"James Evans" in 1888

[Fisherman]

Well ... it was nice as long as it lasted!

The best,
Fisherman

[Chris Scott]

One pertinent question is:
As Evans/Fleming was not admitted to the Stone Asylum until 1892 where was he, and under what name, in the 1891 census?
Of his family we know the following:
There remains the issue of the address of Joseph's mother, Henrietta. In the 1891 census she is listed living with one of her daughters:
123 Lever Street, City Road
Head: Henrietta Fleming aged 69 (Married) born Camberwell
Daughter: Jessie aged 23 born Bethnal Green - Brace machinist
At this time Joseph's father, Richard, was an inmate at the Holborn Union Infirmary.
Chris

[Sam Flynn]

Please note that in both these cases this James Evans is listed as 20 years old, not 28

Damn! Forgot about the "ambiguous 8" problem... I seem to recall that these images were discussed a while back, and that the consensus was that the first "28" was actually a "20". If that's not simply an error, or a guesstimate, on the part of the registrar, then this probably isn't "our" James. Having said that, the odds of two insane James Evanses being in Whitechapel in 1888 must be on the slim side.

[Chris Scott]

The first entry could be mistaken for 28 because of the writing style
Below is an example of the same writer showing how he formed the figures 0 and 8
Chris

[Chris Scott]

Below are the two entries
1) 23 May 1888 and
2) 3 July 1888

Please note that in both these cases this James Evans is listed as 20 years old, not 28
Chris

[Sam Flynn]

Some info on the Peabody Buildings

I thought these nuggets of info might be of interest:


"One room in the Peabody buildings is never let to two persons." (J. Ewing Ritchie, Days and Nights in London, 1880).

Single rooms were let out at 2s 6d per week in the 1880s. Families paid 5s per week for three rooms. Communal washing facilities and lavatories were located on the landings outside the rooms on each floor.

The Peabody "house rules" were as follows:

1. No applicants for rooms will be entertained unless every member of the applicant's family has been vaccinated or agrees to comply with the Vaccination Act;

2. The rents will be paid weekly in advance at the superintendent's office, on Monday, from 9 a.m. till 6 p.m.;

3. No arrears of rent will be allowed;

4. The passages, steps, closets, and lavatory windows must be washed every Saturday and swept every morning before 10 o'clock. This must be done by tenants in turn;

5. Washing must be done only in the laundry. Tenants will not be permitted to use the laundries for the washing of any clothes but their own. No clothes shall be hung out;

6. No carpets, mats, etc., can be permitted to be beaten or shaken after 10 o'clock in the morning. Refuse must not be thrown out of the doors or windows;

7. Tenants must pay all costs for the repairs, etc., of all windows, keys, grates and boilers broken or damaged in their rooms;

8. Children will not be allowed to play on the stairs, in the passages, or in the laundries;

9. Dogs must not be kept on the premises;

10. Tenants cannot be allowed to paper, paint or drive nails into the walls;

11. No tenant will be permitted to under-let or take in lodgers or to keep a shop of any kind;

12. The acceptance of any gratuity by the superintendent or porters from tenants or applicants for rooms will lead to their immediate dismissal;

13. Disordlerly or intemperate tenants will receive immediate notice to quit;

14. The gas will be turned off at 11 p.m. and the outer doors closed for the night, but each tenant will be provided with a key to admit him in at all hours [my emphasis];

15. Tenants are required to report to the superintendent any births, deaths, or infectious diseases occurring in their rooms. Any tenant not complying with this rule will receive notice to quit.

(Info from The Eternal Slum: Housing & Social Policy in Victorian London, Anthony S. Wohl, 2006.)

[Fisherman]

Out of interest, Sam - just how many 28-ish James Evansīs would a check of the censuses turn up in the area? Have you got a rough idea?

The best,
Fisherman

[Fisherman]

Holy smoke, Sam! That is a very interesting piece of information!
Of course, James Evans would not be the most uncommon of names, but the geographic link as well as the age and the sickness does narrow things down nicely!
So, maybe he made a beeline from the Infirmary to the Victoria home, arriving there with a professed history of mental illness just a few weeks before Tabram died...

Very thought-evoking, Sam; thanks a bunch!

Fisherman

[Sam Flynn]

Taken over from a Barnett thread, but far more relevant in terms of Fleming... maybe

... in Glasshouse St a couple of streets down from where the Barnetts had been living. Those streets were full of 1rish dockworkers.

There are two entries relating to a 28 year-old "James Evans", listed as a porter or railway porter, in the Whitechapel Infirmary records in the Summer of 1888. Both entries give mental illness ("Unsound mind" and "Insane", respectively) as the reason for admission. Often, such entries record that the patient was referred to an asylum, but this was not the case with James Evans: it simply records the date he was discharged, that date being the 9th July 1888, after a 6-day stay.

Chris Scott has identified anomalies in the addresses given in the Infirmary register for James Evans. One says "Block 16F Glass Street", the other "Block 16F Royal Mint Street"... which presents a bit of a puzzle. However, I think I've got to the bottom of the problem.

There was a cluster of Peabody Buildings on Glasshouse Street, which continued onto Royal Mint Street. Even though "F" Block backed onto Royal Mint Street, the buildings were known collectively as "Glasshouse Buildings" and - strictly speaking - belonged more to Glasshouse Street, so the two entries in the Infirmary records were both sort-of correct. I'm almost certain, therefore, that the Infirmary register's "Glass St" was an abbreviation, or simply a mistaken entry, for "Glasshouse Street".

I found a splendid photo, taken late 1950s I guess, with two blocks of the Peabody Buildings in the foreground and "F" Block sandwiched between them in the background. The arrow I've drawn points directly to the entrance of "F" Block:

[Ed: Image removed due to copyright owner complaint.]

(To back up Miss Marple's comment, please note the Irish tricolors.)

Here's a map of Whitechapel of the region around Glasshouse Street, showing the proximity of "F" Block Peabody Buildings (shaded red) to Royal Mint St:



I'm fairly sure, therefore, that the mentally unsound James Evans mentioned in the Infirmary records was living here, in "F" Block, Glasshouse Street Buildings, until July 1888.

Whether this was "James Evans", as in the Fleming alias, remains to be seen - however, the age is about right (28), the mental health bit is right, and the location of his home somewhat evocative. Glasshouse Buildings were - and are - a very short distance away from Mary Kelly's old digs in Breezer's Hill/Pennington Street, and literally around the corner from her alleged later stomping-ground of Leman Street.