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The Manchester Times

Saturday November 16 1850

Distressing Circumstance

A person named William Starkey, of Blacko, near Colne, aged 28 years, being deaf and dumb, left home on the morning of the 11th of August last, and went by the cheap-trip train to Liverpool, from Colne station, on the East Lancashire Railway. There being about 4,000 passengers, and some confusion, the unfortunate person got separated from his friends, and never was seen by them afterwards. Although considerable trouble and expense has been incurred, no tidings have yet been heard of him. His mother, who is a widow woman, has also a daughter deaf and dumb. They are both much attached to their lost relative, and in great anxiety they cling to the hope that, as the lost person has been in the habit of being engaged in out-door labour, he may have obtained work, thus be procuring the necessaries of life. His afflicted relatives would gladly furnish the means of his being restored to his home, and thus relieve themselves from their distressing uncertainty.

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Mel

Searching for lost relatives? Win the Lottery!

How sad, I wonder what happened to him.

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Gloria

I'd be dangerous with a brain.

I looked but didn't find a follow-up.

It was the terminology that got my attention.

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Mel

Searching for lost relatives? Win the Lottery!

I found his mother & sister on 1851 (at Piece: 2254; Folio: 723; Page: 24), but haven't found him yet. I know it's them because the sister (Jane) is shown as deaf & dumb.
The name is actually Starkie, not Starkey.
I did check for a death, but didn't find one. Don't like mysteries!

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Maureen
If you can't fight, wear a big 'at

Snap Maureen, great minds and all that.

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Gloria

I'd be dangerous with a brain.

there's a William Starkie of the right age on Lancashire bmd - died Pendle 1856. I can't find another suitable William Starkie on 1841 or 1851. So maybe he survived his distressing circumstance but died a few years later?

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Maureen
If you can't fight, wear a big 'at

If he went missing, would they have to wait a few years before he was presumed dead? Isn't that what happens nowadays?

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Mel

Searching for lost relatives? Win the Lottery!

Think it's seven years is'nt it?


Stephanie.

Yes it is, but I'm not sure that the average family in those days would have bothered. It only matters where there's insurance or inheritance issues.

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Maureen
If you can't fight, wear a big 'at

Apparently vagrants and beggers were'nt allowed to roam about willy nilly in the 1800's.

http://homelessnation.org/en/node/8170


Stephanie.

Didn't they get sent back to the parish where they were born, as they were deemed their responsibility.

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Gloria

I'd be dangerous with a brain.

They were - all to do with the Poor Law Union. They didn't want to be responsible for you if you were not originally from a particular parish (does that make sense?) and so you would be sent back to your birth/home town.

I've noticed one or two people who have been arrested or fined for vagrancy and the like in the news articles.

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Mel

Searching for lost relatives? Win the Lottery!