The Susan Ward?

[Debra A]

I came across this small account in Lloyd's weekly of Sunday, September 16, 1888, mentioning a Susan Ward involved in what seems to have been initially reported as an accident;

Yesterday Susan Ward, aged 64, a labourer's wife, of Nicholas-road, Old Bethnal Green Rd. was admitted to the London Hospital with a dangerous lacerated wound on the arm, through falling on a broken bottle which she let fall.

I believe that someone (thousand aplologies for not knowing who! ) found a Susan Ward in the London Hospital records and identified her as a possible for the woman described as the victim of a cut throat attempt reported in the Daily Telegraph of 3 October 1888 (the attack having taken place ten days earlier) the name. date and admission to the London Hospital seem to tally with the woman found in the hospital records, does anyone know exactly what Susan Ward's hospital records described her injuries as being?

Thanks
Debs

[Rob Clack]

Hi Debs,

It was Stephen Willment who found Susan Ward in the London Hospital Records.
Interesting news report from 'Lloyds' you found. So it can't be Susan Ward who was attacked according to 'The Daily Telegraph' report.

Rob

[Debra A]

Oh, Hi Rob didn't see you in the crush

Thanks for naming the guy and giving him his due credit!
No, it might not be her if the Lloyds report is accurate. I was wondering if the actual event reported in the Telegraph happened a week earlier and was connected to the unprovoked knife attack on a woman in Spitalfields market by a blind bootlace seller?

Debs

[Monty]

Fantastic work Debs,

Working from memory, Wilments look through the hospital records and tried to match possible knife wounds with a vague news report about a knife attack which mentioned that date.

The only admittance that matched was Ward.

The wound? Lacerations to the arm.

Monty.

[Debra A]

Cheers Monty,
Do you mean that the Susan Ward that was found by Wilments just had lacerations to her arm in the records?

Debs

[Rob Clack]

Something made me think about Debs post yesterday about Susan Ward.
Now I could be wrong as I can’t seem to find ‘The Ripperana’ issue where Stephen Willment wrote his article about how he found Susan Ward.

My understanding is he had a look for a victim of an attack, based on an entry he had seen in ‘The Jack the Ripper A-Z’. Under the ‘Scotland Yard Files’ heading, there is an entry on the MEPO 3/140 folio 63 (p253 1st edition hardback and p398 of the 3rd edition paperback) which says “Inspector Pattenden suggests incident following which woman was taken by police to London Hospital may lie behind Cleary’s statement” and it was this entry which made him search the London Hospital records for a victim of an attack. Also there was a report in the ‘Daily Telegraph’ 3 October 1888 which reports a woman being attacked off Commercial Street and received injuries to the arm.
The MEPO folio 63 is actually dated 11 September 1889 and so has nothing to do with the Daily Telegraph report or Susan Ward. Also there is no mention of the London Hospital in the MEPO file, which is as follows (taken from the sourcebook):

METROPOLITAN POLICE.
H Division,
11th September, 1889
Enquiries re murdered
remains of woman.
I beg to report having made enquiries re. Reporters met by men in Back Church Lane, on the morning of 8th. inst.
I find that the occurrence has been reported in the “New York Herald” by the reporter who met me, and that a copy of above paper is in the hands of Inspr. Moore, C.LD.
At 12:15 a.m. 8th. P.C. 394H Millard found a woman named Ellen Bisney of 219 Brunswick Building, Whitechapel in the High Street, and conveyed her on an ambulance to the Whitechapel Infirmary, this may have been observed by the person who gave the information to Newspaper Office, and who for the purpose of reward exaggerated the case.
I beg to ask that enquiry may be made by C. I .Department for the purpose of finding this man.
F. Pattenden Inspr.
T Arnold Sup

As you can see the woman was known and was taken to the Whitechapel Infirmary and not the London Hospital. The woman mentioned in the Daily Telegraph article is as yet unidentified. The article mentions that she was taken to a hospital but doesn’t mention which one. The local one would be the London Hospital but she could have been taken to the Whitechapel Infirmary like Ellen Bisney.
This is ‘The Daily Telegraph’ article:

An alarming story was told to a detective yesterday, and it is understood that the Metropolitan police have for some time been cognisant of its details. If this statement be true, and there appears to be no reason to question it, then some time between the date of the Hanbury-street murder and last Sunday the bloodthirsty maniac who is now terrifying Whitechapel unsuccessfully attempted another outrage. The woman who so narrowly escaped death is married, but she admits having entered into conversation with a strange man for an immoral purpose. She alleges that he tripped her up, so that she fell upon the pavement. He made an effort to cut her throat, but she shielded herself with her arm, and in so doing received a cut upon it. Alarmed by his failure, and fearing her shrieks, the would-be murderer ran off, and the woman, when discovered, was removed to the hospital. She has since been discharged, and the wound upon the arm is still to be seen. The occurrence is alleged to have taken place ten days ago, in a bye-turning off Commercial-street. Unfortunately the woman was so much in liquor when she was assaulted that she cannot recollect the man's face or dress, and has been unable to give a description of him, which may account for the secrecy which has been maintained in regard to the attack.

I stand to be corrected on some of these points.

Rob

[Monty]

Rob,

Ive always taken the Mepo file date as 88 not 89, duh!

Debs work obviously rules out Ward for both the Telegraph and Police report. Bisney is mention in the Police report and Im now confused as to why Willment comes up with Ward. My only conclusion is that the London Hospital records were solely looked at. Would there be a reason for this? Are the infirmary records missing?

Monty

[Rob Clack]

Hi Monty,

I've always thought it was 1888 as well.

I think Willment came up with Ward because he mistook the MEPO report as 1888 and not 1889 and he only looked at the London Hospital records because of what the A-Z entry mistakenly said. Also the A-Z entry doesn't mention that the woman was known.

I'm not 100% certain but I think the Whitechapel Infirmary records have survived. Most of the records up to 1887 are on the moving here website. If the 1888 ones are anywhere they are at the London Metropolitan Archives. I might pop up there later in the week and have a look.

Rob

[Monty]

Rob,

Let me know if you do go, Id be interested.

cheers

Monty

[Debra A]

Rob, Monty
The 1888 Whitechapel Infirmary records are on the MH site as well, I've been looking through Sept. and Oct. and noted a couple of names to check out later.

debs

[Rob Clack]

Thanks Debs

Rob

[Debra A]

As both Susan Ward and Ellen Bisney now seem to have been ruled as as possible victims of the attack described in the Telegraph of Oct 88, does anyone know if the report has connections to the attack described below in the PMG? I can't seem to come up with anything on an attack in Vine Street anywhere else, although there is a brief mention of a woman being stabbed in the shoulder in the book 'Leather Apron' by Sam Hudson.
Anyone know the victim in this case or can elaborate on the story?
Thanks

Pall Mall Gazette tues sept 25 1888

A report has been made to the London police of
another outrageous attack upon a woman in
Vine-street, Whitechapel, the circumstances of
which up to a certain point, resemble the cases recently
reported. The only difference is that in this case it was an
attempted murder only. The woman was of the same
class, the locality was Whitechapel, and the man is not
in custody. The woman describes him as being about 35 years old, 5ft
8in in height, with a black moustache, dressed in a brown coat.
He struck her in the face, inflicted a wound with a knife on the shoulder,
and then decamped.

[Uncle Jack]

This is the first time I have read about the Vine Street attack. Thanks for posting Debs.

[Phil H]

This is fascinating.

During the latter part of my absence from Casebook, I became aware of references to Susan Ward (all in published works).

Now it appears that this is a complete red-herring.

It certainly explains why more was not made of the incident (whatever it was an concerning whomever it did) by either the police or the press, if it happened in 1889!

One more follow-up I can cross off the list.

Excellent work by all concerned though.Thanks.

phil