Missing death/burial record

[janiegirl]

I know that my gr gr Aunt Evelyn Clara PICKETT of Charlbury died on May 29 1924 as a result of a drowning accident in which two boys also drowned. She was buried in the same grave as the boys.

Charlbury Parish Register and Charlbury burial registers have entries for the 2 boys, James William BISHOP, aged 13, and Cyril Stanley SMITH, aged 9, but there is no record of her.

In the newspaper of the time she was reported as being a Sunday School Teacher in the Baptist Church. Could this be why she is not mentioned in the PR or Burial Register? If not why do you think this is?

I would be grateful of any help.

Thanks

Janiegirl

[suedent]

I know that my gr gr Aunt Evelyn Clara PICKETT of Charlbury died on May 29 1924 as a result of a drowning accident in which two boys also drowned. She was buried in the same grave as the boys.

Do you know for certain that she was buried with the boys or was she just mentioned on the MI?

As she was a non-conformist it may be that she was buried in a graveyard associated with the chapel or in a civil cemetery.

[bumblebee]

I have had a read of the article in The Times online but sadly no mention of any funerals or burial details.

Have you tried to get hold of a copy of a local newspaper to see if there may have been an announcement in that. The local library may be able to help.

Bumblebee.

[bumblebee]

Sorry I see you have already looked at the newspapers..was there no funeral announcements?

Bumblebee.

[Geoffers]

I know that my gr gr Aunt Evelyn Clara PICKETT of Charlbury died on May 29 1924 as a result of a drowning accident in which two boys also drowned. She was buried in the same grave as the boys.


A passing thought - have you been in touch with this other great niece of Evelen PICKETT - see this post:

http://www.british-genealogy.com/forums/showpost.php?p=105646&postcount=15

Also, if she was a member of the Baptist Church, she would not appear in the CofE Parish Register.

Geoffers

[janiegirl]

Thanks for the welcome bo-peep.

Bumblebee - There were a number of items in the local newspapers about the drowning, some of which we have seen. One in particular mentions the two boys by name but only refers to Evelyn as "a girl". My mother contacted The British Library about the Oxford Chronicle (which we haven't seen), they say that their copy of it is too fragile for them to search for any information.

We can get a photocopy of the inquest report printed in The Times from the British Library for £15. My mother (Sunpat) and I have been trying in vain to work out how to use the Times Online or merely to see if it would be cheaper to look at or possibly copy it from there |banghead|.

Suedent - You've got me wondering about the grave. We know that the grave and the funeral were funded by local subscription. From the photograph it certainly looks like there were 3 coffins in the funeral procession. I saw the MI for myself some time ago and, although I am sure that she is mentioned by name on it cannot remember the exact wording. I'll do some checking up to see what the exact wording was.

Thanks for all your help

Janiegirl

[bumblebee]

Just to double check Janiegirl you got my pm, I have downloaded the page from the Times if you would like it. It is only a small paragraph.

There are other sites that offer The Times Online but I use the Bedford Virtual Library

http://www.galaxy.bedfordshire.gov.uk/cgi-bin/vlib.sh

Fill in the details to join the virtual library - for free - and then they will e-mail you your library card number and a pin number then you are ready to go..

go to Information and Reference
Newspapers online

log in using your library card and pin number

Then choose Newspapers (there is usually a password)

Type in Password

choose The Times Digital Archive and begin your search.

Bumblebee

[Peter Goodey]

Charlbury Parish Register and Charlbury burial registers have entries for the 2 boys, James William BISHOP, aged 13, and Cyril Stanley SMITH, aged 9, but there is no record of her.

If she was a Baptist, she could NOT be buried in the same grave as the CofE boys .

[janiegirl]

Thanks bumblebee, I have replied to your pm.

Janiegirl

[Sunpat]

Thank you, Peter, Geoffers and Bumblebee for your help

Janiegirl and I are moving steadily forward with our information gathering.
We are very pleased to have seen the Times inquest report and have shared it with our relatives.
We hope we'll be able to find a newspaper report on the funeral as, from the photograph we have seen, it was very well attended. Possibly the whole village supported the bereaved families by attending?

Sunpat

[janiegirl]

Yes thanks to everyone

|hug|

Janiegirl

[Sunpat]

I may have the answer to our question with the following on my great aunt (Janiegirl's great great aunt) which, I hope, confirms her burial with the two boys in the Charlbury civil cemetery;

Evelyn Clara Pickett
Burial date June 2nd 1924
Age 16 (as recorded)
Plot No. I. 8.
Grave depth 7 feet
Internment Cost 10s
Funeral Minister (Baptist) Rev. A.V. Barbour
Certificate issued by C.W. Collins

I am told that Charlbury church graveyards were not being used at that time so the civil cemetery would have been used for the burial of all three children.
Any further information and thoughts on this would be very welcome.

Sunpat

[Geoffers]

The grave is certainly large enough to hold all three unfortunate children.

If either/both of you visit and want help locating the grave, please ask.