Genealogy Chat

I spoke to my aunt yesterday who was born in 1928 told me that when she was a little girl she remembers her mum crying because someone came to tell her that a family member had been drowned in the river tyne. But she doesn't know any more details! I am of course intrigued by this news-is there anyway i can find out who it was & the circumstances around this death? -Linda

Newspapers of the time will have a report but of course you need a name first. Keith

Oh dear i don't even have a name ! - Linda

Linda go to or contact the largest local Library where the event happened & they will have all back copies of local news papers, you could also trawl the death records & see if there is a death entry, but that might be difficult if your Aunt cant remember their name. Georgina.

Thank you Georgina-unfortunately i live in the south of England but it looks like i will have to make a trip up North to find out this info -Linda

Its going to be difficult without a definate date or name Linda BUT you might be lucky by doing a bit of detective work!. I suppose you could try + see what family members died around that time then try a google search for a drowning on the Tyne, or look at old newspapers for the area(Do you know whereabouts?). Children rarely remember things before the age of 2-3 so that might help with approx date. I am 'up North' so if I can help I will. Good Luck Ann

Hi Ann -No i know nothing more than i stated previously, how frustrating. I think you're right about the detective work, perhaps if i narrowed it down to the possibles it might make it a bit easier -Linda

Perhaps you could contact the library/newspaper in that area - they may have death/accident records listed separately somewhere and may be able to do a search for you. Perhaps there was an inquest? Don't know how you'd narrow down without a name though, but just a thought. Maybe you could write to paper and ask for small article saying looking for anyone who remembers anything about a drowning in 1930s, possible that someone may remember. Dawn

Does your Mum remember where she was living at the time? That would help.

Ann-The closest address i have is on my Dad's birth cert in 1922 which is:- Lime Tree Cottage, Greenside, Ryton UD - Linda

Hi, Just been googling river tyne drowning. Came up with lots of things about recent and long ago. Came across website durham(.)gov(.)uk/recordoffice that has details about coroners info kept. Didn't come up with anything for 1930's in search I did, but may be worth looking at more closely or contacting them Dawn

Thank you Dawn i will take a look & Ann i have sent you a pm i hope you don't mind -Linda

That's ok Linda. Regards Ann

Linda Here are a few things you could investigate to see if any of these are the incident (found on TIMES ONLINE): 'The Times, Monday, Oct 02, 1933; pg. 9; Issue 46564; col E Brave Attemps To Save Life Awards From Carnegie Hero Fund A memorial certificate, £50, and a grant of £10 towards funeral expenses to the parents of William Joseph Woof, unemployed chemical works labourer, Holywell Avenue, St Anthony's, Newcastle on Tyne, who lost his life on July 7 while attempting to rescue a youth from drowning in the RIVER TYNE.' 'The Times, Saturday, Mar 17, 1934; pg. 9; Issue 46705; col G While three seagoing apprentices, Lawrence Gallagher17, John Stephenson 18, both of South Shields and William Davidson 16 of Darlington, employed by Messrs R S Dalgliesh and Co shipowners, Newcastle, were working on a staging on the side of the Farnworth at the mercantile dry dock, Jarrow, yesterday, they fell into the RIVER TYNE. Gallagher was swept away, but Stephenson and Davidson were rescued by boats.' 'The Times, Friday, Apr 26, 1935; pg. 13; Issue 47048; col G While on the way home from work on Wednesday night, Norman Ryan 15 of Claremont Place, Gateshead, was thrown from his bicycle into the RIVER TYNE and was drowned. Efforts were made to rescue him but he was encumbered with overalls and hobnail boots. The body was recovered an hour later.' These are just a few of those that are listed - I don't have time to type them all up, unfortunately. It might be worth your while signing up with Times Online then you can browse them all for yourself. You might recognise a family name amongst them all. To sign up you can log onto the Bedfordshire Libraries website (google it) and follow the instructions for joining the Virtual Library. Good Luck! Athena

Thank you Dorothy & Athena for your time & interest- i will take a look at the virtual library as none of those names unfortunately rang any bells. Thanks again-Linda

I don't know what i am doing wrong but every time i try to access this Times on line site my computer tells me that windows has to close down now as there is an error ! Anyway i think i have narrowed down 4 possible surnames-Sharp/Pickles/Winskill/Charlton so if anyone has time or is able to i would be grateful if any of these names were found.-Many thanks- Linda