Death on the Canal - 1838, William Gibbon

I did the basic research for this blog series a couple of years ago. Then, as usual, flitted along to the next thing that caught my interest. Now I'm trying to flesh the cases out and present to you my justification for not being a fan of walking along the canal on dark and lonely nights...

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The Monmouthshire Merlin reported on the inquests presided over by Coroner William Brewer the preceding Saturday (February 24th). One involved the case of William Gibbon whose corpse had been found that morning on a canal boat in Llantarnam. The boatmen had taken pity on the destitute Gibbon and allowed him to shelter aboard overnight.



The death register confirmed the spelling, and the burial register revealed some more tragic detail - William was born in 1806 making him just 32 when he died. He was buried on Thursday 1st March 1838.