• Only registered members can see all the forums - if you've received an invitation to join (it'll be on your My Summary page) please register NOW!

  • If you're looking for the LostCousins site please click the logo in the top left corner - these forums are for existing LostCousins members only.
  • This is the LostCousins Forum. If you were looking for the LostCousins website simply click the logo at the top left.
  • It's easier than ever before to check your entries from the 1881 Census - more details here

Just FOUR days to find the owner of this ring!

Assuming that Arthur and Ethel lived in the same area after their marriage, just one potential birth registered in Bristol RD may be theirs: Geoffrey R. Jackson in 1916 (3rd Q). I have not been able to determine with any degree of certainty what became of Geoffrey. He may have been the Geoffrey R. Jackson who served in WW2 as a driver in the RASC, and died in Italy on 1st November 1943.
The Bristol man is elusive but did not die in WWII. That casualty, Geoffrey Ralph Jackson, was the son of different parents in Mortlake, Surrey (CWGC). Ancestry's British Phone Books has a Geoffrey R Jackson, Confec,Tbcnst,Stnr, in Enfield, Middlesex in 1975/76.

Do Mr & Mrs Patch recall if Michael was ever visited by relatives or whether any attended his funeral?

Ethel is named as Effie in the newspaper report of her marriage to Herbert at the Wesleyan Chapel, Compton Dando. She was attended by Miss Margaret Paget, the best man was Geoffrey Swanton, and her father may have been dead because she was given away by Mr G P Caple, JP, of Stanton Prior. (Western Daily Press 8 May 1924, FMP/BNA)

The Bumblebee image looks very much like a man's ring, and is said to be quite worn. Might it have been lost on his farm by Herbert and long after found by an (unauthorised) metal dectectorist?

Or might one or twin rings have been sold as part of Michael's personal estate (and most probably melted down), if not bequeathed to a relative or friend by/from whom it/they might have been lost/stolen? Can the Police say how they acquired the ring? And if handed in as lost property, then where and by whom?

It also occurs to me that there was almost certainly a twin to the ring being sold on Bumblebee Auctions.......
Not found by searching the auction site for HJJ or EAO (which does find the present ring), but if the police have recovered both rings together perhaps they are holding back the second so as not to compromise bidding for both at the same time. Can the police say if they have two rings?
 
Do Mr & Mrs Patch recall if Michael was ever visited by relatives or whether any attended his funeral?
They didn't know of any relatives - I gather he was a bit of a hermit.
The Bumblebee image looks very much like a man's ring, and is said to be quite worn. Might it have been lost on his farm by Herbert and long after found by an (unauthorised) metal dectectorist?
I don't know much about jewellery, but I do know that in those days very few men wore a wedding ring. This BBC article suggests that it became fashionable in the mid-20th century.
Or might one or twin rings have been sold as part of Michael's personal estate (and most probably melted down), if not bequeathed to a relative or friend by/from whom it/they might have been lost/stolen? Can the Police say how they acquired the ring? And if handed in as lost property, then where and by whom?
The police won't give out personal information because of Data Protection, but it's possible I may be able to find out whether it was handed in as lost property or recovered as part of a haul of stolen property.
if the police have recovered both rings together perhaps they are holding back the second so as not to compromise bidding for both at the same time. Can the police say if they have two rings?
If they had two I doubt they would deliberately sell them separately, since they'd be worth more as a pair.
 
Congratulations to Peter on acquiring the ring. As much as I agree with his previous sentiment that Mr and Mrs Patch probably deserve the ring more than any distant relations who probably didn't know Herbert and Ethel, Michael and Colin, it seems a lot of money to spend on pure altruism. I do hope Peter will get some really good publicity for LostCousins out of it, and ought probably to keep the ring himself as a testament to the usefulness of LostCousins and it's Forum.

Presumably Peter will have to travel personally to Portishead to collect the ring. Might this be an excuse for a LostCousins get-together in the West Country?
 
£221 is somewhat cheap
There's a big difference between what you'd pay for a ring at a jeweller and what it's actually worth.

But in any case the main expenditure is traditionally on the engagement ring, not the wedding ring - I paid 10 times as much for my wife's engagement ring (bought second-hand at an auction, and probably from the same era as the Jackson wedding band) as I did for the wedding ring (bought new from a jeweller).

And no, I don't wear a ring myself - or any other jewellery, not even a watch.
 
I'm now the (probably temporary) owner of a very expensive wedding ring.

Well done Peter and to everyone who added information. It will be interesting to hear what happens from now, hopefully one outcome will be more people joining Lost Cousins.
 
The article states "whose tragic death, at the age of 58, was reported in our last issue" but I looked all the way through the previous week's issue and couldn't see any mention.

Has anyone else found an earlier article?
I should probably have said that I'd also checked the previous issue and found nothing, but the idea of reporting no further information seemed to contribute nothing useful. But it would have saved you pointless effort.
Oops.

Still, having two people check is probably a good idea.

BTW - when Michael's will finally turns up, let's hope that the beneficiary isn't the same person who just auctioned the ring.
 
I should probably have said that I'd also checked the previous issue and found nothing, but the idea of reporting no further information seemed to contribute nothing useful. But it would have saved you pointless effort.
Oops.

Still, having two people check is probably a good idea.
I checked twice, in case I'd missed it the first time!
BTW - when Michael's will finally turns up, let's hope that the beneficiary isn't the same person who just auctioned the ring.
The ring was auctioned by Avon & Somerset police - whether it was unclaimed lost property or stolen property that they hadn't been able to return to its owner is something I've yet to discover.

However, it may have been stolen from someone who bought it legitimately.
 
Names in the Will:-
Marguerite Jessie R SMITH born 25 April 1934, died abt Sep 2002, daughter of Ivor Smith & Dora Esther OLIVER, (youngest sister of Ethel) married Leslie G RAWLINGS in 1953.
In 2002 they were both living at Quarry Farm,Berry Hill,Doynton Wick, Gloucestershire, England
 
A very interesting story. I have been following it with interest. Here's hoping for a good outcome, both for Lost Cousins and the ring.
 
Names in Will:-
Rosalie Wallace was born Rosalie Ann Mellona COLLIS in 1947 daughter of Richard William COLLIS & Jane Catherine Mellena STUTLEY, her father being a Major in the Royal Irish Fusiliers. She married Ian M Wallace in 1969. She is still living in address given in Will. I can find no family connection to the Jacksons.
 
Frances Britten was born Frances E J PENWILL 1941-1945 in Washington USA, and first married John W QUIN in 1964 and then married Stephen J Britten in 1978. She is still living at address given in Will. I can find no family connection to the Jacksons.
 
Back
Top