notes

3.5 EMILY BLANCHE WATTS (1878-1960?), born on 31 July 1878 at Bonmahon and aged 22 in 1901. She was always known as Blanche. On 7 August 1902, a stormy day with heavy seas, Blanch and a number of friends decided to go swimming. The beach at Bonmahon is treacherous in any bad weather as a rip tide cuts deep channels in the sand and in stormy weather must be avoided. Despite being advised otherwise the party went swimming. Many got into difficulty and both coastguard and local men then tried to save them. A local man, Cornelius (Con) Sarsfield, saved Blanche. A coastguard, one Frederick Shaw, saved some others and then he was drowned, but the girl he was trying to save got back to shore with help from other helpers. Another girl died. Shaw was buried in a grave in Bonmahon churchyard just beside the final resting place of Blanch herself. Blanch married her first cousin and sister-in-law's brother, Thomas Francis Buckley, on 29 April 1907. (There is a photograph in the Poole collection at the National Library of Ireland.) Tom had been born at Hackney in the last quarter of 1882. In 1901 he was working as a jeweller's assistant in the family business, Buckley & Lovell in Ludgate Hill, London. At the time of his marriage, he had a printer's and stationer's shop at 112 Wealdstone High Street. He was also sub-postmaster. The couple settled in Wealdstone, and were there in 1911, but when Blanch's brother, Dick, died in 1919, they returned to Bonmahon to help Maisie with the business. freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~davie/misc/Wat... www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai001224382/

DannyM8 Brilliant, thank you! Lovely to have confirmation on the dating of our photo, and always love more information about the people in our photos. Very sad about Frederick Shaw... I've added speculative notes on the photo for Blanche's mother and brother, may be wildly wrong.

Curious point about Cornelius Sarsfield who saved Blanche as above, in 1901 census he is listed as 22 whereas in 1911 he is only 30? 1901 1911 Also The Men involved in the rescue were awarded RHS Bronze medals ROYAL HUMANE SOCIETY BRONZE MEDALS CITATIONS TAKEN FROM THE ANNUAL REPORT 1902 Compiled by Peter Helmore RHS Helmore Shaw, Frederick. Coastguard. Case 32244 Holmes, Robert. Coastguard. Sarsfield, Con. Labourer. On the 7th August 1902, three ladies were bathing in the sea at Bonmahon, Co.Waterford, when they were swept out 50 yards from shore into 10 feet of water. Shaw swam out and rescued one of them, and on going out a second time was carried away and drowned. Holmes then went in and brought the second lady in, but she was dead when landed. Sarsfield succeeded in saving the third lady.

www.bbc.co.uk/wear/content/image_galleries/durham_baths_g... Norman Sarsfield was well known in County Durham for his amateur swimming. www.insweep.com/News/view/2531 There is probably a family link to the Sarsfields of Waterford. genforum.genealogy.com/sarsfield/messages/248.html

Great image and capture.

More on Dr. Mary Jane Rathbun: www.harvardsquarelibrary.org/unitarians/rathbun.html

Many thanks for this picture ! We used it for a workshop about library and archives : phonotheque.hypotheses.org/24387

Looking at that brand new Ford Customline ultility at centre right, this looks to have been taken around 1956.

Thanks, opsbooks, that's very helpful! We've added "1950s" to Photo Investigator and to the date above.

There's an earlier photo from the same spot on the Powerhouse Museum collection; see www.flickr.com/photos/powerhouse_museum/2376884726/

Bankstown Babyboomer well spotted!

Thanks for identifying the trams John Cowper - I've added tags. AB