THE mysterious death of Brian Gamlin, the man believed to have invented the numbering sequence of the modern dart board, is continuing to puzzle darts experts across the region.

As featured in the Bury Times two weeks ago, Brian Gamlin was a carpenter from Bury who introduced the system around fairgrounds in 1896 but failed to patent the idea before his apparent death in 1903.

Despite extensive searches, no death record can be found on either side of 1903 for Mr Gamlin.

Darts historian Patrick Chaplin said: "Years ago I wrote to all the Gamlins that were listed in Bury and the surrounding area but none would admit to being related to the man. In desperation I also tried Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk."

David King, who runs the darts-based website www.darts501.com, has also spent much time trying to trace the death of the elusive carpenter.

Mr King said: "I haven't been able to find Brian Gamlin listed either side of 1903 and therefore the views that he was a traveller of sorts may be true, if he ever existed in the first place."

Speculation as to whether Brian Gamlin even invented the modern dartboard has also been brought to light by Darts World magazine, which carried a claim that Thomas William Buckle was responsible for the structure of the board