Kenneth Townsend (29) and Dennis Flynn (19) drowned on 5th June 1933 when a skiff struck a submerged obstruction and sank in fifteen feet of water. The men were cousins and lived in Henfield View, Warborough. Townsend, a gardener, had borrowed the skiff from his employer.
The boat was found floating upside down on the Thames at Dorchester.
The tragedy caused a gloom throughout the district as both victims were well known and highly respected young men.
Mr Kenneth Townsend was a popular and talented member of the “Warborough Barnstormers” Company.
An inquest was held at ‘The Chequers’ Inn, Dorchester with Mr Harold Franklin (Coroner) when,
PC Buckingham, stationed at Shillingford, said that at about 8.15pm on Monday he went to the river near Meadside Cottages, Dorchester and saw a boat partly filled with water. He eventually brought it to the bank and examined it. He found a hole about 4.5 inches across in the forepart of the boat, but the wood appeared to be quite sound. The boat, however, had apparently received a blow from the outside. He saw no obstruction in the river when he got there, and the rudder of the boat appeared to be all right. Before examining the boat, he commenced dragging operations in order to recover the bodies and continued these operations until darkness set in, but without result. On the following day he continued the work and, in the afternoon, recovered both bodies near the spot where the boat was overturned. The water was 10 or 12 ft deep there. When he recovered the bodies the limbs of each were quite free. Neither body bore any injury.
Researched by Sandy West