| |
|
|||
|
||||
|
|
IMPORTANT PLEASE READ This website and forum has been living on borrowed web server time for years. At the end of this month silsden.net in it's present form will cease to exist, BUT there is a new silsden.net in the making, and a new forum, and lots of exciting new things coming to this space. Peter |
back
to I'm looking for...... | back to forum index | login
|
sign
up | help
| latest topics | search
Replies in this thread : 13
Author |
Topic : Help me to unravel an ancestral family mystery.... |
|
| JustJess |
Hi there, Im wondering if anyone can help me(people seem so helpful for others on here so Im hoping someone can help me too!) Im currently researching my family history and Im trying to unravel a family myth.... My ancestors were from Yorkshire and family legend has it that one of my ancestors committed suicide by jumping off a pier. I have ordered the said ancestors (Dorothy Nellie Downing) death certificate to find that it is in fact true - it states 'dead body found 16th May 1932 Leeds and Liverpool Canal, Howden Rough, Silsden...found drowned'. I'm from way down South so have no idea where this is (I know Silsden is between Keighley and Skipton but thats about it) , and was wondering if anyone could shed any light on the matter for me? Im also wondering if there would be any newspaper reportings of such a thing, and if so where I could find this?! Thanks in advance, Jess x |
|
| greenlanes |
Jess -there were two newspapers covering the Silsden area at that time (and still are!): the Craven Herald and the Keighley News. I have access to the relevant Heralds but have found no report of this incident in 1932. Copies of the Keighley News are on microfilm at Keighley Library, so will check for you next time I am researching there. Howden Rough simply refers to a wooded area on the outskirts of Silsden, through which the canal passes. |
|
| hat |
might be worh contacting the local newspaper www.keighleynews.co.uk good luck & let us know what you find out. |
|
| JustJess |
Thanks for your help guys. Green lanes - that would be useful if you could have a look for me...thank you! Its a pain being the opposite end of the country. Ill try the website hats and let you know if I have any luck... Thanks again! Jess x |
|
| hat |
strange though, thinking about it there's nothing in that area that could be classed as a pier & nothing of any height which someone could jump off into the canal. the canal itself is only 5ft or so deep so to drown yourself in it would take some determination this is a google map reference to the area - take a look on satellite view. the canal is to the east/right of the A629 maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=silsden&sll=53.800651,-4.064941&sspn=18.723967,39.067383&ie=UTF8&ll=53.894654,-1.930976&spn=0.018183,0.038152&t=h&z=15 |
|
| JustJess |
Thanks for the reference hat  The original myth was that she jumped off a pier in Brighton (which to me was a bit far to go from Yorkshire) so the pier thing might have been hear say as well. Its only when I ordered her death certificate did the story become clear - no pier and no Brighton either.Although I think the fact that the Canal is only 5 foot deep reinforces the suicide bit of the myth...as you say she must've had determination to drown in a mere 5 foot of water! Pieces of the puzzle are slowly coming together... |
|
| JustJess |
Im just browsing the link you gave me... Could she have jumped off one of the roads that go over the Canal?! It probably wouldnt be enough to kill a person though.... |
|
| hat |
no, the only roads are small lanes or farm tracks that go over swing bridges no more than a couple of feet above the water |
|
| greenlanes |
I've located a newspaper article about Dorothy Downing's death. She had no other connection with Silsden, apart from her body being discovered here: she was a typist from Bradford. The report is quite long and very upsetting, not really suitable for inclusion on this site. I could send you an email attachment if you are OK about providing your email address, either via this site or perhaps via the site administrator. |
|
| bogtoss |
hat you are wrong? on by howden wood there is a stone built bridge that goes over the canal the local sheep farmer drives his tractor over so it would be poosible to jump off it and if some one is fully dressed and has jumped into cold water even at five foot and can not swim then drowning can follow  |
|
| Dave |
Perhaps in 1932 the canal was still being used for freight. I don't know for sure but I would imagine there could have been wooden piers for loading/unloading of goods? |
|
| wahiba |
Wigan Pier (The Road to .. George Orwell)was/is on the canal at Wigan so maybe a loading stage beside the canal was referred to as a pier? The canal was still a working canal in the 1930s, in fact the Leeds Liverpool never became derelict between being an industrial and leisure waterway. Small industrial use continued into the 1960s, if not a bit later while the leisure use was developing at the same time. |
|
| alan |
Wigan Peir was a loading stage. Was there nothing like that where the boatyard is now? |
|
| JustJess |
this post has been edited 3 time(s) Ooh thank you greenlanes you're a star! Yes she was a typist from Bradford - this info is on her death certificate too 'a commercial clerk and typist'. Thank you so much for your help  Good to have someone who knows what they are looking for - it wouldve taken me hours to find something like that! |
|
| Replies in this thread : 13 |
|
events sale / wanted general have your say looking for.. skippy greengrass |
|
DON'T FORGET THE SUBJECT IS >>>>>>>> Forums Home > I'm looking for...... > Help me to unravel an ancestral family mystery.... |
|||
|
<< HOME PAGE < RETURN ^ PAGE TOP ^ | ||
 |
|||
|
webenquiries to |
||
27/07/2009 : 08:29:38 
28/07/2009 : 10:52:59