Frustration

I just realized that if I clicked a certain paragraph icon, I could write from the right side of the page to the left.  There are times when I think all my research might as well be written backwards, because it does not seem to be progressing.  A few weeks ago, I sent away for the burial registry for the Joint County Lunatic Asylum, in Abergavenny, Wales.  My G3 grandfather, Henry Hignell, described as  a ' lunatic/retired dock worker' in the 1891 Wales census.  I wonder if he ever met the woman  listed as 'lunatic/governess'?  I bet Bertha Mason Rochester would have appreciated that listing--the governess was the lunatic, not the poor wronged wife.

As usual, I digress--one of my weaknesses as a researcher/writer.  Mister Hignell died in the second quarter of 1892.  His GRO record is in volume 11a, page 34 of the Abergavenny district.  I made the assumption that he was a patient at the time of his death, and probably was buried in the asylum cemetery.  When the CD arrived, I eagerly popped into the laptop, and searched--Henry Hignell was not to be found in the burial register. 

There are several conclusions to be drawn or inferred .  The most reasonable is that HH did not die at the Joint County Lunatic Asylum, but had been discharged, and was living somewhere in the district.  He did have his brother, John Hignell, but he lived in Goldcliff, while his sisters, Mary and Sarah Hignell, lived in St. Woollos, Newport.  His sister in law, Sarah Hignell, resided in the Magor district.  So, the question is where in Monmouthshire is Henry Hignell buried? 

Now, I'm so annoyed that I'm going to let my imagination run wild.  Perhaps Henry Hignell was a vampire, and never died.  That would explain the lack of an entry in the burial register.  Somehow, I cannot imagine that poor old dock worker as a Robert Pattinson character, running through 19th Century Monmouthshire without a shirt.  More likely, he'd have been running around without his teeth. 

So, I will locate as many surviving Hignells in the 1891 Welsh census, find the location of their parishes and pray that there is an online burial register.