The curious death of Alfred Simms.

Alfred Simms (Born 1864) was my great-grandfather and was born in Brailes. Brailes was, and still is, a small village in Warwickshire where much of my family came from. The Simms' have a "colourful" history in Brailes and the surrounding area (more to come) and Alfred was easily just as colourful as any other frequently getting into trouble with his siblings and making at least one court appearance that i have discovered.

After the death of his first wife in 1900, Temperance Warmington, he moved all the way down south into surrey and married my great-grandmother Isabella Jane Southon in 1905. Trouble followed him into his new marriage but it is his death that is most interesting. I came across an article in the news, written on the 17th of February 1940, which described his accidental death in great detail following his hospitalisation.

Following his injury, and his refusal to stay in hospital, he eventually contracted pneumonia and died. Had he listened to the medical professionals he would have likely survived his injury. He was 76 when he died and was noted, as you can read above, as being "senile and childish". Could they have stopped him from escaping? Could they have convinced him to stay for treatment? Sadly the answer was, no, and this what the coroner very correctly concluded.

Sadly following his tragic accidental death the family seemed to have several difficulties and traumas. An incident of theft was reported on the 12th of July 1941 by the son of Alfred Simms - one, Albert Edward Simms.

Maude Simms is my grandmother so this was quite startling news to read. Albert Edward Simms was to die just four years later in 1945.

The Simms' of surrey did not have the greatest of fortunes. I will post another article shortly. If you are related to them - please do contact me or leave a comment here.

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Tracking down Frank Bloxham - Part 1

Frank Bloxham has no direct connection to me as such - however, his likely son, Frank Henry Simms does indeed carries the genes of my 2nd great-aunt Charlotte Simms. I contacted a descendant of the family of Frank Henry Simms and passed the information i had over. I decided to take a closer look at this individual. To uncover the story behind the article and to track his movements after - and also, his origins. He was commonly called "Frank" (as such many were) but was born Francis A Bloxham . Francis Bloxham - 6 years old in the 1881 census. Like many families in Brailes there were common groups of families. The Bloxhams were quite a unique name and not as common compared to others. Brailes being as small as it was - and still is - it remains comparatively easy to track them around. Whilst working for a grocer in the following census he met Charlotte Simms. 1891 census. Francis was working as a grocers apprentice and Charlotte as a general servant (domestic).

Charlotte Simms, her son born out of wedlock, and who the probable father was.

As i go through my family tree i often mark down individuals for further consideration, especially if they are not priority research targets, and especially if initial research yields little. One such person was Charlotte Simms . I came across her when i was filling out the family of my 2nd great-grandfather William Simms. I found her, and marked her down with her year of birth, which was 1876 and in Brailes. I tend not to go into huge detail on indirect descendants of my connections straight away - and, even less so, those that are daughters. These can be, and are, explored at a later date. However i came across a curious article about a young girl called Charlotte Simms who simply had to be the same person. The story, published on the 14th of April 1892, and warranted deeper investigation. Article published 14th of April 1892 She was making a case against a young boy called Frank Bloxham that he was the father of her son born just a couple of months before on the 2nd of Jun

Standard Offering - Sample Output

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