T/Sub Lt Allan Newsome Bushill - A Tragic Tale

[headgardener]

14 hours ago, IPT said:

The handwriting on the death cert. is appalling and I can't read the address beyond 2523 ???? St, LA.

 

 

I'd say it's "2523 (?) Coronado St, L.A." (Coronado being a suburb of LA - there's a N Coronado St and a S Coronado St in modern day LA). It's hard to tell whether the illegible annotation is part of the house number or a prefix to the street name. 

[IPT]

51 minutes ago, helpjpl said:

 

According to the Vancouver Sunday Province of 08 January 1928, on ancestry, Mrs Rosa Bushill passed away at the General Hospital and was interred in Ocean View Burial Park.

 

https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/499275670/

 

JP

 

 

Nice find. I missed that one completely in the chaos of the US/Canada papers.

[headgardener]

14 hours ago, IPT said:

It's interesting that the person who supplied his information didn't know details and got some of it slightly wrong.  That's why he is described on four different certificates and registers as Allen Neusome Bushill, which also appears on the records at Forest Lawn Cemetery. 

 

Fwiw, I'd say it's consistent with these details being copied from some original handwritten documentation by a registrar who mistook a cursive 'a' for an 'e', and the cursive 'w' joining onto the 's' in his middle name being read as a 'u'. 

[IPT]

5 hours ago, headgardener said:

 

I'd say it's "2523 (?) Coronado St, L.A." (Coronado being a suburb of LA - there's a N Coronado St and a S Coronado St in modern day LA). It's hard to tell whether the illegible annotation is part of the house number or a prefix to the street name. 

Yes, that looks very good. I don’t think the numbers went that high though, so the beginning may be something else. Ancestry appears to show a few Naomis on that road, on the 1934 voters register.

[headgardener]

His original engagement announcement appears in The North Wales Chronicle of 21st Jan 1916 (p.4g): 

 

ENGAGEMENT. 

An engagement is announced; between Allan N. Bushill, R.N.R., of H.M.S. "Otway," second son of Mr and Mrs Newsome Bushill, Kielder, Coventry, and Audrey Gwendolyn, younger daughter of Mr and Mrs D. A. Quiggin, Freshfield. Formby. Lancashire.

 

So, it looks like they must have known each other for at least 3 years before he shot her.

[headgardener]

I just came across a photo of ANB's youngest brother, Robert Newsome Bushill, at his wedding to Eva Smithies of Prestwich, at Prestwich Parish Church on 2 June 1927. Judging by his manner of dress, it's clear that the Bushill's are a wealthy family (confirmed by the fact that the wedding photo was taken by high-society photographer Lafayette).

 

 

[pierssc]

10 minutes ago, headgardener said:

I just came across a photo of ANB's youngest brother, Robert Newsome Bushill, at his wedding to Eva Smithies of Prestwich, at Prestwich Parish Church on 2 June 1927. Judging by his manner of dress, it's clear that the Bushill's are a wealthy family (confirmed by the fact that the wedding photo was taken by high-society photographer Lafayette).

 

 

 

 

Surely Mr Smithies would be paying?

 

[corisande]

11 minutes ago, headgardener said:

it's clear that the Bushill's are a wealthy family

 

I have always assumed that was how he (and others) avoided the death penalty, and then got out of Broadmoor after a few years

[Dai Bach y Sowldiwr]

6 hours ago, headgardener said:

His original engagement announcement appears in The North Wales Chronicle of 21st Jan 1916 (p.4g): 

 

ENGAGEMENT. 

An engagement is announced; between Allan N. Bushill, R.N.R., of H.M.S. "Otway," second son of Mr and Mrs Newsome Bushill, Kielder, Coventry, and Audrey Gwendolyn, younger daughter of Mr and Mrs D. A. Quiggin, Freshfield. Formby. Lancashire.

 

So, it looks like they must have known each other for at least 3 years before he shot her.

Why the North Wales Chronicle I wonder?

[pierssc]

16 minutes ago, Dai Bach y Sowldiwr said:

Why the North Wales Chronicle I wonder?

 

Perhaps being from the Liverpool-ish area the Smithies Quiggins might have business or social connections in North Wales.

 

 

Edited 8 October , 2020 by pierssc
Sorry, wrong family name

[pierssc]

Daniel Arthiur Quiggin (Audrey Gwendolyn's father) was a marine engineer by training and then a prominent businessman.  His obituary is at https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Daniel_Arthur_Quiggan

 

[Dai Bach y Sowldiwr]

Yes, that's a possibility, I also noted that HMS Otley did have a few trips along the North Wales coast, and wondered if he had put down any roots that way.

[KizmeRD]

3 hours ago, headgardener said:

 it's clear that the Bushill's are a wealthy family

The story of the family firm is written here (doubt it would include mention of Allan).

Bushills : the story of a Coventry firm of printers and boxmakers, 1856-1956

Author:	Ellic Howe
Publisher:	Coventry [England] : T. Bushill, 1956.

 

Edited 8 October , 2020 by KizmeRD

[PRC]

So we know wife 1, Audrey Gwendolyn Bushill nee Quiggin, was from a fairly well off family.

 

And wife 5 Patricia Mitchell was the daughter of an “Alabama Lumber King”.

 

Looking at the other wifes.

 

On 06/10/2020 at 10:58, corisande said:

1925 Aug 15 married in Canada Bessie Eldret Green (you can get cert on Mormon site).  He is living in Longview, Washington with her in 1925 & 1926.

                                          1926 Sep 19 She died

 

The marriage details for wife 2 Bessie Eldret Green on familysearch show her parents as Arthur Eldret and Jennie Green and that she was born Hinckley, Leicestershire, England. Another member of the Green family,Winifred Robina, living at the same address as Bessie, was one of the witnesses. It has already been noted that Bessie was aged 21, (so born c1904).

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-6LHS-LP7?i=677&cc=1307718

 

On the 1911 Census of England and Wales the 6 year old Bessie Eldret Green, born Hinckley, was recorded living at 4 Landsdowne Terrace, Manor Court Road, Nuneaton. This was the household of her parents Arthur Eldret Green, (aged 30, a Ladies and Gentleman’s Outfitter) and Jennie Green, (aged 26). The couple have been married 8 years and as well as Bessie they have another daughter Winifred Robina, (aged 5, born Hinckley).

 

The family emigrated to Canada and father Arthur Eldret Green enlisted in the Canadaian Overseas Expeditionary Force on the 25th May 1915. He gives his occupation then as Salesman. The family were living then at Fort William, Ontario. He served in France with the 42nd Battalion. He was buried by a shell in June 1916 and the injuries left with chronic synovitis of the right knee, leaving him downgraded to BIII. He was discharged in Canada on the 27th September 1919 after being found guilty of selling Army stores. By the time his medals were issued in 1922 he was living at Sturgeon Creek, Winnipeg, Manitoba. A Department of Veterans Affairs memo records the Canadian Treasury Officer in London had been informed that Arthur died on the 16th March 1964.

https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/military-heritage/first-world-war/personnel-records/Pages/item.aspx?IdNumber=425765

(May be a co-incidence but the death of an Arthur E. Green, aged 84, was recorded, was recorded in the Surrey Northern District in Q1 1964. Could not see an obvious Probate that might confirm).

 

Bessie died in Vancouver

 

On 05/10/2020 at 20:08, IPT said:

On 14th April 1927, Bushill married German-born Henriette Magdalena Rosa Wessels, aged 19, in White Rock, British Columbia.  She died 6th January 1928 in Point Grey, British Columbia. Their baby had died 2nd January 1928.

 

Wife 3, Henriette was born in Augsburg, Germay, according to the marriage register. Her father was August Wessels, born Oldenburg, and mother Ruth Wessels nee Volks, born Augsberg.

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-6F9F-TK?i=620&cc=1307718

No obvious match for August or Ruth on the 1911 Census of Canada.

 

An August Vessels, born Oldenburg, 28th April 1870, died 3rd November, 1952 in Westheim near Augsburg, was the owner of what was then stated to be the biggest shoe factory in Germany. Pre-Great war it specialised in sandals, linen and sports shoes. During both wars he ran his factories on behalf of the government.

More and the company and man here, courtesy of Google Translate.

https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_Wessels&prev=search&pto=aue

A recentish piece in the Augsburger Allgemeine about a permanent memorial to August shows a picture of the existing headstone which looks to me that it shows his wife Rosa as having the maiden name Volk. (Again, courtesy of Google Translate).

https://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&hl=en&prev=search&pto=aue&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=de&sp=nmt4&u=https://www.augsburger-allgemeine.de/augsburg/Enkel-will-ein-Ehrengrab-fuer-August-Wessels-id44030536.html&usg=ALkJrhhZanuFSUNKpLeCpVl_MhfbFn8wYw

 

August and his 15 year old son Gottfried, from Augsburg, Germany, arrived at New York having sailed from Hamburg on the S.S. Victoria Luise on the 25th September 1913. The reason for the visit is given as Tourist.

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9T6-89WJ-9?i=837&cc=1368704&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AJN1H-3N1

 

However the newspaper article on Henriettes’ death states she is survived by parents and sibling living in Vancouver – not sure how that squares with a man running a shoe factory empire in Germany.

 

Wife 4.

 

On 05/10/2020 at 20:08, IPT said:

Possible marriage in King, Washington 28th April 1928 between Allan N Bushill and Mildred Leigh

 

On 05/10/2020 at 22:03, IPT said:

The certificate is here - https://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/DigitalObject/Download/f29f94ad-5802-4ab6-a0c6-7284790016d9

 

 

@IPTlinked to their marriage certificate. However it gives no details about her age, marital status, parents, occupation, address, etc,etc.

 

Nothing to add on this one.

 

Cheers,

Peter

Edited 8 October , 2020 by PRC
Typo

[headgardener]

6 hours ago, pierssc said:

Surely Mr Smithies would be paying?

 

6 hours ago, corisande said:

I have always assumed that was how he (and others) avoided the death penalty, and then got out of Broadmoor after a few years

 

Yes, I'm sure Mr. Smithies footed the bill for the photographer, but it was evidently a 'society' wedding (or at least aspired to be) which does tell us something about the social standing of the families. And I very much agree with Corisande's comments regarding the significance of the family's wealth and status to the treatment of their son. 

 

2 hours ago, KizmeRD said:

The story of the family firm is written here (doubt it would include mention of Allan).

Bushills : the story of a Coventry firm of printers and boxmakers, 1856-1956

Author:	Ellic Howe
Publisher:	Coventry [England] : T. Bushill, 1956.

 

 

I did find references to this book, but frustratingly only 'snippet views' of the text are available.....! I also found a further reference to the company which made Newsome Bushill (the father) sound like a friend to his workers, championing higher wages and establishing some sort of 'stakeholder' system. I'll try to find the reference again and pay it here. 

 

I'd expect his sons to have gone to either a minor public school or a local grammar school. If only we could find his school we might be able to find an obituary. 

Edited 8 October , 2020 by headgardener

[IPT]

He was obviously a smooth operator, well-bred, good looking, English accent, salesman's gift of the gab.  He was able to get wealthy young girls, (presumably with parental consent), to marry him in short order.

 

The only actual anecdotal evidence we have is PRC's snippet from Patricia, which describes his actual behaviour.  The wives who are not known to have died quickly may have scarpered.

 

I was surprised to see that Bushill was the primary beneficiary of Audrey's will in 1920, which made me question whether the 1919 murder was set up deliberately, rather than a failed suicide. It's easy to let your imagination run wild with cases like these.

 

 

[pierssc]

15 minutes ago, headgardener said:

 

I'd expect his sons to have gone to either a minor public school or a local grammar school. If only we could find his school we might be able to find an obituary. 

True, but we know from post 1 that Allan attended a Moravian school in Germany (which is unusual) and then the training ship Conway.  He appears on a list of Conway alumni but with no further information.  http://hmsconway.org/Cadets B.html  .  A training school was not the main route into the Merchant service at that time, where the traditional entry was as an apprentice in one's early teens, but it might have made sense in the context of a middle class family with no connections to the sea looking to find a career for a son.
 

Why a Moravian school, I wonder?  In Germany?

 

I was interested to see that his early reports, as quoted, are hardly flattering.  Somewhere along the way he seems to have gained a certain amount of self-confidence, 

[IPT]

6 minutes ago, pierssc said:

Why a Moravian school, I wonder?  In Germany?

 

Were those schools to study for the ministry?

[headgardener]

18 minutes ago, IPT said:

 

I was surprised to see that Bushill was the primary beneficiary of Audrey's will in 1920, which made me question whether the 1919 murder was set up deliberately, rather than a failed suicide. It's easy to let your imagination run wild with cases like these.

 

 

I know that the law had to be changed in order to prevent killers from inheriting their victims estates, but am not sure when that happened.

 

As for the suicide attempt, I was struck by the fact that he shot her on Friday night, then apparently shot himself, but it seems that his injury was not bad enough to prevent him from making his way far enough from the scene of the shooting for his wife’s body not to be found until Saturday morning. Failed suicide attempts like this (with perhaps minimal injuries) following a killing would nowadays be regarded with a great degree of suspicion. Insanity could be viewed as being perhaps the best defence against a potential death penalty. It would be interesting to know what the medical opinions were at the time of his trial, especially in light of the fact that he was out within a couple of years.

[headgardener]

4 minutes ago, IPT said:

 

Were those schools to study for the ministry?

 

No, I think they were fairly austere boarding schools. I don’t think they acted specifically as junior seminaries (or whatever), although I suspect that they wouldn’t have discouraged students from entering the ministry.

[headgardener]

15 minutes ago, pierssc said:

True, but we know from post 1 that Allan attended a Moravian school in Germany (which is unusual) and then the training ship Conway.  He appears on a list of Conway alumni but with no further information.  http://hmsconway.org/Cadets B.html  .  A training school was not the main route into the Merchant service at that time, where the traditional entry was as an apprentice in one's early teens, but it might have made sense in the context of a middle class family with no connections to the sea looking to find a career for a son.
 

Why a Moravian school, I wonder?  In Germany?

 

I was interested to see that his early reports, as quoted, are hardly flattering.  Somewhere along the way he seems to have gained a certain amount of self-confidence, 

 

Yes, I’d forgotten that.

 

Indeed - why one of those schools in particular? 

[headgardener]

Bizarrely enough, google tells me that someone has written a scholarly article on this very subject...! British students at the Moravian school at Neuwied prior to WW1.....! 

 

https://www.jstor.org/stable/3120966?seq=1

 

Does anyone have access to JStor??

[pierssc]

It's all quite bizarre.  Forgive me, but have we quoted Audrey's inquest yet?

 

https://newspapers.library.wales/view/4125092/4125098/73/Bushill

 

Having shot her, and himself, she apparently said "Oh Darling, what have you done that for?" and he replied "Come and die in my arms".  To which she said "We are not going to die.  I am going for help.  You are not yourself" and walked off.  Mind you, as Bushill would have been the only surviving witness of the exchange, one wonders how much reliance to put on it.

[IPT]

2 minutes ago, pierssc said:

It's all quite bizarre.  Forgive me, but have we quoted Audrey's inquest yet?

 

https://newspapers.library.wales/view/4125092/4125098/73/Bushill

 

Having shot her, and himself, she apparently said "Oh Darling, what have you done that for?" and he replied "Come and die in my arms".  To which she said "We are not going to die.  I am going for help.  You are not yourself" and walked off.  Mind you, as Bushill would have been the only surviving witness of the exchange, one wonders how much reliance to put on it.

 

I don't know, but he only bought three bullets. She got two and he only got one that didn't do the job!

 

19 minutes ago, headgardener said:

Indeed - why one of those schools in particular? 

 

William Newsome Bushill was at Tettenhall College at age 10.  By 1911, he was working for the family business.

 

We know that one of the drivers behind the murder was Allan's father's refusal to allow him to work for the company, so we are entitled to wonder why that is. Also, why he was sent to Germany, and thence to the merchant navy.  There may have been incidents of one sort or another.

 

 

[pierssc]

On 06/10/2020 at 23:05, KizmeRD said:

 

Only no evidence he was a qualified Master Mariner - he’s only requesting a duplicate copy of his First Mates certificate of competency.

(As 1921 coincides with the date of his discharge from Broadmoor, perhaps he was planning at that time to resume his former career?)

MB
 

There doesn't seem to be any evidence that he was certificated above First Mate.  As for wanting to resume his career in 1921, that may well have been so, but I'm pretty sure 1921 saw a major shipping slump after a short-lived post-war boom, and jobs especially for officers, were in short supply.  At the best of times it wasn't unusual for First and Second officers to hold masters certificates, so in an economic downturn someone with just a first mate's certificate, and a chequered past, would have been lucky to get a job as an officer, more likely as an AB. My nautical grandfather had an Extra-Master's certificate (1914), was Commissioned in November 1914, spent the entire War as a Lieutenant RNR (in command, though) and never rose above Second Officer until he swallowed the anchor in 1924 - and he was fortunate.  So I was interested to see that Bushill had managed to get himself promoted to Lieutenant, RNR!  Perhaps another indication of good social skills!

Edited 8 October , 2020 by pierssc