Thank you for the reply Stan. Do you know if I can trace anything about the inquest? Are inquest records still kept anywhere? If not were there any local newspapers around that date (1848) which may have reported it? It looks as if he was drowned on 4th so his body may have been recovered quickly if he was buried on the 6th. I asked about his son taking over as he was a shipwright aged 34 in Sth Hylton on the 1841 Census so must have left his job to become a keelman when his father died. Would that have paid better? Judy