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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Lancashire => Topic started by: Candolim_Imp on Thursday 09 November 17 15:45 GMT (UK)
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Hello all,
I'm trying to track down some information on a road accident that took place over the weekend 8th-9th November 1947, in which a woman was killed and 11 others injured.
I have access to the newspaper archive through my Find My Past subscription, but countless searches have resulted in only one reference to the incident in the Aberdeen Press and Journal of 10th November 1947 (attached) which states that late on 9th November, detectives were still searching for the driver of the lorry that left a car park, lost control down a hill and crashed into a hotel.
The victim isn't named, but we know her to be 34 year old Catherine, known as Colebourn (recorded as Catherine C Coleburn and Catherine C Colbourne in the death register and Catherine Clare Colbourne and Colbowine on the burial register for 14th November at Ford Cemetery).
Catherine was the common-law wife of George Colebourn (we don't know of a marriage and there's no record found for one, despite the death & burial name). George had been torpedoed & killed at sea in WWII. Catherine had remained in George's household with his parents and siblings after his death (having been disowned by her family after she took up with George, who was black).
To celebrate her 11th birthday, my mother-in-law (George's youngest sister) had an arrangement to meet Catherine in Liverpool town centre. She got there to find the scene of the crash, but no sign of Catherine (who she assumed had let her down), so she returned home unaware that her aunt was at the centre of the crisis she'd witnessed. (Her account was that they were meeting at Lewis's, and that the lorry crashed into the front of the store, so there's a slight variance between this and the newspaper account)
The fact that there are no Liverpool publications in the archive managed by Find My Past for that period doesn't help (I have tried the National Newspaper Archive as well, but no sign).
This is a story we've known about for many years and I would really like to get to the bottom of the circumstances surrounding the accident and whether the driver was found (the lack of a marriage means I don't even have her maiden name). I assume there was an inquest and that this would likely have been reported in local papers.
Anyone got any creative ideas?
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Do you have her in the 1939 register, was she 'married' then :-\
Was she living with family then :-\
The British Newspaper Archive is administered by findmypast so records held are possibly the same
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I thought the 2 archives may well be the same, but thought it worth a shot if only in case the 2 search features were slightly different.
Catherine was living as wife to George in 1939 at 4 Claribel St, Toxteth - her birth date was 18th Feb 1913 (his family were Williams - he was an illegitimate child born in Toxteth Workhouse in 1911, 4 years before his mother, Catherine Colebourn, married Henry Williams).
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I'd be inclined to contact the Liverpool Records Office - whilst they do not have on-line access to The Liverpool Echo prior to 2001, I think they may have fiche copies of earlier editions. You can only ask the question ;)
Added: Or even contact The Liverpool Echo direct :-\
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Yeah, the record office will definitely cover the date for a number of publications - I just won't be able to get there for a number of weeks (realistically, probably not before January), so I was rather hoping there might be some obscure resource out there I could have a dig around in.
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Hi,
Apologies for the long link, but you may get a step for a hint in the Lancashire Police Records. (http://www.open.ac.uk/arts/research/policing/sites/www.open.ac.uk.arts.research.policing/files/files/ecms/arts-policing-pr/web-content/guide-to-police-archives.pdf)
Istrice
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That's a really interesting document.
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You may have seen this, but if not: Manchester Guardian, 10 Nov 1947. p5:
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Oohh. Not seen this. Where did you dig that up?
This is really helpful. Funny that it says it was at night (my mother in law was only 11, and I've always got the impression they were meeting during the day).
The hotel name helps to place the incident, too
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(the lack of a marriage means I don't even have her maiden name).
On freebmd there are only 13 Catherine C XXXX registered in the Mar 1913 quarter; 2 of them are in Lancashire [Salford & Fylde]. In Jun 1913 quarter there are 4 Catherine Cs in Lancashire - 2 of them in West Derby.
The Manchester newspaper report says 'night' but perhaps this only means it was after dark [quite early in November....]
Do you have the death certificate?
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I think I explored all the possible Catherines and I can't find any with her middle name confirmed (having another try today).
We don't have a death certificate - it was probably amongst the stash of family papers stolen held by my partner's uncle and stolen in a break in many years ago.
I could order it, though I doubt it will give me any further information. I'm quite surprised by the Stanley Rd reference in the article. As the family lived in Toxteth, I'd assumed the Stanley Rd address would turn out to be her family's (who perhaps buried her in a fit of conscience). Unless they took possession of her body immediately after she died.
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of the 2 west derby Catherines, C Anderson died the following year, so I'm exploring Catherine C Beck
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I'm exploring Catherine C Beck
Can't find a marriage 1920 onwards or death up to 1947, though perhaps middle initial wasn't used.
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I'm exploring Catherine C Beck
Can't find a marriage 1920 onwards or death up to 1947, though perhaps middle initial wasn't used.
Maybe she married later in life :-\
Marriage Dec qtr 1952
BECK Catherine C
WILLIAMS John G
Liverpool N. 10d 269
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Ah, could be.
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After hours of following the Catherine Beck lead, I finally found (through the GRO index) that her middle name was Christian (her mother's maiden name), not Claire - so I'm back to the drawing board
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OK - working my way through all the Catherines - the only Liverpool one comes up as Catherine Clare Blackshaw (Mother Downey), but registered in the December quarter. According to the '39 register, she was born in Feb. Could she have been registered late? or perhaps whoever filled in her details in '39 got her birthday wrong
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Catherine C Blackshaw birth date 10 Sep 1913 -died June qtr 1982 as Blundell
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Does your Mother in Law remember whether Catherine had an accent - was she definitely from Liverpool or could she have been from Ireland/somewhere else?
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Really not sure if this would work, but looking at George's Merchant Navy documents on FindMyPast, it seems his insurance company was Seamen's National Insurance Society. I wonder whether his paperwork survives in an archive somewhere, and whether he mentioned Catherine as his beneficiary (and in which case, may have had to state her maiden name??)
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Good lateral thinking SM... ;)
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Might be worth a punt, though I think his parents were listed as his next of kin, as we're led to believe they received the telegrams informing them of his death.
As for Catherine's origins- my MiL never mentioned any non-local accent or knowledge of a different birthplace, but sadly we can no longer check, as she died a couple of years ago
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George was living at 65 Upper Warwick St Liverpool on his death record
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George was living at 65 Upper Warwick St Liverpool on his death record
Yes. They lived there until the 70s (my partner grew up there)