Signalman at Redcar Cleveland signal box

[Blacklock]

Trying to trace the name of the Redcar signalman who shortly after retirement in the 1940's committed suicide by walking in front of the Redcar to Darlington train.
This is the only information I have other than he lived at 85 Queen Street Redcar and his wife's name was Anna.
Anna is thought to a sister to my grandfather.

[arthurk]

Some possibilities you might like to consider:

First, electoral registers or a street directory should give you the names of whoever was living at 85 Queen Street. These are usually found in local studies libraries, and I would think Redcar would be the first place to ask. Otherwise Middlesbrough - local studies again, or else Teesside Archives.

Second, you presumably know your great aunt's full name and roughly how old she was. Can you find her marriage in the civil registration indexes? (Probably only feasible if the surname is uncommon.) You could try the national ones via FreeBMD and various commercial sites, or the ones held locally via Tees Valley Indexes (first in the list of results with Google). This might at least give you a name to try to rule out.

Finally, you might end up having to trawl through local newspapers for a report of the incident - often the best place is again a local studies library.

Arthur

[Blacklock]

Thanks for your advice. Been to Teesside archive and found my great aunt's full name, her husband and children. Also now know they were married in Darlington in 1909 and that the death of her husband was post 1950. Will research futher at Northallerton next week.

Blacklock

[arthurk]

Sounds like you're making progress! Hope the trip to Northallerton is helpful, but let us know if you need any more help.

You may have already learned that coroners' inquest records don't always make it to the archives, and those that do are often subject to a 75 year closure (or used to be). However, archivists will be the best people to advise on this - and if you can't see the original inquest papers, local newspapers will often have reports on their proceedings.

Arthur