Captain John Humble, who died with his wife and over forty others in the Forfarshire steamship tragedy of 1838--(the Grace Darling shipwreck)-- "belonged to Shields," [South Shields] according to contemporaneous accounts. I'm trying to find out the names of his parents, wife, and children. Any ideas about how to do this? I'm both a newbie and hampered by distance (live in the US.) Any and all suggestions greatly appreciated.
Problem of looking for a death record: Don't know whether bodies were recovered, and if not, whether they reported them as dead immediately or waited a set number of statutorily required years (ie: 10 years), whether their deaths would have been registered in South Shields, (where they purportedly lived), or whether the deaths would have been registered in the jurisdiction where the bodies were recovered?
Hoping that this might be easier to research because of his infamy. According to an 1846 book "Tales of Shipwrecks and Adventures: 1.) he began his career on one of the collier sloops trading between Shields and Newcastle,2.) the first steamship he was in was a small tugboat, owned by Shields, called the Tarset, 3.) after the Tarset, he commanded another steamer called the "Neptune," which sailed between Hull and Newcastle, 4.) was sometime mate of the "Eclipse," a Newcastle and Leith boat, 5.) the ship Forfarshire sailed between Hull & Dundees. Anyone have any ideas about where to look? Many thanks!
