Context Note: Son of Arthur Henry Edwards and his wife, Sarah (Mathews) Edwards.
ASTON BOY DROWNED.
CONSTABLE’S GALLANT RESCUE UNAVAILING.
The heavy rainstorm which swept over Birmingham yesterday was the cause of a remarkable drowning fatality at Aston. Shortly before six o’clock Arthur Henry Edwards (13), of 50, Holborn Hill, Birmingham, was walking along the bed of the River Rea with another youth when a sudden rush of storm water swept him off his feet. He was carried a considerable distance to the junction at Salford Bridge, where his progress was stopped by a mud-bank.
Police-constable Patrick Sweeney (178D) was attracted to the spot by the presence of the crowd, and he and Joseph Wilkins entered the water. The strong current carried the constable off his feet, but he managed to reach the unfortunate boy. He at once applied artificial respiration, but his efforts were of no avail, and when a doctor saw the lad he pronounced life extinct.
(Birmingham Daily Gazette, 5th August 1912)
Our Family 2 