Mary Emma EVANS, zeppelin casualty, 31/1/16 - but which one?

[Jim Strawbridge]

I am researching the above named but have difficulty in working out who she is. Website http://www.historywebsite.co.uk/articles/Zeppelins/zeppelins.htm shows Mary Emma Evans (aged 5) as having been a casualty who died in a zeppelin bombing raid on Walsall (or Wednesbury). However I cannot find her death as being registered. However, there is a Mary E. Evans (aged 57) with her death registered in the West Bromwich registration district in the 1st quarter 1916.

The article states that there were 13 deaths :- Matilda Mary Burt aged 10, Mary Emma Evans aged 5, Rachel Higgs aged 36, Susan Howells aged 30, Mary Ann Lee aged 59, Frank Thompson Linney aged 36, Albert Gordon Madeley aged 21, Betsy Shilton, aged 39, Edward Shilton aged 33, Ina Smith, aged 7, Joseph Horton Smith, aged 37, Nellie Smith, aged 13, and Thomas Horton Smith, aged 11.

Burt (actually Birt), Evans, Higgs, Howells, Lee, Madeley, the Shiltons and Smiths had their deaths registered in West Bromwich. Linney's death was registered in Walsall.

Searching BMD under "Staffordshire" which covers both Walsall and West Bromwich there are no 5 year olds named Evans and the only Mary E. Evans is the 57 year old mentioned above.

The website seems quite comprehensive about the raid. I am guessing that much, if not all, of the information will have come from local newspapers of the time. But has the writer of the article got it wrong?  The memorial in Wood Green cemetery at the end of the article shows Mary Evans as a 5 year old girl and the wrongful spelling of Birt/Burt so it is likely that the recent memorial was prepared from the article without checking.

There was a Mary Evans born in 1910 in Walsall, the daughter of George and Mary Evans (nee Sherman). She seems to have lived on as did her mother (also Mary) remarried to a William Heap in 1948. Does anyone have access to a local newspaper that might throw some light on the mystery ? 

[TEW]

Welsh Newspapers online is free.

I'm looking at one article dated 2/2/16 on the zeppelin raid across Norfolk, Suffolk, Lincolnshire, Staffordshire, Leicestershire & Derbyshire. 220 bombs dropped, 54 killed 67 injured.

https://newspapers.library.wales/view/4118692/4118695/20/zeppelin

Another says Staffordshire had 13 killed including 4 children.

https://newspapers.library.wales/view/4100946/4100947/18/zeppelin

https://newspapers.library.wales/view/4100932/4100935/56/zeppelin

I don't know what else they have.

TEW

 

[Jim Strawbridge]

I have tried the Welsh newspapers but whilst there is mention of the zeppelin raids there is no detail as to the casualties' names.

[GreyC]

Perhaps some documents have survived in the city archive of Walsall detailing which buildings were hit or containing a list of the casualties?

GreyC

[Jim Strawbridge]

We know which buildings were hit (see the website I mentioned above). What we have a problem with is the identity and background of Mary Evans.

[Interested]

Isn't the circumstantial evidence from the Newspaper giving the deaths of 4 children, and there being 4 under the age of 18 (excluding "5" year old M E Evans) enough to suggest a typographical error, on the balance of probabilities?  Perhaps a Stafford Newspaper exists, to confirm.  Good luck with your search.

[Jim Strawbridge]

That makes sense. But if that is the case the memorial in Wood Green cemetery carries the wrong information on it due to lack of diligence in researching the names. The website has photographs from Lloyds News (13th February 1916), the London Illustrated News (12th February 1916) and the Wolverhampton Chronicle (23rd February 1916) so may be the articles attached to the photographs had some information on the identity of the casualties.

[TEW]

I saw the Illustrated London News article which carried photos of the damage caused by the  raid in general.

They mention a child being killed but they don't even say which county the photos depict.

TEW 

[Jim Strawbridge]

3 minutes ago, TEW said:

I saw the Illustrated London News article which carried photos of the damage caused by the  raid in general.

They mention a child being killed but they don't even say which county the photos depict.

TEW 

I expect censorship limited what could be printed. The death of a child would not help German propaganda but confirmation of location of bomb hits probably would.

[GreyC]

52 minutes ago, Jim Strawbridge said:

We know which buildings were hit

a) If you know the buildings you should find it easy to find out who lived there (addressbooks). Was a family Evans among them?

If not

b) I still find it a good idea to ask at the local archive.

GreyC

 

[GraemeClarke]

Morning,

Whilst not definitive, I have researched the Walsall civilian Zeppelin deaths and on 31 January 1916 have only 3; 

Haycock, Powell and Merrylees.

Regards,

Graeme

[Jim Strawbridge]

6 hours ago, GraemeClarke said:

Morning,

Whilst not definitive, I have researched the Walsall civilian Zeppelin deaths and on 31 January 1916 have only 3; 

Haycock, Powell and Merrylees.

Regards,

Graeme

At least I mentioned both Walsall and Wednesbury !   Referring to the website that I quoted at the beginning there are other names. other than the three that you note. For instance, Charles Cope and Mary Julia Slater (Mayoress) seem to have died from the same blast. But the point of starting this thread is to work out if the Mary Emma Evans who is said to be a five year old casualty and is one of the names commemorated on a memorial stone in Wood Green Cemetery is correct. It is my contention that someone has got it wrong and that it was actually Mary E. Evans (aged 57). I think that only local research will reveal this from newspapers or civic papers, etc.

[PaulC78]

On 23/03/2024 at 15:47, Jim Strawbridge said:

However, there is a Mary E. Evans (aged 57) with her death registered in the West Bromwich registration district in the 1st quarter 1916.

GRO confirms the name as Mary Emma Evans:

[GraemeClarke]

Hi

I mentioned those names to show, in my Walsall research, I had not come across Evans, and that she did not appear to come from Walsall.

I did not mention Slater as she did not die on the date in question. I have not heard of Charles Cope before so for that I thank you, however he too is a Wednesbury man.

Graeme

Edited 28 March by GraemeClarke

[PaulC78]

The death certificate might clear things up, cost is £2.50 as a "digital image".

Alternatively, there are the burial registers for Wood Green Cemetery which are on DeceasedOnline. They have a single entry for Mary Emma Evans in 1916, buried on 07/02/1916 in West Midlands.