Hi Peter, Thanks for your reply. Yes, I found that death registration too. Also the probate reference: BLACKBURN William of Lax terrace Stockton on Tees died 20 June 1905. Administration London 11 July to Jane Ann Blackburn widow. Effects 803/18/- But I'm mystified as to why his death is recorded in the "Deaths at Sea" records. Could it be perhaps because he was still employed as a mariner, but happened to die while at home on leave? Regards Jan ----------------------------------- At 08:31 AM 29/03/2015 +0100, Peter Klein wrote: A William Blackburn's death was registered in the Stockton Registration District in the June Quarter of 1905, aged 52. This implies that he died within the Stockton district, and not at sea. Regards, PK

Hi Jan Whilst I can't explain the reason for the apparent error, perhaps I can draw on a parallel problem that often existed in the 19th Century Census, where it isn't unknown for the same person to be recorded more than once, or not to be recorded at all : often in the case of people who worked through the night, such as bakers, when perhaps they should only have been recorded where they were at midnight. Often a case of those responsible for filling in the forms not being fully au fait with all the rules laid down for recording such events, or checking with the parties concerned whether they were on the census at home or not ? Can only surmise now, but perhaps in this case he was still on the books of the ship on which he was serving, which happened to be in harbour, at anchor, or at a mooring, maybe with a view to an early start in the morning and the master, in error, recorded the death as if they'd been at sea ? Perhaps a mute point in some cases ? And I do have sympathy with the master of any vessel, who was expected to have a thorough knowledge of so many things not connected with the day to day running of a ship ? At least in the RN you probably had someone else on board who knew where to look to find out how an event like this should be handled, whereas in the MS this simply wasn't financially viable, although, presumably, it was laid down in some instructions somewhere? Paul On Sun, 29 Mar 2015 18:13:35, Jan Glasby via <mariners@rootsweb.com> wrote: >Hi Peter, > >Thanks for your reply. Yes, I found that death registration too. Also the >probate reference: >BLACKBURN William of Lax terrace Stockton on Tees died 20 June 1905. >Administration London 11 July to Jane Ann Blackburn widow. Effects 803/18/- > >But I'm mystified as to why his death is recorded in the "Deaths at Sea" >records. Could it be perhaps because he was still employed as a mariner, >but happened to die while at home on leave? > >Regards >Jan > >----------------------------------- >At 08:31 AM 29/03/2015 +0100, Peter Klein wrote: >A William Blackburn's death was registered in the Stockton Registration >District in the June Quarter of 1905, aged 52. This implies that he died >within the Stockton district, and not at sea. > >Regards, >PK > > > > > >------------------------------- >To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to MARINERS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message 50° 33' N, 2° 26' W http://www.pbenyon.plus.com/Naval.html

Found this death registration, perhaps he was working in dock on the vessel, wrong birth year but could be him First name(s)WILLIAMLast nameBLACKBURNGenderMaleBirth day-Birth month-Birth year1853Age52Death quarter2Death year1905DistrictSTOCKTONCountyDurhamVolume 10APage 46 Jane On 29 March 2015 at 10:26, Paul Benyon via <mariners@rootsweb.com> wrote: > > Hi Jan > > Whilst I can't explain the reason for the apparent error, perhaps I > can draw on a parallel problem that often existed in the 19th Century > Census, where it isn't unknown for the same person to be recorded more > than once, or not to be recorded at all : often in the case of people > who worked through the night, such as bakers, when perhaps they should > only have been recorded where they were at midnight. Often a case of > those responsible for filling in the forms not being fully au fait > with all the rules laid down for recording such events, or checking > with the parties concerned whether they were on the census at home or > not ? > > Can only surmise now, but perhaps in this case he was still on the > books of the ship on which he was serving, which happened to be in > harbour, at anchor, or at a mooring, maybe with a view to an early > start in the morning and the master, in error, recorded the death as > if they'd been at sea ? Perhaps a mute point in some cases ? And I do > have sympathy with the master of any vessel, who was expected to have > a thorough knowledge of so many things not connected with the day to > day running of a ship ? At least in the RN you probably had someone > else on board who knew where to look to find out how an event like > this should be handled, whereas in the MS this simply wasn't > financially viable, although, presumably, it was laid down in some > instructions somewhere? > > Paul > > On Sun, 29 Mar 2015 18:13:35, Jan Glasby via <mariners@rootsweb.com> > wrote: > > >Hi Peter, > > > >Thanks for your reply. Yes, I found that death registration too. Also the > >probate reference: > >BLACKBURN William of Lax terrace Stockton on Tees died 20 June 1905. > >Administration London 11 July to Jane Ann Blackburn widow. Effects > 803/18/- > > > >But I'm mystified as to why his death is recorded in the "Deaths at Sea" > >records. Could it be perhaps because he was still employed as a mariner, > >but happened to die while at home on leave? > > > >Regards > >Jan > > > >----------------------------------- > >At 08:31 AM 29/03/2015 +0100, Peter Klein wrote: > >A William Blackburn's death was registered in the Stockton Registration > >District in the June Quarter of 1905, aged 52. This implies that he died > >within the Stockton district, and not at sea. > > > >Regards, > >PK > > > > > > > > > > > >------------------------------- > >To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > MARINERS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > 50° 33' N, 2° 26' W > http://www.pbenyon.plus.com/Naval.html > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > MARINERS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

Thanks, everyone, for your replies. I didn't think of getting the death certificate - that should clear up the mystery. I've just found another record that says: Name of Deceased Blackburn, Wm Month 7 Ship no ship Official Reference Lr. 13135/08 So it seems he wasn't attached to a ship at the time of his death. Regards Jan