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Frank Cecil Curtis

Age: 26

Sex: male

Date: 14 Jul 1933

Place: Rhyl Station, Flintshire

Frank Cecil Curtis died in a scuffle.

He was found unconscious on a platform at Rhyl Station on 14 July 1933. He was taken to Rhyl Memorial Hospital suffering from a fractured skull and later died on 18 July 1933 at 7.29pm.

A Rhyl shunter said that he was on the station platform a few minutes before 11pm when he saw some men involved in a dispute. He said that he saw one of them break away and run along the platform and another man follow him. He said that the man in front then seemed to stumble and said that both men then fell and then the man on top got up and returned to the other men.

He was found shortly after an excursion train that he was working on had left.

A doctor that carried out his post mortem said that Frank Curtis died from a fracture to the base of the skull.

When he was found police found a subpoena in his pocket to attend as a witness for the prosecution in a fraud/robbery trial at the Old Bailey. It was also heard that both he and his brother had feared being attacked as a result of the trial and his brother said that Frank Curtis had told him that shortly after a trip to Bath recently someone on his train had looked at him suspiciously. The trial was said to have arisen out of an alleged robbery of £3,000 worth of clothing from premises in Aldgate.

His relatives said that they believed that he had been attacked because of the trial but the police later said that they were satisfied that the trial had nothing to do with his death.

A knife was also found near to where his body was found that didn't belong to him.

His inquest returned an open verdict.

Frank Curtis was an assistant LMS railway chef and was from Storey Street in King's Cross, London. He was married and had one child.


*map pointers are rough estimates based on known location details as per Place field above.

see www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk

see Western Morning News - Wednesday 26 July 1933

see Gloucester Citizen - Wednesday 26 July 1933

see Hull Daily Mail - Tuesday 18 July 1933

see Belfast News-Letter - Saturday 22 July 1933

see Western Daily Press - Thursday 20 July 1933

see Dundee Courier - Saturday 22 July 1933

see Daily Herald - Thursday 20 July 1933

see Portsmouth Evening News - Thursday 20 July 1933