Death Notice Lookup - 16 Feb 1879 Bournemouth/Christchurch WILKINSON, Leonard

[Yukon Brat]

Leonard Wilkinson's probate index entry and his gravestone at Downholme, Yorkshire indicates that he died in Bournemouth on Feb 16, 1879 at the age of 50.  His death was registered in the district of Christchurch, Hampshire, which covers the parishes of Christchurch, Bransgore, Sopley, Hinton Admiral and Holdenhurst.

He was married to Ann Carter in 1874 in the Hull area - at the ripe old age of 45.  He and his two brothers, Ralph (b. 1827) and Thomas (b. 1834) all married late.  Around the time of Leonard's death, the three brothers went their separate way after living and farming together at Coldstorms (likely as tenants).

I have no idea why he would have been so far from his home at Coldstorms farm in Downholme, Yorkshire where he lived since birth.  He is from a farming family that had been firmly rooted in the Downholme / Walburn area of the Yorkshire Dales for about 85 years, so I am hoping the find a death notice, but haven't had any luck so far.

[Jebber]

Are you sure he was buried in Yorkshire, and it is not just his death recorded on a family headstone? It would be quite unusual for a body to be taken all that way for burial at that time, it was more common to be buried at the place of death, but the death be recorder on a family stone where they normally resided.

Unless there were unusual circumstances surrounding his death, there is unlike to be a mention in the local paper in Bournemouth, I would suggest you need the death certificate to find the cause and actual place of death.

Jebber

[Yukon Brat]

I agree it would be unlikely that a body would be transported from Bournemouth to Yorkshire for burial.

I was hoping his death was some kind of accident that may have been reported in the newspaper in the Bournemouth area.

[aghadowey]

If you purchased the death certificate, as already suggested, then you will have an exact place of death as well as the cause and name of informant. Then, if his death looks accidental you could pursue the newspaper angle.