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Mystery Death of David Robert Huntley 1903

aston lad

aston lad

master brummie
I will try to explain this the best I can, my cousin's great uncle was sent to Canada in or around 1905, this was after his father died in 1903, on his papers it stated that his father died of Heart Disease, and his mother could no longer afford to look after him, But on the record it states that his father at the time of his death wasn't living at home, he was with another women, the young lad found both his dad and the women he was living with dead with cuts to the throat, I am not sure if he seen his dad cut his own throat or not, now was the lad telling lies about his dad or not, this happened around April 1903, I don't know the name of the lady involved , I do not longer subscribe to the British News Papers Archives, but did try a search with the Library of Birmingham on line papers but couldn't find any mention of it, I would expect that incident like this would have made the local papers, did he died of an heart attack, was it murder and suicide, or were both murdered by an unknow killer, looking at the deaths for June quarter of 1903 is David Robert Huntley and Elizabeth Dyson she is the only one from that period which may be the lady involved, any guidance will be appreciated, Thank you
 
If you are in a position to get his death cert it will give you the cause of death. This would under these circumstances have been notified by the coroner.
These can be graphic - I have one, for a suicide, which simply says "self inficted knife would to the throat". So be prepared.

As for the papers it may be that those editions are not online yet. Eg Birmingham Mail and Birmingham Post not on Newspaper Archives for 1903.
 
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i agree with janice john...to put to bed all the doubts if you are able to i would advise you to obtain both death certs...if you do go down that route would you keep us informed please...its an interesting although very sad story

lyn
 
Yes, it looks that way, I thought I found a snippet of the lady involved Elizabeth Dyson, but it was of another lady of the same name who had her throat cut by William Lane in the Dudley area one year before, he was hanged..
 
Today I received the death certificate of David Robert Huntley, no mention of any throat being cut, I will try attach it but its in pdf format, I will also attach the Middlemore application form for his son who was sent to Canada, still a bit of a mystery
 

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I did get some of the info wrong, it looks like that only David cut his throat and not his lady friend whom we don't have a name for .
 
The report has 2 conflicting stories of how the Father died - heart disease as in the above certifcate or suicide. Something doesn't add up.
Is the name of the daughter correct?
 
Yes the name of the daughter is correct, but she lived at number 21 not 26 as stated

I cannot understand why there are two different statements, I was told that they said attack to make easy for the lad, but they cannot lie on the death certificate ..
 
That is all they have from Middlemore's, plus one or two reports about the boy after he was sent to Canada

I will have a word with the person who is researching this side of the their family

Thank you for your suggestions ..
 
In the 1901 census it suggests the lad that was sent to Canada was George Huntley (10) and it looks as if he had a younger brother called Harry (4) ?
 
Not particularly helpful but on the 12 June 1903 the Siberian from Clyde and Liverpool arrived at Halifax. It would then proceed to Philadelphia.
 
Thank you both and you are both correct, George was housed with a couple of families in and around Halifax and Middlemore got a report about every few months about George and his progress, the final report stated that he ran away, and not to be seen again that was in 1905, Found no trace of him since that date, tried every way possible, name changes, date of birth, fathers name, place of birth every method we can think of, searched not only in Canada, but the USA as well, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, nearly every country we have access too, the search will continue until we find him..But the problem we have at the moment is David death, suicide or just natural causes, Like you have already say, is there an inquest report somewhere, if the police were involved would there be a report of it in their records, As we have a date it would make searching easier, again thank you for you help..
 
Thanks for sharing, let’s hope you can find further information and that George made a good life for himself.

In 1901 the family seem to be together in Station Street, Handsworth. Later they look to have separated and lived apart. Was George living with his natural father ?

According to Middlemore records George’s father dies in early April 1903, heat disease or suicide, just a month before the Middlemore application. This seems a very short time to decide that George should be sent to Canada. Further, George sails for Canada on the 30th of May, less than a month after application.

This is puzzling as it seems to me to be contrary to Middlemore procedure. If I remember rightly, and I may be wrong, there was a period of assement and training to check the suitability of the children, and this was much more than a month.

Balsall Heath History Society have a great interest, and a project, concerning Middlemore Homes. They may be able to help.
 
Although some of the newspapers of Birmingham are not online for 1903, the incident of a throat cutting normally gets a mention in papers for other areas. For example the Bromyard News (and at least four others) for 2 April 1903 reports Sensational Affair in Birmingham, a story of an attempted suicide.
 
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George sails on the 23 May 1903.

From the Birmingham Gazette 21 May 1903…

“….120 boys and girls who have been rescued from the miseries of slum life, and who start for Canada at the end of the month..."


6E04CE14-E8C7-4161-BB2C-0E5F758F94CC.jpegC06FFC08-079A-464D-8598-9581669BFE5C.jpeg8E6CB6D8-F261-484B-A1E6-3BA916E2E39F.jpeg
 
By coincidence….In the book Great Canadian Expectations: The Middlemore Experience, by Patricia Roberts-Pichette…

"….A complaint, dated August 28,1903 was sent to James V Lantanum, Federal Immigration Agent in St. John, New Brunswick, about a well-to-do farmer's cruelty to his adopted son, a 9 year old Middlemore boy who had arrived in Canada on June 12, 1903...."
 
Have deleted attached files as I now realise the George Frederick I found coming from Canada was the nephew and was the son of David Lewis Huntley. Not sure why he had been in Canada
 
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That George Frederick died in a fire in the 1960's, fell asleep smoking...his brother was my uncle by marriage, Nearly everyone gets the two Georges mixed up
 
Had a reply from the Library of Birmingham who hold the coroners records, wasn't what I was hoping for...( Thank you for your e-mail forwarded to us from the Coroner’s Office. I checked the box of Birmingham inquests we hold around 2nd April, up to the 20th April, 1903, but I couldn’t see an inquest for David Robert Huntley. The death certificate would usually say if there was one held. If there’s a note to say one was and you can provide the date, I’ll check our holdings again. If there isn’t a note on the death certificate, it’s likely one wasn’t held. ) I cannot see any notes on the certificate therefore not an mystery anymore, I would like to know where Middlemore got their information from, the Lad, his mother or was it just all made up by Middlemore to get George Frederick sent to Canada quicker, we will never know for certain, Thank you all for the help and suggestions you passed on to me...
 
I suppose it is possible that the note refers to another child - there is no name on that section. Death cert agrees with top part of report.
Parents certainly together on census.
 
It is the correct child involved, and yes his parents were together in 1901 and the death certificate does correspond with the top half of the application, goodness knows where the other information came from, there is no records or news paper articles to back it up or confirm the suicide of David Robert, I think this story has run its course unless I find some new information , Thank you
 
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