Hello listers, I may be on the wrong list, but I welcome suggestions to look for possible records of an ancestor who drowned in the river between 1790 - 1798.  He was William Ainsley, b. 1776 in Wooler, Northumberland.  He fell off a plank when he was boarding a ship, in Shields.  There were small boats on the river, possibly fishermen, who tried to reach him but the current was too fast.  Perhaps an article in a local newspaper would be a place to search, but are there other sources of a record for his death?  I don't know where to search for newspapers that existed then - or which library holds newspapers of those years.  Perhaps a Mariner record of accidental drownings?  I am not sure if he was a seaman or traveling at the time, if he was traveling then I would need the ship name to obtain a manifest list. And that is another issue, I do not have details regarding the ship he was boarding.   Are there records of ships anchored in Shields in 1790 - 1798? Thanks to anyone who can point me in the right direction in this incredibly difficult puzzle. Regards, Susan

Hello Susan, Have you tried the Newcastle Local Studies Library archive?  In the period 1750-1800 they have several newspaper titles, any one of which might well have reported William Ainslie's drowning at Shields.  The Archive holds the Newcastle Advertiser, the Newcastle Courant, and the Newcastle Weekly Chronicle, and they would appear to have all those titles for the period throughout the 1790s, both on microfilm and in bound volumes.  These are very likely to have circulated at South Shields.  See:  http://www.newcastle.gov.uk/wwwfileroot/legacy/libraries/NewspaperfactsheetMarch2011.pdf.  If the accident was reported, the name of his ship will almost certainly appear there, although it may well be a long search. Regards, Peter Klein ________________________________ From: Susan C <[email protected]> To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, 15 August 2013, 16:03 Subject: [MAR] Accidental drowning in Shields, Tyne and Wear Hello listers, I may be on the wrong list, but I welcome suggestions to look for possible records of an ancestor who drowned in the river between 1790 - 1798.  He was William Ainsley, b. 1776 in Wooler, Northumberland.  He fell off a plank when he was boarding a ship, in Shields.  There were small boats on the river, possibly fishermen, who tried to reach him but the current was too fast.  Perhaps an article in a local newspaper would be a place to search, but are there other sources of a record for his death?  I don't know where to search for newspapers that existed then - or which library holds newspapers of those years.  Perhaps a Mariner record of accidental drownings?  I am not sure if he was a seaman or traveling at the time, if he was traveling then I would need the ship name to obtain a manifest list. And that is another issue, I do not have details regarding the ship he was boarding.   Are there records of ships anchored in Shields in 1790 - 1798? Thanks to anyone who can point me in the right direction in this incredibly difficult puzzle. Regards, Susan ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message