Friday 4 January 2013

Closure for my mystery man, William Henry Ball

In my previous post, I had mentioned that I had obtained a death certificate for a William Henry Ball, who had died in 1941 in Ealing in a horrific railway related incident, but could not confirm if this was my William Henry. Sadly, I can now say that it was indeed my William, who died so tragically at the Ealing Broadway train station the afternoon of 14 June 1941.

To learn more details about the event and victim, I contacted the Ealing Library Local Studies Centre about obtaining a copy of the obituary for William Henry Ball, noted in the death certificate. Dr. Jonathan Oates, Borough archivist and local studies librarian, kindly provided me with a synopsis of the coroner's report which confirmed the identity of William. The inquest, held on 18 June 1941, at Ealing Town Hall, recorded an open verdict, which means that a determination on whether it was an accident or suicide could not made, based on the evidence heard and presented.

Many thanks to go Dr. Oates and the Ealing Library for providing this information for it has solved the mystery of William's death.

I'll post more details from the inquest in the days to come. Stay tuned!

Cheers, K.

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