Today I discovered that I can check out the registered deaths in Tasmania in the 1800s on the Family Search website. My great great grandfather Dr William Lee Dawson was the medical officer in Franklin from 1854 until his death in 1871. More that twenty years ago, I had perused these records to discover what were the causes of death in Franklin and what types of cases Dr Dawson may have come across. Now that I can access them from home I have decided to take a more indepth look. So far it’s not looking good for newborns and babies under the age of one. However this is not the purpose of this post. On 16th October 1858, five people were accidentally killed by the felling of a tree. Those who lost their lives were settler Peter McEwen 45, farmer James Watson 19, Annie Montgomery 12, John McEwen 6 and labourer William Wellgrave 50. Family Search - Franklin Deaths 1858 I always wondered what happened to them. After rediscovering them today I decided to go to Trove. This is t