Missing death

[jw9244]

Joshua Gomersall was born in 1768. His last child was born in 1797 & his 'widow' remarried in 1819. So he should have died! I've searched everywhere that I can think of, but would greatly appreciate some advice on breaking down this particular Brick Wall.

[Jan1954]

Hello - welcome to Brit-Gen,

Joshua Gomersall was born in 1768. His last child was born in 1797 & his 'widow' remarried in 1819.

Where did these events take place, please?

[Peter Goodey]

I've searched everywhere

Have you searched the burial register of the parish he was living in?

I can't see deaths as genealogical brick walls because they aren't blocking other research. Of course, death is pretty much a brick wall for the person concerned

[valg]

Hello - welcome to Brit-Gen,
Where did these events take place, please?

While waiting for jw to inform us what area we are looking at there is a burial for a Joshua Gomersall 16 Sep 1810

West Ardsley,​ York,​ England

[jw9244]

Hello - welcome to Brit-Gen,
Where did these events take place, please?

They took place in the Dewsbury area, West Yorkshire. All events involving his family were in Dewsbury All Saints.

[jw9244]

While waiting for jw to inform us what area we are looking at there is a burial for a Joshua Gomersall 16 Sep 1810

West Ardsley,​ York,​ England

I've already examined this and it's almost certainly NOT the one.

[jw9244]

I really have checked everything! I can't agree that a death isn't a genealogical brick wall, as it brings into question the validity of the re-marriage of his so-called 'widow'. Had he really died? When?

[Mutley]

Any help for locating the parish records?
https://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/YKS.../Dewsbury.html

[Coromandel]

Many young men went off to war at that time and never returned home. If Joshua was one of these, there may be no official record of his death. If nothing had been heard of him for 7 years, he could be presumed dead and his wife would be free to remarry.

You could try looking at records of overseers of the poor for Dewsbury, if these survive (usually now at county record offices): sometimes I have found details in such records of payments made to the widows of soldiers.

Joshua may have died when away from Dewsbury for some other reason, and been buried wherever he died. Unless his death made the newspapers, or the burial eventually appears in an online burial index, you may never know when/where he died. Many parish registers contain entries for burials of unknown people, found dead. Many of them must have left behind families who never knew what had happened to their lost relatives.

One of mine who apparently just disappeared turned out to have changed his name to disguise a bigamous marriage. He lived and died under this assumed name. Eventually I found him, but it was a very long search.

[Pam Downes]

Firstly, my sincere apologies to jw9244.
They posted a further query about Joshua Gomersall and the lack of his death, which I was supposed to transfer to this thread and which I royally stuffed up.

The actual post contained less information that the first one in this post - just a comment that the poster had searched everywhere but without success.

Obviously, the reason I was transferring the new post was so that everyone could see what research had already been completed in the search. Though it should be borne in mind that the thread is now eight years old, and further records are likely to have been released since then.

My reply in the next post was written before I found this original thread.

Pam.