The Man from Tregantle, Torpoint, Cornwall.

[Simon Owens]

Hi Everyone, many thanks for your input so far. I wonder if you have any thoughts on a loose theory that I am considering for The Man from Tregantle at the moment. That he was travelling to his next job in Plymouth. He had been hitchhiking from West of Plymouth at dead of night. He had had a few beers en route and wasn't really feeling the cold but needed sleep as he had been walking for miles. He took a footpath off the B2437 East of Crafthole, crossed into a field above Trehill Cliffs, lay down behind a bush, fell asleep and sadly succumbed to the cold. This would have been around 1978 as he had a copy of the Sun newspaper from that year. He had his discharge book and passport with him, both destroyed apart from the issue date on his passport.
Would there be a record do you think of a person that didn't turn up for a job, forty three years ago?
Would any of you wonder where a mate of yours got to who you were supposed to catch up with on your next job in Plymouth-in 1978/1979 time?
A long time ago I know. A loose theory, but if you don't start somewhere.... (I visited Trehill Cliffs on the weekend. It's on the South West Coast footpath, has beautiful views, and leads to Plymouth via the Cremyll, Cawsands or Torpoint ferry. Many thanks for any thoughts or ideas you might want to share.

[Doc Vernon]

I guess any theory is worth a look at , and that one is quite fesible .
You should become a Detective LOL
cHEERS

[Simon Owens]

A vocation I am aiming for, for Unidentified Bodies and Missing Persons. Thanks for the heads up.

[Simon Owens]

Trethill Cliffs, not Treehill Cliffs.

[James Curry]

Toss this one about it may be feasible? You say that he was onfoot walking to Plymouth and was hitch hiking, possibley had a few beers.
Try this , what if he had been walking from Plymouth to where ever he lived. Could be possible he had signed off a ship in Plymouth and as some of us did had a few beers with ship mates and we all headed off home? I am thinking there may be records held at the national archives of old ships articles(Crew agreements) May be possible to view those articles? Per chance he may have been walking home with someone from the same ship and that someone decided to relieve him off his pay off wages. Dark road tap on the head and into a ditch with lad. Seems strange that there is not a missing persons report around somewhere. But a lot of seamen had no family or had turned his back on family many years ago. just a thought. Must admit to reading a lot of crime novels in my spare time lol.

[Simon Owens]

Toss this one about it may be feasible? You say that he was onfoot walking to Plymouth and was hitch hiking, possibley had a few beers.
Try this , what if he had been walking from Plymouth to where ever he lived. Could be possible he had signed off a ship in Plymouth and as some of us did had a few beers with ship mates and we all headed off home? I am thinking there may be records held at the national archives of old ships articles(Crew agreements) May be possible to view those articles? Per chance he may have been walking home with someone from the same ship and that someone decided to relieve him off his pay off wages. Dark road tap on the head and into a ditch with lad. Seems strange that there is not a missing persons report around somewhere. But a lot of seamen had no family or had turned his back on family many years ago. just a thought. Must admit to reading a lot of crime novels in my spare time lol.

James, many thanks for your thoughts. As I say, I have only set out a loose theory, and yes, he could have been going the other way as you say. (I will for sure bear this is mind). If we are to take the coroners report as perfect truth, then 'no foul play' was supposed, (but things can get overlooked), so your thoughts on tap on the head must not be totally ruled out. However, his body, (skeleton), was found quite a way from the road, 200 metres perhaps, in a field, under overgrown bushes/brush, (perhaps meaning he was taking shelter). Not being a Merchant Seamen myself I will have to look up what you mean by 'Crew Agreements'. Thank you very much for your input.

[happy daze john in oz]

Happening when it did all those years ago it is possible there was not enough effort put into attempting to find him.
Someone may well have known he was missing but decided for some reason to say nothing.

[Simon Owens]

Happening when it did all those years ago it is possible there was not enough effort put into attempting to find him.
Someone may well have known he was missing but decided for some reason to say nothing.

Hi, thank you for your comment. A great deal of effort was put in by the police. They spent nearly a year trying to identify him. They had the issue date of his passport which was readable as it was embossed on it. From this issue date they had the names of about 12,000 people who had been issued British passports on that day and the day before. Over time they managed to account for all but 23 of the 12,000 people. Information was handed to the Merchant Navy to investigate, who this was I don't know. But in my imagination it might have been relatively easy to check the 23 names with those in the Merchant Navy at the time. (I could obviously be wrong about this). I have approached the Police Force that dealt with the investigation to ask if the passport and discharge book are still available, or copies of them. But to date I have not had an answer. And yes, there is always the possibility that someone knew he was missing but for whatever reason didn't want or feel it necessary to report him missing. Many thanks for your thoughts. I'll keep you updated.

[j.sabourn]

Sounds like it was Inspector Clusoe in charge of the case Simon. If they had a description of him or a photograph the first place they would have looked was where most seamen frequented the local bordellos and pubs. Ah well maybe he was one of the few seafarers who didn’t imbibe. Good hunting you’ll get there if you persevere . JS

If you feel as though you are having no success still carry on if you feel justified in doing so. Up until a couple of years ago I had been trying to pinpoint a person for over 30 years , this was because I thought he may have been an accessory to a marine disaster. It preyed on my mind for that length of time and everyone I had contact with in the same sphere of the disaster I questioned , the first break was talking to someone over 10,000 miles away who gave me a clue , a year later someone from this site sent me an old photo of a newspaper clipping and I recognised the person straight away although he was 30 years older. So I had carried around thoughts for 30 plus years , fortuanetley I was wrong in my suspicions , which I was very thankful for , as would still be looking for him to this day. It can get to be an albatross round your neck. So hope you are looking for the right reasons. Cheers JS

[Ivan Cloherty]

[QUOTE=happy daze john in oz;438114
Someone may well have known he was missing but decided for some reason to say nothing.[/QUOTE]

Or just thought he had shipped out on a tramper and if he had no family he would not be missed, and if he had a family it was still in the days of snail mail where contact could run months behind as letters chased the ship around the world and we know a lot of seamen didn't bother to write home