Cowen, Davies, Lauder Family Tree - Person Sheet
Cowen, Davies, Lauder Family Tree - Person Sheet
NameFrank Wilton STYLES 
, G Granduncle, M
, G Granduncle, MDeath29 Dec 1898
FatherWilliam STYLES , M (1818-1889)
MotherSarah WEBSTER , F (1837-1912)
Misc. Notes
Transcribed from The Argus, Saturday 1 January 1898, p. 9.
Shallow Diving: A Fatal "Lark"
The death of Frank Wilton Styles, 19 years of age, of Little Richardson Street, Middle-park, who was drowned in the Middle-park Baths on Wednesday, appears to have been the result of a "lark". Styles was a good swimmer, and knew the baths well. About half-past 4 o'clock in the afternoon of Wednesday he turned to a young man in the baths named William Dunn, and jokingly said, “Teach me to swim". Dunn merely laughed, and mounting the railing of the platform, about 10 ft. above the water, Styles prepared to plunge head foremost. Dunn cautioned him, as the water was only 4 ft. deep there, but he smiled and said, "I'll chance it, though I may be dead when I come up." He dived, and when he came to the surface his head was shaking peculiarly, but no one took any heed of him, believing he was "larking" again. Presently, however, he sank to the bottom, and a couple of bathers jumped in after him, and one of them, William Oldmeadow of Page Street, Middle-park, brought him to the surface. When taken from the water he was still breathing, but, though every effort was made to restore consciousness by Dr. Drew and others, he died half an hour later. The cause of death was suffocation by drowning, complicated by concussion of the brain, which he sustained by striking his head on the bottom of the baths. A verdict of accidental death was recorded. [26]