Help needed to find accident victim

[arthurk]

Just found something interesting, though it may be what prompted Kath's original query. Googling for "ellis dick hudsons bingley 1967" (just the words, no quotes) brought up a result in Google Books - "Somebody's Husband, Somebody's Son: The Story of the Yorkshire Ripper" by Gordon Burn - it's on page 82.

This does seem to suggest that Ellis was killed almost instantly. It also describes him as "old Ellis, one of the greenhouse staff", so I wouldn't want to completely rule out the 79 year old Willie. However, authors can make mistakes, particularly if they are relying on individuals and their memories rather than written/printed records, so it might be worth looking into similar names as well, such as Elliott or Ellison.

One further thought: this book says the death was "a few months before Peter Sutcliffe was sacked from Bingley cemetery in 1967". That might not in itself preclude, for example, John Ellis aged 70 in June qtr 1966 - though Kath, I note your comment about March-November 1967, which appeared while I was looking into this and typing it up.)

Arthur

[kathhale]

Further details claim Mr Ellis was the victim of a hit and run so if anyone has a report in the local papers from 1967 that would prove very useful.

[groom]

Was he buried in Bingley cemetery? If so, it might be worth contacting them to see if they have a record of his burial.

Haworth is only about 6 miles from Bingley, so if it was George Ellis he may have lived there but worked in Bingley. However, the fact he was described as Old Ellis does sound like an older man ie Willie.

[arthurk]

I understand the victim died at the scene and was found in the middle of the road. He was then apparently taken to Bingley cemetery the following morning.

If TV medical/crime dramas are to be believed, taking a body straight to a cemetery would be rather unusual these days, if not actually improper. After a death in those circumstances, I think the body would normally be taken first to a mortuary for formal determination of the cause of death, and then to a funeral director to arrange for whatever ceremony was desired.

Occasionally a family asks for a body to lie in a church for the night before a funeral, and I could understand something similar at a cemetery for one of their staff, but for this kind of thing to happen immediately after death didn't ring quite true to me. (Or was the mortuary attached to the cemetery?)

Arthur

[kathhale]

Thanks for the information. I think the victim must have been taken to Bingley cemetery a few days after the accident. Does anyone have access to local papers in 1967 as this may have been a hit and run accident between June and November. Any reports could prove interesting.

[arthurk]

I'm not aware of any local papers for that period being online. Your best bet might be to ask for a copy of an article from the local studies section at Bradford or Keighley Library, but without a fairly precise date, they might be unable to help much, and would suggest that you go in person to trawl through the papers. (Bradford does/did have a name index to some newspapers, but I don't know what dates it covered.)

I'm not sure how much is currently available in Bradford, because the main library building was found to be unsafe and things have been running at reduced capacity. In theory, though, they have more or less complete runs of the Yorkshire Post (Leeds, mornings) and Telegraph & Argus (Bradford, evenings), and I think a Keighley weekly paper too. Keighley will probably have the latter, and maybe others too. Other Yorkshire libraries should have the Yorkshire Post too, but as with all such searches, a quick phone call would tell you more than I could.

Arthur

[arthurk]

Another thought: are you sure it was the surname that was Ellis? It's also found as a forename in Yorkshire, and using FreeBMD, this gives a couple more possibilities, both Worth Valley District, June qtr 1967: Ellis Mitchell (71), and Ellis Weatherall (67).

The probate calendar has an entry for Ellis Mitchell giving an address in Lees, Keighley, and a widow Annie, but no place of death. There's nothing there for Ellis Weatherall.

Arthur

[kathhale]

Thanks for the latest info. We live too far away to visit Bradford to view the newspaper archives. The notes confirm the surname of Ellis and the accident could have happened in June 1967 but not certain.

[johndwadsworth]

In those days the official name of the pub was 'The Fleece Inn' and it can be seen on maps of the area. Very few people could have called it their 'local'.