Genealogy Chat

Mandy, You can find the Birmingham Libraries service on www birmingham gov uk (with dots between). They might be willing to check it out for you. It would indeed be amazing if the case I'd read about was the one. I seem to recall this particular chap chopped his wife's head off but maybe my mind's just gone into gruesome mode! All the news at the time in the Middlesbrough Evening Gazette was connected with post-war celebrations, returning soldiers and their drunken antics and tragedies such as this murder. I suppose when you'd been through the horrors of the trenches, you might well be a bit unhinged and dehumanized, so such things were relatively common compared to peacetime. Good luck with your search and let us know if anything comes of it. Jack

Linda - LOL! Mind you, on a bad day, without make up, there could be a family resemblance!

Linda - I don't think I am related to the elephant man! But thanks for looking for me anyway. Alcie - thanks for that suggestion. Will give it a go.

You could try The British Library Online Newspaper Archive www*uk*olivesoftware*com. I had also heard stories about a murder in our family in the late 1800's and found a newspaper clipping about it on this site. After finding out all about the murder I can't find the connection to our family. I suppose I should be pleased but I feel slightly dissapointed

Thanks everyone, I will start looking in all the suggested places. Jaqueline - Surely that's too much of a co-incidence???!!! I'm excited now, maybe, just maybe, it's who I'm looking for!

A few months back, I was looking for a family death in a works accident in the microfiche records of the Middlesbrough newspapers for June/July/August 1919 and there was a report in the national news section of the trial of a man somewhere in England who had done exactly this on his return from the war. Reading your message suddenly brought it back into my head! I wonder if this could be the one? Not very likely but possible. Never found what I was looking for btw (seems I was 10 years too early!) but they made fascinating reading anyway. Jack

Mandy I recently was looking for a newspaper report into my gt aunts death. First I sent an email to Nottingham archives who couldn't find anything and they gave me the email address for the Local Studies Library who found it for me and emailed me it. Sorry don't know what the address for birmingham one is but I'm sure someone on here will. Dawn

I agree with Chrissie, contact Birmingham Library. They might have the story in a file index.

Hi Mandy, You could also trying writing to Broadmoor as 'The Freedom of Information Act 2000' gives a general right of access to all types of ‘recorded’ information held by public authorities (all NHS Trust are public authorities). Under the act, an applicant has the right to be told whether that authority holds the information requested and, if it is held, to have it communicated to him/her. You might find some information there. Nicky

If this were true, then presumably it happened between his being demobbed and about 1920. Somewhere, there should be at least three deaths (2plus children, one female) all with the same or consecutive page number in the death indexes. You might find, however, that they died say in the flue epidemic.

There has long been a story that an ancestor of mine (either George or Joseph Merrick) returned from WW1 to rumours that his children were not his and that his wife had had an affair. he then apparantly killed her and the children, believing it to be true , and then tried to hang himself in Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham. He was arrested and sent to Broadmoor. I cannot find any evidence to tell me whether this is true or not. I have searched the internet. I cannot get to Birmingham easily to look in the library archives. How can I find out if this really happened? Where should I look now? This is all the information I have as I am relying on a story passed down. Thanks Mandy