The Lost Ancestor

tore into it and pulled out EdwardMercer’s death certificate.

Whenand where died: 18^thMay 1911, Blackfriars estate, Winchelsea RD

Nameand surname: EdwardMercer

Sex: Male

Age: 20 years

Occupation: Footman

Causeof death: Accidentallydrowned certified by J. D. Leyden MRCS

Signature,description and residence of informant: John William Mercer, father, Old Post Office, Icklesham

Whenregistered: 24^thMay 1911

Edwardhad drowned little over one month after Mary had vanished.  Mortonreasoned that his death must have compounded the loss already felt in theMercer family by Mary’s absence.  He wondered if Edward had died trying tofind her.  Morton knew only too well how wildly unpredictable anddangerous the nearby River Rother could be.  He looked back at the deathcertificate.  It said that Edward had drowned in Winchelsea, notRye.  Morton considered the geology and landscape around Winchelsea; beingsituated on a hill, there were no large tracts of water or flowingrivers.  How did Edward accidentally drown in a town with no largeareas of water? Morton wondered.  His curiosity was aroused: he neededto know more.  He carried the certificate up to his study, then quicklychanged into fresh clothes and prepared his laptop and a bag for a trip to TheKeep—the repository for archives and records pertaining to parishes within thecounty of East Sussex.  When he reached his bedroom he saw his phonescreen light up announcing the receipt of a text message.  It was fromJuliette.  ‘Got to work, Weirdo.  Do I need to text regularupdates?! xx’  Morton smiled and replied, ‘Glad you got thereokay.  No need for updates.  Text when you leave! Off to The Keep. xx’

Mortonarrived at The Keep, situated just on the outskirts of Brighton, and found thecar park pretty well empty.  The archives had thankfully shifted from theinaccessible and unsuitable building in Lewes to a brand new, purpose builtrepository, opened by Her Majesty the Queen.  They had even upgraded theirarchive request system to a digital, computer-based one.  At last. Morton parked his Mini in a quiet corner, gathered up his belongings and madehis way into the light and airy building.

‘Morning,’ a jovial receptionist greetedfrom behind her semi-circular desk.

‘Morning,’ Morton replied, marching intothe cloakroom area, placing all prohibited items into one of the large greylockers.  Carrying just his laptop, notepad, pencil and Edward’s deathcertificate, Morton walked through the lobby area with its round wooden tablesand chairs, through a glass door and into the main body of therepository.  The archive was principally comprised of two main sections:the Reading Room and the Reference Room. The Reading Room, in whichgenealogists and members of the public could come and go freely, housed rows oflarge tables on which were sited digital microfilm readers and large computersgiving access to various online resources.  To the side of the room wererows of tall shelves containing books and photocopies of parish registerspertaining to East Sussex.  The Reference Room housed several large mapdesks and rows of research desks, allowing work with original documents.

Morton walked into the Reading Room andtook a seat in the front row at one of the digital microfilm readers.  Hisfirst avenue of research would be in the local papers in the hope that EdwardMercer’s death had been reported.  He set down his laptop and otherbelongings, switched on the reader then headed to the bank of short metalfiling cabinets, whose drawers were filled with mile upon mile of microfilmreels.  Morton searched the drawer-edge labels and found The SussexExpress.  Pulling open the drawer, he was greeted by the sight ofdozens of yellow boxes.  Having selected the box which said ‘Jan-Dec1911’, Morton returned to his desk and loaded the film onto the reader. Gone were the old arm-numbing days of hand-winding a whole roll of film; theentire process could now be conducted using the large, touch-screen computer infront of him.  Morton pushed the film through on fast-forward, stopping atregular intervals to check that he hadn’t overshot the relevant month. After just a few short bursts, he was at the beginning of May 1911. Advancing slowly through the black and white print, he stopped at the Friday 26^thMay 1911 edition of The Sussex Express.  In its originalform, the paper would have been a broadsheet, jam-packed with stories, advertsand snippets of county news.  Morton found the section of the newspaper hewas looking for: the part in which the smaller villages and towns of Sussextold of their parish news.  As he had hoped, in this edition there was abold heading for Winchelsea.  Morton placed his fingers on the screen andsplayed them apart to zoom in on the story.

FoundDrowned

Thiswas the verdict of the Coroner’s jury which inquired into the circumstances ofthe death of Edward Mercer, a footman, 20 years of age.  The deceased wasa well-known inhabitant of the Icklesham parish, but having latterly worked atBlackfriars House in Winchelsea since 1908.  Deceased was only missed afew hours before his body was found floating in the lake at the aforementionedproperty.  It appeared that the deceased had been depressed lately throughthe continued absence of his cousin, Mary Mercer, but he had never been heardto threaten to commit suicide.  Drowning (according to the police surgeon)was the cause of death.

Mortonwas transfixed by the short story.  Edward, feeling depressed, yet notsuicidal, drowned in the Blackfriars lake.  Could he be theperson that Mary ran to in Scotland the day that she was unceremoniously sackedfrom Blackfriars?  Morton pulled out his phone and took a picture ofthe screen, recalling his visit to the still waters of the Blackfriarslake.  Was it really deep enough to kill a man? he wondered withincredulity.  He supposed that any amount of water could drown a man if hecouldn’t swim.  To ensure that there was no further mention of Edward’sdrowning, Morton searched the rest of the newspaper and the adjacent weeks, butfound nothing more.  He rewound the film, put it back into its yellow boxand returned it to the filing cabinet.  Collecting his things, Morton wentto the small help desk.  Unfortunately for Morton, not all the outdatedrelics had been left at the old repository: behind the desk sat his arch enemy,Miss Deirdre Latimer.  Morton had hoped that when The Keep opened, MissLatimer would have taken the opportunity to retire.  When he had eagerlyarrived for his very first visit to the new building he