George William Topping Hutchinson Records

[Lechmere]

Toppy in 1871
Civil Parish of Lambeth St Mary’s
No 8 (I think) ward of the Parliamentary Borough of Lambeth, in the village of Norwood, and the Ecclesiastical District of St Luke’s, Norwood.
This is now in the London Borough of Lambeth but then was part of Surrey.

The Hutchinson family lived at no 5 Champneys Terrace. This was near Clive Road in SE21 ( a very humble street).
The household consisted of:

George Hutchinson – head, aged 44 and a plumber, born in Chelmsford, Essex.
Jane Hutchinson – wife, aged 39, born in Cambridge.
George Hutchinson – son, aged 4, born in Surrey.
Jane Hutchinson – daughter, aged 10, born in Hornchurch, Essex.

6 other people lived in the same house, all listed as lodgers.

[Lechmere]

Toppy in 1881
Civil Parish of Eltham (Kent, now in the London Borough of Greenwich), Ecclesiastical Parish of St John the Baptist. This is still the parish church for Eltham.
The Hutchinson family lived at 4 Roper Street.
At least I think it says Roper Street. There is still a Roper Street, just off Eltham High Street, with oldish looking houses. Probably not old enough though – I would estimate 1900 ish.

They shared no 4 with the Mitchell family – A husband and wife, two children and a brother in law.

The Hutchinson family consisted of:
George Hutchinson – Head. A widow aged 54 - a plumber born in Chelmsford, Essex.
Jane Hutchinson – daughter, aged 19 – a housekeeper born in Hornchurch, Essex.
George Hutchinson – son, aged 14 – a scholar born in Norwood, Surrey (otherwise known as Toppy).

[Robert]

OK Lech, well if you want me to send you any images, just PM me your email address.

[Lechmere]

I remember reading that his father had re-married. I will try and locate all the records possible - the easiest first!

[Robert]

Hi Lech

I might be barking up the wrong tree, but I think his dad remarried and fathered a child in his 60s. And so far as I can tell he may have remarried in 1888. I can't tell for sure. Any of this ring a bell with you?

[Lechmere]

Yes but my copies aren't very good.
I'll see if I can get them up later.
I also had his father for 1861 and I think also 1851 and 1841 - but I have mislaid them and may have to get them again. I also seem to have mislaid his parents marriage certificate. But if I can't find them I will easily get them again.
I also need 1911, but I will get that soon.
And I've got to check the Southwark electoral registers properly.

[Robert]

Lech, have you got him in 1881 and 1871? I have a candidate family but the 71 is a bit problematic.

[Archaic]

Thanks guys.

Best regards,
Archaic

[Robert]

In 1911, his age is given as 41. And when he dies in 1938, it's 71. I think ages for poor people did fluctuate and these ranges are OK. I think Lusk's age veered about much more wildly, yet it's still one and the same Lusk.

[Lechmere]

Archaic - it has often been commented that census returns are notoriously inaccurate as to ages.
I hadn't noticed that discrepancy although it is clearly the same people involved.
Yes Toppy should have been 32 or so in 1898.
I think Florence was 2 months pregnant when they got married. I wasn't suggesting Toppy had been hoodwinked, I was suggesting he wasn't as prim and proper as Reg later believed.
When I have reproduced more documents we will be able to compare the fluctuations in age better.

[Rubyretro]

Thanks again for sharing these records with us, they're quite interesting.

Only "quite" interesting , Bunny ???

[Archaic]

Numbers Seem Slightly Off

Toppy’s marriage certificate – 15th May 1898 to Florence Jervis.He is listed as a plumber aged 29. She was 20.

This is Toppy in the 1901 census.
He is listed as George Hutchinson, married and head of the household, aged 35, a plumber employed by someone else (i.e. not self employed), born in Surrey. Living with him is his wife Florence (aged 32), ...

Hi Lechmere. Sorry, I'm confused by some of the ages given. In Post #20 you showed George & Florence's 1898 marriage certificate. If in 1898 he was 29 and she was 20, then in 1901 he would have been closer to 32 years of age and she would have been closer to 23.

I haven't sat down yet with a pencil, paper and the exact dates to work out the precise numbers (too sleepy-headed at the moment), but thought I better mention the discrepancy now as experience has shown that interesting Toppy threads rapidly grow to hundreds of posts.

I was thinking about Florence being 7 months pregnant when she and Toppy married. I don't feel it's a case of the "precise" Toppy being hoodwinked. They may have already been planning to get married (probably when he was more financially secure), or they may have gotten married in a hurry because they suspected Florence was pregnant and George wanted to do the right thing.

Thanks again for sharing these records with us, they're quite interesting.

Best regards,
Archaic

[Lechmere]

If Toppy were Hutch then it does make it less likely that he was the Ripper, but not of course impossible. The existing theories would have to be re-written to account for it though.
I suspect we will never prove it one way or another, however with more information we will be able to make a better assessment of the likelihood.

[Lechmere]

This is Toppy in the 1901 census.
Now he was living at 80 Tower Street, in the Civil Parish of St George the Martyr, the Ecclesiastical Parish of St Paul’s, in the Parliamentary Division of West Southwark, in the ward of St Michael’s, in the Municipal Borough of Southwark.
He is listed as George Hutchinson, married and head of the household, aged 35, a plumber employed by someone else (i.e. not self employed), born in Surrey.
Living with him is his wife Florence (aged 32), and his sons George (aged 2) and Albert (aged 1).
The house is shared with the Tonks family (husband, wife and five children).

The number of rooms occupied by each family is obscured - I think 2 for the Hutchinsons and maybe 3 for the Tonks?
Tower Street (now called Morley Street) is very near Barbel Street (where he was listed as living when his eldest son George was christened in April 1899).
I haven’t checked other years yet but he wasn’t listed at Tower Street in the 1899 electoral register.
On Booth’s map Tower Street is mostly dark blue – meaning very poor. There were many shops with labouring class people living above. Many windows were broken and patched. Inside the open doors there tended to be matting and maybe a bit of floor cloth (relative luxury). Apparently there were a lot of ‘rough looking hatless Irishmen about’ as well!
However he also says ‘but many fairly comfortable’. A 4lb loaf of bread would cost 4d in one of the shops.
Is it just me or does everything seem to cost 4d?
Here’s the relevant link:

http://booth.lse.ac.uk/notebooks/b363/jpg/3.html

[The Good Michael]

Hi The Good michael

Even if Hutch is Toppy-what difference does it make? There are so many serial killers that have had what appears to be a "normal" family/personal life. Dennis rader, gary ridgway, John wayne gacy, ted Bundy for example.

.

You are correct, of course. It just becomes less likely.

Mike