One line of ancestors lived on the coast. Burials register has several entries "A drowned man". If 2 were buried on same day register entry for 2nd might be "Another drowned man".
While transcribing burial records for Formby (north of Liverpool on the coast) I found almost monthly entries for 'a man thrown up by the tide'; very occasionally a woman also. In the age of sail shipwrecks were common - especially on the west coast where the prevailing wind blew vessels onshore - with the usual consequences.
