John Evan Thomas - 1943 suicide

[joshii5]

Hi,

I am trying to find out some information about my great uncle John Evan Thomas (1910-1943). He was born in Knighton, Powys in 1910 and his parents were John Thomas and Sally Ann Wilding. He committed suicide by ingesting poison in 1943 and neither he, nor the circumstances of his death have ever been spoken about. From what I can gather he was married to a woman named Irene (?) who bore him twins who died at birth, she then gave birth to a son who survived, but she herself died soon afterwards. The son was then farmed out of the family following the death of both its parents.

At the time my grandmother, still a teenager, was living with her parents at Cwmllechwyd Fawr in Radnorshire, the family farm, though I have no idea where John was living.

Now no-one directly involved in the case is with us, I wondered if it is possible to find newspaper articles and court transcripts, or at the very least some wider dates and information, as apparently it was a massive scandal at the time.

Thanks

[wilcoxon]

This is the best match I can find.
Name:  John E Thomas
Birth:  abt 1910
Death:  Jun 1943 - Radnorshire East, Radnorshire, Wales.

Your best bet would be trying to find a newspaper report, even though there would have been an inquest, there is probably  a 75/100 year ( can`t think of the word) and you would  not be able to get a copy.

http://www.powys.gov.uk/index.php?id=647&L=0
There will probably be local newspapers held here.
http://www.powys.gov.uk/index.php?id=876&L=0

[Keith]

There should be much more detail in any newspaper reports that you can find, although the inquest report will probably contain details that were unsuitable for the local press to print, and can make quite harrowing reading at times.

If the Coroner's records have survived they are usually bound by a 75 or 100 year closure period. As it's a family member, if the records have survived, you should be able to apply directly to the local coroner for access.

[wilcoxon]

  Have no idea if this is correct, you would have to do  more research.

Births Dec 1910    I ? Irene.
PUGH  Annie I    Builth  11b 67

Marriages Mar 1933   
Pugh  Annie I + Thomas  Knighton  11b 141   
THOMAS  John E   + Pugh  Knighton  11b 141

Births Sep 1933    ( name removed in case still alive )
Thomas /////  Mothers maiden name  Pugh  Radnor E  11b 146   

Births Jun 1935   
Thomas  Maurice J / Pugh  Radnor E.  11b 137   
Deaths Jun 1935   
Thomas  Maurice J  0  Radnor E.  11b 157

Births Dec 1938   
Thomas  Clive B / Pugh  Radnor W.  11b 96
Deaths Mar 1939   
Thomas  Clive B  0  Radnor E.  11b 129

Deaths Jun 1941   
Thomas  Annie I  age  33  ?   Edmonton  3a 379

[joshii5]

This is all correct. 'Irene' must have been Annie Irene Pugh, and I now remember seeing John Evan's gravestone when I was much, much younger with the two children also on it (in the Pound Chapel, Llanbister) and one of the children was called Clive. I also remember now that they weren't twins.

Thanks for steering me in the right direction for newspaper reports. Think I should probably think about how much I want to know before I persue a coroner's report or inquest. Where would I find information like this?

[wilcoxon]

The Powys Archives may have an index,  of inquests.  I know Flintshire Archives has one .
You will possibly  find much more detail surrounding the whole  incident in the papers.
Reporters would most probably have been present, I had a case of a Great Aunt who was knocked down by a car , the news paper told me much more than the inquest did.
It all seems to be very sad .

[joshii5]

What surprises me more on reflection is the fact Irene died in Essex. There must have been more to the story. I'll check it out next time I'm over that way.