I had some credits to spare at ‘Find My Past’ so I trawled the newspapers and found a death notice for George WREFORD’s daughter, Harriet in 1858.
Death Notice of Harriet WREFORD -1858
“April 29, at Witheridge, aged 7 years, Harriet, second daughter of Mr. George Wreford, Commercial Inn.”
It seems my WREFORDs may not have run the Hare and Hounds after all (see previous post, Pub Crawl). Although it is possible they could have run both during their life in Witheridge – this has been the only time I’ve found where the inn was named.
The Commercial Inn in Witheridge, Devonshire closed sometime after 1894. The Witheridge Historical Archive website has a gap between the 1850 and 1878 directories for the inn’s keepers and I’m still yet to find a directory for the area circa 1861.
Hare and Hounds TO LET notice Trewman’s Exeter Flying Post 22 April 1858
This notice was found on a visit to the Exeter Library a few years ago. It relates to the letting of the Hare and Hounds Inn of Witheridge in 1858 – only a few years before my WREFORDs inhabited it in 1861. Perhaps the WREFORDs took over this letting in 1858?
The text is very difficult to read but I have uploaded it here (with a transcription of what I could make out) in case anyone has any suggestions.
Trewman’s Exeter Flying Post
Exeter, Thursday, April 22,1858 (p1)
WITHERIDGE – DEVON
TO LET by Tender, for a Term of …… [years] from Midsummer next, all ……[establish]ment called the HARE AND [HOUNDS] [encompassing?] a dwelling-house, malt- …… and also a garden and two fields? … the occupation of Mr. William …
… [business is now?] being carried …
… be sent on or before the 1?th …. to Mr I M?H C?mins?, Solictor, …
Front page the above notice was ‘clipped’ from
UPDATE – I have found evidence that the family actually kept the Commercial Inn – see post here
Obituary Notice for Drusilla WILLS (nee WREFORD) (Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 140, 15 June 1934, p3)
This obituary for Drusilla WILLS (nee WREFORD) featured in my previous post stated that:
Mrs. Wills is survived by two children. Mr James Wills and Mrs. D. Evans, and 15 grandchildren, and 20 great-grandchildren.
My searches of the NZ BDM showed me that Thomas & Drusilla had 3 children:
Richard Henry, Drusilla Howard and James Howard WILLS birth registrations
So you may presume (as I did) that:
a) their son Richard Henry died prior to 1934; and
b) the Mrs D Evans referred to is their daughter, Drusilla Howard.
However a search of Wills/Evans marriages from 1865 only came up with 2:
WILLS/EVANS marriage registration
This means that one of the surviving children was actually ANOTHER daughter called Charlotte (and the D being her husband’s initial). However, there was no birth record of a Charlotte WILLS. So, IS this Charlotte a daughter of Thomas & Drusilla?
I was able to find the marriage of Drusilla Howard WILLS (spelt Drucilla – one of the 3 births listed) to a William SHORT in 1899.
I checked the WREFORD pedigree compiled in 1908 (more on that another time) which notes Drusilla and Thomas had SIX children. With only 3 of those listed in the online BDMs – is it possible to find these other children OR was the compiler mistaken?
Wreford Pedigree
Next Steps:
Check birth notices in newspapers (Papers Past)
Check BDM for WILLS deaths prior to 1934
Scour newspapers for any other references to the family
A couple of months ago, I found out via an 1896 newspaper article that my ancestor, Alexander Ritchie BUCHAN, had a brother called John. John was there when Alex died pulling in a fishing net but where was he all those other years?
Charles BUCHAN and his wife Jessie (Janet RITCHIE) migrated to New Zealand on the Rimutaka in 1893. All their children (except Charles), some of whom had begun their own families went too. Peter, Jessie (married to John BUCHAN), Alex and William all arrived on the Rimutaka. John had never appeared with the family on the censuses and so I hadn’t realised he was missing.
A little bit of research proved that John was actually twin brother of William – born 11th July 1868 in Peterhead. Was it just coincidence that he was away from home all those census nights? Did he stay in Scotland or
A search of shipping lists from 1890 don’t seem to show John’s arrival in New Zealand so it seems likely that he migrated before the rest of the family.
A search of the IGI comes up with 9 other John BUCHANs born in Scotland in 1868 alone. I have scribbled down these parents names to avoid confusion as the long census search begins…
Edited to add: Just reread an excerpt from Roy BUCHANs book about the family:
The Buchan family settled in Carey’s Bay, a mile from Port Chalmers. They fished in the comparative calm of the inner Otago Harbour instead of the hazardous and stormy North Sea. The main breadwinners were Jack, his brother-in-law Alexander and father-in-law Dade [Charles]. The younger two men would fish from an open boat in the harbour and Dade would sell the fish.
Could brother John actually refer to his brother-in-law John (married to Jessie)? The newspaper article mentions that Charles also gave evidence at the hearing which means he was probably also there (as the excerpt suggests).
This morning I received some death certificates for members of my BUCHAN family. On Alexander Ritchie BUCHAN’s certificate it states his cause of death as ‘Verdict of Jury – Sudden Failure of the Heart’.
Part of Alexander Ritchie BUCHAN’s death certificate – 1896
My grandmother mentioned in a letter years ago that “Grandad B [a fisherman] was actually pulling in a fishing net, when he apparently (I presume) had a heart attack & died at age 34”. I had no idea there was an inquest into his death though.
I searched through the newspapers on New Zealand’s wonderful Papers Past site and found a mention in the ‘Casualties’ section:
A sudden death occurred about 8 o’clock on Wednesday night, 2nd. Alexander Buchan, who was engaged fishing with his brother John in the lower harbour, had just hauled in the net, when he went to the bow of the boat and fell forward, and on his brother going to him found he was dead. An inquest was held on Thursday afternoon when after hearing the evidence of Charles and John Buchan, John Keenan, and Dr Cunninghame, the jury returned a verdict that deceased died from sudden failure of the heart. Deceased leaves a wife and five children in very poor circumstances. (Otago Witness – 10 Dec 1896, p15)
Otago Witness – 10 Dec 1896, p15
His wife Agnes (nee FINDLAY) was left with 5 children under the age of 9 – their daughter was only 3 weeks old!
Alexander was buried in Port Chalmers cemetery on the 5th December 1896. Also buried on the plot were members of the GRANT family who I believe to be unrelated and a Robert JONES (according to the Cemeteries Database on the Dunedin Ciy Council website). On the entry in the Cemeteries Database is the note:”GRANT PLOT: CONSENT OF CHURCH”.
It seems that the church took pity on Alexander’s family (who had only arrived in the country 3 years earlier) and because of their “very poor circumstances”, buried him in this plot as an act of charity.
I am really keen to find any surviving inquest records as I know nothing about a brother called John!
Next Steps:
Locate inquest records (if any)
Search for church records that may mention the burial
