Can anybody please help with the death of my Grandfather, William Horace Bougourd. He was born in Guernsey on 29th January 1860 and served most of his younger life in the army - much of it based in the Khyber Pass in India. He was drowned off the White Rock in October 1939 at the age of 79 and he was still working, so he was a fit man.
He had left work at the Great Western Railway offices in stormy weather and his body was found in the harbour about 10 days later. The priest at the Roman Catholic church in town refused to bury him in case his body burst and so he was buried from the French Catholic church nearby. He was interred in the Foulon Road cemetery in St Peterport.
I am not 100% certain but I think he lived in Berthelot Street.
My father had two press reports of the incident but I could not find them after his death and so the family no longer has them.
I would be very grateful for any information and if anyone can tell me where Guernsey newspapers of the day might be kept. I have tried to look up these reports in the British Newspaper Archives but with no success. Many thanks in anticipation.
Neville Bougourd
