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ref O105a |
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James GUMMET
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born 29 Mar 1818 Stepney, Middlesex (DS) bapt |
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married spouse view family group |
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died
24 Sep 1841 aged 23 Shadwell, London (DS) buried |
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Narrative by (DS): JAMES GUMMET was 23 years old in 1841. A single man, he had no doubt followed the inevitable path and sought employment at the local and fast-expanding docks along the north bank of the River Thames, either as a Mariner like his late father and older brothers or, as seems to have been the case, as a dock labourer. On the 24th September 1841, James was 'Found drowned in the London Docks' at Shadwell. It was apparently quite common then for people not to be able to swim, even those whose livelihoods involved the seas and rivers. There was even a fatalistic attitude that if the sea claimed you, then what was the point of prolonging the agony by resisting! This seems unbelievable to the modern mind but there it is. So, exactly what befell James is unclear. Did he simply fall into the dock and drowned, being unable to help himself? Was he drunk!? Was he pushed, perhaps as part of an attempted robbery - it was a tough, crime-ridden area? Did he commit suicide? His mother had recently died and his prospects may have been low. It being an 'unexplained death', the local coroner was soon involved but, being as early as 1841, no coroner's report survives although it was the coroner, one W BAKER, who registered the death five days later. The affair was reported in the Morning Post. |
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| This page last updated 24 February, 2015 |
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