Helen Margaret Brock

[N@alie]

Born 14th Apr 1893 in Dorking, Surrey (GRO Dorking, Q2 Vol 2a p156 and Times birth announcement)
Christened 17 May 1893 in Dorking, Surrey (from FamilySearch)

I've been unable to find any trace of her after that.

It is likely that she didn't survive childhood, but it would be good to know what happened to her.

I do know that her mother (Elisabeth Neville Brock) moved to St Peter Port, Guernsey after the death of her father in 1898, so it is possible she moved there. I have found her mother and two sisters on the 1901 Census for Guernsey, but she's not included in that.

Any ideas appreciated!

[Raffaele]

I suspect your next port of call is Channel Islands BMD

https://www.freebmd.org.uk/Civil_Regis.html

I can find her birth in Dorking but no corresponding death.

With no sign of a Helen or Margaret Brock on 1901 or 1911 census I can only assume she died between 1898 and 1901 in the Channels Isles

[N@alie]

Thanks Raffaele

I emailed Channel Islands Genealogy yesterday and received a reply this morning.

Sadly there's no trace of her in the Guernsey BMD so the brickwall remains.

BTW I inadvertently gave her the wrong mother above, her mother was Elizabeth Brevoort Brock (nee Coolidge)...

Natalie

[Raffaele]

Just digging. Odd that Alexander Cameron Brock's death was St Saviour.
While there is a St Saviour in the Channell Island this is where part of my family come from and St Saviour is Southwark.

How did he go from Dorking to Southwark. Did the family suffer some demise?

[N@alie]

Well spotted, you are right about a 'demise' of sorts, it's a very sad story.

Alexander Cameron Brock (my g'grandfather) was a medical practitioner with a young family in Dorking. He was admitted to Bethlem Hospital in August 1897 and committed suicide there in April 1898.

Certainly two of his five children died in childhood (1888 and 1907), but I have not yet been able to find out what happened to Helen Margaret.

[N@alie]

Forgot to mention that Helen Margaret does appear on a public tree on A*****y with a death date of 13 Mar 1898, but as that tree is full of glaring errors for her immediate family, I don't think that's much of a clue.

[Raffaele]

That is very sad. Your Gt Grandmother must have been extremely strong to get through all of this. Perhaps Helen was with relatives or even at boarding school. Even looking at Brook (mistranscribed Brock) I cannot find a death for a Helen or Margaret.

[N@alie]

Managed to get a few days in Guernsey between Christmas and New Year, and took a trip to the Church at St Pierre-du-Bois and lo! as we walked into the Churchyard, the first thing we saw was a family memorial with several names including the elusive Helen Margaret who, the wording said, died on 13 March 1899 aged 5. A couple of days later, we managed a trip to the Priaulx Library and confirmed that she had indeed died in St Martin's, Guernsey, on that date of heart failure.

Really pleased to find out what happened to her, but very sad at the same time...


PS, big thanks to the staff at the Priaulx Library who were very helpful and knowledgeable.