Died
3 Sept 1967
Aged 29, 30 & 34
7 December 1963
Aged 38
Born
Various 1925 - 1938
Sources
North Western Evening Mail
Place
Walks
Kendall Brothers
A dreadful family tragedy. I had not covered this grave because it is relatively recent, and relatives/descendants are likely still to be around in Barrow. So it proved: a surviving brother, Thomas Kendall, was brought to the start of one of my Cemetery walks in 2017 by his daughter. At 96 years of age, he wasn’t able to do the walk, but we arranged to meet at his home later.
Mr. Kendall explained that he had been due to go fishing with his brothers, and motor-cycled over to Walney to join them. They didn’t turn up, so he went home. In the evening, a policeman knocked on the door with the horrifying news of the fishing accident. His brothers had promised to get the bait, and walked over the channel towards its northern end.
Thomas enjoyed a lifetime of fishing, and many trophies for sea-fishing adorned his front room. He was still fishing (and driving) at 90.
Mr Kendall told me that he worked in the Cemetery for 35 years, and lived in the North Lodge, where his daughter was brought up. Before St Pius’ Church was built, services were held in the Catholic Chapel of Rest. No cars were allowed, so attendees had to walk up the drive. It was Mr. Kendall’s job to light the candles before the service. One Sunday morning, snow was very deep outside, but he saw people walking to church. Belatedly, he went to light the candles. He needn’t have bothered: the priest didn’t turn up.
In loving
Memory of
THE BELOVED SONS OF
HERBERT & EDITH KENDALL
ACCIDENTALLY DROWNED
3RD SEP. 1967.
DONALD AGED 34 YEARS
DEREK AGED 30 YEARS
DEAR HUSBAND OF IRENE
AND
EDWARD AGED 29 YEARS
DEAR HUSBAND OF BETTY
The death notice from the North Western Evening Mail.
My informant came from a family of 12 twelve children:
Thomas Frank born 1921
Margaret (Peggy) 1922
Norman 1924
William Eric 1925 d 1963
Marjorie 1927
Doris 1929
Ronnie 1930 d 1933
Dorothy 1931
Donald 1933 d 1967
Patricia (Pat) 1935
Derek 1936 d 1967
(Desmond?) Edward 1938 d 1967
The North Western Evening Mail 4 September 1967 reported:
Walney fishing trip tragedy
BODIES OF 3 BROTHERS FOUND
Three brothers on a fishing trip died yesterday on the secluded north end of Walney.
The bodies of Edward Kendall (29) of Buxton Street, Barrow, and of his brothers Derek (31) of Devonshire Buildings, and Donald (34), of Dale Bank, Barrow, were found at the notorious Meetings – a spot where the tide from the Irish Sea merges with Walney Channel.
The bodies were found by Mr. Henry White (no relation to the researcher) (46) of Thwaite Street, Barrow as he walked along the deserted shore. They were lying close together.
TURNED BACK
Another brother, Frank, of Cemetery Cottages, was due to join the fishing expedition but when he failed to meet his brothers at the north end of the Island he turned back, thinking that the trip had been abandoned.
Said his mother Edith: ‘He was supposed to join them at Walney. He thought they just hadn’t turned up so he came home. Donald went out yesterday morning and said he was going over to Walney. He called for Eddy and the other one, who only had a bike, rode over afterwards. They just loved fishing. It was their life really.’
LONELY SPOT
A police spokesman at Barrow said: ‘These men had gone out fishing on the shore. This is a lonely spot and apparently no-one else was near. There is a strong tide up Walney Channel and another tide coming in the opposite direction from the Irish Sea. The two tides meet near this spot and a dangerous whirlpool is often formed. There is a sand dune nearby and it is possible the men were on the dune and got cut off by the tide. Their bodies were pretty close together when they were found by Mr. White.’
Edward Kendall was a married man with two small sons and a daughter; Derek was married with a daughter 12 months old and another daughter aged three. Donald was a bachelor.
It is only four years ago that another brother Eric was killed in an accident in Rating Lane. His brother-in-law also died and several (sic) people were injured in the crash.
The Furness and District Coroner, Mr. John Poole, has been informed and he may open an inquest tomorrow.
AFTERNOON WALK
Mr. White said today: ‘I was out for a Sunday afternoon walk with my wife and two sons. We walked up the West shore and we were just coming round the other shore when we found them. One was fairly high up the shore and the other two were at intervals along the beach. I never saw any fishing gear but they had bait digging equipment and one naturally assumes the two go together.’
As mentioned above, another tragedy had hit the family only a few years earlier. Brother Eric was killed in a crash on Rating Lane when a car driven by his brother-in-law Ronnie Winder ran into a tree. Another brother-in-law in the back seat died a couple of days later.
A brief account of the funeral appeared in the NWEM of 8 September 1967.
On 9 December 1963 NWEM reported:
MAN KILLED, TWO HURT WHEN CAR HITS TREE AT BARROW
A man was killed and two others injured on Saturday evening when a Singer Gazelle estate car collided with a tree near St. Aloysius’s School, in Rating Lane, Barrow.
The car was travelling towards Flass Lane at the time of the accident.
The dead man, Mr. Eric Kendall (38), of 16 Dale Bank, Barrow, was a passenger in the car. He was a single man employed as a bricklayer at John Leck and Sons, Barrow.
His brother-in-law, who was driving, Mr. Ronald Winder (26) of the same address, was taken to North Lonsdale Hospital together with the other passenger in the vehicle, John Hexham (36), of 99 Rawlinson Street, Barrow.
Today, the condition of Mr. Winder and Mr. Hexham was ‘rather poorly’.
On 11 Dec the newspaper reported that Mr. Winder’s condition was unchanged, but Mr. Hexham was ‘fairly comfortable’ with facial injuries. However, on 16 December 1963 NWEM headlined:
Dies eight days after crash
A man injured in a Barrow road accident eight days ago died yesterday in North Lonsdale Hospital. He was John Hexham (36), of 99 Rawlinson Street, a passenger in a car which crashed in Rating Lane, killing Eric Kendall (38) of 16 Dale Bank. Mr. Hexham, who was a fitter with British Railways, received head and chest injuries.
The third man in the car, Donald (sic) Winder (26), also of Dale Bank, is still in North Lonsdale Hospital. His condition was said today to be ‘improving’.
The inquest into Mr. Hexham’s death will be opened late this afternoon.
Thomas Kendall told me that, to the best of his memory, John Hexham’s heart had been torn from its muscles in his chest. Mr. Hexham was the other brother-in-law. Ronald Winder is buried in the grave with the brothers.
