Terrible death - where can I find out more?

[Pamela.Ebrey]

Hello everyone,
A few days ago I received the Death Certificate for one of my 'sideways' ancestor who died in Birmingham in 1908. I had constructed a family timeline and noticed that one of the sons, Alfred Joseph EBREY had died at the age of 27, which struck me as strange so I sent for the cert to see what had happened.

And it was horrible.

Cause of death: Partial severance of leg and arm, run over by engine. Accidental death.

I want to find out more about what happened and am hoping that someone on here can point me in the right direction.

The death was registered in St George, Birmingham.
Date of death was 5 Nov 1908 at General Hospital U.A.
Name and age: Alfred Joseph Ebrey, 27
Occupation: A Railway shunter of 10 Vauxhall Terrace, Devon Street, Aston U.D
Cause of death as given above.
Informant: Certificate received from Isaac Bradley, Coroner for Birmingham. Inquest held 9th November 1908.

It looks like there are several avenues of investigation I can take to find out more info, but I need a bit of help from those who know more than I do. Would the hospital have a record? Surely the local newspapers would have a story? How would I get a copy of the inquest? And would the Railway have done an investigation, as it was an 'on the job' accident? Would there have been any recompense for the young widow and her 2-year-old daughter?

Any help in finding out what happened to poor Alfred would be most greatly appreciated. I currently live in Alabama, US, so I'm not able to visit local record or newspaper offices.. might there be something online?

thanks in advance
Pamela
*Edited to correct a senior moment

[Isobelruss]

His father Henry left their employ the same week

[nanny jan]

Hi,

If you are lucky the inquest file will be at the county archives;  the survival of these files is very hit-and-miss!
The archives should also be able to advise you which local newspapers will have carried a report of the proceedings.

http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/countyrecordoffice


I was searching for an inquest held (1903) in Portsmouth, Hampshire; WW2 bombings had destroyed it but the history centre staff found, copied and posted newspaper reports for me for a very modest fee.


Nanny Jan

[Plummiegirl]

Your best bet would be to contact the local history archives or library.  They will have on microfische copies of all the local papers at the time.

From these you can get a copy of the coroners report.   The inquests at this time would have been big news and would have been in the paper either the evening of the inquest or the following morning.

Many archives will do a search for you at a cost (average used to be £25.00 per hour) , but I know from experience that they will search every local paper they have on file and send you a copy of every report.   I know the archives in Brighton and Hove, used my hour well and I got loads of stuff about an inquest into a death in my family.

Most coroners do not have to keep their records for longer than I think 10 years and many after this time will often only keep those that they consider 'interesting' for their own reasons.  I know that in the Bristol area in the 1940's one coroner threw out all the records in his office as they were taking up so much space.  Hard I know, but how was he to know in 60 years this stuff would be so interesting to us.

So as said before, the local newspapers are the best source for the information you require.  Good luck

[Keitht]

Since the accident appears to have taken place in Birmingham the first plae I would try is the city's extensive archive, e-mail: archives.heritage@birmingham.gov.uk

They will certainly have copies of all local newspapers of the time and may even have a copy of the coroner's report.

Keith

[MargP]

Hi Pamela

His accident may have been some time before his death, according to the Uk Railway Employment Books 1833-1963 his last payment day was the 24 September 1907 a red line through his name and Deceased, which I find unusual as a lot of records I have checked in the past, have a detailed account of any accidents.

Margp

[Pamela.Ebrey]

Isobelruss - I hadn't caught that detail, thanks for pointing it out.

Nanny jan - thanks for the pointer; I'll check it out

Plummiegirl - really useful info, thanks a ton

Keitht - I'll check out those archives, thanks

MargP - oh, I hadn't thought of that..how awful it would have been if he had lingered for a month or so before finally dying! I thought it was bad enough as it stood, didn't think it could get worse! Thank you for the idea though.

[janan]

Hi Pamela

His accident may have been some time before his death, according to the Uk Railway Employment Books 1833-1963 his last payment day was the 24 September 1907 a red line through his name and Deceased, which I find unusual as a lot of records I have checked in the past, have a detailed account of any accidents.

Margp

24 Sep 1907 is the date of entry into service it then says his salary was 22/- or 17/6 on January 1908, so the accident was at some point after then. I agree that it seems strange that there is no date of accident or anything about it. Makes me wonder if it did happen on the job

Jan

[MargP]

Thanks Jan, I think I needed my bed when I posted, it does seem strange there is no report, unless it was a cover up and they did not want to pay compensation? or as you say, he may have been off duty.

Margp