Was he really dead or legally on that date?

[Jamjar]

He could have just changed his name and moved on. However, suicide wasn't  taked about openly like it is, today. You wouldn't think it was something passed through the family as being something said by an aunt if it wasn't the case.

Jamjar

[majm]

I agree JJ,  very rarely mentioned, and even rarer to share the mention.  Very hushed innuendo type mentions only, and not by single women of any age.

JM

[Rosinish]

A few puzzling things.

Aunt was informed i.e. it would be known what the deceased's name was & as JJ said, the informant would have got the aunt's details from somewhere/someone so why no death record in his name?

I am of the belief he possibly "faked" the death/got someone to inform his sister & vanished elsewhere with possibly a change of name too?

However, it would be good to find out different even if only to close that chapter.

Annie

[cando]

Would there be an inquest file 'somewhere' for his suicide/death?  At NSW records?

Cando

There certainly should be a record of it even if not a file, as was the case with my ancestor.

Narrandera is also Riverina.

Jamjar

An online index of NSW inquests only extends to 1937. I understand not all inquest papers/files survived. In many cases only the registers survived.

One of my OH's ancestors died in NSW and there is no death registration because his body was never found. 

Perhaps Ros or JM know more about the inquest files NSW records.  I find their new website frustrating.  So easy to find things with a simple search on the old one.  Perhaps I no longer have the patience to learn to navigate the new one.

Cando

[Jamjar]

I agree Cando, the new site is dreadful.

Jamjar

[majm]

I am familiar with the State Records Office when it was known as the Archives Office, and was a stand alone institution, having previously been hived off from the NSW State Library.   Now it is part of a huge financial department, staff probably have toolbox meetings each morning, and there's likely KPI reviews quarterly (just how does anyone expect staff to find the time to actually help the general public with their archive enquiries .... worse still how do PhD students get along now) .....

If I am not careful I may actually use some foul words to describe how I feel about NSW SR.   And as for their current iteration of a website .........  what do we pay taxes for .... someone to redesign webpages to enter into competition with other departments of the same 'corporate' government? 

I apologise for becoming irate at near midnight ... is there a full moon?

PS,  I also apologise to our OP for making political statements on a thread that is of significant interest.    Finding 'Unknowns' and reuniting them with their living relatives  can be difficult but has great outcomes.

JM

[Rena]

You've got a bit of a cunumdrum haven't you.  If Australian law was the same as British law then I believe a person could be assumed dead after seven years - hence the wife married seven years after his disappearance.

On the other hand he was discharged from the army as medically unfit and might have been able to apply for an army pension at some point. Thus I think it reasonable that he carried his ID with him.   If he wasn't on speaking terms with his parents it's logical that he would have given his sister's name.  There's always an address given for the next of kin and that's where official notification is given - at this point we don't know who was living at that address.  Would the local police records have any details of the notification process?

The sister stated she'd be "notified" but didn't say whether notified by her parents or an official.  Personally, I think the poor chap suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder  which got worse as the years passed by (Youtube have some WWI filmed examples of Shell Shock).  He'd have had flashbacks, mood swings, his marriage would have broken down and he'd have walked out thinking they'd be better off without him - or the wife could have given him the "Big E" (big elbow = get lost).  I believe many sufferers eventually also hear voices in their head talking to them which may be what happened here and he decided to end it all.  As it was a sin to commit suicide he won't be buried in any hallowed ground.

William Booth (1829-1912) who founded the Salvation Army was prompted to help homeless men when he kept seeing them trying to take their own lives by jumping off London Bridge. 

 

[Jamjar]

Rena, you've made quite a few assumptions here.

I suggest you look up his war record and the first thing you'll discover is that his father was listed as next of kin. That suggests to me that he may have been on speaking terms with him.

You certainly can't know what he was suffering from, again read the record for clues. Nor, can you possibly know his moods, reason for separation etc.

I have no doubt that burial is very likely to take place in our cemeteries regardless of how one has died.

Jamjar

[Rena]

Rena, you've made quite a few assumptions here.

I suggest you look up his war record and the first thing you'll discover is that his father was listed as next of kin. That suggests to me that he may have been on speaking terms with him.

You certainly can't know what he was suffering from, again read the record for clues. Nor, can you possibly know his moods, reason for separation etc.

I have no doubt that burial is very likely to take place in our cemeteries regardless of how one has died.

Jamjar

Hi Jamjar,

I agree that I didn't physically look through any of his records, I read the thread.

I did see that his father was stated as next of kin and I tried to make my wording clear that when his sister used the word "notified" I stated that we did not know who had notified her - it could have been her father or somebody else.   I then suggested that perhaps there might be a historic record in the police files (in case they had been tasked to pass on the information concerning the deceased).

As regards to cemeteries - I specifically mentioned "Hallowed ground" which refers to church cemeteries.  I'm pretty sure in the time span that the church considered it a sin to commit suicide - hence my comment.   I don't know if his family were buried in a church cemetery or an alternative cemetery, I was just giving an example of where/why he might not have been found with the family.

Your point about my not knowing the mental state of the veteran.  You're quite right, I don't know the mental state of the man.  As I made plain in my post; I was offering another opinion based on the original question which said:-

<My dad’s uncle, Donald M[a]cGregor (1894 Sydney) had a rough life. ... He went to war overseas and returned in bad health, physically and mentally.>

You seem rather het up that I offered the alternative of PTSD to the supposition of a man who changed his name in order not to be found.   When I read that Doanld had been in combat, then after a few years had lost his job, lost his family and then walked away, it exactly mirrored that of my friend's son.  (This is why I know about sufferers' mood swings, flashbacks, voices, etc., etc and I managed to get help for them, which was sorely needed, as at the time it wasn't common knowledge).

Regards Rena (my real name)