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I have a death certificate for William Tipping who died 20 September 1875 at Woodburn, Higher Bebington. I'm wondering if Woodburn was a hospital of some sort. I've tried to find it on Google but had no success.
William married Mary Jenion in 1874 in Liverpool and after he died she re-married, again in Liverpool and eventually died in Liverpool, so I'm wondering how William was in the Wirral in 1875 when he died.
Has anybody any idea about Woodburn?
I am not looking for information on William or Mary, just Woodburn.
Thanks.

Is there a workhouse in that area
It did become the norm to put the postal address of the workhouse infirmary on certs if folks were just in hospital and hadn’t been in the actual workhouse

This family lived at a house called Woodburn, on the Old Chester Road, in 1881, with staff.
Thomas James is a barrister, so it would have been quite a posh house:

Thomas H. James
in the 1881 England Census
Name: Thomas H. James
Age: 43
Estimated birth year: abt 1838
Relationship to Head: Head
Spouse: Eliza James
Gender: Male
Where born: Burnley, Lancashire, England
Civil Parish: Higher Bebington
County/Island: Cheshire
Country: England
Street address: Woodburn Woodhey
Marital status: Married
Education:
Employment status:
View image
Occupation: Barrister At Law In Actual Practice
Registration district: Wirral
ED, institution, or vessel: 10f
Neighbors:
Piece: 3570
Folio: 49
Page Number: 13
Household Members:
Name Age
Thomas H. James 43
Eliza James 46
Thomas James 8
Effie James 5
Walter J. James 4
Celia Graley 26 - housemaid
Kate Mahoney 33 - cook
Mary Ellen Jones 25 - nurse (domestic servant)

Next door there's a family called Allardyce, address Woodburn (something).
He's a "South American Merchant" born Scotland, with several children and staff - so another big house.


There's a Woodburn Boulevard , off Old Chester Road, in Higher Bebington nowadays - maybe built where the house used to be.

There are still some very big houses on Old Chester Road, near Woodburn Boulevard - looking at Google Streetview.

I just can't figure it out. He was married in 1874 in Liverpool and his daughter was born January 1875 in Whiston, he died September 1875 in Wirral. The other strange thing is that the death was registered by his mother, not his wife.

Anyone can register a death. Maybe his wife was too grief-stricken to attend to the practicalities.

Nothing strange about the mother registering the death

My husband registered his brother-in-law’s death, as the widow was too upset. He also registered his father’s death although his mother was alive

William was a hay and straw dealer.
He could have been there on business - people in those big houses would have had horses.

What was the cause of his death? Was it sudden?

On the death certificate it gives cause of death as:
congestion of brain, 24 hours
epileptiform
convulsions 12 hours

Was the place of death the same as his home address?

Gwyn, please read the start of this thread.

Sometimes it says on the last column on a census whether there was any medical condition.

Have you checked previous censuses for William to see if there is anything stated re epilepsy?

What he died of sounds like either epilepsy OR possibly an accident where he hit his head.

Congestion of the brain, as used in the mid-19th century is often taken now to mean some form of ischemic stroke, although he was young for that. It could also mean any form of swelling on the brain, such as that caused by an accident (eg, falling off a horse), explosion, illness (eg something like meningitis). I think epileptic fits could follow such swelling.

Have you checked newspapers to see if there is anything reported?

Nothing unusual in someone other than the wife registering his death ............ but why his mother??

It would normally be someone living at the house, maybe a higher level servant if not the owner, so was she connected with the people maybe?

I notice that he is on at least a couple of trees on Ancestry, including one that has a photograph of his grave, although all the trres are not publicly viewable.

Have you contacted any of the tree owners to see if they have any more family stories that would help you discover what happened?

Another possibility for you to consider ..................

he might not even have been staying at the house called "Woodburn".

Possible scenario ............... he was travelling with his mother by carriage or wagon, when he had a stroke or other "event", they were close to the house, and she called fro help for them. They took him in without knowing him, and he died there.

That would account for his mother being there and able to register the death.

After all, the Wirral is only just across the River Mersey from Liverpool, and easily reachable even in those days. As a Hay and Straw Merchant, he might well have had many customers over there.

His mother wouldn't have to be present at his death to be able to register it.

Does the death cert say she was present?

The odd thing is that he'd been ill for at least 24 hours.
If he was taken ill at the home of a customer, perhaps they called a doctor who said he shouldn't be moved, so they had to keep him there - but then he died.

woodburn is a place

Woodburn Boulevard, Bebington, Wirral CH63

Already mentioned, Malyon

I have been in contact with the tree owner who has the picture of the grave, in fact it was that picture that really made me send for the death certificate. She also told me that John William Tipping, nephew of William was born in 1875 in Dacre Hill, Rock Ferry, but was baptised in Liverpool in November 1875. John William was the son of Charles Tipping, William's brother. I'm not sure how this helps us but it does put family on the Wirral.
On the death certificate it does say that his mother, Ellen, was present at the death and her address was given as 117 Smithdown Lane, Liverpool.
Interesting.

EDIT:

Re-reading your opening post, you probably already know all this below!
I forgot you didn't want any info re William other than relating to his death.
But I'll leave it in case.

There are no comments about his health in either 1861 or 1871.


OK - so - birth of nephew John William:

TIPPING, JOHN WILLIAM mms HALES
GRO Reference: 1875 S Quarter in WIRRAL Volume 08A Page 447

Possible siblings:

TIPPING, CHARLES LAYTON mms HALES
GRO Reference: 1873 J Quarter in WEST DERBY AND TOXTETH PARK Volume 08B Page 259

TIPPING, GEORGE HENRY mms HALES
GRO Reference: 1874 S Quarter in WEST DERBY AND TOXTETH PARK Volume 08B Page 512

TIPPING, ERNEST ALFRED mms HALES
GRO Reference: 1878 J Quarter in WEST DERBY AND TOXTETH PARK Volume 08B Page 535

TIPPING, NORMAN JAMES mms HALES
GRO Reference: 1880 S Quarter in WEST DERBY AND TOXTETH PARK Volume 08B Page 602

Therefore, possibly William with parents and siblings - note sister Mary's middle name Layton (middle name in 1873 birth above ):

William Topping
in the 1871 England Census
Name: William Topping
[William Tipping]
Age: 18
Estimated birth year: 1853
Relation: Son
Gender: Male
Where born: Allerton Lancashire England
Civil Parish: Garston
Ecclesiastical parish: St Anne
Town: Aigburth
County/Island: Lancashire
Country: England
Registration district: West Derby
Sub-registration district: Wavertree
ED, institution, or vessel: 10
Household schedule number: 135
Piece: 3852
Folio: 76
Page Number: 28
Household Members:
Name Age
John Topping 50
Ellen Topping 51
John Topping 24
James Topping 21
William Topping 18 - gardener
Mary Layton Topping 17
Sarah Ann Topping 9


and with brother Charles in 1861:

William Tipping
in the 1861 England Census
Name: William Tipping
Age: 8
Estimated birth year: 1853
Relation: Son
Father's name: John Tipping
Mother's name: Ellen Tipping
Gender: Male
Where born: Alterton, Lancashire, England
Civil Parish: Garston
Ecclesiastical parish: Aigburth St Anne
County/Island: Lancashire
Country: England
Street address:
Occupation:
Condition as to marriage:
View image
Registration district: West Derby
Sub-registration district: Wavertree
ED, institution, or vessel: 9e
Neighbors:
Household schedule number: 148
Piece: 2738
Folio: 43
Page Number: 26
Household Members:
Name Age
John Tipping 40
Ellen Tipping 40
Charles Tipping 16
John Tipping 14
James Tipping 11
William Tipping 8
Mary Layton Tipping 2


William Tipping
in the Liverpool, England, Church of England Baptisms, 1813-1919
Name: William Tipping
Baptism Date: 21 Nov 1852
Baptism Place: Wavertree, Holy Trinity, Lancashire, England
Father: John Tipping
Mother: Ellen Tipping


Parents' marriage:

John Tippin
in the Liverpool, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1935
Name: John Tippin
Gender: Male
Marriage Age: Full Age
Event Type: Marriage
Marriage Date: 22 Dec 1842
Marriage Place: Liverpool, St Nicholas, Lancashire, England
Father: James Tippin
Spouse: Ellen Layton


Ellen's a widow by 1881:

Ellen Tipping
in the 1881 England Census
Name: Ellen Tipping
Age: 63
Estimated birth year: abt 1818
Relationship to Head: Head
Gender: Female
Where born: Sutton, Lancashire, England
Civil Parish: Wavertree
County/Island: Lancashire
Country: England
Street address: Woolton Road Water Works Cottage
Marital status: Widow
Education:
Employment status:
View image
Occupation: Laundress
Registration district: West Derby
ED, institution, or vessel: 7a
Neighbors:
Piece: 3718
Folio: 52
Page Number: 13
Household Members:
Name Age
Ellen Tipping 63
Mary L. Tipping 22
Mary Ann Tipping 19


Her husband John's burial ??

John Tipping
in the England & Scotland, Select Cemetery Registers, 1800-2016
Name: John Tipping
Age: 54
Record Type: Burial
Birth Date: abt 1821
Death Date: abt 1875
Burial Date: 9 Feb 1875
Burial Place: Liverpool, Lancashire, England
Cemetery Section: Church of England



Charles in 1881, with son John Willliam mistranscribed as T. Wm.

Charles Tipping
in the 1881 England Census
Name: Charles Tipping
Age: 37
Estimated birth year: abt 1844
Relationship to Head: Head
Spouse: Margt. Tipping
Gender: Male
Where born: Wavertree, Cheshire, England
[Wavertree, Lancashire, England]
Civil Parish: West Derby
County/Island: Lancashire
Country: England
Street address: 47 Boundary Lane
Marital status: Married
Education:
Employment status:
View image
Occupation: Gardener
Registration district: West Derby
Sub registration district: West Derby (Rural) (7)
ED, institution, or vessel: 3
Neighbors:
Piece: 3711
Folio: 73
Page Number: 28
Household Members:
Name Age
Charles Tipping 37
Margt. Tipping 38 (Margaret? wife was Mary Ann )
T. Wm. Tipping 5
C. A. Tipping 3
N.J. Tipping
Mary Ford 17


Charles's marriage:

Charles Tipping
in the Lancashire, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1936
Name: Charles Tipping
Gender: Male
Age: Full Age
Event Type: Marriage
Event Date: 23 Nov 1869
Parish: Sefton, Lancashire, England
Spouse: Mary Ann Hales
Spouse Age: Full Age
Father: John Tipping
Spouse Father: George Hales

William was a hay and straw dealer when he married but he started out as a gardener, like his father and brothers. Maybe he was doing both jobs and was working at one of the big houses as a gardener. It’s all speculation and I’m not sure we can ever determine why he was there.
Thanks for trying.