Butchers' Row, Aldgate

[Steven Russell]

I notice that Joseph Levy is listed as having lived at 79, Harrow Alley. Could not this be considered as an offshoot of Butcher's Row? If Jacob Levy was not the same man, he could easily have been a relative, especially as his father's name was Joseph and then, as now, names run in families. In times of trouble or hardship, one naturally gravitates to one's family so Jacob could well have sought help from his namesake.

Jacob is quite new to me (I thought I knew something about this case until I joined this site) but he does seem to me to be exactly the type of person who should be looked at more closely.

Incidentally, what sort of apron did butchers wear in those days? It seems to me that if I were messing about with very sharp knives all day long then leather might be a pretty good choice.

As far as Kosminski goes, let's not forget that a barber (or hairdresser) was the poor man's surgeon and would be called upon to perform minor operations. This, I understand, is the origin of the familiar red and white pole whose earliest appearance was achieved by wrapping a bloody bandage around a plain white pole.

Just a few thoughts from a humble cadet anyway.

Best wishes,

Steve.

[Chris]

I notice that Joseph Levy is listed as having lived at 79, Harrow Alley. Could not this be considered as an offshoot of Butcher's Row? If Jacob Levy was not the same man, he could easily have been a relative, especially as his father's name was Joseph and then, as now, names run in families.

That's curious, as there was a Joseph Levy at 79 Aldgate High Street - and as far as I've seen the only house numbers assigned in records to Harrow Alley were 9 (apparently following on from the numbering of Little Somerset Street to the south) and 61 (the Still and Star, numbered according to the position of Harrow Alley on Aldgate High Street). As the Goad Plan posted by Rob shows, there were virtually no residential buildings on Harrow Alley.

At any rate we can be sure that Joseph Levy of 79 Aldgate High Street was not the same man as the Jacob Levy who has been suggested as a suspect, as the latter was committed to Stone Asylum in August 1890 and died there the following July, whereas the former was still at number 79 at the date of the 1891 census.

[Steven Russell]

Dear Chris,
Thanks for putting me straight. I hope you will forgive me for wasting your time.

Best wishes,

Steve.

P.S. Good luck with your further researches.

[Chris]

I hope you will forgive me for wasting your time.

Not at all. It's always interesting to discuss these things.

[Scott Nelson]

Abberline's retirement dinner at the Three Nuns Hotel, across from Butchers' Row:

http://www.casebook.org/press_reports/east_london_observer/elo920611.html

[Steven Russell]

Dear Chris,
Thanks. I was referring to the "1889 Directory" as reproduced by Rob Clack earlier in this thread.

Cheers,

Steve.

[Chris]

Thanks. I was referring to the "1889 Directory" as reproduced by Rob Clack earlier in this thread.

Ah - I see. Then the address is actually 79 Aldgate High Street. The note "Here is Harrow Alley" just marks the position of Harrow Alley on the south side of Aldgate High Street, but the numbers that follow are still in Aldgate High Street.

[Steven Russell]

Chris,
Aha! That explains that then. Once again, apologies from a newbie, but who are the most popular candidates for Sagar's man - assuming, of course, that his reported comments are genuine?

Best wishes,

Steve.

[Roy Corduroy]

Hi Steven and welcome to Casebook,

...who are the most popular candidates for Sagar's man - assuming, of course, that his reported comments are genuine?

Although not a perfect fit in every way, Jacob Levy is a candidate. At least, how can I put this - absent someone better.

Have you read Scott's outstanding article, which is linked in Post 1 of this thread? Scott mentioned Levy, but also pinpointed the Bosman shop at #62, as a possible location of the suspect under survelliance. He stressed the difficulty of knowing just who all worked/lived in these butcher shops because the directories only list the proprietor.

I have a question for anyone - the name Radin stood out in Scott's article.

East of the (St Botolph) churchyard, there were three premises on Aldgate High Street. The first of these, no. 7, was a dining room operated by Willatt & Wattam. In 1889, Kallin & Radin, hairdressers, shared these premises until 1891, when they were replaced by another hairdresser, Karl Frederick Plunneke.

Surely this is not the other Radin, the one connected with Severin Klosowski/Chapman. But what do I know? Quoting Wolf V on another thread:

Klosowski worked for Abraham Radin in the West India Dock Road for about five months when he first came to London before he moved to 126 Cable Street. He lived at this address between 1888 and 1890

Any thoughts?

Roy

[Chris]

Aha! That explains that then. Once again, apologies from a newbie, but who are the most popular candidates for Sagar's man - assuming, of course, that his reported comments are genuine?

Well, it has been suggested they might have referred to Aaron Kozminski, but there are certainly discrepancies there. Or else as you know Jacob Levy has been suggested, but the difficulty there is that he is not known to have worked in Butchers' Row. Otherwise I think it would come down to an otherwise unsuspected man, whose name we don't know.

[Steven Russell]

Dear Chris and Roy,

Thanks for replying. This aspect of the case is most fascinating. I must do some more research before putting forward any more half-baked theories.

I must admit that I had no idea that there were so many people interested in this case - or that they were so well informed.

Perhaps part of the whole fascination stems from all the ifs and buts.

All that aside, I am still prepared to stick my scrawny Cadet neck on the line and say that I do favour a non-Pizer Leather Apron as the least unlikely suspect. Good luck to you both.

Best wishes,

Steve.

[Chris]

Here's another sketch of Butcher's Row, this time in 1925. It is the frontispiece of "The London Board for Shechita 1804-1954", by Albert M. Hyamson (1954), is by Hanslip Fletcher and was reproduced by courtesy of the Sunday Times.

[Chris]

I have now "wikified" my notes on the businessmen (and woman) of Butchers' Row, and they can be found in the wiki section split between two pages, one for addresses and the other for people:

http://wiki.casebook.org/index.php/Butchers%27_Row_and_its_Residents_-_Addresses

http://wiki.casebook.org/index.php/Butchers%27_Row_and_its_Residents_-_People

This is an attempt to build on part of the work of Scott Nelson in his dissertation (http://www.casebook.org/dissertation...tchersrow.html ), in that it tries to trace the later history of those who were proprietors of businesses in Butchers' Row in the Autumn of 1888. However, Scott's dissertation still contains fuller background and more detail, particularly regarding some of the genealogical connections between the families concerned.

To some extent the latest version of Robert Sagar's story, from the Seattle Daily Times (http://forum.casebook.org/showpost.p...95&postcount=9 ), if accepted as accurate, makes much of this information superfluous, because it apparently narrows the field down to a Jewish butcher. If that means the proprietor of a butcher's shop rather than an employee, there are probably only four choices:

(1) Morris Bosman

http://wiki.casebook.org/index.php/Butchers%27_Row_and_its_Residents_-_People#Bosman.2C_Morris

(2) Solomon De Leeuw

http://wiki.casebook.org/index.php/Butchers%27_Row_and_its_Residents_-_People#De_Leeuw.2C_Solomon

(3) Levy Abraham Leuw

http://wiki.casebook.org/index.php/Butchers%27_Row_and_its_Residents_-_People#Leuw.2C_Levy_Abraham

(4) Henry Nathan

http://wiki.casebook.org/index.php/Butchers%27_Row_and_its_Residents_-_People#Nathan.2C_Henry

(In addition, Samuel Gluckstein Abrahams was a partner of Morris Bosman until 1891, but it's doubtful whether the partnership would have been formed as early as 1888, when Abrahams was only 19:
http://wiki.casebook.org/index.php/B...uel_Gluckstein )

Of these men, we can at least say that none of them died in Australia, as Sagar's suspect was believed to have done according to the Seattle Daily Times article. And there seem to be no further points of contact with Sagar's statements in the cases of Abrahams, Bosman, Leuw and Nathan.

In contrast, Solomon De Leeuw was indeed committed to a lunatic asylum - the City of London asylum at Stone - and died there in 1895. But he had been an inmate for less than a fortnight, and so far I've found no record of any earlier episodes of insanity. On the other hand, there are indications of various business problems, including a reference to his having retired from business as early as 1877, and there is the conviction for cruelty to sheep in 1892 discovered by Robert Linford.

Of course, another possibility is that Sagar's suspect was not the proprietor of a butcher's shop, but just an employee - though the references to a "well dressed man" (Seattle Daily Times) and a private asylum (in the Brighton and Hove Herald etc.) may argue against that.

[Chris]

In 1879 Solomon De Leeuw brought an action against the Great Eastern Railway Company for the loss of a bullock he had bought at Norwich, which was supposed to have been transported by train to Stratford to be collected by his drover. (At this time De Leeuw was at 73 Aldgate High Street.)

Here is a report of the case from the Ipswich Journal of 29 November 1879.

[Phil Carter]

Hello Chris,

Many thanks for your efforts. The above three postings are most useful.

best wishes

Phil