Liverpool & South West Lancashire FHS - Forum

Help! I am lost in my search for Eugene. Eugene Michael Murphy was my gguncle. He was born in Geelong, Australia in 1884. About 1907 he left Australia for good. The story is he got a job as a steward on a ship and worked his passage to England. Working on ships became his life until his death in 1945. He was on shore leave in Seattle, USA when he sickened and died. I would love to know his final resting place. Did they send bodies back home in 1945?

We have letters sent from him dated 1909 and 1912 when he was boarding with the Mc Mahon family in Kirkdale, Liverpool.
During WW1 he was visited by two of his brothers who were in the Australian Army. He was still in his shipping uniform in the photo that we have.
He had a wife "Polly" who is first mentioned around 1916. His later address is 24 Temple Street, Manchester (1926).

He was an active seaman with departure cards from 1929, 1935,1936,1939,1941 and finally 1945.

The two great mysteries are his marriage and his final resting place. I would love to pay my respects. I seem to be going round and round with BMD indexes and getting nowhere! Any help or direction would be greatly appreciated.

Hi Kerry and welcome,
I have to say that with the little info you have it is going to be very difficult to find Eugene's resting place. I would suggest you try a contact with the Coroner's Office in Seattle. I assume you have a death certificate for him? It is possible that Office would still have a record of what happened to his remains. Because he was not a US national it is probable there would have been an inquest into his death. His demise would normally have been advised to the local embassy or consulate based on the nationality in his MN card.

As to whether his body would be repatriated depends on whether the shipping line would pay or if his family could. If neither, he would be probably be buried in Seattle at the city's expense. Again, the Coroner's Office might be able to assist.

Regarding his marriage I can see only 2 in England or Wales from 1902 when he would have been 18 to 1915 when 'Polly' is apparently first mentioned. This is the one I would be interested in...
Marriages Sep 1915> Murphy, Eugene and Anderson, Ann E - Hull - 9d - 738.
Hull was a major shipping port on the coast of Yorkshire and I have seen Polly used as a familiar diminutive for Ann [Pollyanna etc!]. You would need to get the marriage cert to check further. There's no sign of a 'suitable' candidate resident in Yorkshire in the census prior to the marriage so this Eugene is probably 'not a local'.

The names are too common to be sure of any births to the marriage. Is there mention of children anywhere?

Dickiesam

Hmmm I was just about to post that I wondered about a different marriage, Polly also being a pet name for Mary occasionally, but the date of that marriage would have been 1917, so possibly a little too late.

I agree with Dickiesam that any children would be worth looking into, if approximate dates of birth were known the mother's maiden name could be narrowed down.

He doesn't appear to be on the 1911 census resident in Kirkdale, presumably he would have kept the same lodgings during that year, so it would seem that he would have been on board ship at that time. There is one person by that name, of approximately the right age, in the West Derby registration district, however using the free index I can't identify that he was born in Australia - I suspect somebody may have told you if they believed it was the right entry.

There is one person by that name, of approximately the right age, in the West Derby registration district, however using the free index I can't identify that he was born in Australia - I suspect somebody may have told you if they believed it was the right entry.

Hi Mary,
The man you found in West Derby is indeed married to a Mary. He is a labourer and they are both from Ireland; he from Kerry, herself from Limerick.

Kerry,
RE:

We have letters sent from him dated 1909 and 1912 when he was boarding with the Mc Mahon family in Kirkdale, Liverpool.

Is there anything else in those letters, a full address, first names, any children mentioned?

Dickiesam

This looks like his death index below. American death certificates usually say where the deceased is buried so the next step would be to view the full death certificate:-

https://www.familysearch.org/search/rec ... MMG-J7T/p1


Blue

If you think it is him and you want to view the death certificate you could try your nearest LDS centre or order it from here:-

http://www.doh.wa.gov/ehsphl/chs/cert.htm


Blue

do you know if he was catholic if so you could request a search of burials in washington frome the archdiocese

http://www.acc-seattle.com/location/search1.htm

Wow! I am so thankful for your responses. What a great bunch of people.
. I have sent for Eugene's full death certificate and am keeping my fingers crossed that it will provide some information re NOK or burial site.
. A search of the catholic burial sites in Seattle didn't show anything but I may revisit that after I have the death certificate. Thanks for the link.
. The letters from 48 Lambeth Rd, Kirkdale, Liverpool are general in nature, virtually begging for news from home (so sad). I have looked at the 1911 census and the McMahon family seem to take in lodgers. They also have an unmarried daughter called Mary (?? Polly). I searched BMD for a Murphy/McMahon marriage to no avail.
. In 1912 he still had his letters sent to Lambeth Road so was probably single
. He was visited by his brothers during WW2 who met Polly. Anecdotally she was unimpressed and found them a bit 'larrikan'
. I have a photo of Eugene and Polly taken in 26/11/1918 on which a relative has written 'Eugene and his wife Polly'. Of course, that isn't proof that they were legally married!
. Letters from 1926 and 1927 mention Polly but no mention of children. They are written from 24 Temple Street Manchester.

Once again, many thanks for your help in this mystery. I shall never give up!

To give you an idea of the content on American death certificates have a look at this one from Chicago, Illinois:-

http://www.liverpool-genealogy.org.uk/p ... php?t=9718


Blue

Thanks for the death certificate information Blue70. I am looking forward to receiving it from Washington.

I must correct my previous post. Polly the Mysterious met Eugene's army brothers during WW1 not WW2.

I had an idea that I may be able to pursue Eugene through another avenue - Probate records. Good idea?

Kerry

Ancestry have UK probate index records but unfortunately they only go up to 1941. If his next of kin were in England it could be worthwhile requesting a search. Here is a thread about probate:-

http://liverpool-genealogy.org.uk/phpBB ... php?t=7142


Blue

Thanks for your help everyone. I have Eugene's death certificate on it's way from the US. I have the archivist at the Seattle coroners looking for an inquest. I have the Mariners archivist in Southhampton looking at the central index of mariners and I have a probate search underway.

You have been most helpful and I will let you know if any of these leads turns anything up.

Kerry

Kerry wrote:Thanks for your help everyone. I have Eugene's death certificate on it's way from the US. I have the archivist at the Seattle coroners looking for an inquest. I have the Mariners archivist in Southhampton looking at the central index of mariners and I have a probate search underway.

You have been most helpful and I will let you know if any of these leads turns anything up.

Kerry

Hi Kerry,
Thank you for the update. With such a broad range of searches in progress I'd say the chances of success in more than one area are pretty good.

Dickiesam