It is 1:45 in the afternoon of Tuesday, the 19th
of May 1904 and building work on Stornoway Town Hall has been brought to a
halt. William J Macdonald, a 21 year-old House Carpenter originally from Avoch,
a few miles North of Inverness, but currently living at 27 South Beach Street,
has just died of a fracture of the skull.
His death was registered on Saturday, the 14th of
June (the figure is a little unclear), the delay being occasioned because it
was registered ‘on the information of the Procurator Fiscal’, the cause being
derived ‘...per verdict of jury.’
I have not discovered any online references to this tragic event
but no doubt some of the newspapers of the time will have reported upon it.
Meanwhile we may catch a glimpse of William three years before his death when,
at the time of the 1901 Census, he was an 18 year-old ‘Carpenter Apprentice’, the eldest of the remaining
six children of William Macdonald, a 50 year-old Baker, and his wife Catherine
who was aged 44.
The family resided at 3 George Street, Avoch, Ross-shire and
were affluent enough to employ a Cook. A
decade earlier they had been living at 20 & 21 Margaret Street and, as well
as two fellow Bakers and an Apprentice Baker, the Macdonald household also
included a General Servant (Domestic). The oldest child, 9 year-old Jessie Ann
Macdonald, had been born in Avoch as would be the case with all of her siblings.
I stumbled upon this unusual death by chance when I saw the
photograph of William Macdonald’s memorial here: http://gravestones.rosscromartyroots.co.uk/picture/number14047.asp
. The phrase ‘accidentally killed at Stornoway Town Hall’ immediately grabbed
my attention but what held it was the fact that this impressive memorial had
been ‘Erected by his employer’.
Sadly, when William’s death was recorded in Stornoway, he
was said to be 25 years old rather than his true age of just 21, for William
James Macdonald had indeed been born in 1883.
His memorial also shows that a
mere two years after his death the family suffered a second untimely death with
the loss of Jessie Ann at the age of just 25...
At least this employer had the decency to provide for a memorial stone. Many would probably not have bothered, let alone admit liability.
ReplyDeleteQuite an impressive memorial, too.
ReplyDeleteThe Procurator Fiscal was Colin G Mackenzie of Park House, Stornoway but I've been unable to find the relevant records from 1904.