Request for info

[Herlock Sholmes]

This question comes after a point made to me by George. At the Chapman inquest Nurse Simonds said that she was told to strip the body by Inspector Chandler. This wasn’t the case though.

”Inspector Chandler stated he did not instruct the nurses to undress and wash the body. The Coroner’s officer said it was done by order of the clerk to the guardians.”

Does anyone know who this clerk to the guardians was?

[Kattrup]

William Vallance, I believe

Appointed clerk to Whitechapel Union in 1868. Died 1909.

[Herlock Sholmes]

William Vallance, I believe

Appointed clerk to Whitechapel Union in 1868. Died 1909.

Thanks for that Kattrup. Do you know what his role was and why he would have been present? It seems strange that he would have ordered the body stripped and washed?

[Kattrup]

As clerk, I believe he was the main administrative employee of the Whitechapel union. As I understand it, according to the Poor Law and Metropolitan poor act and probably other laws, London was divided into districts administering the provisions of those laws, that is to provide poor relief to the worthy and needy by for instance running a workhouse and an infirmary.
So the Whitechapel union was one such district, comprised of several parishes, and was led by a board of guardians responsible for enacting poor relief in that district.
To help the board do that, they hired a clerk to manage the daily administrative tasks.

So why was he present? I dont know, it seems likely he was informed that a murder victim had been brought to the infirmary mortuary and that the mortuary would be required for the postmortem. And as the main administrative employee, he went to keep an eye on things and represent the board. He would probably be expected to report to them on such unusual and extraordinary occurrences.

As for why he ordered the body washed, I’ve no idea. Perhaps he just thought it was the right thing to do. Perhaps he was upset it was soiling his pristine mortuary.

Note that I’m not an expert on the Poor Laws and Acts etc so I’ve probably misunderstood something, hopefully someone better informed can chime in.

[Kattrup]

It looks like there’s a long obituary of him in:
Charity Organisation Review New Series, Vol. 26, No. 154 (OCTOBER 1909), pp. 268-271
which is why I assumed he died 1909.

Many other volumes of the series are available online, but that one is not available to me at present.

[Herlock Sholmes]

As clerk, I believe he was the main administrative employee of the Whitechapel union. As I understand it, according to the Poor Law and Metropolitan poor act and probably other laws, London was divided into districts administering the provisions of those laws, that is to provide poor relief to the worthy and needy by for instance running a workhouse and an infirmary.
So the Whitechapel union was one such district, comprised of several parishes, and was led by a board of guardians responsible for enacting poor relief in that district.
To help the board do that, they hired a clerk to manage the daily administrative tasks.

So why was he present? I dont know, it seems likely he was informed that a murder victim had been brought to the infirmary mortuary and that the mortuary would be required for the postmortem. And as the main administrative employee, he went to keep an eye on things and represent the board. He would probably be expected to report to them on such unusual and extraordinary occurrences.

As for why he ordered the body washed, I’ve no idea. Perhaps he just thought it was the right thing to do. Perhaps he was upset it was soiling his pristine mortuary.

Note that I’m not an expert on the Poor Laws and Acts etc so I’ve probably misunderstood something, hopefully someone better informed can chime in.

Thanks again for that info Kattrup. I had assumed an administrative roll but wondered about his level of seniority. I’d have thought it unlikely that a Victorian workhouse would have had a large administrative staff so he wasn’t just a lowly pen pusher. Your suggestion about his presence and his possible thinking behind his actions make sense to me. Inexperience and unusual circumstances.

[Kattrup]

No, not a lowly bureaucrat, the Whitechapel Union was a fairly big operation, I think.
The Board of Guardians employed a clerk, probably a treasurer and a relief officer (responsible for assessing persons applying for help) as well. I don’t know if the Union was big enough for its own medical officer, or if they shared one with another Union - I seem to recall Dr. Rygate being the district medical officer.

On the next lower level, the BoG was responsible for the workhouse and the infirmary, separate institutions with their own sizeable staffs of master, matron, nurses etc.

So the clerk undertook the various administrative tasks of the BoG, including organizing the elections to the BoG, the BoG-meetings, correspondance between the BoG and the workhouse and infirmary, as well as other Unions, and prepared reports on the Union’s activities.

In this capacity Vallance was very well known, in fact in 1896, while he was still clerk there, Baker’s Row where the Union offices were, was renamed Vallance Road after him.


Here he is being robbed in Vallance Road: https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/record/t19010910-626

He was also superintendent registrar of marriages, here he is in a trial explaining how he would ask test questions of young people looking to marry - perhaps pertinent info as an example of how the registration was actually carried out, something often mentioned here and on jtrforums when looking at odd info in various registers of births, deaths, marriages etc. The registrar had discretion to ask test questions:
https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/record/t18800426-391


He resigned 1901.

[FrankO]

Hi Mike & Kattrup,

This thread also reveals a bit about William Vallance's importance, if you will. According to the OP, he assisted at most of the inquests on the bodies of the East End victims. It's a pitty is doesn't state in what way he's supposed to have assisted.

Anderson Interview Nov 14 by the NY Sun - Casebook: Jack the Ripper Forums

Cheers,
Frank

[Kattrup]

Hi Mike & Kattrup,

This thread also reveals a bit about William Vallance's importance, if you will. According to the OP, he assisted at most of the inquests on the bodies of the East End victims. It's a pitty is doesn't state in what way he's supposed to have assisted.

Anderson Interview Nov 14 by the NY Sun - Casebook: Jack the Ripper Forums

Cheers,
Frank

Thank you, Frank, it’s an interesting mention.

Was not Martha Tabram, Mary Ann Nichols and Annie Chapman taken to the same mortuary, the measly shed used by the Whitechapel Infirmary, the poor conditions of said shed causing Philips and Baxter, if I recall correctly, to protest and call for a new mortuary, erected in 1889?

If it is correct that those three victims passed through the mortuary of the Whitechapel Union’s infirmary, it seems possible that Vallance would have been present in each case.

Also, there’s mention of the descriptions of some of the victims being circulated around infirmaries, to aid in identification, perhaps Vallance helped with that.

[Herlock Sholmes]

Thanks again to both Kattrup and Frank.