WARDROPPER-WAKE

John WARDROPPER and Mary Ann WAKE were married on 10th December 1896 at the Parish Church of St Paul, Sunderland.  He died tragically in 1929: he was a donkeyman  (a mariner in charge of a small 'donkey' engine) at the time of his death, employed on the steamer 'Kinross', owned by Sutherlands of Sunderland. He had just completed a voyage from Buenos Aries and was returning from Cardiff with other crew members. After leaving Huddersfield in the early hours of 5th September, the other men slept and, on awakening, found John missing from the train. His body was later found on the line near Slaithwaite Station in the West Riding. His coat and boots were found at York with a rail ticket issued the previous day from Avonmouth Dock to Sunderland.