The Death of Abner Boldock - Skeltons Quarry, Normanton Hill Sheffield - May 1942

I posted an article last month on the tragic death of Eliza Ann Boldock who died on the same day as Queen Victoria made her one and only visit to Sheffield. I also posted details on the blog

Yesterday I received this information from a descendent of the Boldock family

"One of my Boldock cousins sent me some very sad information on what became of Abner Boldock, Eliza's father.

I have sent you the details at the bottom of this email - the story in brief is that Abner's body was found in a pond at Skelton's Quarry, Normanton Hill, in May 1942. He went missing and was found drowned, just as Eliza was - and the sad thing is, it was almost exactly 45 years to the day that Eliza had died, at the end of May 1897.

It would seem that Abner had chosen to end his life in the same manner that Eliza had died, suggesting that he had never properly recovered from her death and suffered from guilt for the rest of his life. How terribly tragic is that!

DATE 20 MAY 1942
PLACE Pond, Skeltons Quarry, Normanton Hill
ADDRESS 457a Richmond Road, Sheffield, Yorkshire, England
CAUSE Asphyxia due to Drowning  -  Open Verdict
NOTE Dead Body found 24th May 1942 in Pond, Skeltons Quarry, Normanton Hill
Certificate received from Alan P Lockwood, Deputy Coroner for City of Sheffield
Inquest held 22nd May 1942

Small piece in Sheffield Newspaper reads:

BODY OF MISSING MAN IN POND
The body of Abner Boldock, aged 79 of Richmond Road, Sheffield, who had been missing since last Sunday, has been recovered from a pond at Skelton's Quarry, Normanton Hill.

Letter received from Office of H M Coroner, The Medico-Legal Centre, Watery Street, Sheffield S3 7ET:

26 February 2008
Abner Boldock (deceased)

Thank you for your recent email requesting information on your Great Grandfather's death.
Coroners are only required to retain records for fifteen years. Regrettably limitations of space mean that we do not keep very much beyond that and we do have nothing of substance beyond the twenty year mark. If I explain that we are dealing with some 4000 cases each year you may appreciate that there would be a very significant amount of storage space involved if we were to keep papers beyond the time required by law.
The only record that we have of Abner Boldock's death is in our 1942 register. This records that the case of Abner Boldock was reported to the coroner. A post-mortem was performed and an inquest was held returning an open verdict - death from drowning.
I am sorry that I cannot assist further.
Yours sincerely

C P Dorries
H M Coroner"