William Grant Grainger and censorship

[Debra A]

Hi Nemo,

I think you might be right.
I originally read it in the book -Adolf Beck (1877 - 1904) by Eric R. Watson. Just going back to quickly check, it does indeed say that Smith's convict number originally began with 'D' and then 'W' was added to denote a previous conviction.

...I'm confused now though as Le Grand doesn't have the 'W' in his convict number but does have two letters, one of them a 'D' but we know they were assuming a previous offence as Christian Nelson as the name is included as an alias.

[Nemo]

Hi Deb

Funnily enough, I read about Beck the other day and made a note of the letter, but I took it to be the "W"

Here's the line I read if it's different to what you found...

"In prison he was given John Smith's old prison number, D 523, with the letter W added, indicating a repeat convict"

As you know, that was at Portland prison

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Beck_case

[Debra A]

I have been trying to clarify exactly who was included in the Registers of Habitual Criminals, as some descriptions of them appeared to imply that there had to have been more than one conviction, which was apparently not the case for Grainger.

The scope of the registers was reduced after the Prevention of Crimes Amendment Act of 1876 was passed. The original Prevention of Crimes Act of 1871 had provided for the registration of "all persons convicted of crime," but the Amendment Act allowed the Home Secretary to limit registration to particular classes of convicts. In March 1877 the scope of the register was limited as follows (from Robert Wilkinson, "The law of prisons in England and Wales ..." (1878), p. 234 http://www.archive.org/details/lawpr...neng00britgoog ):

[ATTACH]12481[/ATTACH]

So Grainger would have been included in the register because he had been sentenced to penal servitude, even though - as seems to have been the case - he didn't have a previous conviction.

I must admit that I'm not sure there weren't any subsequent changes to the composition of the register before Grainger's time, but if the same rules still applied in 1902, that would explain his inclusion in the register.

Chris, while reading the trial of Adolf Beck again today, I read that a letter 'D' was entered before the convict number in the records to denote a previous conviction. This is not added on Grainger's record, so it looks like it was a first offence for Grainger, but is with Le Grand...and was with Beck, even though with Beck the previous conviction as Smith was not proven, which is an interesting story in itself when compared to the Le Grand/Neilson identification in the records.

[GregBaron]

A typical sailor?

I’m very intrigued by Lawende’s description and possible confirmation of Grainger as the man he saw. We must account for 2 to 2.75 inches of height mistake which can easily be explained away. With Levy we are dealing with 6 to 6.75 inches which is more problematic. It appears Grainger was slim which, with certain clothing, could easily be described as of medium build. I saw somewhere in this thread where it said he had a dark mustache but the prison records only say hair of dark brown. Could a dark brown mustache be described as “fair”? Perhaps on a sallow faced fellow with blue eyes under dim lighting it could appear a bit on the lighter brown side. What I find most compelling is the term “rough looking”. I can’t remember if I read that Grainger had a scar, we do know he had several tattoos and I believe most of us can get a picture in our heads when someone says “rough looking”. Anyway, I am aware that many sailors could probably fit this description but still… Is there a reason why more credence isn’t given to this description and/or possible identification? Did an alibi perhaps come up?


Greg

[Chris]

There is also a death registration at Cork which is a reasonable match for the suspect himself. Again, this is the only possible death registered at Cork in the index. The age given on the certificate is a year out, though oddly the age is given as 68 in the index, which would be exactly right.

Cork District Hospital was apparently the successor institution to Cork Workhouse (or perhaps to the Workhouse Infirmary). It's tempting to think that William's former address of Merchants Quay indicates that he was working as a labourer in the docks, which might be a slight confirmation that he is the same man who was formerly a seaman. But unfortunately there's nothing to indicate this is definitely the right man.
_________________________________

Registration Number 1478075
Death Registered in the district of Cork No. 1
in the Superintendent Registrar's District of Cork
in the County of Co. Cork
No. 233
Date and Place of Death. 1929 Twenty Seventh March Cork District Hospital Cork RD
Name and Surname. William Grainger late of Merchants Quay Cork CB
Sex. M
Condition. Bachelor
Age. 69 yrs
Rank, Profession, or Occupation. Labourer
Certified Cause of Death and Duration of Illness. Phthisis 20 days in hospl Certified
Signature, Qualification and Residence of Informant. Mary Herde "Inmate" Cork Union
When Registered. Twenty eight March 1929
Signature of Registrar. A OLeary Asst Registrar.

[Chris]

Irish civil registration indexes (to 1958) are now searchable here:

https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/show#uri=http://hr-search-api:8080/searchapi/search/collection/1408347

The following appear to be the death certificates of William Grainger's parents. They are the only possible deaths I could find registered at Cork, and seem consistent with what we know of his parents, including the references to his mother in the Pall Mall Gazette report, which seem to me to imply that she was still living at Cork in early 1895 and was probably a widow. Barrackton, where Mary died, was apparently an old name for what's now Old Youghal Road, which meets the Ballyhooly Road at the Barrack Cross Roads where the Graingers lived according to the baptism register (the informant's address, Centenary Row, is also nearby on the same road).

The only discrepancy is the description of William senior as a clerk, when in fact he was a labourer and occasional bellringer. But even here there's an interesting parallel with William Grainger junior, who described himself as a clerk when he was in Marylebone Workhouse in 1910-11.

Assuming these are William Grainger's parents, Mary died only about four months after her son was convicted, having been taken ill around the time of his offence.
________________________________

Superintendent Registrar's District Cork
Registrar's District No. 1
1894
DEATHS Registered in the District of No. 1 in the Union of Cork in the County of City of Cork
No. 280
Date and Place of Death. 1894 March Eighth Incurable Home
Name and Surname. William Granger
Sex. Male
Condition. Married
Age last Birthday 67 yrs
Rank, Profession, or Occupation. Clerk
Certified Cause of Death and Duration of Illness. Cancer of Larynx & Pharinx 1 year & 6 months Paralysis 13 years Certified
Signature, Qualification and Residence of Informant. H. McLaine Present at death Incurable Home
When Registered Tenth March 1894
Signature of Registrar. F. Cunningham Assistant Registrar.
________________________________

Superintendent Registrar's District Cork
Registrar's District No. 1
1895
DEATHS Registered in the District of No. 1 in the Union of Cork in the County of City of Cork
No. 112
Date and Place of Death. 1895 July Thirtieth 161 Barrackton
Name and Surname. Mary Grainger
Sex. Female
Condition. Wdow
Age last Birthday 68 yrs
Rank, Profession, or Occupation. House Keeper
Certified Cause of Death and Duration of Illness. Cancer of Stomach 6 Months Certified
Signature, Qualification and Residence of Informant. Charlotte Stevens Present at death Centenary Row
When Registered Thirty First July 1895
Signature of Registrar. F. Cunningham Assistant Registrar.

[Chris]

I have been trying to clarify exactly who was included in the Registers of Habitual Criminals, as some descriptions of them appeared to imply that there had to have been more than one conviction, which was apparently not the case for Grainger.

The scope of the registers was reduced after the Prevention of Crimes Amendment Act of 1876 was passed. The original Prevention of Crimes Act of 1871 had provided for the registration of "all persons convicted of crime," but the Amendment Act allowed the Home Secretary to limit registration to particular classes of convicts. In March 1877 the scope of the register was limited as follows (from Robert Wilkinson, "The law of prisons in England and Wales ..." (1878), p. 234 http://www.archive.org/details/lawpr...neng00britgoog ):



So Grainger would have been included in the register because he had been sentenced to penal servitude, even though - as seems to have been the case - he didn't have a previous conviction.

I must admit that I'm not sure there weren't any subsequent changes to the composition of the register before Grainger's time, but if the same rules still applied in 1902, that would explain his inclusion in the register.

[Chris]

It seems that Cahergal may have been an area in the City of Cork itself. Just off Ballyhooly Road there are now Cahergal Lawn and several other little roads with similar names. The housing is modern, and the area would presumably have been open fields in the early 19th century.

Here's a map of part of northern Cork that shows some of the places mentioned in the parish register. Ancestry describes it as an ordnance survey map of "1824-1846" (from online sources I believe the actual date is 1841).

The barracks, shown at the left, still survive. Ballyhooly Road is indicated in yellow, Rathmore is underlined in green, Cahergal in blue, and Barracks Cross Roads in red (I suspect that must be the same crossroads that's called Rathmore Cross in 1849). St Luke's Church lies to the south of the junction at the southern end of Ballyhooly Road.

At the date of this map the continuation of Ballyhooly Road to the north of the crossroads was called Ballyhooly New Road. At some point since then the whole length was renamed Ballyhooly Road. So it's possible that in the 1850s and 1860s the Graingers could have lived north of the crossroads.

If anyone would like to browse a more detailed, coloured version of the map, they should use the link below, click "HISTORIC 6"" in the bottom-right menu, and then zoom in to Cork, aiming for the barracks to the north-east of the city:

http://maps.osi.ie/publicviewer/

[Nemo]

I'll try my best Chris

I've got a relation living near Mallow which was the HQ of the North Cork Militia so I'm trying to get hold of him to pop in the local military museum and ask about Grainger

I'm sure though that he would have been much more likely to have been in the South Cork militia

Here's a bit about the SC Militia that may be of interest to readers

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mturner/cork/south_cork.htm

1881-99

In 1881 the army reforms saw the amalgamation of the line and militia regiments, the South Cork became the 3rd Battalion of the Royal Munster Fusiliers but retained its militia status. Regimental HQ was at Tralee in Co. Kerry but battalion HQ remained at Bandon. Training was discontinued for three years but resumed in 1884:

1884 Training at Fermoy and Curragh.
1885 Training at Kinsale.
1886 Training at Fermoy.
1887 Training at Charles Fort, near Kinsale.
1888 Training at Kinsale. New colours were presented in August by the Countess of Bandon and in September the old colours were retired to Warren's Court.
1889 Training at Fermoy
1890 The permanent staff moved from Bandon to Charles Fort near Kinsale.
1891-6 Training at Charles Fort.
1897 Training at Kilworth Camp as part of the Munster Militia Brigade.
1898 Training at Charles Fort.


Any significance in the changing of the colours 1888?

He might have been on parade or something at that time - in Cork (lol)

[Chris]

I wish you every success with your further endeavours

Thanks, but everyone who wants to is most welcome to help.

I ended up hitting a brick wall when I tried to research Grainger two or three years ago, and it's only the recent discoveries by Debs, Rob and others that have got things moving again. In particular, I couldn't have found the baptism record without the information Debs discovered in the Marylebone Workhouse records.

[Nemo]

That's interesting about the area of Cork City called Cahergil Chris

I agree the Earl bit is probably in error

Grant/Grainger himself stated to Winslow that he was "lately a medical student" and seeing as he is described as being a student before becoming a fireman, and also "in his youth", I tend to think he was a medical student prior to 1889

The female relative was a "babe-in-arms" in 1889 so it might be possible to trace her as a newborn 1888/1889

Very interesting stuff Chris

I wish you every success with your further endeavours

[Chris]

Nemo

Thanks for your comments.

I think there's a good chance the reports were referring to a relation on his mother's side. Of course, it may have been a more distant relation rather than an uncle. I can imagine him saying "My mother was a Busteed, and Mr Busteed is such-and-such in Cork."

It seems that Cahergal may have been an area in the City of Cork itself. Just off Ballyhooly Road there are now Cahergal Lawn and several other little roads with similar names. The housing is modern, and the area would presumably have been open fields in the early 19th century.

The Busteeds were certainly significant landowners, but I don't think they were earls. I can see some references online to an earl of Carrick named Busteed in the 18th century, but I think that must be an error, as the earls of Carrick were surnamed Butler at that time.

I am still sceptical as to whether Grainger was ever a medical student, and about the St Bartholomew's Hospital story, but I hope this may become a bit clearer if we can uncover some more details of Grainger's family background.

[Nemo]

There's a John Busteed listed in this document, noted as a "process server" in Innishannon in the late 1870's

http://www.archive.org/stream/francisguyscount00guycuoft/francisguyscount00guycuoft_djvu.txt

I think that means a person who enforces court orders, possibly evictions

Innishannon is a town in Cork

There is also a Busteed who joined the Irish Volunteers in later years whose father was a staunch Unionist and member of the Church of Ireland, though his mother was Catholic and a strong Nationalist

[Nemo]

PS The Busteeds are landed gentry - The Earl of Carrick was a Busteed

http://landedestates.nuigalway.ie:8080/LandedEstates/jsp/estate-show.jsp?id=2903

There are many Busteeds in the militia, late 1700's...

http://www.corkarchives.ie/media/freemen1710-1841.pdf

[Nemo]

Nice finds Chris

That looks like our man

That must be Cahergal, Co. Cork where his mother came from

It's a bit windswept that place, not many inhabitants at all

I checked on todays statistics and it says there are only 13 people per square mile and 75% of the land is agricultural

I had my suspicions the family was protestant due to the choice of William as a name for the child

I put forward the suggestion that a member of the Cork Militia would not be welcome in Irish Catholic circles (though many of the militia were Catholic) and that his unsubstantiated claim to be a ship's stoker may have been a story for the locals

If you've got access to a genealogical site with death certificates, there are a number of female Grainger's who died in London in 1889 who might be worth a look

That's if Kebble's information is correct that Grainger studied for a few years at St Bartholomew's Hospital, leaving in 1889, and that he had previously admitted to his wife he was the Ripper, and who subsequently died of the shock/shame in the same year

Also, St Bart's has an extensive archive in which Grainger as a medical student may be found - there's a hint that he had been there for three years

I suspect it was in 1889 that his family disowned him, probably based around the circumstances of his wife's death, and he subsequently went under the name Grant