Lost at sea

[Kikifrog]

Would anyone know where best to start looking for details of someone who was lost at sea some time in the late 1920s or early 1930s? My uncle, Eric Reginald Brooks, disappeared somewhere in the South China Seas around this time. He wasn't in the navy so there won't be any naval records to search. I think he worked in Shanghai at the time.

[avm228]

Hello and welcome

I wonder whether this is your Eric?

GRO Marine Deaths Indices (1903-1965)

1932

Eric BROOKS [no age given]
Vessel: Rajputana
Page: Supp.35

If it's him you can order the death certificate online using the "overseas events" application form available at http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/

For future reference you can search the GRO Overseas Events indices on a number of pay sites including www.findmypast.com.

Anna

[Hibee]

Hi

Did the vessel sink?  Do you know its name?

Hibee

EDIT: If it's the Rajputana, it was converted into an armed cruiser, and torpedoed in 1941.

[avm228]

If I've got the right Eric (b 1899 Romford RD), he seems to have been still alive on 31 May 1929 when he arrived in London from Shanghai aged 29, travelling on the P & O vessel Mantua.  He was a pianoforte salesman whose permanent residence was China (contact address in England was 22 Linton Rd, Barking, Essex).

He departed London on the return trip to China on the Macedonia, 5 September 1929.

[Kikifrog]

Oh my goodness, that is amazing. Yes, that's the right Eric. Thank you so much, Anna!

But would there be a death certificate available from GRO when there wasn't a body? (I'm not sure how these things work!) To the best of my knowledge he just disappeared from the ship.

Do you mind me asking how you found the details of the Mantua and also the home address?

Thanks again, that really is wonderful.
Christine

[avm228]

I don't know who would have been responsible for certifying a death in such circumstances, but there may have been a procedure for issuing a death certificate on a presumption of death without a body.  The certificate may well reveal more.

The Mantua passenger list (including English address) is available on a pay basis from the database UK Inbound Passenger Lists 1878-1960 on the commercial site www.ancestry.com (or its .co.uk sister site).

The Macedonia passenger list is available on a pay basis from the database Passenger Lists Leaving UK 1890-1960 on the commercial site www.findmypast.com.

Let us know what the death certificate reveals!

Anna

[Kikifrog]

I will do. Anna, thank you so much. You've made my day.  
Christine