Southend Standard, January 17th 1899

[diglett]

The following is an abbreviated version of the report published in the local newspaper following the inquest into my great grandmother's death.

Comments

[sparklielizard]

Crikey! Glad that Fred survived (and not just because he's your ancestor!) Poor Annie. It sounds like that Tom was a bit of a type we're both quite familiar with, only she felt she had no other option. That's so sad. I hope Tom had a thoroughly miserable remaining life.

On the "bright" side, go Annie for leaving so many notes explaining it all so well! With no Livejournal to hand I guess this was the next best thing..! With most suicides you just wouldn't know what was going on.

[diglett]

Tom reminds me of someone! Taking all the money, clearing off and then denying all knowledge of any wrongdoing, despite plenty of evidence to the contrary. In fact he reminds me of more than one person. Sadly he seems to have got away with it and married TWICE more and lived to a decent age. If this had happened today, he wouldn't just be in the Southend Standard, it'd be all over Facebook and... people still wouldn't listen.

[ladycat]

It sounds like eloquence runs in the family. Thank fuck you changed the other family pattern and left the fuckwit partner before he drove you to suicide.

[diglett]

I think I get my writing skills from this side of the family. Fred, my great grandfather was an author too, he wrote a men's fashion manual called "Guide To The Art of Dress". It is quite amusing.

Unfortunately you have rewritten history a bit because I didn't leave the fuckwit partner, he left me. Thankfully though, I am not an orphan, have a job but no interfering siblings or two year old child, and it is not 1899, so I am better off than poor old Annie. Except I do not own a cheese dish.

[picosgemeos]

You do like cheese though...

[hazelstitch]

Oh how tragic :(

[alexmc]

Fascinating.

It is always emotional when discovering something deep about your ancestors. I shall resist the urge to joke about anything. (Humour is a coping mechanism, doncha know)

I had to google for one thing though. A penny prize packet was a bag of sweets.

[diglett]

Sweets and trinkets aimed at children. I think you win them at the fair? Like a consolation prize sort of thing?

[nils]

I have no idea what the significance of the cheese dish was.

A wedding present?

[diglett]

Possibly from the evil stepmother?

[nils]

Yes, that would make sense. I was thinking mother-in-law or other in-laws, but evil step-mother seems a likely suspect.