History Room Plymouth Library

[Dale]

Kia Ora
Greetings from New Zealand.
I am wondering if there is a kind soul who will be visiting the History Room at Plymouth Library and could assist me with information about a possible Inquest please? Hopefully recorded in a local paper?

About the 13th August 1865 a young man about 25 years named Samuel MEDDLETON waved goodbye to his wife (she was heading to Torquay). He was found a few days later seemingly drowned outside the Govt Immigration depot at Stonehouse Creek. There was an article in the London Standard regarding his death and the finding of his body..

His surname might be spelt METTLETON or MIDDLETON

I am hoping an Inquest was held and that it will tell me his nationality, the name of his wife, and any other important evidence given which might help to identify him.

I'd be very grateful if someone could assist.
Thank you!
Dale

[rosie99]

Previous post
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=652131.msg4985312#msg4985312

Did you get the death certificate or contact the Plymouth record office as suggested 

[Dale]

Hi Rosie
YES, i did contact the Record office - hence my follow up post! The Record office suggested the History Room but there is no inhouse research service available from there. There are 2 locals who do research for a fee but no VISA  facility  to pay!
The death cert will probably tell me the date and cause of death which I know already and be signed by the Coroner.
IF this is the Samuel M I am looking for there's a good chance he wasn't legally married hence my query looking for some validation of other information I hold. I will then purchase the Cert as further validation of my research.
Cheers
Dale

[Dale]

Happy New Year All.
I am delighted to report the following confirmed by Death Cert and 2 newspaper reports :
Samuel Meddleton aged "about" 26 drowned at Stonehouse Creek near the GOVT Emigration Depot
on or about 13 Aug 1865.
His wife had earlier travelled by train to Torquay to be with friends during her pending confinement.
The "wife's name is not mentioned in any document.

I have 2 major queries and am hoping someone maybe able to help!

1. Where might SAMUEL MEDDLETON (METTLETON? ) be buried? He is NOT apparently at Ford Park nor at Stoke Damerel Churchyard. It has been suggested he might be buried at St Georges. I think he was Presbyterian so probably no burial register? Quite possibly a pauper's grave?

2. I think he had a common law wife Margaret Boyle /Bole/Boal. I have found a birth registration for a Samuel M Meddleton Dec 1866 Launceston 5c/27  but that is too late  as Margaret sailed from England on 30 Sept 1865. Might she have given the  baby up for adoption and it's birth was regstered a year later?

I'd be very grateful for any assistance/guidance from a local on any likely places to look for the answers to my queries!
Thank you
Dale

[cemetery friends]

If you check out Genuki Devon > East Stonehouse SEE http://genuki.cs.ncl.ac.uk/DEV/EastStonehouse/index.html by elimination of date ranges and the availibilty of registers for the various churches that the onus falls to have ES burial records researched at the Plymouth and West Devon Record Office [or by duplicate fiches at Devon Heritage Centre at Sowton, Exeter] via a research agent as being the greatest possibility.

If it was a pauper or common grave it would likely to be the burial parish in which the death occured [ie ES] but the Creek also adjoined SD parish. However it is possible that if it was established that the deceased was not a resident of ES that his "native" parish undertook the burial [and bore the costs]. It was often the case that a full identification was not used in the case of a pauper and initials only were used. Whilst unlikely due to extra costs it is just possible that the burial was outside the local area eg Torquay if the "wife" had connections there. Also suicides were sometimes buried away from the main churchyard.

I personally feel that if the child was adopted and registered 12 months later it is more likely that the surname of the adoptive parents would have been used rather than the name of the deceased parents although in those times adoption was a more informal arrangement and not so strictly supervised by the family courts.

[rosie99]

I have found a birth registration for a Samuel M Meddleton Dec 1866 Launceston 5c/27  but that is too late  as Margaret sailed from England on 30 Sept 1865. Might she have given the  baby up for adoption and it's birth was regstered a year later?

Samuel M Meddleton appears on the 1871 census age 4  in Launceston, Cornwall with 'parents'
John & Elizabeth Meddleton and siblings Emma, Ellen & John  (RG10/2225  f57 p2 )
His death is registered
March qtr 1878   
Samuel M  Meddleton age 11 
Launceston  reg district ref5c 22

[Dale]

Thank you Rosie for Samuel's details. I hadn't realised he had died young!
I think Samuel Snr had a brother named John so I'll need to get further info from censii to get his age and place of birth. I am really seeking to prove that I have the right Samuel Snr who drowned in 1865  and it's possible that his wife decided to leave him behind when she sailed about 6 weeks later. It would be nice to think the baby was with other family if that is the case!  Many emigrants chose to leave family behind until they were established so it wouldn't be unusual!
At the very extreme it is possible that Samuel the tyounger was named in memory of the Samuel who drowned.

Thank you also Cemetery Friends for your advice! Plymouth Record Office and Ford Park have already been searched to no avail. Witnesses at the Inquest stated he had been drinking but was not drunk. IF I am right he would have had a new baby and a trip to the other side of the world to look forward to but of course both matters may have caused him concern as well - there is nothing to indicate it was suicide in the documents.
Maybe this will always remain a mystery
I'll search the daughters of John & Elizabeth to see if there are any clues!
Many thanks to you both for your guidance & input!
Dale

[rosie99]

I doubt that Samuel M is the child of  'your Samuel' .  The Samuel that I found with parents John & Elizabeth was age 4 in April 1871 and 11 in March 1878 giving an approximate birth date that would tie in with the Dec 1866 qtr birth registration so not a late birth registration.

[cemetery friends]

My impression was that you contacted the Plymouth Record Office and I presume engaged a researcher to check the Stole Dameral burials. If it has been suggested that St Georges ES may be the burial location then you will need a researcher to check those records also. I do not believe the RO undertakes research so contact with them may be just to confirm that they hold certain records rather than an in depth search. Your original problem [researching at the Library] could possibly also apply if the RO researchers do not accept card payments but you can transmit payments by money orders from post offices in most countries.