I have been doing some of my own family research and I have just learned that an unrelated person sharing a family name (Churchward) was found shot dead in a field in Devon in 1886.
This though is not (as far as the press is concerned) a dastardly murder but a terrible accident.
Samuel Churchward was out shooting before dinner one evening. When he didn’t return home a search ensued and my relative was found dead near a hedge with his head blown off. It seems Samuel had climbed over a fence to go to the next field, placed his gun over first and as it landed it went off killing the poor man.
But interestingly on the very same day Lord Aberdare who merely blew off a finger received a lot more press coverage than my poor relative who lost his life.
Inquest and funeral report (PDF) here: The Totnes Weekly Times – Saturday 20 November 1886
