Family Vignette—The Accidental drownings of William Solomon and Wallace William Soloman

 

Family Vignette—The Accidental drownings of William Solomon and Wallace William Soloman

John Soloman was born in Carlton Coville, Suffolk, England on September 1, 1823 as the seventh child of William Henry Solomon 1796-1871 and Elizabeth Welton 1795-1863.

John Married Mary Ann Harman on March 11, 1845 in the parish church at Carlton Colville.  John and Mary Ann had 10 children.  They were:

1.      George Frederick Soloman 1845–1924

2.      Henry Solomon 1847–1910

3.      Mahalah Soloman 1849–1940

4.      William Solomon 1851–1877

5.      James Solomon 1853–1928

6.      Charles Napier Solomon 1856–1928

7.      John Soloman 1857–1938

8.      Napoleon Bonaparte Solomon 1859–1910

9.      Arthur Wellesley Solomon 1861–1943

10.  Wallace William Solomon 1863–1898

 In 1851, John Soloman was a 28-year old Agricultural Labourer. In 1861, he was working as a Water Mule Engine Driver.  By 1871, he was working as an Agricultural Labourer (Marshman Stoker).

Here are the occupations of John Soloman’s children:  George Frederick Soloman was the station master for the Great Eastern Railway at Alysham for many years until his promotion as the Brandon station master.  Henry worked his entire life as an agricultural labourer.  William, James, Arthur Wellesley and Wallace William Solomon were all working as wherrymen.  Charles Napier was working as a general labourer.  John Solomon worked as a fisherman. Napoleon Bonaparte was employed as a fisherman and later in 1901 as an agricultural labourer so he could be home to take care of his aging father.

The drownings of William Solomon and Wallace William Solomon

William Solomon, Wherryman.

The death of William Solomon was reported in The Norwich Mercury on October 27, 1877.

“DROWNED IN THE HARBOUR.—We regret to have to record two more fatal accidents by drowning in the harbour, making a total of four within the fast fortnight.  On Friday night last, a man named William Solomon, employed on board a wherry, fell overboard, and before assistance could be rendered perished.  The efforts made to recover the body have as yet proved fruitless, although a reward of £2 has been offered by the family of the deceased.  The second case occurred on Tuesday, when a lad named Charles Leach, aged twelve, who resided with his parents in Middlegate Street was drowned near the Ballast Quay.  The deceased with some companions was engaged at play on board a Scotch fishing boat moored at the Quay, when Leach missed his footing, and fell over into the stream.  An alarm was immediately raised, but the unfortunate lad was never seen after his immersion, and it is supposed that he was carried by the tide under some of the craft lying near the spot where he fell.”

An update on the death of William Solomon was reported in The Norwich Mercury on November 10, 1877.

“DROWNED IN THE HARBOUR.—On Tuesday morning the body of William Solomon, wherryman, whose death by drowning in the harbour we reported a fortnight since, was picked up just outside the Pier at Gorleston by the crew of a Scotch fishing boat.  The corpse, which was in a greatly decomposed state, was removed to the Workhouse, where, at an inquest held the same day, a verdict was returned of ‘Found drowned.’”

 

 

Wallace William Solomon and the Wherry Reedbird.

This account is taken from the archives of the Norfolk Wherry Trust.

“On the morning of Saturday 16th July 1898 Wallace William Solomon, who was born at Carlton Colville in 1864, had set out at 8.30 am from the Suffolk village of Somerleyton. He was heading for Oulton Broad, in sole charge of a cargo-less wherry named “Reedbird” and at the same time his fellow crew member and working partner John Lord had gone to collect his wages from Mr Kerry Rix at Somerleyton. George Kerry Rix was at that time the land agent of Sir Saville Brinton Crossley, Baronet and JP of Somerleyton Hall and 12 Carlton House Terrace, London SW.

Two of Wallace’s brothers Charles and Arthur Solomon had also departed from Somerleyton on the same day, half an hour before at 8.00 am in another empty wherry also bound for Oulton Broad. Charles could see the Reedbird in the distance behind him, but lost sight of the wherry around 9.30 am when he was passing the Beccles river. The wherry and the two Solomon brothers arrived at Oulton Broad at 10.30 am. They were not surprised that Reedbird was so far behind them.

 William Sturman, a marshman, of Kemps Heath (also known as Camps Heath) later recalled that between 9.00 and 10.00 am on that Saturday morning, he had seen Reedbird, with one man onboard, as it passed the Steam Mill. He later saw the wherry again between 11.00 am and 12.00 midday with no one aboard. This time it was near the entrance to the Beccles river. Reedbird’s sail was up, and Sturman noticed that the wherry had been blown across the river. As soon as practicable he got a small boat and went out to the wherry, boarded her, and found no one there. The quant pole was lying across the wherry and Sturman thought this suggested the man in charge of the wherry had not fallen overboard.

However, Edward Drew, who was employed by the Great Eastern Railway Company and David Daines went in search of a body. After dragging the river for a considerable time they found the
body of Wallace Solomon around 300 yards from the mouth of Oulton Dyke, at about 1.46 am on the Sunday morning, it was about seven yards from the shore.

The following day, Monday 18th July at 7.00 am, a Coroner’s inquest was hastily convened. It was held at the Wherry Hotel, Oulton Broad, with the task of looking into the circumstances that led to the drowning of Wallace Solomon, a married man with three children, age 34 of Carlton Colville. It was believed he had fallen overboard from the wherry Reedbird whilst sailing between Somerleyton and Oulton Broad on the 16th July.

The County Coroner, Charles Walter Chasten gave his reasons for holding the inquest at such an early hour, wishing to cause no inconvenience to the Wherry Hotel and to ensure that the body was removed as soon as possible. He also had an engagement in London that day and wanted to leave on an early train. The relatives of the deceased also wished to take possession of the body as soon as they could.

Charles Napier Solomon (1856-1928), a general labourer who resided at Carlton Colville, stated that the body now lying at the Hotel was that of his brother Wallace William Solomon, age 34 years. He said the deceased could not swim, and his life was not insured. He also stated that he did not think it was dangerous for one man to have charge of a wherry. Marshman William Sturman then gave his evidence followed by Edward Drew.

The Coroner summed up and the Jury returned a verdict of “Accidentally Drowned” and they handed over their juror’s fees to the widow, who was left with three young children to support. After the enquiry was closed the Coroner received a letter from William Pitcher, who was the keeper of Mutford Lock. It read “I earnestly hope your attention will be called to one man being on a wherry alone, and that you may be concerned that it is a most dangerous practice, and may deem it essential to take such steps that may prevent it being done in future.” The Coroner commented on this, and said he had put the question to a witness as to whether it was dangerous, and he replied in the negative. The Jury also took no notice of the letter.

Wallace William Solomon was buried in the churchyard of St Peter’s Carlton Colville on the 20th July 1898. His wife Florence Louise Solomon nee Manning was left with three young children to support, Herbert Wallace (1889-1972), Lillian Olive (1890-1981) and Ella Adelaide (1896-1952). However, Florence must have been expecting a fourth child at the time of her husband’s tragic death and Wallace Solomon Junior was born on the 3rd December 1898, he was baptised at St Peter’s Carlton Colville on the 29th January 1899.

The Solomon family were well aware of the dangers faced by the crews of wherries. Twenty-one years earlier William Solomon (1851-1877), Wallace Senior’s older brother, had fallen overboard while stepping from one wherry to another while moored in Great Yarmouth harbour on the 19th October 1877. His brother-in-law, a member of the Manning family could not render any assistance to him and William was drowned. A reward was offered by a group of William’s friends for the recovery of his body. It was found two weeks later in a badly decomposed state, just outside the pier at Gorleston, by the crew of a Scottish fishing boat. The corpse was removed to the Workhouse and an inquest was held the same day. A verdict was returned of “Found Drowned”. William Solomon was later buried in the churchyard of St Peter’s Carlton Colville.

Towards the end of 1898 the wherry Reedbird was advertised as being for sale by auction, in the Lowestoft Journal of Saturday 10th September 1898, under the hammer of the Lowestoft auctioneer B M Bradbeer who had received instructions from Messrs Gibbs and Calver of Oulton Broad, to sell by auction on Tuesday, the 20th September 1898 at Eleven o’clock punctually, the trading wherries, “Two Friends” (40 tons burden) and “Reedbird,” that was according to Roy Clark’s work “Black Sailed Traders”, could carry a burden of 20 Tons. The last known owner of Reedbird was the East Anglian Ice Company.

No medical evidence was presented at the inquest and no post-mortem was carried out. The Coroner was clearly not interested in hearing the lock keeper’s letter and was prepared to accept, as evidence, the biased opinion of Charles Solomon, that a wherry being sailed by one person was not a dangerous practice. No further enquiries and no lessons learnt for the future from Wallace’s tragic death. As so little evidence was presented to the Coroner, his summing-up must have been quite short and the verdict of “Accidentally Drowned” was probably the only one available to the jury. The Coroner seems to have been more concerned about being late for his meeting in London, later that day, than the cause of death of a family man while at work. At this time in history the lives of ordinary working people appear to be undervalued and health and safety in the workplace nonexistent.”

 i   Lowestoft Journal 2nd July 1898

ii   Ipswich Evening Star Monday 18th July 1898

iii  Norfolk Chronicle Saturday 23rd July 1898

iv  Eastern Evening News Monday 18th July 1898.

v   Yarmouth Independent Saturday 27th October 1877

 vi  Norwich Mercury Saturday 10th November 1877

vii  Lowestoft Journal Saturday 10th September 1898.

Genealogy:  William John Prior Solomon 1912-1978 was the son of William Prior Solomon 1883-1963 and his father was John Solomon 1857-1938 and his father was John Solomon 1823-1913 and his brother was William Solomon 1815-1861 and his son was Albert Solomon 1861-1944 and his daughter was Mabel May Solomon 1892-1980 and her husband was John Adams 1891-1965 and his brother was George "Pikey" William Welch-Adams 1867-1940.

Genealogy:  William John Prior Solomon 1912-1978 was the son of William Prior Solomon 1883-1963 and his mother was Ellen Maria Prior 1858-1901 and her mother was Maria Blowers 1832-1871 and her father was John Blowers 1802-1883 and his mother was Susanna Barber 1771-1852 and her sister was Elizabeth Barber 1773-1835 and her son was Isaac Forster 1801-1890 and his son was Thomas Forster 1837-1888 and his daughter was Caroline Forster 1864-1906 and her husband was George "Pikey" William Welch-Adams 1867-1940.

 

The report from the LOWESTOFT JOURNAL , July 2, 1898:

SAD DROWNING AT OULTON. AN EARLY INQUEST.

“It is not often that Pressmen and Jurymen are summoned to attend an inquest so early as 7 in the morning, but such was the case on Monday when Mr. Coroner Chaston held an inquiry at the Wherry Hotel, Oulton, regarding the drowning of a wherryman named Wallace Solomon, aged 34, of Carlton Colville, who is supposed to have fallen off the wherry Reedbird between Somerleyton and Oulton Broad on Saturday Morning.

The Coroner gave good reasons why he held the Inquest at such an early hour. It was because it was deemed advisable, in order to cause no inconvenience to the Wherry Hotel, that the body should be removed as early as possible; further that, because he had an engagement in London and wanted to leave by an early train. The relatives too desired to move the body as soon as they could.

After the body had been viewed the evidence was taken.

William Sturman, a marshman, said he was on Kemps Heath at Oulton between 9 and 10 on Saturday morning, when he saw a wherry pass the Steam Mill with one man on board. He saw the same wherry between 11 and 12 lying up the river with no one on it. The sail was set, and-he noticed that the wherry had blown across the river. The quant was lying on the wherry, but not in a manner to indicate that the deceased had fallen overboard.

Charles Solomon, deceased’s brother, said the deceased could not swim. Witness started from Somerleyton at 8 am on Saturday morning on a wherry with another man, his brother following alone in another wherry, his companion having gone to Mr. Kerry Rix at Somerleyton to get his wages. Witness arrived at Oulton Broad at 10.30, but was not surprised the deceased was so far behind him. He believed that deceased accidentally fell overboard. In reply to the Coroner he said he did not consider it dangerous for one man to work a wherry.

Edward Drew of Oulton Broad stated that he went with Daniel Daines to search for the body, which they found at 1.45 on Sunday, morning, about 300 yards from the Oulton Dyke.

The Jury returned a verdict of “Accidentally Drowned”.

They handed over their fees to the widow, who is left with three children.

After the enquiry was closed the Coroner received the following letter from Mr. William Pitcher who is at Mutford Lock-

“I earnestly hope your attention will be called to one man being on a wherry alone, and that you may be concerned that it is a most dangerous practice, and may deem it essential to take such steps that may prevent it being done in future.”

The Coroner commented on this, and said he put the question to one of the witnesses as to whether it was dangerous, and he replied in the negative.

The Jury also took no notice.”