Info from Chichester

[aspallek]

And we sould hasten to add that these are very near to where Montague's body was found. I hope to pay a visit tomorrow.

[The Grave Maurice]

In which case, you should go to bed, Andy. You may not have noticed, but it's very late over there.

[Johnr]

Congratulations Andy,
On another successful flying visit to Chichester.
Doubtless, the several letters addressed to Isabella Druitt are explained by the fact her family donated this Druitt papers cache to the West Sussex Records Office.
The linking of the visit/letter by the two Robert Druitt siblings in 1876 makes sense.And helps explain Montague Druitt's letter of shortly thereafter more clearly.
It is apparent that mention of the fact "Aunt William" was to go to Linden Gardens had significance to Isabella's family.What a shame we cannot share that significance.
The letter from Uncle Thomas Druitt in Australia is important, to my mind, for showing just how sensitive family information ( like that of a suicide) within very respectable late Victorian families in Britain travelled.
It is good to know how these things worked.
Because, from my Australian inquiries, it is clear the Druitt families of James Druitt and Thomas Druitt were definitely aware of the Druitt Suspicion ( that MJD might have been JTR), the first by at least the 1970's and the latter by the 1930's.
Keep up the good work Andy. JOHN RUFFELS.

[aspallek]

Linden Gardens, Chiswick. A stone's throw from Manor House Assylum and a few minutes' walk from where Druitt's body was found.





Still trying to work out the former site of Bolton Gardens. It is possible this is the house of Diplock, Jr., but I am not at all sure.

[aspallek]

Bolton Gardens on an 1897 map. Below the H in High Road marked in yellow.

http://archivemaps.com/mapco/stanford/stan42.htm

Having another look at this map is interesting. As you can see, Bolton Gardens is the same as Duke Road (not to be confused with Duke Avenue). Therefore it is in the approximate location of my above photo, though not the building in the foreground.

Also, have a good look at this map in Roy's link. Linden Gardens is just about center-left on the map, just below the High Road (in yellow). If you look below that, where the "K" is (remnant of the word "Chiswick") is Manor House Asylum, run by the Tukes. One can see how close this was to Linden Gardens. Just below this a bit one can see St. Nicholas parish church. This is adjacent to where Druitt's body was recovered. This should give a perspective.

[aspallek]

A couple of interesting pieeces regarding Linden Gardens, Chiswick.

An interesting suicide from Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper (London, England), Sunday, January 24, 1886 (when did Lionel Druitt depart for Australia?):



And a story indicating another medical man living at Linden Gardens, Chiswick:

Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper (London, England), Sunday, June 13, 1886:

[Robert]

So Andy, do you think "going to Linden Gardens" meant that she had a consultation with Tuke?

[aspallek]

Hello Robert --

I'm saying that this letter regarding Ann Druitt is a possible indication that she was already under the care of the Tukes in 1887. Unfortunately, we will probably never know for certain. We had thought that she was living in a facility in North London in 1888. That may well be so. But it may also be that she was being treated by the Tukes and perhaps spent time housed at Linden Gardens rather than in the general asylum population. Obviously, this has implications concerning Montague's final journey and may explain why he ended up where he did. We do know, of course, that Ann Druitt eventually was resident at the Tuke's asylum where she died in 1890.

David Andersen, who was raised in Chiswick, has told me that he has not yet made any connection between the Tukes and Linden Gardens but he says "it would seem that [the Tukes] operated a number of different 'houses' in the area."

A persistent fly in the ointment is the fact that Montague's rail ticket was only to Hammersmith. As one can clearly see from the map in Roy's post, Turnham Green is the rail station closest to Linden Gardens, much closer than Hammersmith. On the other hand, I was told by a man who went to school in Chiswick as a boy that he often alighted the train at Hammersmith and enjoyed the pleasant walk to Chiswick.

Yet we must remember that the identification of the "Linden Gardens" is this letter it itself tentative. Is it the Linden Gardens in Chiswick or the Linden Gardens in Bayswater? I would argue for the strong likelihood of the former for a couple of reasons.

(1) The letter is being written to the wife of Dr. Robert Druitt by her daughter. The Robert Druitts lived at Strathmore Gardens, Kensington, which is a stone's throw from Linden Gardens, Bayswater. If Ann were going to this area, wouldn't is make more sense for her to stay with her brother-in-law's family at Strathmore Gardens rather than to go to neighboring Linden Gardens, Bayswater?

(2) We know that Ann Druitt was suffering from mental illness at the time. The proximity of Linden Gardens, Chiswick, to the Manor House Asylum suggests a possible link.

All very tentative, to be sure, but I think rather exciting as the mystery of "why Chiswick?" now has a plausible answer.

[Robert]

Yes, it's very interesting Andy and the reference in the letter to Linden Gardens, without further elaboration, seems to suggest that Linden Gardens had been mentioned before. I wish we had the previous correspondence between those two.

[aspallek]

We do have quite a bit of correspondence between Isabella Druitt (Robert's wife) and her children but none that mentioned Linden Gardens that I saw other than this one. Of course, it's possible that I could have missed something.

For example, I almost missed the reference in the letter from Thomas Druitt concerning Montague's death because the name "Montague" was barely legible. It was only because of the letter's date (Feb. 1889) that I was paying close attention and took a second and third look when I saw a capital "M" at the beginning of a name.

[Robert]

Hi Andy

Maybe it was mentioned in letters from someone else. It's just that to say "Aunt William is going to Linden Gardens" without explaining why she was going or who was at Linden Gardens, would be very odd, so it must have come up before.

[aspallek]

I agree. I just think any letter with a previous mention was not preserved. Or perhaps the previous mention(s) were oral.

[Robert]

Unless I've got hold of the wrong end of the stick, Sylvia Pankhurst later had a studio at 42 Linden Gardens and Mabel Tuke was a suffragette. Also, one of the Tukes had an address at Linden Lodge in Scotland and I'm wondering if it was he who named the lodge.

[aspallek]

You got me, Robert. I don't know enough English history to be familiar.

However, this might be of interest. If you remember, Ann Druitt was presumably committed to "Brook Asylum" (apparently actually "Brook House") in Upper Clapton in the summer of 1888. On May 27, 1887, there was a serious fire at Brook House which caused great damage. Let's suppose that Ann Druitt may have been spending time at Brook House already in 1887. The fire could be the reason she was "to go to Linden Gardens" as Gertrude Druitt's letter of June 13, 1887 stated. Just a thought.

Aside -- Wynne Baxter presided at the inquest into the fire's sole fatality.

[Robert]

Hi Andy

That seems like a reasonable suggestion.

Mabel Tuke nee Sich came from the family that owned the Lamb brewery, hence I suppose the Lamb Tap.