Death of ancestor discovered in news archive

[7igerby7he7ail]

I knew when one of my ancestors died, but not how.

I have been searching family names in the British Newspaper Archive
I searched for Gaunt in Derbyshire and found how one of my ancestors died.
Joseph Gaunt born in 1731 and died in 1783. Must have died a horrible death [rabies]

Added: Image from the British Newspaper Archive has been taken off. Care needs to be taken to respect copyright. Thank you 

[RedMystic]

Oh my Tiger. What a find!

I know we checked & it doesn't seem that our Gaunts are connected, but I sure wish I had a story like that in my tree. It just makes things that much more fascinating!

A bit of good sleuthing you did, with a very rich result! Congratulations.

[Jean McGurn]

Started to read the report and thought it said a 1ft infant then realised it was 1st instant    Forgot that in the 18th century the letter s was printed  f.

I haven't looked at the 18c papers yet only the 19c  that have given me bits of info of some of my ancestors.

 I also discovered how one of my grandfathers brothers had been killed in 1900 when he was hit on the head by one of the overhead wires that the trams use. He was one of the men working to lay down the lines and had apparently been holding the reins of a horse during bad weather when the ring that connect the wires to each other broke and the wire came down with the ring hitting him on his head.

 Further readings of the two Inquest reports revealed that the way the rings that connect to each pole were being checked was not good enough, the Board of Trade said this method had to be changed. They said that this ring holding the wire up was actually defective, even though when it had been 'tapped', which was how the rings, which were galvanised,  were checked before using,  the man who had erected it said it had sounded ok to use.


Jean


 

[7igerby7he7ail]

I have also found some more in the Staffordshire Sentinel regarding my Great great grandfather, William Gaunt b 1828. He was a police officer and he has a few mentions [arrests and subsequent court appearances]. Fascinating stuff.

I will do more branches today.....................

[Nick29]

You lucky..................................... person ! 

I wish I could find some details on mine that came to 'sticky ends' 

[7igerby7he7ail]

For those who have not seen it
-‘And on Saturday died at Hulland-Ward in this county Mr Joseph Gaunt, Wheelwright.’
The article goes on to say how he had a wound on his leg and let the dog lick the wound, having been told that was a cure. The dog was later seen to be ‘disordered’ and thought to be mad.The dog was rabid and Joseph contracted hydrophobia [rabies]. The article describes the symptoms and demise of Joseph.

I have also found ancestors who were trespassers, drunk and disorderly,and a bigamist!

It is quite interesting reading accounts of 'local' disasters and mundane happenings such as one ancestor winning first prize at a flower show.

[BashLad]

It's a fascinating archive (especially when you have uncommon names!).

I've found two brothers who were transported to Australia - one for being in a gang, breaking into someone's house and stealing something from them at gunpoint and another for just a few trivial thefts. I've got a woman who killed herself and three of her kids in a fit of post-natal depression. I've found a woman who was a problem drunk and one article mentioned she'd been convicted more than two dozen times for drunk and disorderly. I've an ancestor who was a manager of a mill and led the speeches and things at a retirement do there with about 200 people present. A man who was prosecuted for being a part of a 'mob' during a strike. One man who kept pigeons. Another who was in charge of enforcing the earliest law regarding child labour and had to prosecute dozens of people for having young children in workshops.

I think the one which made me laugh the most was a guy prosecuted  by Alice Morris on a charge of having, on Monday night last week, assaulted her by slapping her face with his hand full of soot. – Mrs. Bibby, mistress of the complainant, confirmed her statement, and said defendant had abused her and her husband. The defendant was very disorderly. – The defendant said he was only “making his nonsense with the lass, for he was a courting on her” – ordered to find sureties to keep the peace.

Long live the ridiculous names like Simeon Jepson, Squire Haworth and  Novello Riley I say. Pity the John Smiths of the world.