Bluebell Genealogy

*Please note this article references drowning and the death of a child*

#Deal #Kent #Sholden #Graves #Church #Drowning #KFHS #StNicholas #ParishRegisters

A few years ago, I visited a distant relative and she very kindly donated to me her microfiche reader and box of records that she had purchased.  They are all transcriptions undertaken by members of the Kent Family History Society [KFHS]¹ and to be quite honest both items were put in a cupboard out the way.

However, especially after having done more research on our shared ancestors have now found opportunity to look and appreciate the accounts that are included.  The set I started looking at is KFHSRP 1692 St Nicholas Sholden PR’s CMB 1563-1906, which is a location where I know a couple of my ancestors are buried.

Whilst searching their surname in the burial section for other potential family connections came to find a number of deaths for unknown individuals.  At this point realised that often you are endeavouring to find records relating to named individuals and do not tend to look through an entire set of documents.

I am especially guilty of this as having so many relatives within a small area found it is easy to get distracted by spotting other family members (usually from a different ancestral route) that appear a short distance away in the files and then working on those going away from original research purpose.

As Sholden is not right on the Kent coast² I was surprised that these people were buried at St Nicholas’ Church³.  As shown⁴, there are numerous other churches in the vicinity now.  Perhaps not all were around from the 1560s to 1900s but a number must have been I would have thought. 

Did these also receive a ‘share’ of unknown individuals to inter or was it just this church willing to take those without identity and give them a place of rest?  Perhaps some of them took it in as there would have been a charge to the parish each time.  I may contact the church to see if they have any idea.

As you will see from the list compiled below the majority relate to individuals who have washed ashore from 1809 to the cessation of the record almost 100 years later.  There may have been others for which drowning was the cause of death but as identified their names are shown and only the circumstances provided in a minority of examples. 

Admittedly in a lot of cases they are noted as the ‘widow of X’ or the ‘child of Y’ but it shows someone knew them and presumably more than just the church staff and grave diggers showed up to say goodbye.  Although with technology improvements it may be plausible to identify them using DNA it would not give answers to those of the time who went to their graves still wondering what had happened to their loved ones.

The goal is that by putting them together here and acknowledging their existence I can go some small way to commemorating these unknown persons.  They are buried in a lovely churchyard surrounded by trees and when I get chance to visit will take some flowers for them all.

Burial date	Detail
15-Sep-1741	A stranger killed by a fall into Sandown Castle Mote.
16-Sep-1809	A soldier of the 52nd Regiment washed ashore. Name unknown.
27-Jun-1815	A man found drowned.  Name unknown.
20-Mar-1812	A man found drowned.  Name unknown.
12-Dec-1813	Man found drowned.
07-Feb-1814	Man unknown, found drowned.
27-Jun-1815	Unknown, found drowned.
10-Nov-1820	Unknown, found drowned.
18-Apr-1833	Body washed ashore.
03-May-1836	Unknown, washed ashore. c24 yrs.
17-Mar-1837	Found drowned.
02-Apr-1839	Washed ashore
19-Apr-1839	Washed ashore
07-Mar-1844	Poss. John Agnes BLYTH (Name on Knife.).  Washed ashore.  c17/18.
13-Mar-1850	“W.E.” corpse – initials on shirt.  Washed ashore.
27-Apr-1850	Male unknown – washed ashore.
12-Oct-1853	Found drowned near No.1 Battery.
13-Nov-1855	Found on beach.  ?Drowned.
20-Mar-1865	Male, washed ashore.
17-Jun-1865	Male, washed ashore.
31-Mar-1869	Washed ashore.
27-Jan-1875	A man washed ashore.
14-Mar-1876	Man, washed ashore.
04-Apr-1881	Man washed ashore.
08-Jun-1883	Body of a man unknown.
31-Jul-1885	Man washed ashore.
24-Dec-1886	Man washed ashore.
11-Oct-1898	Man washed ashore.
14-Mar-1905	Man found dead on Sandhills.  c60 yrs.

Some of the entries logged are within a reasonably short space of time and wondering if this may have been caused by loss from a ship which either wrecked in the channel or a storm washed people overboard.  It is therefore likely that some of these were from distant locations.

There is a period in the 1750s where apparently no burials occurred which seems unlikely so perhaps the records are just missing for about eighteen months.  We have almost thirty entries, admittedly of 100s, but where people lost their lives and not claimed or identified and seemingly their fate lost to history.

With most there is no way of providing any context to their life but with the 1809 entry, noting a Soldier, I have some knowledge about from other investigations.  Although from a different regiment to one of my Irish ancestors’ I believe this soldier would also have been billeted at the local army barracks, which later became the Royal Marine depot⁵ and is now private housing. 

A quick review of the 52nd Foot timeline⁶ would indicate that they fought at the same campaigns and so if this soldier had been one for a while he potentially crossed paths with my 5x Great-Grandfather somewhere around the globe.  If not, it is still likely that his experiences were similar to those listed in The Diary of William GAVIN⁷.    

Concerning the others, in some cases we sadly do not even know what gender they were and even the John BLYTH entry they presumably could not get confirmation of his origins to confirm.   Another sad post I found but this time where the name was known related to Alice TUTTLEBY who was only sixteen months of age when she died.

So on 08-Jan-1853 she was buried, not in the churchyard, but just in the ground by Sandown Castle⁸ it would seem so the emigrant ship Sacramento could continue its voyage.  A search online found posts relating to her from a HOCKLEY One Name Study⁹ forum and although research seems archived around 1815 I have emailed members of the group listed in case this helps them.

From this we find out that Alice’s parents seem to have had eight children before emigration but only two were listed on a ship’s manifest.  Without further research unable to establish what date / location this was taken to help create a timeline of events that may then provide further clues to the outcomes of the others. 

The person investigating wondered if the missing children were left in England but having found the above transcription, I fear similar may have befallen the rest.  The eldest would have only been eleven years old at the time they left London.  If older would have considered him having his own family or apprenticed but my assumption is that they planned a better life for all by heading to Australia.

Therefore, we have an initial family of twelve with only four making it across the world for a ‘better life’.  They have to suffer the death of at least one child on the journey and then the ship they were on is wrecked on 27 April 1853, almost at their destination, with apparently no lives lost. 

The Sacramento broke up so fast that the captain was unable to save the ships paper or nautical instruments¹⁰ and any information about other events that happened at sea relating to the vessel’s three-month voyage is unlikely to be identified. 

Alice’s parents went on to have another child but then her father Henry TUTTLEBY is noted as dying in 1855 and the mother Mary (nee HOCKLEY) remarried in 1858.  A sad situation and not as planned I am sure but hopefully she made a good life with her three surviving children and second husband until 1893 when she died, aged 78.

Also, whilst having a look online came across a website called Lost at Sea Never Forgotten¹¹.  Whilst not suitable for any of the individuals I have listed here it is lovely to know there is a Remembrance Book for those with no known grave.  As I come across relatives that known to have lost their lives at sea will add them to this resource.

---

Footnotes

1 – Microfiche records available from KFHS – kfhs.org.uk/shop-fiche

2 – Map of Sholden, Kent – google.com/maps

3 – St Nicholas’ Church, Sholden, Kent – achurchnearyou.com/church/12026

4 – Map of churches around Sholden and Deal, Kent – google.com/maps

5 – Royal Marine Barracks, Deal, Kent – en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Marine_Depot,_Deal

6 – 52nd Foot Regiment – lightinfantry.org.uk/regiments/obli/ox_52ndfoottl.htm

7 – The Diary of William Gavin – napoleon-series.org/reviews/memoirs/c_Gavin.html

8 – Sandown Castle, Deal, Kent – en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandown_Castle,_Kent

9 – Hockley One Name Study – freepages.rootsweb.com/~hockley/genealogy/page58.htm

10 – Shipwreck of the Sacramento – vhd.heritage.vic.gov.au/shipwrecks/result_detail/601

11 – For those lost at sea with no known grave – lostatsea.org.uk