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"James Evans" in 1888

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  • "James Evans" in 1888

    Taken over from a Barnett thread, but far more relevant in terms of Fleming... maybe
    Originally posted by miss marple View Post
    ... in Glasshouse St a couple of streets down from where the Barnetts had been living. Those streets were full of 1rish dockworkers.
    There are two entries relating to a 28 year-old "James Evans", listed as a porter or railway porter, in the Whitechapel Infirmary records in the Summer of 1888. Both entries give mental illness ("Unsound mind" and "Insane", respectively) as the reason for admission. Often, such entries record that the patient was referred to an asylum, but this was not the case with James Evans: it simply records the date he was discharged, that date being the 9th July 1888, after a 6-day stay.

    Chris Scott has identified anomalies in the addresses given in the Infirmary register for James Evans. One says "Block 16F Glass Street", the other "Block 16F Royal Mint Street"... which presents a bit of a puzzle. However, I think I've got to the bottom of the problem.

    There was a cluster of Peabody Buildings on Glasshouse Street, which continued onto Royal Mint Street. Even though "F" Block backed onto Royal Mint Street, the buildings were known collectively as "Glasshouse Buildings" and - strictly speaking - belonged more to Glasshouse Street, so the two entries in the Infirmary records were both sort-of correct. I'm almost certain, therefore, that the Infirmary register's "Glass St" was an abbreviation, or simply a mistaken entry, for "Glasshouse Street".

    I found a splendid photo, taken late 1950s I guess, with two blocks of the Peabody Buildings in the foreground and "F" Block sandwiched between them in the background. The arrow I've drawn points directly to the entrance of "F" Block:

    [Ed: Image removed due to copyright owner complaint.]

    (To back up Miss Marple's comment, please note the Irish tricolors.)

    Here's a map of Whitechapel of the region around Glasshouse Street, showing the proximity of "F" Block Peabody Buildings (shaded red) to Royal Mint St:

    Click image for larger version

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    I'm fairly sure, therefore, that the mentally unsound James Evans mentioned in the Infirmary records was living here, in "F" Block, Glasshouse Street Buildings, until July 1888.

    Whether this was "James Evans", as in the Fleming alias, remains to be seen - however, the age is about right (28), the mental health bit is right, and the location of his home somewhat evocative. Glasshouse Buildings were - and are - a very short distance away from Mary Kelly's old digs in Breezer's Hill/Pennington Street, and literally around the corner from her alleged later stomping-ground of Leman Street.
    Last edited by Sam Flynn; 01-21-2009, 10:41 PM.
    Kind regards, Sam Flynn

    "Suche Nullen" (Nietzsche, Götzendämmerung, 1888)

  • #2
    Holy smoke, Sam! That is a very interesting piece of information!
    Of course, James Evans would not be the most uncommon of names, but the geographic link as well as the age and the sickness does narrow things down nicely!
    So, maybe he made a beeline from the Infirmary to the Victoria home, arriving there with a professed history of mental illness just a few weeks before Tabram died...

    Very thought-evoking, Sam; thanks a bunch!

    Fisherman

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    • #3
      Out of interest, Sam - just how many 28-ish James Evans´s would a check of the censuses turn up in the area? Have you got a rough idea?

      The best,
      Fisherman

      Comment


      • #4
        Some info on the Peabody Buildings

        I thought these nuggets of info might be of interest:


        "One room in the Peabody buildings is never let to two persons." (J. Ewing Ritchie, Days and Nights in London, 1880).

        Single rooms were let out at 2s 6d per week in the 1880s. Families paid 5s per week for three rooms. Communal washing facilities and lavatories were located on the landings outside the rooms on each floor.

        The Peabody "house rules" were as follows:

        1. No applicants for rooms will be entertained unless every member of the applicant's family has been vaccinated or agrees to comply with the Vaccination Act;

        2. The rents will be paid weekly in advance at the superintendent's office, on Monday, from 9 a.m. till 6 p.m.;

        3. No arrears of rent will be allowed;

        4. The passages, steps, closets, and lavatory windows must be washed every Saturday and swept every morning before 10 o'clock. This must be done by tenants in turn;

        5. Washing must be done only in the laundry. Tenants will not be permitted to use the laundries for the washing of any clothes but their own. No clothes shall be hung out;

        6. No carpets, mats, etc., can be permitted to be beaten or shaken after 10 o'clock in the morning. Refuse must not be thrown out of the doors or windows;

        7. Tenants must pay all costs for the repairs, etc., of all windows, keys, grates and boilers broken or damaged in their rooms;

        8. Children will not be allowed to play on the stairs, in the passages, or in the laundries;

        9. Dogs must not be kept on the premises;

        10. Tenants cannot be allowed to paper, paint or drive nails into the walls;

        11. No tenant will be permitted to under-let or take in lodgers or to keep a shop of any kind;

        12. The acceptance of any gratuity by the superintendent or porters from tenants or applicants for rooms will lead to their immediate dismissal;

        13. Disordlerly or intemperate tenants will receive immediate notice to quit;

        14. The gas will be turned off at 11 p.m. and the outer doors closed for the night, but each tenant will be provided with a key to admit him in at all hours [my emphasis];

        15. Tenants are required to report to the superintendent any births, deaths, or infectious diseases occurring in their rooms. Any tenant not complying with this rule will receive notice to quit.

        (Info from The Eternal Slum: Housing & Social Policy in Victorian London, Anthony S. Wohl, 2006.)
        Kind regards, Sam Flynn

        "Suche Nullen" (Nietzsche, Götzendämmerung, 1888)

        Comment


        • #5
          Below are the two entries
          1) 23 May 1888 and
          2) 3 July 1888

          Please note that in both these cases this James Evans is listed as 20 years old, not 28
          Chris
          Attached Files

          Comment


          • #6
            The first entry could be mistaken for 28 because of the writing style
            Below is an example of the same writer showing how he formed the figures 0 and 8
            Chris
            Attached Files

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by Chris Scott View Post
              Please note that in both these cases this James Evans is listed as 20 years old, not 28
              Damn! Forgot about the "ambiguous 8" problem... I seem to recall that these images were discussed a while back, and that the consensus was that the first "28" was actually a "20". If that's not simply an error, or a guesstimate, on the part of the registrar, then this probably isn't "our" James. Having said that, the odds of two insane James Evanses being in Whitechapel in 1888 must be on the slim side.
              Kind regards, Sam Flynn

              "Suche Nullen" (Nietzsche, Götzendämmerung, 1888)

              Comment


              • #8
                One pertinent question is:
                As Evans/Fleming was not admitted to the Stone Asylum until 1892 where was he, and under what name, in the 1891 census?
                Of his family we know the following:
                There remains the issue of the address of Joseph's mother, Henrietta. In the 1891 census she is listed living with one of her daughters:
                123 Lever Street, City Road
                Head: Henrietta Fleming aged 69 (Married) born Camberwell
                Daughter: Jessie aged 23 born Bethnal Green - Brace machinist
                At this time Joseph's father, Richard, was an inmate at the Holborn Union Infirmary.

                Chris
                Last edited by Chris Scott; 01-21-2009, 11:15 PM.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Well ... it was nice as long as it lasted!

                  The best,
                  Fisherman

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Fisherman View Post
                    Well ... it was nice as long as it lasted!
                    It may not quite be over yet, Fish. Even if it is, it's unearthed two useful nuggets of info. Namely, we've discovered that a single, poverty-class man could have afforded a private room for a mere 2s 6d per week, and would have been given a key with which to let himself in and out at all hours.
                    Kind regards, Sam Flynn

                    "Suche Nullen" (Nietzsche, Götzendämmerung, 1888)

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Of course, Sam; I never meant to take anything away from you. It´s just that the implications that for a moment seemed to be there were slightly more tempting than the actual outcome. But every nugget is welcome, and you have a healthy habit of unearthing many a nugget!

                      The best,
                      Fisherman

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        To cheer things up, I put the Sherlockian cap on and tried to attack the problem in Agatha Christie style (or should I say Patricia Cornwell style...). Meaning I tried the potential of the name James Evans as an anagram.
                        It gave nothing useful until I swopped the "v" in Evans for a "w" (I found 228 000 James Ewans´s on Google, and argued that perhaps some of them could have been pronounced as the ordinary Evans and not as "U-ans". And that resulted in either "NAMES AS JEW" or "NAME AS JEWS".

                        Typical, is it not - even a silly anagram won´t provide you with your preferred answers. Instead it has to support the wiews I have spent ages arguing against...

                        The best, all!
                        Fisherman

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          My appreciative thanks to Gareth and Chris for their sleuthing efforts here.

                          Thoroughly bloody good job, gents!

                          (Interesting to note that the Victoria Home was also a "Peabody" establishment)
                          Last edited by Ben; 01-22-2009, 12:14 AM.

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Fisherman
                            even a silly anagram won´t provide you with your preferred answers
                            You didn't go far enough, Fish. An anagram of "James Evans George Hutchinson" reveals his true name:

                            Jon S Meghan scavenges ho's uteri
                            Kind regards, Sam Flynn

                            "Suche Nullen" (Nietzsche, Götzendämmerung, 1888)

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              So it seems a poor working man could afford a "private" room with a key....that should just about do it for ward style living by a serial killer who takes specimens home....I hope.

                              Cheers all.

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