Ghastly deeds in Atherstone

[mezentia]

I have found a reference that my gt gt gt grandfather, Richard Stonyer,  was "found in a ditch, robbed and murdered, by his son John. Atherstone, Warwickshire", with a date of 4 August 1853.

Since John's death didn't happen until many years later, 1886 to be precise, I assume Richard was found by John, and not murdered by him, otherwise John would probably have had a very sore neck 

I'm assuming that this incident might have apeared in a local newspaper. I've tried the Coventry Herald and Coventry Standard, but with no success. Richard is listed as living in Smestow near Wolverhampton - he was a Miller - and his death certificate was issued from Bromsgrove - I'm still waiting on a copy of that from the GRO. Has anyone any information about what other local papers were being printed c1853, and where I can get access to them? Also, does anyone know if there would be police records that might relate to crimes at that time, and where they could be accessed? I assume again that the police would have been informed and some enquiries would have taken place.

[mc8]

I tried Times online but nothing listed I'm afraid
Monique

[kate*k]

Warwick records office at http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk
have the Atherstone newspapers although they do say that the range is incomplete. 

The also have a prisoners database which sometimes give victims names as well as criminals.  That might be worth a look at.

The police records are also there but apparently hold little about criminals.

They do offer a research service is you can't get there yourself.

There is a book called "Warwickshire Murders" by Betty Smith,  I can't recall whether your folks are in it but I'll check for you this week-end if you like.

Strange being related to a murderer isn't it.  I've got an ancestor in my family who poisoned her husband.

Kate 

[jim1]

Bromsgrove is in Worcestershire,try this:
http://www.newsplan.co.uk/wm_newsplan/modules.php
Regards Jim

[mezentia]

First, can I say thanks to everyone who has replied. It’s really useful to get second opinions: even if they just confirm your own thoughts it shows that you’re probably on the right track.

I don’t think that we have a murderer in the family - sorry Kate. Clause analysis was never my strong point at school, but my reading of the quote is that “robbed and murdered” and “by his son John” are both adverbial clauses relating to Richard being found, and therefore John did the finding and not the murdering. My source had the quote in italics, so I assume he copied it verbatim from his source. Unfortunately, he’s (a) away on holiday and (b) lives in New Zealand, so I can’t confirm where he got his information from just yet. I have ordered Richard’s death certificate from the GRO, but that won’t arrive until the early part of April. If the details I have at the moment are accurate, then the certificate probably won’t be able to add anything more. If you can check your book, Kate, I'd appreciate it.

As far as newspaper reports go, the newspaper archives at the British Library in London suggested Warwick, Leamington Spa and Coventry papers, but are there local papers closer to where he lived that might be a better bet? I suspect that the likelihood of them carrying a report might depend on his status, on the basis that the higher up the social scale the more likely to get your death in the papers. However, I’m not sure exactly where Richard, as a miller, and his family, sit in that scale. Ill check your link, Jim, to see if that can provide any more help. I've already contacted Atherstone library and they have no local papers going back that far.

I live in Stourbridge, so I am quite close to Warwick, Worcester and Birmingham records centres. I hope to visit Worcester over Easter to check up on another branch of my tree, so I can also check any local Worcestershire papers at the same time. I too had identified that the chances of finding any information from police records seem remote, and hunting through lists of convicted criminals would only yield results if a culprit was found, tried and convicted. I assume that if found guilty the culprit would have been hanged, so lists of those executed might be a starting point, if any such lists are available in the public domain – does anyone know?

I must admit I’m quite surprised to find my Stonyer ancestors so close to home – Belbroughton, Compton, Tettenhall, Smestow – as most of my living relatives are from Yorkshire. Trips to a few local churchyards are in the offing to see if I can find any graves. If my experience around Cradley is anything to go by, though, there won’t be much to find. I felt quite distressed by the state of St Peter’s in Cradley, although I understand that there might be some money forthcoming soon to clean it up. In my opinion, the rate at which any available space is being used for housing these days means we should make every effort to prserve and maintain these precious green spaces in our urban communities, and not just out of respect for the dead. However, country churches seem to keep their graves in a better state of repair, so I might be lucky.

Regards

David