Genealogy Chat

Hello there, I am sure that someone will be able to help me yet again. I am searching for a death cert for my uncle who died in the late 60's (probably between 1966 and 1969) he died in Limasol and was serving in the army at the time, he died in his army house and was apparently black and blue and all the gas in the house was on! His body was flown back to the UK and an inquest was held in Bicester with an open verdict recorded, his remaining brothers are convinced that he was murdered and that it was hushed up. So, what I am looking for firstly is his death cert, I have looked in findmypast at all overseas deaths at the time and cannot find it, can anyone help please? Many thanks and Happy Easter to you all.

When somebody dies their blood stops flowing round their body and settles at the lowest point. This can cause extensive discolouration which looks just like heavy bruising the whole length of the body. It's called postmortem lividity. This discoloration does not occur in the areas of the body that are in contact with the ground or another object, as the capillaries are compressed. If he died face-down and remained there for several hours before being found parts of his face may appear to have been beaten.

it might have helped if I included his name, which was John Ball born 1934 I beleive. LOL

Thanks for that Paul, once I have found the cert, I am going to try for the inquest details, his wife was apparently, playing away at the time and I was always told that he was beaten, but I am sure that they would have known about this in the 60's. Just another fascinating and ultimately tragic story to add to my collection in this great quest of mine :-)

Julia, under the circumstances of his marriage problems and the gas being on, it sounds like a suicide, doesn't it?

In my opinion, yes it does, i would like to gather the information though to settle it,

Sorry I cant help you Julia, but on the subject of Army deaths overseas, all I know about the fate of my grandfathers first wife and daughter is that 'they drowned in Ireland' He was a Sergeant Major in the 4th Hussars and later the Army Pay Corp. Deaths occurred sometime between 1888 and 1900. Where do I start looking? Names were Mary Jane Winterton and Jane Evelyn Winterton.

Hi Do you have any additional information? What was his home town and or normal place of residence outwith the army? How certain are you of the date of death being in the late 60s - could it have been earlier? A service number would be very useful. Denis

Michael, re your drowned mother and daughter, this might help you a little bit. The 4th Hussars were stationed in many places between 1888 and 1900 but the only term in Ireland was 1887 to 1891 at a place called Ballincollig, County Cork.

Thanks Paul - that will be a great help. Where on earth did you find that out?

Michael - the Regiments.org website I've already briefly searched some old newspaper sites with no luck but I suggest that's your next strategy.

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Sorry Denis - Michael and I went off tangent for a bit!

No problem Paul, I was just fishing for some more info to help answer this query. Denis

Well if it was me I'd head down to the National Newspaper Archive in Colindale, North London and take a look through Halkin Sesi (The Voice of the People) the Cyprus newspaper that may possibly have covered this story.

I wonder, seeing as it was a death of a Brit serving in the army overseas, and that the inquest was carried out in Bicester, would the death certificate have been issued after the inquest, and therefore not be registered as an overseas death? Then again, I can't find a likely entry of death in the ordinary GRO indexes. Could it still have been registered in a different way, perhaps, if it was being dealt with by the army? Just musing. :-) Chris

Hi all, many thanks for your replies and suggestions, i have been offline for a few days so have only just taken a look, will try and contact tht paper and see if I can get down to London, I think that I will also look for locl newpapers in Bicester to see if they reported it and also a phone call to the coroners office over there may help too, many thanks once again :-)

Have you done a wide search for the registration of death? The inquest might have been some time after the actual death and the death would be registered later still, when all the facts were known. Gwyn

Julia If you are still interested in finding this information is there any possibility that you could respond to the questions I posed? Denis

I'll take that as a ' no' then. Which is a pity, as I thought I might be getting somewhere with this.