Crail death at Sea -1845

[ron81]

My Gr Gr Grand Father was lost at sea, he was sometime a fisherman , sometime a sailor

Alexander McDonald,  from Crail, his date of death is 10/1/1845, he is buried in Crail

He was born in Opinan,Gairloch to unwed parents,    Donald McDonald & Elisabeth Brown


Magdalene Clark Mcdonald 14th april 1839 baptised 5th may 1839 crail fife
Parents were Alexander Mcdonald and Euphemia Brown


I am at a loss regarding his death, the story goes he was brought home to Crail with another 4 bodies

Can anyone help with any names of boats that went down at that time, i would think the boat would need to be from that area to bring bodies home?
as they would decompose quickly

Unsure if a fishing boat, but the Seamans mission & Museum in Anstruther have no info on him at all ,according to the family

It appears it could well of been an ordinary merchant ship,or fishing boat, if you can help with this , i would be much obliged

I do realise it is a bit of a long shot
Thanks 

[Thrall]

Hi Ron, I looked through the digitised British Newspapers at the British Library and  I´m afraid I could find nothing convincing in the Fife area, accidents at sea etc.

If you wish to try yourself, the free trial is accessed here:

http://access.gale.com/gdctrial/login.html           

with the following info inserted manually:

email: rcc1934[at]aol.com
login: virtual
password: books

Guid hunting,

Thrall

Moderator Comment: e-mail edited, to avoid spamming and other abuses.
Please replace [-- at --] with @

[ron81]

Hi Thrall

Many thanks for your help, it was just a thought , it might be Crail

Possibly happened elsewhere?

My reasoning was bodies decomposing before they got them home
I will certainly give your suggestion a trial ,thank you for taking the time, its much appreciated 


It really seems to stump folk, 
I see by the crest & your name you obviously have close connections to Crail

"weel jist ca canny & ferret awa"
Regards
Ron

[Thrall]

Hi Ron, well yes, a mother from Burntisland, and often sailed over the Forth from Granton to various ports all the way to Largo.

Hope you get some closure.

Thrall

[Aidem62]

Hi Ron

I had a look at Fife FHS Pre 1855 Death Index - there is a burial record for Alexander McDonald, Sailor, Crail, 10 May 1845, Husband of Euphemie Brown (deceased).  The source is Sexton Book, Crail Museum.  The museum has a website - www.crailmuseum.org.uk.

Best wishes

Lorna

[ron81]

Hi Lorna
Thanks for the info

I did try Cupar Lib for back issues of the East Fife Observer, they had them all apart from that month

Just my luck 

I do intend to contact Crail Musemn next month when i am in the area, hopefully they might have copies, or some more info.

Find it hard to believe, that information on this is hard to come by, as it appears 4 deaths are involved, also in such a small community, you would of thought more than news worthy

One sea death usually made news then ?
Thank you for taking the time to reply, its much appreciated

Kind Regards 
Ron

[Chiad Fhear]

Hi

Another place to try is the Scottish Fisheries Museum in Anstruther, Fife: http://www.scotfishmuseum.org/

They have records of a lot of deaths at sea in the Firth of Forth and may be able to help you.  there's a 'contact' link on the site.

Worth a try!

[ron81]

Hi Chiad Fhear
Thanks for that, as i said some of the family had asked, but how deeply gone into i dont know

I intend to visit very soon, so will check it out, thanks agin for your help & reply
Kind Regards 
Ron

[Chiad Fhear]

Ron

On your way to Crail and Anstruther ... if you happen to pass through St Andrews ... you could try the Special Collections Department of the University Library on North Street - across the road from the Police Station - for the copy of the old East Fife Observer that was missing from the series.  They hold all the old East Fife papers on microfilm and have 'powered' viewers - so there's no need to sit and crank a handle to get to the page!  You don't need to be a local or student to use the Library 

You could email them in advance and make sure they have the particular one you're looking for http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/specialcollections/

The Fisheries Museum have a Remembrance Book as well as other records.

Good luck