Murder at Soudley Ponds (General)

by Lynda Fase , Chingford, London, Monday, May 01, 2006, 09:40 (6781 days ago) @ Roger Griffiths

Thanks for replying to the message. That William Gwatkin was my 4x gt grandfather, through a son who had already left the family by 1841. A descendant of William's son John (aged 18 in 1841) has a story in her family that either William, John or possibly an ancestor on John's wife's side (Beddis) was murdered at Soudley Ponds on his way home from work. We have found that William died naturally at the end of 1851, but we haven't been able to find a death certificate for John, even though there is a possible burial entry for him in Cinderford in 1859. If anybody has ever heard of such a murder, we would be be interested to know.