Megan Roberts
14-03-2014, 7:40 PM
I came across the following article in the 1 April 1853 edition of the Welshman:
On Tuesday last, a girl name Martha Gambold, residing in the parish of Rudbaxton, near Haverfordwest, committed suicide by drowning herself in a winch on her father's premises. It appears that she was enceinte, and some angry words on the subject having passed between her parents and herself in a fit of passion committed the rash deed.
My mother was a Gambold and I have spent a lot of time researching them, and as the name is relatively rare, it is pretty safe to assume that I can identify most if not all members of the family residing in Pembrokeshire at that time. I knew that there were 4 girls named Martha whose ages were 17, 16, 12 and 11. Realistically that meant if had to be one of the two older girls, but I knew that the eldest married in 1862, so that ruled her out.
The 16 year old, was born illegitimately in the Workhouse, and other than her birth record there are no other records for her. So I thought I will have to get the death certificate and see if that sheds light on the matter. The trouble was that there was only 1 Gambold death registered in England and Wales in 1853 and that was for Ann Gambold.
I then remembered that I had been told that Ann had committed suicide, so it seemed a good idea to get her death certificate. She died 29 March 1853 in the parish of Spittal and that the cause of death was felo de se.
Therefore I have concluded that whoever wrote the original article must have been somewhat muddled (I am being kind here! :mad2:), because:
1. There was no Martha only an Ann (and she did not have 2 names);
2. The incident took place in the parish of Spittal rather than the parish of Rudbaxton (they are next door to one another); and
3. It was her step father's premises rather than her father, as he had died in 1837.
For those who don't know the old terms:
enceinte = pregnant
felo de se = suicide
On Tuesday last, a girl name Martha Gambold, residing in the parish of Rudbaxton, near Haverfordwest, committed suicide by drowning herself in a winch on her father's premises. It appears that she was enceinte, and some angry words on the subject having passed between her parents and herself in a fit of passion committed the rash deed.
My mother was a Gambold and I have spent a lot of time researching them, and as the name is relatively rare, it is pretty safe to assume that I can identify most if not all members of the family residing in Pembrokeshire at that time. I knew that there were 4 girls named Martha whose ages were 17, 16, 12 and 11. Realistically that meant if had to be one of the two older girls, but I knew that the eldest married in 1862, so that ruled her out.
The 16 year old, was born illegitimately in the Workhouse, and other than her birth record there are no other records for her. So I thought I will have to get the death certificate and see if that sheds light on the matter. The trouble was that there was only 1 Gambold death registered in England and Wales in 1853 and that was for Ann Gambold.
I then remembered that I had been told that Ann had committed suicide, so it seemed a good idea to get her death certificate. She died 29 March 1853 in the parish of Spittal and that the cause of death was felo de se.
Therefore I have concluded that whoever wrote the original article must have been somewhat muddled (I am being kind here! :mad2:), because:
1. There was no Martha only an Ann (and she did not have 2 names);
2. The incident took place in the parish of Spittal rather than the parish of Rudbaxton (they are next door to one another); and
3. It was her step father's premises rather than her father, as he had died in 1837.
For those who don't know the old terms:
enceinte = pregnant
felo de se = suicide