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Newspaper gossip can't be taken too seriously. We can't identify Louisa as they never married. No marriage has been found.
Bruce Paley's book was very useful in that he identified Joe's family with a lot of research, but his thesis that Joe was a killer was based on 20th century american psycopath profiles was wrong. He claims that Joe's mother vanished and became a prostitute or alcoholic possibly.To fit in with the profile. He did not have access to other information [ the book was pre internet] about Catherine.
The Barnett siblings stayed close after the death of their father John in 1864, we have a lot of evidence for that. John's death would have left Catherine, with five children to support. She moved in with a fellow dock worker,Thomas Allman from Cork [ Catherine was from Cork also] a widower with a daughter, who lived close by, and she worked as a ropemaker. The dock workers were a very close social group, mostly Irish, who supported each other. They went on strike in1889. Historically, family was important, their standard of living was very low. By housekeeping and living with Allman she was saved from destitution, leaving Denis the eldest to look after the younger children and she probably helped out with money, their is no evidence she abandoned them. They all lived fairly close together. In the 1881 census, Denis also a fish porter was living in Bermondsey with his wife Mary and two children but also living with him was his aunt Mrs Hayes[ Hayes was Catherine's maiden name] Catherine married Allman, a few months before she died in 1885.
Bruce Paley's book was very useful in that he identified Joe's family with a lot of research, but his thesis that Joe was a killer was based on 20th century american psycopath profiles was wrong. He claims that Joe's mother vanished and became a prostitute or alcoholic possibly.To fit in with the profile. He did not have access to other information [ the book was pre internet] about Catherine.
The Barnett siblings stayed close after the death of their father John in 1864, we have a lot of evidence for that. John's death would have left Catherine, with five children to support. She moved in with a fellow dock worker,Thomas Allman from Cork [ Catherine was from Cork also] a widower with a daughter, who lived close by, and she worked as a ropemaker. The dock workers were a very close social group, mostly Irish, who supported each other. They went on strike in1889. Historically, family was important, their standard of living was very low. By housekeeping and living with Allman she was saved from destitution, leaving Denis the eldest to look after the younger children and she probably helped out with money, their is no evidence she abandoned them. They all lived fairly close together. In the 1881 census, Denis also a fish porter was living in Bermondsey with his wife Mary and two children but also living with him was his aunt Mrs Hayes[ Hayes was Catherine's maiden name] Catherine married Allman, a few months before she died in 1885.
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