Death cert. for a drowning

[LeanneBeckley]

Hi everyone,
How do you go about getting a death certificate for an assumed drowning victim?  I was unable to find a death certificiate for my GG grandfather.  His name was John Wells and he was a fisherman from Queenscliff in Victoria.  I put the name John Wells, Queenscliff into Trove and a lot of articles about the overturning of a pilot schooner named Rip came up.  Four men lost their lives in the accident.  One of whom was a John Wells, fisherman from Queenscliff who had joined the pilot boat that day as a fill in steward. 
The article said that John Wells left a widow and 7 children, and this would fit in with what I know about my John Wells.  Also, a couple of years later, his wife, my GG grandmother Sarah Wells remarried and her marriage certificate stated that she was a widow.
So my question is - Would there have been an inquest into the disaster, and if so, what happens to the death certificate.
Thanks,  Leanne.

[deeiluka]

Hi Leanne,
do you know the year of the drowning?
There are quite a few John WELLS to check out.   


Dee   

[LeanneBeckley]

Hi ,
Sorry I should have added the date,  it was July 15, 1873.  Also, his son also died by drowning.  He was also John Wells and died in a fishing accident in December, 1879.  I don't have a deat certificate for either of them.
Leanne

[deeiluka]

How tragic!

According to the index, there doesn't appear to have been an Inquest into either death.   

I checked the Deaths too, just in case, and there doesn't seem to be a likely registration for either death.   

I can't answer as to whether drowning deaths would have been registered. Perhaps it depended upon whether the body was found.   


Dee   

[LeanneBeckley]

Thanks Dee,
Do you think it was common to not issue a death certificate for this kind of death.  There were many witnesses to his death.  Apparantly, witnesses said when the boat overturned, John Wells had his leg torn open from the hip to the ankle and they said he died quickly after probably from loss of blood.  So there was a lot eye witnesses to the event and the fact that his wife remarried a couple of years later as a widow, means that legally, there was no question as to his death.  Still it doesn't help me as I would like a death certificate for my records.

Thanks again,
Leanne

[deeiluka]

It sounds strange that there wasn't, doesn't it?   

I'v e just done a search using W*ls, and there is only one result for 1873, and that is a John WILLS, father John Alexander. He was aged 47 and born in Devon.
I don't suppose this is your man with his name misspelt?

As for 1879, there are no possible results.


Dee   

[Raylen]

Hi Leanne,

 I'm not sure about this but I wonder if it could be because
the mens bodies were not found.
I had a look for death registrations for the other men and no listing
for them either.  Very strange

Raylen

[deeiluka]

Leanne, maybe you need to investigate PROV (Public Record Office of Victoria.)
http://prov.vic.gov.au/
They have other Coronial Enquiry records for when there wasn't an Inquest. Possibly with so many witnesses, they didn't hold an inquest.  


Dee  

[LeanneBeckley]

Thanks Raylen and Dee,
My John Wells was born in Jersey UK and his parents were Joseph Wells and Frances Brown.  I will check out Prov,  and you are right, none of the four men are listed in the death records.  I might just have to accept that there is no death certificate.  I just thought that, for legal reasons there would have to be some kind of record of someone's demise even if the bodies weren't recovered.
Leanne