Hi,
Is there anyone that may be able to through some light on the death notices of my great-grandfather which appeared in Sydney Morning Herald on Saturday December 24, 1887. It is the second notice that bewilders me greatly....the Friends of Mr Robert Waddell are respectfully invited to attend the funeral of his father-in-law etc. Why has Robert Waddell been favoured as a relative, when there were a wife and several other sons-in-law, daughters and sons living in Sydney at that time. Any possible explanations ??? I am afraid I don't have any and I have no contact or personal knowledge of Robert Waddell except that he was married to Annie Harrison (my great-great Aunt) in 1879 and he died in 1896. Did he have some standing that may have led to the funeral notice !!!!!
Here are the notices as they appeared:
Funerals.
SMH, Saturday December 24, 1887 p.18.
THE FRIENDS OF MR THOMAS SIMPSON HARRISON, are respectfully invited to attend his Funeral, to move from his late residence, 54 Albert-street, Redfern, THIS (Saturday) AFTERNOON at 2 o’clock, for the Necropolis.
__________________________________
THE FRIENDS OF MR ROBERT WADDELL are respectfully invited to attend the Funeral of his FATHER-IN-LAW, Mr Thomas Simpson Harrison to move from his late residence, 54 Albert-street, Redfern, THIS (Saturday) AFTERNOON at 2 o’clock, for the Necropolis.
Any thoughts ???? Best wishes,
Ken Halliday.
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Thread: Death notice query ?
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07-04-2012, 2:15 AM #1
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Death notice query ?
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07-04-2012, 3:07 AM #2Philippa_HarveyGuest
Ken, could it be that the son-in-law actually put the notice in the paper himself? The first could have been placed either by the immediate family or by the undertakers on their behalf, the second an independent submission by Thomas.
In one of the papers I was looking at this week there are four notices for the same person, each put in by a different section of the family and a couple of friends. I imagine it would have been the same in the 1800s - if you paid the money the paper would print your entry.
Philippa
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07-04-2012, 4:09 AM #3
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I have absolutely no knowledge of how things are done in Australia , but following on from Philippa's comment of four notices for the same person, the way I would read the notices is that in the first one the friends of the deceased are invited to attend his funeral.
In the second one, Robert Waddell is asking his own friends to attend the funeral of his father-in-law.
Seems a strange sort of thing to do though, unless there weren't going to be many family members or friends attending, and therefore Robert wanted to try and get a few more people there.
Pam
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07-04-2012, 4:12 PM #4MutleyGuest
All of the above and ....
Have you found any sort of connection with Thomas and Robert? Maybe they attended the same club, pub or association of some sort and Thomas was just known as Bob's dad or something similar so Robert was letting those associates know.
For many years I was a Brown Owl, I don't suppose many knew my real name but would have known my daughter's name so she may have done something similar.
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07-04-2012, 8:39 PM #5malcolm99Guest
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07-04-2012, 9:11 PM #6MutleyGuest
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08-04-2012, 2:17 AM #7
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08-04-2012, 2:54 AM #8Philippa_HarveyGuest
I have just thought of another, hopefully not common, reason for duplication of notices.
Some years ago a friend of ours suicided. His wife was devastated and was in danger of losing their unborn child. Her mother in law berated her cruelly for not publishing a personal notice saying that obviously she didn't care as much as she pretended, and finished with the incredible statement "what will people think". Personally I could have smacked the old girl even though I realised that part of the reason was just plain grief at her own loss.
As I said, hopefully that is not a "common" reason, but certainly real in this instance.
Glad we have been able to help, Ken.
Philippa
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08-04-2012, 2:13 AM #9
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07-04-2012, 9:39 PM #10
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Ken, This seems to have been a particularly Sydney habit in 19th C. whereas Melbourne had the usual death notices from relatives and friends and a single funeral notice. My record so far was finding 6 different connections all inviting friends and relatives to attend. Heather
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