The records from Stone Asylum for Joseph Fleming - transcription

[DVV]

Hi Chris,

yes I know....that I don't know....how to explain...
On dirait le mystère de la chambre jaune...
I guess that the line about Henrietta has been added afterward...but it doesn't bring me nearer to the solution.
In any case, I can't believe in 6'7 - that would make Joe the tallest guy in the East End...

Amitiés,
David

[spyglass]

Hi DVV,
Yes, I have done so, although im not the best story teller in the world.
My memory lets me down alot.

[Debra A]

I just found Joseph Fleming/James Evans file in the City of London, Orders of Removal, Lunatic admissions 1891-1892, book.
This is a different file to the patient records Rob accessed, it has less detailed patient information but more information on residency, settlement and family.

I'll post other pages of possible interest after I've gone through the file, meanwhile here's the page showing Fleming's birth details:

[Fisherman]

Wow! This is great, Debra - I am very much looking forward to more posts! Many thanks!

The best,
Fisherman

[lynn cates]

act

Hello Debs. This is great! Fleming scholarship has made a great leap forward.

What do you make of the first line about not having done an act . . . ? Is it implied that he has had no steady job?

I look forward to more posts.

Cheers.
LC

[Fisherman]

Hi Lynn!

I believe that it should read "Richard Fleming and Henrietta, his wife, now residing ..."

The best,
Fisherman

[Debra A]

Hello Debs. This is great! Fleming scholarship has made a great leap forward.

What do you make of the first line about not having done an act . . . ? Is it implied that he has had no steady job?

I look forward to more posts.

Cheers.
LC

Hi Fisherman and Lynn,
The file is really concerned with the issue of whether Joseph had settlement in the City of London and they were chargeable for his care.
Joseph was picked up and taken to Bishopsgate police station originally and then taken to the City of London Infirmary, later transferred to Stone as we know.
I am not sure of the exact way settlement was establsihed, but in Joseph's case they used the fact he was born and baptised in Bethnal green to establish it, so deciding that the Bethnal Green Union were chargeable for his upkeep. So, perhaps it means he didn't marry, live or work in any particular area where settlement could be established? Perhaps someone else has a better knowledge of how it was established?
An address at 70 and a half lower Thames Street is mentioned but I'm not exactly sure if that relates to an address for Joseph at some point.

Just for interest here's a list of Joseph's clothing and posessions, transfered back to Bethnal Green after adjudication, not sure what the last three items listed are, one looks like 'a hook' ?':

[Fisherman]

One has to ask oneself why he the authorities chose to call him Joseph Fleming in the form you posted earlier, while giving his name as James Evans on this one ...?

Much as I try, I cant make out the three items added to the list. Anybody else?

The best,
Fisherman

[Ben]

Excellent stuff, Debs. Many thanks indeed for this.

I wonder what colour that neckerchief was?

I can't quite make out the last three items either. "Hook" seems right for the second, and the top one is clearly "leather" something.

All the best,
Ben

[Fisherman]

Ben:

"the top one is clearly "leather" something"

Leather ... chief? Some sort of calendar or something? A notepad?

The last one, by the way, seems like "Tobacco box".

The best,
Fisherman

[Abby Normal]

I would say

Leather strap
hook
tobacco box

[Debra A]

One has to ask oneself why he the authorities chose to call him Joseph Fleming in the form you posted earlier, while giving his name as James Evans on this one ...?

Much as I try, I cant make out the three items added to the list. Anybody else?

The best,
Fisherman

Most of the paperwork in the file, except the list of belongings, includes both names, usually set out as Joseph Flemming alias James Evans. The patient number is the same in all the paperwork, #2,195

Thanks Fisherman and Ben for deciphering parts of the list.
That definitely looks like tobacco box.

[Ben]

Agreed, Fish and Abby.

I think we've got 'em sussed.

[Fisherman]

Yep, "strap" may well be correct, with the t crossbar on drift. What´s with the hook, though? Was it the carrying kind, as employed by waterside labourers and such people? One has to wonder - if so, it would be rather an awkward thing to carry with him, would it not?
Then again, if it was such a hook, then maybe - just maybe - there is the remote possibility that he carried it as a potential weapon to wield against perceived persecutors...?
But if it was, I would have much preferred if he opted for a knife, I must say.

Or is it another "hook" altogether? Guesses, anyone?


The best,
Fisherman

[lynn cates]

settlement

Hello Debs. I think you are right about settlement.

Thanks.

Cheers.
LC