How can I find out if an ancestor died and was buried on the Isle of Man? William Cowell was a mariner in the merchant navy and a native of Braddan, I believe. According to census records, I think he died between 1861 and 1871, when his wife back in Whitehaven was recorded as a widow. So far I haven't been able to find any matches on the (English) death registers, and there's no record of a death at sea for that name and time period. Can anyone help?