Is this the right James Brannen

[Beavances]

I have been searching for a James Brannen and so far I have
birth South Shields 1876, 1881 census (age 5) , 1891 census (age 15)  & 1901 census ( age 25 and a miner - underground). In these he is living with parents James & Mary  in South Shields.
I have been unable to find anything else on him.
 I have also ruled out 2 marriages in 1910.

I now have a possible death certificate but it does it give me enough information to confirm it is him? The age at death is correct (34 years) but he died in the Workhouse Infirmary in Sunderland so no details of address or next of kin. Ancestry also shows a burial for this person a few days after death in Bishopwearmouth which comes from FHL Film Number:   2046621

What I would like to know is can anyone suggest any other way I can confirm that this is the same person I am looking  for? Any ideas appreciated

[heywood]

I can’t see this man on Family Search for 1911 census. We aren’t allowed to post details of other sites.
The indexes show
James Brannan b 1878 South Shields. He is a crew member.

Does that fit with either of the marriages you have discounted?


Is there an occupation on that death record?

[Beavances]

The James Brannen I am looking for was born in 1876 and that stays consistent for each of the census that  he is with his parents.

His death certificate lists him as a labourer.

The  1910 marriages were on a page with 4 names on Free BMD. The names were  James Brannen Ernest Irvin, Hannah Bella Stone and Mary Ann Young. I found Hannah Bella with Ernest Irvin in 1911 and also in 1911 Mary Ann is married to James Edward Brannen who is only 22 ( mine would be 35 by  then).

I think this is the first time I come up again a death in a workhouse. Am not sure if it means he was in the workhouse and then became ill & died or if he could just have gone in  to be looked after in the infirmary ( cause of death is listed a stomach cancer)

[River Tyne Lass]

Sunderland inmate registers are held at Tyne and Wear Archives.  Perhaps it might be a good idea to write to them to ask if these registers might contain additional information such as next of kin and home address.
It might also be a good idea to look for a death notice as this may record whose son or husband he would have been.  Perhaps there might be a memoriam notice too in the following year placed by a family member.
Possible newspapers: Sunderland Echo & Shipping Gazette, Shields Daily News and the Newcastle Evening Chronicle.  Maybe if you give exact date of death someone might be able to check for a death notice.  By the way South Shields and Sunderland were under 'Durham' and not Northumberland in 1910.

[Beavances]

Thankyou  both for your input.
i will write to Tyne & Wear archives to see if they have any more information on him - that is good idea! I just don't feel happy assuming that it must be him without some other evidence to link him to the one I am researching.

If only everyone had some quirky middle name .... it would make me feel more confident in the information! 

[JenB]

The occupation of the James Brannen who died in 1910 is also given as 'labourer' in the burial register (Bishopwearmouth Cemetery)

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS6T-N9GH-Z?i=15&cat=825520

Were your Brannans a Roman Catholic family? The burial record in question is from St Joseph's Millfield in South Shields, which was a Roman Catholic church.

[Beavances]

The link to Family Search has revealed information I had not previously seen- thank you JenB. The information I had came in an Ancestry hint and was a typed record from another source (FHL)which gave name, age, dob, dod place of burial. The information I had about place of burial came from his death certificate.
Seeing the handwritten record you have given the link to seems so much more personal. James Brannen was from a Catholic family and had always been registered in earlier census as living in Westoe/South Shields.- so with these clues this is now looking more likely to be him.   Did you work out the Catholic link and church from the name of the Reverand Father?

[JenB]

Did you work out the Catholic link and church from the name of the Reverand Father?

No, I looked up the film number which you quoted in the Family Search catalogue, which revealed the name of the church.

Since the death was in Bishopwearmouth I deduced that the actual burial was probably at the Cemetery there which proved to be correct.

[Beavances]

Thanks for that information. I can see I am going to familiarise myself properly with Family Search -  it was what I used most in my early days but then have probably relied too much on Ancestry.