My gg grandfather, Robert MURRAY, drowned in Sydney Harbour in 1822, with two others, when they were rowing to Watsons Bay from Sydney Cove. Its not so much the fact that they drowned, but more so the newspaper report of their demise.
They were reportedly seen to be in "a state of miserable, shocking inebriety" prior to their drowning, and the newspaper concluded "We are unwilling for the sake of those relatives that are now disconsolate, to mention any thing that would have tendency to give additional pangs to the wounded mind; but, we should fail in the performance of public duty, were we not to say, that such repentedly woeful example loudly enjoin a sufficient of reflection to induce persons to abstain from those vices, that are at once so pernicious and so awfully destructive in their consequences."
The newspaper was certainly on its "moral high horse" when it printed this article. There were no Death Certificates for these 3 men as the reporting of deaths was not compulsory until 1856. Only Church Burials were officially recorded pre-1856, however, as their bodies were never recovered, there were also no Church Burial Records either. This meant, the only record of their deaths was this newspaper report, which, when read in its entirity, is much more informantive than any Death Certificate.
Les