eilleen.
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What a coincidence that your partner found that paper. It was an sign for you to start our family research. ;D
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:D
Bumping this up for someone
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I have a report of a suicide in my family
I have posted about it on rootschat before
I have no date or location. I twas my grandmother's aunt, Mary Jane Clarke.
It seems to be after 1901. There is a letter from Mary Jane still in the family, at a time when she had just returned home after a while. She wrote to my grandmother how "it was a mistake coming home, and Ellen has turned everyone against me". This letter was in 1880's. She talked about going to Malvern.
She was born in Oundle, she was working as a housekeepr in different Kent Schools on the last two censuses. So no idea where she may have done this deed, if indeed it did happen.
Bob
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A sad Tale ,,
A Young girl born in Essex Works as a nurse ,Before meeting a man some how from the little village of Leintwardine in Herefordshire .
They Marry and move to Gloucester and settle down in the poor westend of the city a very poor slum type area then late 1870s ,
Well they settled down and had a family of five children then another but he dies after just five days .
Well a few years passes by then the husband gets ill
He dies in 1895 of enteric fever ,,
So a a little while passes by and she remarries and settles
down again a stones throw from where she lived before still in same bad conditions but she take on four more children another on of these dies a bit latter !
The sons from firs husband go to war another one dies !
Then later she becomes ill and is in bed for a while when the Dr is called to see her an appointment is made to see a Dr at the hosp ,
She is told of a growth in her stomach ,And would need an operation . This put her in a panic thinking i suppose of her first husband !
So she went home ,,
Then on the 17 night of October She Wrote a short note
And put it on the mantle piece and walked down the garden into
the river ......
She was found next morning !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That lady was my Great Granmother ,,,,,,,,
-
Foresters yard Westgate Glos
Deceased husband a gen laborer said he and his wife had always lived on happy terms .
During the past month she had been attended by Dr Graham For a growth in the stomach she had also been seen by Dr Terry at THE hospital.
Who advised an Op !
This greatly worried the deceased but she had never made any threat too take her life .
On the eve of Oct 17th He went to bed at 9pm,
Leaving deceased down stairs to wait for their son ,at midnight he missed her from the bed room .
So went to look for her but could not find her .
So went to police station .
At 6.30 the following morning he found her in the river Severn near to Westgate bridge ..
The police recovered the body the family were badly off as witness had been out of work for soom time Stanley Jones (son 18) corroborated his fathers story .
Dr G ,Stated the deceased had been in his care for a month .
She had signs of abdominal tumour probably of malignant nature .
He last seen her on 25 th Sept
She was evidently worried and depressed and generally in a low state of health .
The coroner recorded a verdict of Found drowned .............
The Gloucester Citizen Oct 21 1922 .............................
News paper clip poor pic sorry !
~~~~~~~~
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Just Bumping this up