Hi Julian and Ted

Thank you both for your very interesting replies. My research has progressed a little since my last post…I have now established that there are no surviving records of the inquest but there is a newspaper report archived at HALS which I haven’t got yet but it tells how the ground was unstable due to heavy rain the day before causing land to give way.

It definitely says on Thomas’s death certificate that the death occurred in Brent Pelham. I’ve also been told that there could have been several small privately owned gravel pits in the area of which there would be no visible signs these days since after excavations were finished they would have been filled in and the land sold and most probably built on. There are old maps at HALS and, so the help of the newspaper report, it might be possible for me to locate which pit it was.

Interestingly, the death wasn't registered for a full five months after the accident, although I haven't been able to find out why.

Regards

Lyndsey