Frank Wood BRADFORD [7627]

  General Notes:

1943 SA Death 661/1104 BRADFORD Frank Wood undefined Adelaide [Resided: Barmera]
Cheltenham BRADFORD Frank Wood undefined 1943 [d. 12 Feb]

The Advertiser (Adelaide) Saturday 14 February 1943
Death Notice:
BRADFORD.-On February 12, at Adelaide Hospital, Frank, dearly loved husband of Lilian Bradford, late of Barmera. Rest after weariness; peace after pain.

The Advertiser (Adelaide) Saturday 13 February 1943
Funeral Notice:
BRADFORD.-The friends of the late Mr. Frank W Bradford, of Barmera, are respeclfully informed that his remains were removed from the residence of his brother-in-law, (Mr. Gillespie), Glengyle street Finsbury Park, on Friday afternoon and peacefully laid to rest (privately) in the Cheltenham Cemetery. Rev P. Tilbrook officiated.

The Argus (Melbourne) Friday 2 April 1937
SHAFT MYSTERY
Three Men Sought
MILDURA, Thursday. -Detectives J. O'Keeffe, A. A. Webster, and W. C. Tremewen, who have been making inquiries in the Red Cliffs district since March 22 in connection with the Wedderburn mine shaft murder mystery, are anxious to trace three men who were last reported in this district. The men are:
Frank Wood Bradford, an Englishman, who has been missing from a block at Red Cliffs since March 8, 1938;
James Simpson, a Scotsman, who was last reported at Charlton, which he left on March 10; and
Robert James, an Englishman, who conducted a eucalyptus still in 1931 in Wedderburn.
When Bradford disappeared he left behind a T model Ford van. The detectives attach importance to the fact that Bradford disappeared on March 8 and Simpson on March 12. Among the clothing of the dead man found in the mine was a cake of soap wrapped in a Melbourne newspaper bearing the date March 20. A pathological examination, however, disclosed that the skeleton of the dead man was 5ft. 7in. in length, while Bradford is believed to be about 6ft. in height.

The Argus (Melbourne) Friday 3 April 1937
TWO MEN MISSING FOR A YEAR
Police Mystified
Disappeared at Same Time
The unusual occurrence of two men living 200 miles apart having disappeared in mysterious circumstances within two days of each other in March, 1936, has been reported by detectives investigating the mine-shaft murder at Wedderburn. One of the men, Frank Wood Bradford, left Cardross, near Mildura on March 8, 1936, leaving his utility van, clothes, and blankets. His only possessions then were the clothes he was wearing. Two days after on March 10, James Simpson left Charlton 200 miles south-east of Mildura, without collecting two weeks' wages that were owing to him, and leaving some personal belongings. He was last seen riding a bicycle toward Mildura. Neither man has since been traced. Their descriptions are - Bradford is an Englishman aged between 30 and 35 years, 6ft. in height very thin build, dark hair turning grey at the temples, clean shaven and was then wearing a blue suit and black shoes. He had been picking grapes at Cardross for the previous three seasons, and he had formerly been a farmer at Mittiang.
Simpson is a Scotsman aged about 32 years, 5ft 7in in height, fair to brown hair, thin build, clean shaven and was then neatly dressed in working clothes.
Another missing man whom detectives are trying to trace is Robert James, aged 37 years, who worked at a eucalyptus distillery in the Wedderburn district in 1931. He is described as being 5ft. 6in. in height, with fair hair, and was then wearing a double-breasted coat. James was formerly a cook in the Royal Navy and one of his feet has been badly affected by frostbite.
No trace has been found of the man and the woman whose movements in July were traced from Serpentine but vanished after they had reached Wedderburn. Detective-Sergeant J .O'Keeffe, Senior-Detective A. A. Webster, and Detective Tremewan, who have been conducting countless inquiries into the murder mystery, returned to Melbourne from Wedderburn and Mildura yesterday to continue their investigations.

Frank married Lilian Clara May SECOMBE [2766] [MRIN: 2680], daughter of John Henry SECOMBE [2758] and Susanna BROADBENT [1962], on 14 Apr 1941 in Res Mr R.L. Gillespie, Barmera, South Australia. (Lilian Clara May SECOMBE [2766] was born on 1 May 1895 in Blackwood, South Australia, died on 17 Jul 1963 in Northfield, Adelaide, South Australia and was buried in Cheltenham Cemetery, South Australia.)

  Marriage Notes:

The Advertiser (Adelaide) Tuesday 8 April 1941
Marriage Notice:
SECOMBE -BRADFORD. -The marriage of Lilian, youngest daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. J H Secombe, to Frank, second son of the late Mr. and Mrs. R. F. Bradford, will be celebrated in the home of Mr. T. L. Gillespie, at Barmera, on the 14th of April, at 3 p.m.