Robert Beggs Shipyard Accident

[tempogold]

 Hello
Robert John Beggs was born 2/11/1874 in Belfast but until 1897 was living in Barrow in Furness with his parents Richard and Mary Beggs. On the 1891 English census he is  shown at 16 as an apprentice boiler maker. He dies 19 August 1897 at the Royal hospital 195 Napier place near Sandy Row in  Belfast. The hospital is no longer there . We were told he was injured in an accident at the shipyard. Initially i  thought it was Barrow but could not find a death record . I found the death record on ancestry from Belfast Buriel indexes for him.  Buried in grave LI 319. Before the accident he may have lived at 285 Bearsbridge rd Belfast.

Have searched Groni on line  but can not find a death record --which is strange. Would a coroner  be involved and is this why i cant find the record. He was buried 21/8/1897

I  dont know if his father was also in Belfast working ( rest of family in Barrow) or went over when his son was injured/died. But he dies 3 months latter on 19 oct 1897 and is buried in the same plot.His record on Groni.

In case your wondering why i am confident this Robert Beggs is my Robert ---his mother died in 1913 but is buried not in barrow but in Belfast city Cemetery.

I know about the family in Barrow but interested in any information about Robert--was the accident reported --I haven't found anything . Why cant i find a death  certificate--keen to learn actual cause of daeth.
Grateful for any information.

Thank You .

[aghadowey]

A bit of confusion in your post.

Here's the burial from Belfast City Cemetery-
https://dof.belfastcity.gov.uk/burialsearch/BurialRecordDetails.aspx?RecordID=6473.27886
The Royal Victoria Hospital where Robert died is still there but the '195 Napier Place' was residence of deceased.
Napier Street is in the 1894 Belfast directory but not Napier Place.
https://www.lennonwylie.co.uk/ncomplete1894.htm

Both of Robert's parents seem to be in the same plot-
https://dof.belfastcity.gov.uk/burialsearch/BurialSearch.aspx?GraveSection=L1&GraveNumber=319&CemeteryName=City%20Cemetery

[aghadowey]

Extract-
Belfast Newsletter, 23 Aug.1897: INQUESTS IN BELFAST. The coroner (Mr. E. S. Finnigan) held on Saturday an inquest in the Recorder's Court on the body of Robert Beggs, who died in the Royal Hospital from injuries received by a fall in Messrs. Workman & Clark's shipbuilding yard on the ...

[tempogold]

 Thanks . My record is from the Ancestry Site so they  have set it out wrong . Apologies . And Yes all 3 are in the same plot.

[tempogold]

 Thank you --didn't think of the Newsletter . Would there be a death Certificate ?

[aghadowey]

Yes, there should be a death certificate. I'm searching pages now but it may take some time to find the correct one.

[Elwyn Soutter]

PRONI has:

ANT/6/1/1/7/307

Coroner's Inquest relating to the death of Robert Beggs who died at Royal Hospital, Belfast. Date of death: 19 August 1897.

[gaffy]

From the Belfast Newsletter of Monday 23 August 1897 (first part):

INQUESTS IN BELFAST

The coroner (Mr. E. S. Finnigan) held on Saturday an inquest in the Recorder's Court on the body of Robert Beggs, who died in the Royal Hospital from injuries received by a fall in Messrs. Workman & Clark's shipbuilding yeard on the 19th inst.  Mr. A.J. McKisack represented Messrs. Workman & Clark, and Mr. Beggs appeared as next of kin. Patrick Knowles deposed that he lived at 19, Clanmorris Street, and was a rivet-heater. He knew the deceased, and remembered the 19th inst., the day of the accident to him.  The deceased and he were working together on that day, and he saw one of the deceased's feet go over the staging.  Deceased fell off, and the witness turned his head away, not wanting to see him.  Witness was inside the ship, and deceased was on the staging at the time of the accident.  Hugh Fisher stated that he was a rivetter by trade.  On the 19th deceased was working with witness at same job.  The deceased was outside the vessel, and witness inside.  He saw the deceased take a very violent fit of shaking, then take a step, and fall to the ground.  He could not say that the deceased had a fit.  The catch-boy was quite close to him, and was able to see the man falling.  Witness saw the deceased in the Royal Hospital, but at that time the man was unconscious.  The staging on which the deceased was standing was a nine inch plank.

More anon.

[gaffy]

... More anon.

(second part)

The man could have whatever length or breadth of scaffolding required.  The deceased had never mentioned anything about the staging.  It was not necessary to apply to the foreman about the fitting up of the staging, as any other of the stagers would have seen after it.  The deceased fell over twenty feet.  To Mr. McKissack - He failed to see where anyone was to blame for the accident only the deceased himself. To a Juror - There was a guard plank three feet above the plank on which the deceased was standing. To Mr. Beggs - The distance from the side of the boat to the plank was about eighteen inches.  Thomas Flannagan gave evidence corroborative of that given by Hugh Fisher.  To a Juror - There was not sufficient sun on the day of the accident to cause sunstroke. The deceased's brother, who was a practical man, and understood shipbuilding, thought the staging was not sufficient.  He never knew of the deceased's having taken a fit. Dr. McCully, Royal Hospital, deposed that death had been caused by the injuries sustained by the fall.  The jury returned a verdict that death had resulted from injuries accidentally received, and that they considered a nine-inch plank was not a sufficient staging.

That's all it says.