Newspaper article reveals Mercy Howard’s cause of death

I officially love the collection of local newspapers available at The British Newspaper Archive – I’ve just spotted another article in there about my great-great-great-grandfather Richard Howard!

I already know that Richard was a widower when he married my great-great-great-grandmother and that his first wife was called Mercy. She died in 1864, eleven years before Richard’s second marriage.

A report in the Cambridge Independent Press on 24 December 1864 reveals the cause of death, stating that when her husband got home Mercy ‘was ill with spasms, to which she was subject, and died almost immediately’.

It also tells me some anecdotal information about my great-great-great-grandfather and what life was like. The article reports that Richard had seen two men fighting near his house and that he went to help, but ‘was set upon for his interference’.

Newspapers are great for adding extra detail to what you already know about your family history, and this is a perfect example:

Article from the Cambridge Independent Press on 24 December 1864 – please click to enlarge