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PhD Research. Fatal Drownings in 20th Century Birmingham

L

Liz Gurney

knowlegable brummie
Good Morning all.
How are you? Hope you are well?
I am researching The Histories of Fatal Drownings in 20th Century Britain for a PhD at Birmingham University. I have seen many stories in this forum site that would be fantastic for my thesis. However I am reluctant to just "steal" these stories. If any of you lovely people would be willing to share any stories I'd be super greatful.

Thank you
Liz
 
Welcome Liz.

As Pedrocut says https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk
is an excellent source and you will be able to reference the accounts properly. Check that your library subscribes, if not then get your supervisor to recommend it.

Contact the Canal and River Trust? I have stayed in Lock Cottage Stoke Pound owned by the Landmark Trust which contains copies of logbooks. (Though I expect these are collected from newspaper accounts.)
Good luck with your PhD!
Stokkie
 
Pedrocut said:
If you subscribe to the Newspaper Archives online you would have access to thousands. Most of the cases mentioned on the Forum would be from the newspapers and I am sure members would have no problem sharing.
Good luck.
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Thank you. Yes I am registered and have used them a huge deal. It's a fantastic resource for my work.
Thank you.
 
Stokkie said:
Welcome Liz.

As Pedrocut says https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk
is an excellent source and you will be able to reference the accounts properly. Check that your library subscribes, if not then get your supervisor to recommend it.

Contact the Canal and River Trust? I have stayed in Lock Cottage Stoke Pound owned by the Landmark Trust which contains copies of logbooks. (Though I expect these are collected from newspaper accounts.)
Good luck with your PhD!
Stokkie
Click to expand...
Thank you. That's great. I am booked in to view the canal and rivers trust archives on May 1st. I'm very excited. I may have to plan a trip to Lock cottage.
Thank you.
 
My late wife's brother drowned as a child in Finchley Park pool but I think the only notice was from his mother who put a small notice in one of the newspapers. His name was Paddy Cox (maybe Patrick) I can't remember the dates but it would have been in the 1930s or early 40s
 
Rotton Park Reservoir which is now called Edgbaston Reservoir has been the site of many drownings. The water is cold and deep. Many people live locally and are drawn to the water as it is a delightful place to relax and has unrestricted access.
 
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Eric Gibson said:
My late wife's brother drowned as a child in Finchley Park pool but I think the only notice was from his mother who put a small notice in one of the newspapers. His name was Paddy Cox (maybe Patrick) I can't remember the dates but it would have been in the 1930s or early 40s
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Thank you so much for this. If you're happy I'll see what I can find and keep you up dated.
Thanks again, I appreciate it
 
Stokkie said:
Rotton Park Reservoir which is now called Edgbaston Reservoir has been the site of many drownings. The water is cold and deep. Many people live locally and are drawn to the water as it is a delightful place to relax and has unrestricted access.
Click to expand...
Thank you. I didn't realise it had a name change. That's brill. I really appreciate it
 
Both Witton Lakes and Brookvale Park had their fairs share of drowning incidents, quite few I am told at Brookvale Park.

If your researching country wide that the River Severn will be a source too. This river was navigable right up to Welshpool, a lot of activity took place from large boats to coricals. The Tidal section of the river down stream of Gloucester was very notorious.
 
Stokkie said:
Rotton Park Reservoir which is now called Edgbaston Reservoir has been the site of many drownings. The water is cold and deep. Many people live locally and are drawn to the water as it is a delightful place to relax and has unrestricted access.
Click to expand...
Thank you Stokkie, have been reading this thread and believe commented that I did not recall Edgbaston Reservoir, but I do recall the name Rotten Park Reservoir! Great stat to a Monday morning :), thank you again!
 
Morturn said:
Both Witton Lakes and Brookvale Park had their fairs share of drowning incidents, quite few I am told at Brookvale Park.

If your researching country wide that the River Severn will be a source too. This river was navigable right up to Welshpool, a lot of activity took place from large boats to coricals. The Tidal section of the river down stream of Gloucester was very notorious.
Click to expand...
Thank you so much.
My focus area is Birmingham for now. I may look at others as comparisons. The peer review for my proposal advised focusing on a specific area otherwise it would never be completed!
 
Morturn said:
Both Witton Lakes and Brookvale Park had their fairs share of drowning incidents, quite few I am told at Brookvale Park.

If your researching country wide that the River Severn will be a source too. This river was navigable right up to Welshpool, a lot of activity took place from large boats to coricals. The Tidal section of the river down stream of Gloucester was very notorious.
Click to expand...
I recall many incidents at Witton Lakes. Also we built canvas canoes at school and camped with them for a week or two (can’t recall exactly) on the Severn in the summer. We were always told that the Severn was not always friendly and the closer you go to its mouth the more daunting it could be. This are recollections from a 15/16 year old.
 
Richard Dye said:
I recall many incidents at Witton Lakes. Also we built canvas canoes at school and camped with them for a week or two (can’t recall exactly) on the Severn in the summer. We were always told that the Severn was not always friendly and the closer you go to its mouth the more daunting it could be. This are recollections from a 15/16 year old.
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That's brilliant. Thank you so much. I would love to hear more on your adventures building canoes.
I read a good book on the Severn. "Disasters on the Severn" by Chris Witts. It gives a great insight to just how savage it could be.
 
Liz Gurney said:
Thank you so much.
My focus area is Birmingham for now. I may look at others as comparisons. The peer review for my proposal advised focusing on a specific area otherwise it would never be completed!
Click to expand...
Ah yes! One of the cornerstones of good project management, stay focused or you will get tangential and the activity/results will blur badly and become out of focus very quickly. We came across many other opportunities but put them in what we called “the parking lot” so that we did not loose the ideas and still remain focused on our original goal.
 
Richard Dye said:
Ah yes! One of the cornerstones of good project management, stay focused or you will get tangential and the activity/results will blur badly and become out of focus very quickly. We came across many other opportunities but put them in what we called “the parking lot” so that we did not loose the ideas and still remain focused on our original goal.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I only started September and have already noticed how distracted I can get. I have several car parks with different titles so I can keep track of these side quests!
 
There still exists the Royal Humane Society who issued awards for saving life. Looking at September 1906 there was a presentation at the Town Hall in Birmingham. The Society stated there had been 771 rescues, an increase of 66 over the previous year.
(I think this is nationally ? The society would give some idea of the numbers who were saved and resuscitated.)
 
Pedrocut said:
There still exists the Royal Humane Society who issued awards for saving life. Looking at September 1906 there was a presentation at the Town Hall in Birmingham. The Society stated there had been 771 rescues, an increase of 66 over the previous year.
(I think this is nationally ? The society would give some idea of the numbers who were saved and resuscitated.)
Click to expand...
I have got and read through all three volumes of their Acts of Gallantry. If you get the chance it makes for good reading. The variety of accidents and numbers of lives saved it heart-warming and interesting. Only Gold, silver and bronze medal awards listed, but there plenty to interest.
 
Liz Gurney said:
These stories would be amazing, if anyone does have any I'd be so grateful! Also if there are any stories of living and working on the canals and learning to swim etc I would love to hear them. Thank you so much.
Click to expand...
Last time I swam in a canal at about 14/15, we were canoeing in the canal off I think college road when fooling around we turned it over. Fully clothed in the summer, we laughed and let the sun dry us off. It seemed as Pedro suggests there were always people in the canal, some swimming but some just trying to cool off, certainly not everyone was a swimmer back in the day!
 
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