The Death of Joseph Bodycote

[Anstey Nomad]

We established on one of my many previous threads that my 4 x great-grandfather Joseph Bodycote did not die in Nottingham in 1858 (that appears to have been his three year old grandson) but in Philadelphia the year before "following an accident on the Reading Railroad." Despite making a lot of enquiries, I have never been able to get a single response from anyone in Pennsylvania to take me any further.

However, thanks to Find My Past, I now have this from the Philadelphia Catholic Herald and Visitor, which reports as follows:

ACCIDENT ON THE READING RAILROAD

The man killed on the Reading Railroad was named Joseph Bodycote. He was knocked down by the angles but not run over, his arm was not severed, nor his face terribly lacerated, the wound that was the cause of death was at the back of the head, causing a fractured skull and concussion of the brain. He lingered from half past eight on Saturday morning, the time of the accident, until six o'clock on Sunday evening, when he died. All this time he was utterly unconscious.

[Procedural information about the inquest not transcribed]

The deceased was about 58 years of age and is a pensioner from the British government, out in this country for two years by permission of the British government."

So, I now have a little more information. Still not quite enough, but we are getting there. It does sound as if he was hit by a train even if it didn't actually run over him. Oddly, my only uncle had a similar experience in a marshalling yard in the blackout. He lost an arm and a leg.

The good news is that the age stated puts him back to 1799 and makes it look as though the baptism in April of that year might well be him. The bad news for me is that the article reads as though somehow he needed permission from the British government to emigrate and I can't yet make any sense of that.

It seems as though we are not finished with the old rogue yet.

[Phoenix]

Pensioner from the British Government?

Had he been in the army or navy? That sounds more likely than a civil servant of some kind.

Permission presumably relates to his pension being paid abroad.

[Anstey Nomad]

Yes, he was in the army from, going from memory, 1813 until 1823, serving with HM 7th Regiment of Foot in India.

Permission to receive pension abroad sounds like a good call.

Thank you

[garstonite]

a tree on Geneanet has him dying in Nottingham 1861 and living in St Margarets Parish in Leicester in 1851 census - of course we know some trees are incorrect - just thought you should see it ??

Born April 21, 1799 - St Margarets, Leicestershire, England
Baptized April 23, 1799 - Saint Leonard, Leicester, Leicester, England
Deceased April 7, 1861 - Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom, aged 61 years old

Parents
sosa Edward Bodycot 1765-1826
sosa Elizabeth Tillson 1766-1811-

Spouses and children
Married May 1, 1820, Calcutta, Bengal, India, to Elizabeth Beckwith 1803-1884 with
M Charles Bodycot 1821-1884
F Amelia BODYCOTE ca 1822-1823
M Henry BODYCOT 1823-
F Amelia Bodycote ca 1827-

Siblings
F Sarah Bodycot 1788-
F Mary Ann BODYCOT 1790-
F Rebecca Bodycot 1792-1795
M Samuel Bodycot 1793-1861
F Elizabeth Bodycot 1795-1799
M sosa Thomas Bodycot 1797-1862
M Joseph Bodycote 1799-1861
M William BODYCOT 1800-
F Elizabeth Bodycot 1802-
F Rebecca Bodycot 1805-1809
M Charles Bodycot 1809-1857
M James Bodycot 1811-1812
(hide)

Events
April 21, 1799 : Birth - St Margarets, Leicestershire, England
Sources:
- England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975 - Ancestry.com - 1,9841::0 - 1,9841::82018899
- 1851 England Census - Ancestry.com - 1,8860::0 - Class: HO107; Piece: 2088; Folio: 652; Page: 27; GSU roll: 87716 - 1,8860::9715119
April 23, 1799 : Baptism - Saint Leonard, Leicester, Leicester, England
Sources: England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975 - Ancestry.com - 1,9841::0 - 1,9841::82018899
May 1, 1820 : Marriage (with Elizabeth Beckwith) - Calcutta, Bengal, India
Sources: India, Select Marriages, 1792-1948 - Ancestry.com - India, Marriages, 1792-1948 - 1,9901::0 - 1,9901::575764
1851 : Residence - Leicester St Margaret, Leicestershire, England
Relationship: Head
Sources: 1851 England Census - Ancestry.com - 1,8860::0 - Class: HO107; Piece: 2088; Folio: 652; Page: 27; GSU roll: 87716 - 1,8860::9715119
April 7, 1861 : Death - Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom

[Anstey Nomad]

Thanks Allan.

Joseph is alleged to have died in Nottingham on various dates. The 1858 death is actually his three year old grandson. I cant comment on the 1861 death. There are several [very] long threads on here about this family and we eventually figured out that Joseph, his partner and their son had emigrated to the US in 1855 as part of a wave of migration from the East Midlands to Pennsylvania and that he died in 1857. I am in contact with descendants in the US.

A lot of what you have posted is acrually unproven, but I can confirm that Henry wasn't Joseph's son as, if my memory serves me, the timings are all wrong and Henry was born in the West Indies, omewhere that Joseph never went!

I appreciate your thought in flagging this to me, but for the sake of anyone else descended from this wretched family, I felt I had to say this, rather than risk anyone else going down the wrong path, which we all know can be so easy to do!