Joseph Graham’s family tree

 

 

 

Click on the following links for more information

*  Table of census return data for Joseph Graham’s family tree

*  History of the Graham name

 

The legend of Joseph Graham

The family legend goes “Joseph Graham was a dwarf who committed suicide by putting his head in the oven because of his gambling debts, he worked as a bookies runner.”  How true is this?  He died on 20 November 1936 age 30, his death certificate gives the following cause of death :

 

“Asphyxiation by inhaling coal gas whilst temporarily insane”

 

This confirms that he took his life by using gas.  It also suggests that he died at his mother’s house.  His home address is 3 Turnings Walk Mill, Chadderton but he died at 5 Sussex Street, that’s his home address on his marriage certificate.  However the death certificate doesn’t tell us everything.  His occupation is given as general labourer with no mention of bookies runner.  Perhaps he was working evenings without pay for the bookmaker to pay off accumulated debts.  Perhaps he wasn’t working for the bookmaker at all and that was just given to explain the amount of time he spent in the betting shop.  Maybe a bookmaker has nothing to do with it.  The death certificate states that an inquest was held on 23 November 1936.  We visited Oldham archives early in 2010 and found two (identical) articles in local newspapers relating to the inquest. 

 

*  The inquest into Joseph Graham’s death - new information

 

Joseph married Norah Hateley on his 23rd birthday and they had one son, Leslie.  Some time after Joseph’s death Norah married an Irish policeman called Beverland who I believe may have had an older son from an earlier marriage.  They had one daughter, Joyce. 

 

Mary Alice

Joseph’s mother, Mary Alice, was unmarried when Joseph was born, Graham was her maiden name.  She gave her son the same name as her father and one of her brothers, so we get no clue as to his paternity from his name.  From the birth marriage and death (BMD) indexes I believe Mary Alice may have married Robert Moore early in 1907, it’s on my list of marriage certificates to get hold of.  However from Joseph’s death inquest we knew she was Mrs Unsworth by 1936 and had an adult daughter called Doris.  The BMD indexes also list a Mary Alice Graham, also called Mary Alice Moore marrying William Unsworth at Oldham Registry office in 1911.  This lends support to my theory that the marriage of Robert Moore and Mary A Graham in 1907 is our Mary Alice.  So now I need two marriage certificates, the 1907 one and the 1911 one.  I can’t find a birth record for a Doris Moore 1907-1912, or a Doris Unsworth 1911 onwards.  Neither can I find a marriage record for a Cartwright with a Doris Unsworth or Doris Moore.  I can’t find a death record for Robert Moore between 1907 and 1911.

 

A note about Edner Jones

Mary Alice’s parents were Joseph and Edna.  Edna is referred to as Edner Jones Salusbury on her marriage certificate.  I originally thought Jones was her middle name.  In Victorian times it was common for children to be given their mother’s or grandmother’s maiden name as a middle name.  However Edner’s parents, Henry Salusbury and Alice Jones, didn’t get married until Edner was 6 years old and I haven’t found a birth record for an Edner Jones Salusbury in 1857, but I have found one for Edner Jones with no father listed.   So there’s another unknown biological father. 

 

Thomas Graham

So far this is a frustrating dead end.  On Joseph and Edner’s marriage certificate Joseph’s father is named as Thomas Graham, an engineer, but I can’t find a Thomas Graham in any census records.  I have used the censuses to work out roughly when Joseph was born and ordered two birth certificates for Joseph Graham’s born in Stockport in May 1855 and July 1856.  The fathers are called John and George respectively, so neither are for the right Joseph Graham unless the marriage certificate is wrong.  I have also checked local directories for engineers in the area at the time.  I haven’t given up yet.  I plan to check with the church (The Parish church in Portwood, Stockport) where Edner and Joseph married that the details on the marriage certificate that I have are correct

 

 

 

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