Answers sought in Douglas drowning mystery

WITH her 84-year old father dying of cancer and an 88-year mystery about his half-brother unsolved, a Dunedin woman is trying one more time to piece the puzzle together.

Sheridan Easdale is hoping someone can provide clues surrounding what became of Douglas Warren in the aftermath of his sister Edith's drowning as an eight-year-old in the Queanbeyan River in January 1928.

Douglas became a young orphan after the tragedy, but to his half-brother - Sheridan's father Frank Easdale - Douglas's whereabouts are still unknown.

According to reports published in The Queanbeyan Age in 1977, Edith Warren drowned just below the old mill near a footbridge, while playing in the shallows with Douglas.

"Edith's father, William Thompson Warren had a photographic studio in Monaro Street and was involved with the Queanbeyan Heights Golf Club and several other community organisations," Ms Easdale said.

The Warren family had come to Queanbeyan in 1926, from Napier, New Zealand.

Edith's parents had also lost another daughter, Vera, who died aged five, only six months previously.

"After the tragic loss of the two little girls their mother Amelia (Millie) left Queanbeyan, for reasons unknown," Ms Easdale, now 57, said.

"She was my grandmother and she later married my grandfather in Sydney and returned to New Zealand when my father, Frank Easdale, Douglas's half-brother was a small boy.

Only a few years after Edith drowned, William T Warren died in 1931, so Douglas effectively became an orphan, as the whereabouts of mother Millie were then unknown.

"We are trying to find out what happened to Douglas - it is possible that he remained in Queanbeyan in the care of family friends, or was formally adopted by someone local," Ms Easdale said.

"We are unsure of his age but think he was younger than Edith and may have been born around 1924.

"If he did not retain the name Warren, finding him would be even more difficult.

"There may be older Queanbeyan citizens who remember hearing the story, had some connection to Douglas, or even have old school photos from the 1920s stashed away.

"If this story rings any bells with readers, please contact us - we would appreciate any information at all about the Warren family."

If you can help, contact Ms Easdale by emailing sheridan.easdale@gmail.com