The tragic loss of Irene Milverton in 1905

Stories about individuals from the past make family tree research fascinating especially when they happen well before their lives should have been cut short. This is one such story that had tragic results considering the event was witnessed by the grandparents of one such person. The paperwork generated forms various sources from the newspaper reports to the coroner’s inquest that occurred on the same day as the accident. I could not imagine how the grandparents would have felt from the loss of their own grandchild that occurred in front of them.

A little girl was travelling with her grandmother from Palmerston North in New Zealand to Taihape on Saturday the 11^th of March 1905. The life changing accident occurred at 9.30 am while the grandparents and grandchild were at the Marton Railway Station. Irene Milverton also known as Renni was 5 years of age and was being escorted by her grandmother, Emma Downey, while her grandfather Harry Downey was fetching their bags to be placed within the first-class carriage.[1] Irene’s father, Percival Amos Milverton was away in Dunedin participating in the United Fire Brigades Demonstration, but was expected to be on his way home on the same day.[2] Emma Downey had let go of Rennie Milverton to open the carriage door and found that it was locked. The sudden movement of carriages being shunted meant Renni fell between the carriage and the platform onto the tracks where she was run over. The death certificate states her death was caused by accidentally falling off a train and carriages passing over body. One of the witness statements explains the marks on the body where the wheels had gone over her.[3]

The inquest was held on the same day as the accident that occurred at the Railway hotel in Marton. According to one newspaper the inquest was held earlier than scheduled as the grandparents desired to return home to Palmerston North than to stay in Marton overnight considering the mind frame of the grandmother. The death had been labelled in the media as accidental.[4] The coroner was Mr. J. J. McDonald and days later disputed the claim made by the newspaper and later there would be a police report mentioned later. I havnt done any research on the coroner so his identity can remain a mystery.[5]

According to the coroner report Renni’s body was on display throughout the coroner inquest with a jury of six people. The report has witness statements from railway employees and even Harry Downey the grandfather to Renni. The report includes several news articles that were published about the inquest that are included within this blog as sources.[6] The coroner report verdict states no railway employee was at fault. A later police report from the 14^th of March in 1905 explained the reasoning behind the inquest and pointed out the false accusations from a newspaper. The inquest was held earlier at the request of the grandparents so they could catch the evening train to Palmerston North and take Renni with them home. Renni was buried on the 14^th of March in Terrace End Cemetery.

Sources

New Zealand Coroner Inquest, Marton Railway Station, 1905/238, New Zealand National Archives

Renni Milverton, 11 March 1905, New Zealand Death Certificate, Registration 1905001263

Unknown, ‘The Marton Train Accident’, Wanganui Herald, 14 March 1905,  https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WH19050314.2.46, accessed 21/01/2018.

Unknown, ‘United Fire Brigades Demonstration’, Otago Daily Times, 10 March 1905, https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ODT19050310.2.4, accessed 21/01/2018.

Unknown, ‘The Marton Fatality’, Manawatu Standard, 13 March 1905, https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/MS19050313.2.14, accessed 21/01/2018.

Unknown, ‘A Coroner’s Threat’, Manawatu Standard, 15 March 1905,  https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/MT19050315.2.3, accessed 21/01/2018.

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[1] Unknown, ‘The Marton Train Accident’, Wanganui Herald, 14 March 1905,  https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WH19050314.2.46, accessed 21/01/2018.

[2] Unknown, ‘United Fire Brigades Demonstration’, Otago Daily Times, 10 March 1905, https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ODT19050310.2.4, accessed 21/01/2018.

[3] Renni Milverton, 11 March 1905, New Zealand Death Certificate, Registration 1905001263.

[4] Unknown, ‘The Marton Fatality’, Manawatu Standard, 13 March 1905, https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/MS19050313.2.14, accessed 21/01/2018.

[5] Unknown, ‘A Coroner’s Threat’, Manawatu Standard, 15 March 1905,  https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/MT19050315.2.3, accessed 21/01/2018.

[6] New Zealand Coroner Inquest, Marton Railway Station, 1905/238, New Zealand National Archives.

Following the wrong research trail hunting down Watson

Researching the family tree has been challenging over the time I have been looking into it especially with unique names and then the very common surnames that become very tough to trace. Along the way I have learnt lessons about following the wrong family line, but there are times when you do disregard that information, not purposely mind you. I had researched my mother’s family line and the same with some of my father’s line except for the direct patriarchal line. It doesn’t help when the surname is Watson.

When I first started following the family line of Watson, I knew the basics. My grandfather was born in the UK in Durham around 1929. Ancestry at this stage had not transcribed the birth registrations, so I had spent a while hunting through the records. I found two records that I thought would be the correct one, but I was unsure. One night out at dinner with my grandmother, I asked her about what she knew about my grandfather’s line. She told me there were no records and that I would not find anything. I mentioned two dates I had for the records that I had found. In horror her head had snapped around to look at me. She told me which one was correct. I will never forget that exchange as it was quite comical.

Wile studying at university, I had found bits and pieces especially the name of my grandfather’s father and his mother. Really does not help when they both share the same name of James William Watson. The senior Watson was employed as a crane driver for a colliery in Durham. He had been born in Middlesbrough and I had found his parents, but the weird part was James was the only child to be born in Yorkshire where the rest had been born in Northumberland. This information I had received through some of the census years from after the birth of James Senior in 1883.

Fast forward several months later and once, I had finished my university studies, I went back to have another look at the family. At this stage there was something new I could use. The GRO otherwise known as the General Register Office for Birth Death and Marriage certificates in the UK. For births and deaths, they were doing a trial up to certain dates where they will email you a PDF version of the certificate instead of through the post. I had a niggle in the back of my mind telling me I had been tracing the wrong family line even though I had the correct information through a birth certificate and 1939 register. The biggest problem was the name of James William senior’s parents. All I had was George and Mary Ann.

Through a quirk of research I had found George was born in Alnwick in Northumberland and was tracing that family as there was a James William Watson there. Wouldn’t you just assume you had the correct person especially when the wife’s name was Mary Ann too? Wondering if I had the correct information, I ordered three other birth certificates for James William Watson as I thought I was on a seriously wrong track listening to the train coming for me. The certificates were between 1883 and 1884. A bigger problem came when two families had a James William Watson with a father of George and mother of Mary Ann, but different surnames. I found I had been following the wrong family and had luckily not gotten too far as I had been stuck.

No matter how much I wanted the George from Alnwick to be the father as he was a coal miner and James William senior worked in the mines with staithes or just conveyors. I knew the correct information sent me down south into Yorkshire down into the township of Thirsk, where my George was actually a train driver. Funny how there happens to be a Railway museum in York that I want to visit. The surname of Mary Ann was Hindell, the other Mary Ann was Brooks. Luckily, I had not gone further back especially since I would have found more links down the wrong line. At least I now have a Yorkshire link that I had not known about before, oh and then there is the Yorkshire Vet TV show from Thirsk with a vet by the name of James Herriot. I had my dad take a DNA test last year and one of the names linked back was Hindell, so that’s a help. What else can I find out?

I have done well after being told, I would find no records from my grandfather onwards. When people utter those words it always makes me wonder what is there that someone does not want me to find? Now that I have my bachelor’s degree, I now have more time for my family tree research. A very common name can generate loads of results, but I have been careful.