Amble East Cemetery
 

Another story behind the name of a burial and a surviving headstone: "Christopher Robertson Copeland, aged 31, of Dovecote Street, Amble. Killed at Togston Colliery. Buried 8 December 1899.
Morpeth Herald, 9 December:-
"On Wednesday, a miner named Christopher Robertson Copeland, 31 years of age, employed at Togston Colliery, near Acklington, came to a terrible death by falling down the colliery shaft. His body was picked up at the bottom disfigured beyond all recognisability. Some workmen engaged at the bottom of the shaft had also a narrow escape from injury by some falling timber, which had been dislodged by the deceased in his precipitated descent down the shaft. The deceased was married, and the sad accident has caused a painful sensation in the neighbourhood."

Here's another shaft fall from Radcliffe this time:

FATAL COLLIERY CALAMITY. - On Wednesday night, as Andrew Stephenson, miner, was ascending, with a barrel of the pump, the shaft of Radcliffe colliery, Amble, it became entangled with a stancheon, and, on its release by the deceased, is supposed to have struck him on the chest. He was precipitated down the shaft, whereby his skull was literally dashed into fragments, the brain being scattered about the bottom of the shaft. His death is sincerely regretted by all who knew him, and he has left a wife and large family to mourn over their irreparable loss. The deceased was remarkable for his suavity of disposition, and great attainments in botany, chemistry, conchology, and mineralogy; and the writer will not forget his scientific elucidation of the principles upon which safety lamps for the prevention of explosions in collieries are constructed, when the subject was talked of in his own house, after the lamentable catastrophe at Haswell. –Mar 15 1845


We have another shaft fall recorded on the forum somewhere: William Douglas, Radcliffe shaft again, Feb 1841.

Those reporters really knew how to put you off your tea in those days.

Burials St Lawrence, Warkworth:

William Douglass of Amble, buried February 14, 1841, aged 35 years;

Andrew Stephenson of Radcliffe Terrace, buried March 16, 1845, aged 45 years.

Yes, I've noticed they don't hold back. These days you get a warning on the news saying you might see dead bodies when they're reporting from a war zone.

TV here
 

Here in Thailand every gory detail is seen!As soon as there is an accident the TV cameras are there and its all over TV later.No respect for the family at all.Could be because they are Bhuddists?You see road accidents as well as suicides or people who fall from balconys,its all there!!l

Janwhin, anything in your notes for Richard Graham 1897-10-30?

Famous amble butcher.

Bit of a horror story this one I think, including drink, drownings, dredgers and body parts. [just run-of-the-mill for Amble]

All the burial register says is that he was aged 42, of Church Street.

Sounds intriguing :)

Firstly, I think the Grahams must have been the original Amble butcher as this 1888 advert states established nearly 50 years; established by Richard Graham's father?, also Richard Graham (died 1868).

http://www.coquetandcoast.co.uk/imag...cher_amble.jpg

One January night in 1893 Richard Graham disappeared, last seen in the vicinity of the harbour; Morpeth Herald 28.1.1893 refers:

DISAPPEARANCE OF AN AMBLE TRADESMAN.
On Thursday week the otherwise quiet town of Amble was thrown into a stated great excitement by the fact that a prominent tradesmen, in the person of Mr. Richard Graham, was missing since the night previous. It appears that the missing man was last seen in the vicinity of the harbour at a late hour on Wednesday night. It is the general opinion in the town that the unfortunate man meet have fallen into the harbour and been carried out to sea as there was a large flood in the river at the time. On Thursday a diligent search was made round about the harbour, which was dragged, and on the beach on each side towards Alnmouth and Hauxley. This has since been kept been up but not the slightest trace has been found.
There were few men between Newcastle and Berwick better known than Mr. Graham, who had a large business as a butcher, and as a judge of a good horse he had few competitors. In this district especially his name was familiar to all, every one knew and respected' “Dick Graham." There is a widespread feeling of regret at his untimely disappearance. He leaves a wife (who is completely prostrated) and fire children to mourn his loss.

And the Newcastle Journal :


AN AMBLE TRADESMAN MISSING.
Mr Richard Graham, butcher, of Amble, has been missing since Wednesday night. He had been at the harbour in company with some friends, and appears to have left them about half-past ten o'clock. He seems to have taken the wrong road, and instead of going west to his home, he had evidently gone towards the east, for he was spoken to by a person resident in that direction nearly an hour later. Nothing more has since been seen of him, and it is feared that he has stumbled into the river and been drowned. He leaves a wife and fire children.
No gentleman wet more widely known or held in greater esteem in the district of Amble, or perhaps between Amble and Newcastle, than Mr Graham. He was a regular attender at the Newcastle Cattle Market, where in the course of transacting an extensive business he came in contact with the majority of the prominent dealers and butchers, amongst whom he was favourably known for his straightforward character, his genial and kindly disposition, and his many charitable acts. No one in need over sought his assistance in vain.

Morpeth Herald 4 February 1893:

RICHARD GRAHAM late of Amble, Butcher,
Deceased.
NOTICE is hereby Given, that the business of a Butcher which with the assistance of Mr. John Chisholm was carried out at Warkworth by this deceased up to his death, under the style of " RICHARD GRAHAM & Co.", and since then by his representatives, is now discontinued so far as concerns the deceased’s estate ; and it is requested that all debts due to the estate in respect of such late business be paid forthwith to Mrs. M. J. Graham, Church Street, Amble ; Miss Graham, Queen Street, Amble ; or to Mr. William Webb, Solicitor, Morpeth.
The business which has for so many years been carried on by the late firm at Amble will be continued as heretofore, and a continuance is solicited of the support so liberally bestowed upon them.

[Morpeth Herald 15 July 1893]

AN AMBLE MYSTERY SOLVED

Mr Charles Percy, coroner for North Northumberland, held an inquest at the Schooner Inn, Amble, on Friday evening on the remains of the late Richard Graham, butcher, Amble, which had been brought up by the dredger while working in Amble Harbour.
Margaret Jane Graham, widow of deceased, deposed that her late husband, who was 42 years of age, had been missing since the 18th January 1893. At seven o'clock that night he was at home, and she last saw him standing at his shop door. She just then went from the shop into the kitchen, and when she returned in a quarter of an hour he was gone, and she never saw him again. Her husband was not much the worse of drink. He never said anything that night as to where he was going. He then had on a pair of brown leather leggings, strong laced boots, and brown stockings. She had seen the leggings, boots and stockings on the remains that had been brought from the river, and she was quite satisfied they were those belonging to her deceased husband, for whom every possible search had been made at the time but without success.
Robert Bryson, bootmaker, Amble, deposed that the boots on the remains viewed by the jury, he had no hesitation in saying, were those he had sold the deceased on the 25th April, 1891. He made them himself and repaired them in November 1892. The repairs were quite easy to be seen.
James Clark said he was a coal trimmer residing at Amble. He remembered seeing deceased on the night of the 18th January, 1893, going into the shop of Mr Kendall (now deceased) about ten minutes past ten o'clock. Deceased was the worse of liquor, but he could walk steadily.
John Henderson, mariner, Amble, stated that on the 27th ult., between 10 and 11 o'clock in the forenoon, he was working on the Priestman Grab, a dredger, in Amble Harbour. He saw the remains of deceased pulled up, consisting of the boots, leggings, and stockings, seen by the jury, also one leg-bone complete and part of the other leg. A skull was found at the same spot about two years ago.
Dr. Wm. Smyth, practising at Amble, said that he had seen the remains viewed by the Jury, and identified them as those of a male. The boots were well preserved. He thought the remains, judging from appearances and condition, must have been in the water at least for four years. The height of the deceased would be about 5ft 8in. or 5ft. 9in.
The jury returned the verdict "That Richard Graham (or part of his remains) was found dead at Amble Harbour on 27th October 1897, he having been missing since the 18th January, 1893, but when or how he came by his death there is no evidence to show."


[Shields Daily Gazette 3 November 1897]

Does anyone know which building/shop today would correspond to the Graham butcher's shop of the Victorian era? they appear from the above to have had an 'outpost' :) at Warkworth as well?

Richard Graham's son, Mark Douglas Graham was also a butcher and is on our WW1 absent voters' list, served in the Royal Garrison Artillery. [BIG guns]

Now Richard Graham Senior (died 1868), blotted his copy book in a rather disturbing way in 1861, also resulting in him getting himself fined and banged up in Morpeth Jail; Newcastle Guardian and Tyne Mercury (9 November 1861) refers:


WELL-MERITED PUNISHMENT
Richard Graham, of Amble, butcher, was charged before the county magistrates, at Tynemouth, on Wednesday, for disorderly conduct in a railway train, coupled with an indecent assault upon a female, on the 14th October. On that day a young lady entered the third class carriage at Tynemouth, and the defendant entered the same compartment at Percy Main. Shortly afterwards he began to interfere most improperly with the young lady, and his conduct was so bad that, on the train reaching Wallsend station, he was, at the instance of the other passengers, removed to another carriage. On leaving he applied some offensive epithets towards the young lady, as well as to those persons in the carriage who had endeavoured to protect her from his insults. On the train arriving at the Central Station, a complaint was made to the railway authorities of the conduct of the defendant towards the young lady; and the present proceedings were taken. In defence Graham said that he was affected with drink at the time. The bench said that was no excuse, and fined him 40s and £3 17s costs. At the same time the bench committed the defendant to Morpeth Gaol for one month for the assault upon the young lady.

Body of a Child
 

In the East Cemetery burials there is an entry for 18 May 1883, stating that an unknown child had been found in a 3rd class carriage at Bedlington Station. Here's the story behind the burial:
Morpeth Herald, 2 June 1883:
"On the 17th ult., an inquest was held at Amble, before Mr George E. Watson, coroner for North Northumberland, on the body of a child unknown. On the 12th ult. a parcel was found in a railway carriage at Bedlington Station, bearing the address of "Mr Gibson, Cemetery, Amble, Northumberland," and on the 15th ult. it was despatched to Mr Gibson, who, undoing the outer covering, discovered a hat-box. Being suspicious that there was something serious to be disclosed, he sent for Police-Sergeant Stoker, and in his presence the contents of the box were investigated, and therein was found the dead body of the child above-mentioned. The inquest was adjourned until Wednesday, to allow Dr Currie making a post mortem examination. On Wednesday, at the adjourned inquest, the medical testimony showed that the child was matured and well developed, and on the 17th ult. had been dead about six days. It had had a separate existence, and had lived from two to four days, and death had been occasioned by violence, there being marked evidence of suffocation internally and externally. A verdict of wilful murder against some person or persons unknown was returned, and the coroner stated he would apply to the Home Secretary to offer a reward."
How sad is that, so grave V/105 holds the remains of an unclaimed baby.

I stumbled across that one a while back, quite a shocker. "Baby in a hat box". I bet Gibson never forgot that one for the rest of his life.

Parent[s] ex Amble residents? and killers? who knows.

Is the list for the east cemetery on the fusilier website complete? My mother-in-law is sure that she went there as a child and had the graves of her 2 great uncles(twins) pointed out by her father. They apparently died a few months apart due to scarlet fever, and would have been aged about 13. Our best guess is that they died 1900-1910ish, but as I say, it's only a guess. We can't find any birth or death information through ancestry or findmypast. Their surname was Buglass.

I'm sure the index is complete, compiled from the registers by Joan Rose and digitised by Janwhin.

I'm sure the cemetery index is complete but the dates you mention cover the period when the West Cemetery was operational.

It's very odd though that you haven't found anything in the birth or death registers. Are you sure you have the right surname as they would be your mother in law's father's uncles (phew). I've always got to write that down to make sure I've got the right names in the right generation. Presumably the uncles could have been from the maternal or paternal side of her father.