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Thank you everyone, food for thought there. I have looked at some local paper reports but nothing as yet so am going to get the cert. Thanks for all your help and suggestions.

and anyway, the death certificate will give you the exact date of death, and you can provide a 2 or 3 week period for the Local Archives Centre to search ....

............. they really prefer that to searching 3 months of newspapers.

My grandmother gassed herself in 1956 and the death certificate said "Cause of Death - Coal Gas Poisoning. (Did Kill Herself)."

As others have said - wait until you have the death certificate - it may tell you all you need to know.

Nothing in any of the local newspapers that I could find - wait 'till you get the death cert and then we can take it from there!!

Dea Xxx

My grand aunt died in an accident in Barry Island and her death was certified by the coroner and it referred to the date of the inquest.

I emailed Barry Library and they kindly found the inquest report in the local paper and scanned it to me.

So maybe the death certificate would be a good place to start.

Jude

Unless the regulations about what was put on a death cert had changed between 1902 and 1933, it may well say exactly what happened.

My gr-grandfather committed suicide in 1902, and the cert says:

"Suicide by cutting his throat with a razor while of unsound mind."

Can't get much more specific than that!

There were also local newspaper reports at the time - but he died in a small village, where he would have been well known, so it would have probably been more newsworthy than a death in Manchester.

If it was a slow news day, a local newspaper MIGHT have printed an item on how someone had taken his own life

It is a matter of finding which local paper might have printed it ...................

you can often get help from the Local Archives and Study Centre, but you should wait until you get the death certificate so that you can give them the following .........

the exact date of death,
where the death occurred
coroner's name
date and where the inquest was held

Then you contact the Centre, and ask them to search for 2 to 4 weeks after the date of the death and of the inquest.


There may well be a charge for this, as most such centres depend on volunteer helpers.

Ann I don't know how all that info helped ...

I doubt that an obituary is going to say "died with his head in the gas oven"! but it might use wording that makes it possible to read between the lines ... if there was someone who chose to publish an obituary ...



a death certificate does have to state a cause of death, so I would just wait and see what it says

Local Newspapers orbituary columns ?? If you live in Manchester go round the street or pub and speak to the elder locals

Thanks Ann, yes this is the same family. I just want to find out what happened to him really, my mum told me things about the family but she died years ago, when i wasn't that interested in genealogy .

Herbert Joseph Earnshaw

England and Wales Census, 1881

Name Herbert Joseph Earnshaw
Event Type Census
Event Date 1881
Event Place Manchester, Lancashire, England
Registration District Manchester
Residence Note George Leigh St
Gender Male
Age 2
Marital Status (Original) Single
Relationship to Head of Household Son
Birth Year (Estimated) 1879
Birthplace Manchester, Lancashire, England
Page Number 8
Registration Number RG11
Piece/Folio 3978/54
Affiliate Record Type Household

Henry T Earnshaw Head M 46 Ireland
Ann Earnshaw Wife F 43 Ireland
Henry T Earnshaw Son M 5 Manchester, Lancashire, England
Annie Earnshaw Daughter F 3 Manchester, Lancashire, England
Herbert Joseph Earnshaw Son M 2 Manchester, Lancashire, England
May Theresa Earnshaw Daughter F 3 M Manchester, Lancashire,

Name Herbert J Earnshaw
Event Type Census
Event Date 31 Mar 1901
Event Place North Manchester, Lancashire, England
County Lancashire
Civil Parish North Manchester
Ecclesiastical Parish St Luke
Sub-District Newton
Registration District Prestwich
Residence Note Clara Street
Gender Male
Age 22
Occupation BEDSTEAD MAKER
Relationship to Head of Household Head
Birth Year (Estimated) 1879
Birthplace Manchester, Lancashire
Schedule Type 47

Herbert J Earnshaw Head M 22 Manchester, Lancashire
Mary A Earnshaw Wife F 23 Manchester, Lancashire

Name Herbert J Earnshaw
Event Type Death
Registration Quarter Jul-Aug-Sep
Registration Year 1933
Registration District Manchester North
County Lancashire
Event Place Manchester North, Lancashire, England
Age (available after 1866) 54
Birth Year (Estimated) 1879
Volume 8D
Page 400
Line Number 41

Herbert J Earnshaw 1879 - 1933, lived in Machester, was married to my Gt Aunt. 'allegedly" he had an affair/ several affairs and eventually she died 'broken hearted' as they said. He died in 1933 apparently by committing suicide by gassing himself, as you could back then. I am going to send off for the death cert to make sure this is true, but how would I find out otherwise if he was a suicide?? Any other record source I could search in the meantime??
Chhers
E