Any suggestions on how to trace this arrest/commital?

[Emma Hughes]

Hi everyone,
This site has given me so many ground breaking solutions in the past I thought I would try you all once again. I have want to to trace what happened to James Hodgson b. 1881 in Kendal, Westmorland.

I know that he attacked his wife and was sent to prison or an asylum. It happened sometime between  1935 and 1955.  My Nana as a child used to carry money orders from the family to the post office to be sent to him alas she never looked at the address.

The last place I know that he lived was Healey Masham in Yorkshire North Riding but they could of moved as he was a navvy on reservoirs. I've searched newspapers and haven't found any references to him or his wife, I have looked at what prison records I can find on the usual family history websites without success.

Where else can I look? Any tips for this sort of thing?
Thanks everyone

[ScouseBoy]

Why don't you search for his death certificate?   around 1962

[Ruskie]

This is very cryptic SB:

Why don't you search for his death certificate?   around 1962

Would you care to be more specific? Supply district, volume and page numbers perhaps?

Is this correct Emma? Did your James die "around" 1962? Death certificates generally contain the least information and are more likely to record inaccurate details. It won't give further information about his arrest and conviction.

A few quick thoughts:

Do you have James on the 1939 register? There may be clues as to his whereabouts - perhaps he had previous "form".

I am surprised that you could find no mention of him in the newspapers of the time. This is where you would expect to find what you are looking for re his crime. Maybe another set of eyes might locate something for you. His surname may have been misspelled, for example ...

What was his wife's name?

It sounds like this is a family story - I am wondering if there may be some inaccuracies.

[Emma Hughes]

I don't know when he died. The name is so common I have no idea which death could be his as I don't know where he was.

I do know that he never went back to his family as the wife lived with someone else whose name we cant remember. I've never found her death record, perhaps she started going by the new partners name although they wouldn't have married.

His wife's name was Emily Cristina Hodgson nee Kingwell. I have found that with the newspapers you either have to be really lucky or know the place and time in order to comb through and find what you are looking for.

Yes it is a family story. 2 brothers married two sisters. One couple were my Nana's grandparents, she was evacuated to live with them in the war. Her grandfather used to get her to buy and send postal orders for 10 shillings a month to James Hodgson (his brother) in prison/aslyum. This was in the 1940s. At the time everyone was told that he was sent to a hospital for shell shock after the war. But later Nana realised he never went to war! Then her mother told her the real story. My Nana's grandfather never spoke to his sister in law again after having him arrested as apparently she was a piece of work.

The story was that he attacked her with a knife but we don't know if it was asylum or prison. He was never seen again.

I haven't looked at at the 1939 census, that's a good idea. Thank you

[JenB]

around 1962

Presumably you followed up the original enquiry with some research and found information that leads you to give this date? Why not share it with the OP and the rest of us? 

[Emma Hughes]

I don't know where that date came from.

I'm just look on FindMyPast the 1939 register. There isn't much to go on but Emily would have been 60 years old at the time of the census and would have had her son James Hodgson and a wife, name unknown. I don't currently have a subscription.

Common names as so maddening

[josey]

Did James have a middle name? Do you know his or Emily's actual dob? May be worth gettting their birth certs as this will help looking in 1939. Is the 1935 - 1955 time scale for the alleged attack from your Nan's information?

You could try looking for her children in 1939 - Emily may have been living with one of them. I'm sorry but we can't look for you due to copyright reasons. I have pm'ed you.

ADDED:
Births Dec 1879   
Kingwell    Emily        Caistor    7a   678

Also intriguingly:
Name:   Emily Christina Lamb
Birth Date:   25 Dec 1879
Date of Registration:   Mar 1971
Age at Death:   91
Registration district:   Folkestone
Volume:   5f
Page:   1263

LATER: Scrub that death this is probably the relevant marriage
Marriages Sep 1905   
Baker    Emily Christina        Maidstone    2a   1753   
Lamb    Frank Gilbert        Maidstone    2a   1753

[Ruskie]

Emma, I think Jen was directing her question to Scouseboy regarding the year 1962.

Sadly, I doubt that he will return to enlighten us. 

I was going to suggest that the family story might have been concocted to cover a scandal, but I see  that it is the scandal! I will see if I can spot any newspaper articles later, but if there are none, it makes me wonder if the story was enhanced a bit, and the wife was not injured, or James just threatened Emily but did not harm her. An interesting story thats for sure. 

[JenB]

I think Jen was directing her question to Scouseboy regarding the year 1962.

I was   

It will be interesting for you to find out from him the information leading him to suggest that James died around 1962